Letters from Daisy Daedal

by DaisyDaedal

Chapter 1 part 2

Of course you woke up disoriented, since you felt hard ground below you instead of your bed. If making out the shapes of the trees and bushes around you counted as being able to see, than you could see. The only thing you knew for sure was the sky visible between the branches above was still black as midnight.

As your mind woke up you began to realize that none of the shapes around you were of your friends and family. You lit up your horn in a panic to make sure, hoping that you were wrong. But you weren’t- which is why when you heard the growly voice again, snickering, it was jarring. You scanned your surroundings again, hoping to catch the face of the voice, but you saw only the forest.

“Who’s there?” You asked, hoping to sound stern. The squeak at the end of your question made that impossible, though.

“You are,” the voice teased. You chose not to dignify that with a response. Instead, you crept cautiously along the ground, illuminating the area around you more methodically than before.

“Are you sure you have time to worry about something you can’t see?” the voice asked.

“Not being able to see you is exactly why I’m worrying,” you muttered. You wished you had some familiar ponies with you. When we’re with the ponies we love is when we’re at our bravest. But alone, the world seems a lot scarier. Had every other pony made it back to the square? Or had something else happened after you blacked out?

“Consider me a noisy breeze,” the voice chuckled.

I can point out in hindsight that the voice neither promised our safety nor explained it’s plans. But you were too concerned about the ponies we care about, and the safety being with them again would bring you.

“Let’s say I do want to find somepony. I don’t know where I am, or where to start looking for them.”

“I can help with that!” the voice said cheerfully. Before you could ask how, your nose figuratively exploded. Sure, you could smell the leaves and dirt around you before, but suddenly you could smell so many scents it was hard to breathe! Your rose scented shampoo from the morning before, owl pellets nearby, ants crawling on the ground- even individual rocks smelt different.

You could smell animals that had walked through the clearing you sat in, but somehow their scents were stale. But you could smell the scents getting fresher the further away they got from you. Of all of these, the freshest smelling trail was somehow familiar to you- pony fur, feathers, paper and glue. They all reminded you of Raven Luster! So nose to the ground, you jogged after her trail, hoping you were right.

You had never been so sure of where somepony had gone before. It was almost like magic had lit up glowing arrows that pointed the way to her. Despite the odd posture of having your head close to the ground while you ran, you didn’t stumble over stones and roots in the dark, either. Almost like seeing in the dark, you smelt objects that stuck up from the ground and simply adjusted your route to avoid them. As a result, you were galloping faster than you had in years. You sadly weren’t in the best shape then, so you were getting winded pretty fast.

You slowed down to catch your breath, and the earth suddenly disappeared from beneath you. You struggled to hold onto something, but neither your hooves or mouth could reach anything as darkness swallowed you. Dirt brushed against you as you fell, getting thicker and thicker until you realized you weren’t falling anymore.

You tried to call for help, but dirt was quick to rush in every time you opened your mouth. But high-pitched voices chatting happily in the distance gave you hope. You tried to spit out the dirt, wondering what young-sounding beings were doing in the woods at night when you realized you recognized them. The voices were of your fillyhood friends, as they had sounded before they’d grown up.

The three of them had been our best friends in primary school, but we had grown apart after we graduated and apprenticed under different ponies. They had all grown up and gotten jobs in their chosen careers- living well, as of the time I’m writing this. So you shouldn’t have had any reason to hear their voices as fillies.

Even if they were your mind playing tricks on you, you didn’t want to waste the chance they could be real and get help. You tried to spit out more dirt, and tried to make loud noises to get their attention. When that didn’t seem to get their attention, you finally thought of a better idea: the distress sparks spell every unicorn teaches their children. Periwinkle sparks flew from your horn like small fireworks, and soon after you heard the voices move closer.

“Yep, she’s playing dead again,” one of the fillies said.

“What a drama queen,” another filly replied.

It reminded you of back when you all were fillies playing pretend. You could be pretty bossy sometimes, and when it seemed like things weren’t going your way, you might pretend to die. From your angle below in the dirt and with no light to see, you couldn’t see any of their faces. But you could hear their hoofsteps begin to walk away from you.

‘This isn’t playing!’ you wanted to scream, but the dirt made that impossible. In fear you thrashed your body, trying to free yourself. Then you felt something long and dry begin to coil around your left back leg. The terror it caused quickly turned to lethargy- what was the point of fighting? You didn’t know where anypony was, and they probably didn’t even care.

As it wrapped around both of your back legs and began to move up your torso, you glanced down and saw that it was a vine of some sort. You closed your eyes and your body just relaxed as it began to pull you deeper underground.

You brushed against something soft, and you briefly opened your eyes to see. A furry green hoof had been the cause, the rest of its body presumably buried further in the dirt. It looked like Raven Luster’s hoof.

One of your front legs hadn’t been coiled up yet, so you somehow found the energy to brush the dirt away from around that hoof until its owner’s face was revealed. It was Raven Luster, and you could see her body was also coiled up in vines. It was hard to see movement in the dark, but when you held your breath for a moment you could hear her breathing.

Once again, here Raven Luster was saving you from being alone. Back when you had grown apart from our childhood friends, you were wondering if you belonged anywhere. Raven befriended you after joining you under Mom’s artist apprenticeship, and brought us into her circle of friends. But you knew that just because you weren’t alone in this precarious situation, it didn’t mean you could be content to die together.

You wanted Raven to live! And you knew she definitely would want you to live, too. So like a worm, you wriggled your body towards the pegasus- despite the lack of energy and vines still coiling around you. It seemed like days had past by the time your forehead touched the inch-thick vines covering her torso. You nudged your horn underneath the nearest vine, and began to rub it back and forth, hoping to use friction to break it.

RL’s eyes opened then-perhaps feeling the vibrations if what you were doing- and her hazel eyes met your own. She opened her mouth to speak, but too coughed on the dirt around you. But seeing her awake gave you hope, and your energy seemed to return.
Friction wasn’t working, so you adjusted your head and bit the vines, spitting out dirt between bites. RL wriggled closer, and began doing the same to the vines around you. One by one the vines broke, flinching away and uncoiling the more the pair of you bit them. When the last vines wriggled out of sight, you smiled at each other in relief.

Your happy expressions changed to worry as the ground around you shook. Dirt slid downwards as the ground rose beneath the pair of you, until you were above the earth and standing on what looked like a giant venus fly trap found only in nightmares. You leapt off of it while RL flew away, not wanting to end up in it’s toothy mouth.

It waved vines around, sightlessly feeling the area nearby it. When a vine came near you you darted away from it, but your hooves seemed to cause vibrations that caught it’s attention as more vines flew towards you. You tried to dodge, but one vine managed to grip a back hoof of yours. At the plant’s touch the overwhelming negativity you felt came back- it had been the cause of them.

It tried you pull you towards it, but RL flew down from the sky and stomped on the vine. As it recoiled, she seized your torso and sailed high into the endless darkness above.

“Thanks!” you said, your positivity returning.

“Thank you for saving ME earlier,” she replied between gasps for air. It looked like she was struggling to hold you up- you definitely needed to get more exercise. You skimmed the area around you, and spotted a clearing among the treetops.

“Head for over there!” you said, pointing at the location with a hoof. Wordlessly, Raven nodded and flew in that direction. It wasn’t long before the trees were shielding you from the nighttime air. You eyed the dark forest around you for any immediate threats while RL regained her breath. When her breathing didn’t sound as loud, you turned to talk to her, and found her staring cautiously at you.

“What?” you asked.

“Are you okay?” she asked back.

“Yeah? Are you not okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Do you know where the others are?”

“You’re the first I’ve seen. Hopefully they made it to the city. Any idea where we are?”

“It’s hard to see, but let me fly above the trees and I’ll see if I can make out any landmarks,” the Raven offered.

“Be careful,” you said. Of course Raven Luster was careful, but it made you feel better to say it aloud. The pegasus nodded, and after a couple of experimental wing flaps she was soaring in the sky. You cast another light spell to keep the creeping darkness at bay, and watched our friend’s silhouette glide across air currents above you. It was better than facing what may be in the forest around you.
After a minute, she flew down to just at the top of the canopy of trees and hovered.

“I SEE A YELLOW UNICORN AURA TO THE EAST! IT COULD BE NATURALLY UNIQUE!” she yelled down at you.

“IS IT MOVING?” you shouted back.

“NO, IT’S IN THE SAME PLACE, BUT IT SEEMS TO BE FADING!”

“WE SHOULD GO, NU COULD BE IN DANGER! CAN YOU LEAD ME?”

“YEAH, FOLLOW ME!”

RL flew just above the treetops, trying to stay in the light you beamed onto her without your having to say so. I bet you still have cuts and bruises from following her- RL didn’t have trees, rocks, and bushes to maneuver around in the darkness up there in the sky. But you didn’t want to follow into some plant monster’s hole again, so you tried to watch your step. At least RL didn’t get impatient with you if you ever got too far behind, and thoughtfully hovered in place while you caught up.

When fog began to impair your vision on top of everything else, you heard RL shout,

“I CAN’T SEE THE YELLOW AURA ANYMORE!”

“LET’S KEEP GOING IN THE DIRECTION IT WAS!” you replied stubbornly. If NU was in danger, her being out of magic made it even more treacherous. The fog grew thicker, and RL’s reply seemed faint. You could still somewhat see her above you, but it sounded like she was miles away.

Then the only thing you see was fog. The dark gray color grew lighter and lighter until it was like you were standing in the middle of a white canvas. I know we usually like it quiet at home, but you couldn’t even hear your hoofsteps there. You walked along the endless, silent path, hoping that something would change.

Ages of walking, and you realized you weren’t sure who you were looking for again, and wondered if it was even worth moving forward. With that thought you sat down, and you mind too went blank. You felt on the verge of remembering something, but white would quickly replace it.

You weren’t sure how long you had been prone on the ground- nor when you had actually lain down. But amongst the white a flickering yellow light caught your attention. You felt yourself stagger onto your legs, then shambled towards it, not sure why you wanted to, but feeling the need to.
Gazing unblinkingly at the light, you noticed it was moving towards you. It wasn’t long before you realized it was a tall unicorn that was giving off the light from its horn. Every movement it made mirrored your own. Even though its brown eyes were higher, and its fur was lavender rather than pink, you thought it was a reflection.

You reached out to touch it, and the surface stuck to your hoof. The more you pulled your hoof away, the more you felt yourself being pulled into the “mirror” until you touched horns with your reflection.

You blinked, and you were in your parent’s dining room. The room was decorated with all kinds of purple streamers and confetti. A purple tablecloth was spread across the dining room table, and lots of tea sets from your grandmother’s tea set collection was on top of that, along with platters of tea sandwiches, and one large purple cake in the center.

The familiar scene began to click in your mind as Raven Luster’s green face entered your eye line. She had crafted with paper and pipe cleaners a pair of white bunny ears that she wore on top of her head. With a smile, the pegasus stuck a top hat made of paper onto your head behind your horn.

“She’s coming!” RL whispered excitedly, and sure enough you heard hoof steps on the front porch. As she pulled you down into a crouch, you slipped into this memory like you’d been there the whole time. You remembered worrying about Naturally Unique liking this surprise un-birthday birthday party you had planned with RL. You had only recently befriended the lavender unicorn, so you didn’t know her likes and dislikes very well. You had found out that NU’s birthday had past before you even knew about it, so you collaborated with Raven Luster for a week with a theme you thought NU would like: Sweet Noble in Wonderland.

After she knocked, you turned the front door knob with your magic so as to stay hidden. The front door creaked open, revealing the uncertain mare in question.

“SURPRISE!” You and RL shouted in unison, throwing confetti at NU. “Happy Unbirthday!”

The mare’s shocked expression turned to jubilation as she hugged you both tightly.

“A party for me? Thank you!” She giggled.

“We got you presents, tea, and cake,” you shared. With eyes shimmering with tears, she smiled the biggest smile you’d ever seen her do before. Together, the three of you ate, drank tea, and chatted about all sorts of little silly things- at least until you heard RL calling you.

“What?” you asked your friend seated next to you.

“I didn’t say anything,” she replied with a shrug. But then you heard RL say your name again, and this time the pegasus’ mouth was closed.

“How are you doing that?” you asked in a half whisper.

“You must be hearing things. Want me to boil more water?” NU asked, reaching a hoof towards a teapot.

“No, I’m the hostess, I’ll boil it,” you insisted. You lifted the teapot with your periwinkle-colored magic and departed to the kitchen.

“What weirdos,” a growly voice in your head commented, which caused you to nearly drop the teapot in surprise. You looked around yourself, but no pony by your friends in the dining room were nearby. As you filled a kettle with water, the voice entered your head again.

“They are way too cheerful.”

While setting the kettle on the stove and turning the burner below it on high, you spoke to the voice under your breath:

“What are you talking about? My friends are always-” pain interrupted your train of thought as your correct memories stumbled in.

Naturally Unique had not been pleased to be surprised, nor had she liked being the focus of that party. She stayed and accepted her presents, of course, but she had been pouty about your surprise the entire time. Even now, she still gets sensitive about the word “party”.

The whistling kettle brought you back to the present, and you refilled the teapot as the two sets of memories fought in your head. Your body moved in autopilot back to the dining room, and as you poured yourself more tea from a teapot that had been sitting for longer, you tried to focus one way or the other.

“NU… are you really enjoying yourself?” you managed to ask. The unicorn looked at you, and seemed confused at her surroundings.

“DAISY DAEDAL!” Raven Luster screamed in desperation. You looked in her direction, and saw a bedraggled version of your friend leaning towards you from a tear in the wall. To her left, another Raven Luster sat, a docile smile on her face. She seemed unaware of anything but the tea party.

“GRAB MY HOOF!” the worried pegasus yelled urgently. You had never heard RL raise her voice before, yet someone the urgency made her seem more real- so you obeyed.

“Grab NU, too!” she insisted.

“But that isn’t the real NU, is it?” you argued.

“It is- she’s just under the monster’s spell!” You looked, and saw that instead of acting out like she was at a tea party like the RL clone, Naturally Unique seemed to be staring off into space.

The hole RL leaned out of shook. You decided not to waste time questioning her further, and you tried to grab the other unicorn with your magic, only to find you lacked the energy to do so. With one hoof firmly held by the straining pegasus, you leaned your torso and other hoof towards NU, and knocked over tea cups and sandwich trays in the process.

When your hoof finally latched around the lavender unicorn’s wrist, you yanked her towards you until you had your entire arm wrapped around her body. Then you pushed yourself off the ground, helping RL pull the two of you through the hole.

The three of you stumbled out, wet and sticky, but RL continued to pull you two forward. You caught movement behind you, and turned your head to see a giant maw with long teeth.The creature’s mouth had been forced open by a long tree branch, and it thrashed about to free itself. Between the eyes on the beast’s forehead was an appendage that dangled a yellow light not unsimilar to NU’s magic aura.

Even looking at the light seemed to bring you back to the white space you had been in not too long ago, so you instead looked at it’s long, clawed feet that seemed to drag the creature across the ground.

“Where am I? NU muttered, still slightly dazed.

“Let’s get out of here!” RL insisted. The snap of the tree branch holding the beast’s mouth open gave you all the encouragement you needed to run.

You weren’t sure how far the three of you ran, but the monster didn’t seem to follow you. You all took a moment to catch your breath when it seemed all was relatively safe, and NU cast a cleaning spell to clean the gunk off everypony.
Lost and feeling wary, you prayed that the princess would bring the sun back soon.

To be continued...

Author's Note:

Fun fact: the name "Alice" means "noble" and sometimes "sweet", so I combined those two to make a pony name for Alice, rather than think of a pony pun.
I wanted to make this a two parter like The Return of Harmony, but it was taking too long to write. So part 3 will come in a couple of months, hopefully after I complete the next chapters for my other in-progress fics.