Written by: aKaPinkiePie
Rated Everyone
It was a calm day at the stand. The sun was shining bright and it was soon time to close. A couple dozen ponies had visited. She earned enough money to live a fine life in the small town she had come to love over the decades she had lived there.
She was, however, looking forward to be able to close up. Today was her day out with Roseluck and Daisy. Maybe she should close early today? Lily figured she could give it a couple more minutes. Completely lost in thought she never noticed the pony trotting up to her stand.
“Hey Lily!” It was Lyra standing before her.
“Lyra!” Lily’s face brightened up in an instant as she was snapped back to reality. “What can I do for you?”
“I was thinking about making something nice for Bon Bon and I know your lilies are her favorite. How much for a bouquet?” Lyra asked with a friendly smile.
“That would be four bits. Would you want a little taste? It’s on me.” Lily knew that Lyra loved these flowers as much as her marefriend did and that she would never turn down a free taste.
“That does sound tempting. Thank you,” Lyra said and grabbed a lily in her magic aura. Lily recognised that flower--it was the last one she had picked before leaving for the market. Looking at the flower, one thought came to her head. What would the life of a lily be like?
Starting out as a little seed trapped in the ground. A cold and dark place. Claustrophobia must come pretty quick as you struggle to break free and get back into the sun again. It would probably feel like a never ending strife for freedom. That is, until you break free from the prison. Out from the soil you’ve come to know as the hell you were born in.
Now you feel the cool breeze mixed with the heat from the sun. You see the scenery unfold around you. Finally in the sun you can enjoy your life. Blooming into a beautiful flower ponies enjoy looking at. Mares with years of experience tend to your every need. Watering you and making sure you can grow.
Being a flower had to be very relaxing, though very boring as well. Is there any excitement in being unable to move? Probably not, but that did not mean you could not have an adventure did it? Just watching the town of Ponyville during its busy hours was an adventure itself. After the return of Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Harmony almost everyday became an adventure. What did those adventures look like to a flower?
Did flowers feel fear? Being rooted in one place at all times doesn't make it easy to escape stampedes or eager fillies. Being trampled must really hurt. Not to talk about incineration or dehydration. Ponies just move away from where the flames are. Just grab a drink if they get thirsty, but flowers? Flowers can only just sit there and pray. On the other hoof, the helplessness also leaves you without responsibilities. A life without responsibilities has to be relaxing.
What about the winter? Flowers all over die during the winter. Some lucky ones survive, true, but that is barely. Do they know their life is just six months long? Is their sole purpose to leave behind new seeds before the winter comes? How do the flowers in the greenhouses react to this? Are they glad they get to live another summer, or do they even care after they’ve left the next generation seeds?
Maybe I’ve approached this the wrong way. Maybe being equines, we are able to contemplate the value and meaning of our temporary existence in this plane of the living. Other living entities with a much more limited intellect as opposed to us will spend all of its days preoccupied with the never ending objective to continue thriving in their lives in terms of nutrition, but they will never stop and ask themselves, "To what cause?"
A lily. Something so delicate, the filigree of which some ponies have sworn their lives to taking care of, is it not the same? Having no eyes, no sense of smell, no senses like we have at all, does it make them less of a creature than us? And who are we to say we are superior? We cultivate these flowers, but what if their way of life is but another conundrum waiting to be unraveled by a unicorn? No, no. It will not come to that. If there is a secret that it is concealing, it is best to let it be and just appreciate the beauty of its existence, an existence by which may be unfathomable by me, but who am I to question the intricate tapestry of the living?
Would a flower be similar to living in a black nothingness, having no way to discern and perceive the world around it? Perhaps sensitive to intensities of light, chloroplasts perpetually sensing it and synthesizing glucose to continue its rather pointless existence on our world? Having no hearing, an everlasting hum in pitch black darkness, maybe not knowing whether it's alive or if it's dead, always being less than a pawn in the grand scheme of things.
All of these thoughts raced through Lily’s mind as she watched Lyra levitate the flower towards her mouth. That helpless flower slowly being forced towards its final destination. Never again to see the light. Never again feel the breeze. Never again feel the sensation of being watered. It’s last sight would be white teeth chewing their way through it’s life.
This exact moment in Lily’s life made her realise why she loved her life as much as she did. It made her realise why she would never want to be a flower or a fruit. This was the life she had been given by her parents. And she was going to appreciate it the for the rest of her life!
This story just proves that Lily does not have the same mindset as Fluttershy. And you know what? That's ok.
That was beautiful I love it
1384074 dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png This pleases me, but you sir are misinformed.... Twijack is best ship .
1384074 1384224
I'm sorry, you both misspelled VinylTavia.
1384237 1384224
Octavinyl? Twijack? Oh, so manestream. Not that there's anything wrong with it. Good, solid pairings. (though you must ask: Why not Twilavia and Vinyl Pie? So many unexplored pairings!)
Chryslestuna OTP FTW! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/lolface_Celestia.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/lolface_Queen_Chrysalis.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Luna_lolface.png
Also, fair warning, I am quite insane.
But [almost] every ship is best ship! Though... Rarijack, Rainbowpie, Appledash, Twiluna, Twixie, and Fluttermac are my favorites. Oh, and Spikebelle, so long as it's PG. Wait, I like SilverBelle too, and Scootabloom... Wow, I really do like almost every shipping pairing. I'm having a hard time finding one I don't like. Pretty much the only pairings I don't like are incestual in nature [Spikelight and Twilestia fall under this for me (though I can almost make an exception for Twilestia)] and anything that is marital infidelity, i.e. Shining Armor x anyone not Cadance [post wedding].....
I have a feeling I read too many shipfics...
SCREW IT! SHIPS! PREPARE FOR LAUNCH! WE STORM THE BEACHES TOMORROW!
1384017
As far as racism to pegasi goes, off the top of my head, I thought 'horsefly'.
I'm thinking that horses exist and are to ponies that monkeys are to us. So it's a combination of calling them a lower state of evolution, an insect, and something really goddamn annoying. Three for the price of one!
If I might also be so bold, going by that evolution thing I just mentioned, perhaps a good reason that the 'mudponies' get so much flak is because they didn't get horns or wings, so nothing (except a connection to the earth depending on what your writing game is) separates them from horses aside from the ability to think and speak.
...I like how I just made a wall of words describing intolerance in MLP. Like, what even the hell, me. Good job.
This is very philosophical. You even visualised yourself as a lily. Faved.
1384582
Just because they haven't been done doesn't mean they need to be. I hate pointless, random shipping. One of the worst bad habits of fan fiction.
1384743
You are doing it so very, very wrong man, hahahaha.
Also, didn't they use the word 'horse' in the Flim Flam song? Not to undo your decently thought out hypothesis, but I think canon broke it, heh.
1384224
1384237
1384582
Gonna have to second Twijack being best ship. Yeah, I'm biased, but I don't care. I wouldn't call it mainstream though. Yeah, it's more popular than Twitavia or VinylPie, but that's probably only because the characters have actually interacted a bit. It's nowhere near as ubiquitous as Vinyltavia, Lyra/Bon Bon, or PinkieDash. Or really just about any pairing involving Rainbow Dash.
Yours Truly sold me on Twijack, and shipping in general. My shields couldn't repel feel-power of that magnitude.
1385450 1385487
This first guy I'm replying to (check him out) and Yours Truly sold me on TwiJack, yes. And I normally don't support Mane 6 shipping, heh. But Yours Truly is just... It is the most bittersweet, full of feels story I've ever read. I almost didn't start writing because it was just...so amazingly well done.
Thanks for all the feedback guys! :D
Also a shoutout to Jesse for helping me out with the really philosophical part! :D
THE DEEP AND PHILOSOPHICAL PART WAS TERRIBRU.
Surprisingly deep. I didn't even notice this had turned in to a philosphical wondering until I was well into it. That's a good sign!
A few areas here and there could have used some sprucing-up. I'll point out a few:
-It was a calm day at the stand. The sun was shining bright and it was soon time to close. A couple dozen ponies had visited.
Kind of a simple and uninteresting way to start it off. Like I said, spruce it up a bit: "It had been a calm day at the stand for Lily. After the usual couple dozen ponies had visted, the work day was drawing to a close." - Something like that. You get the idea.
-Lily knew that Lyra loved these flowers as much as her marefriend did and that she would never turn down a free taste.
Another case a blunt writing. Spruce it up!
-Probably not, but that did not mean you could not have an adventure did it?
Just pointing out a small grammar mistake - Insert a comma after "adventure".
Also, while we're talking about grammar, one should writetwospaces after perioids, as opposed to one, like with commas.My mistake.-Maybe I’ve approached this the wrong way. Maybe being equines, we are able to contemplate the value and meaning of our temporary existence in this plane of the living.
This story is told from the 3rd person, so if this bit is supposed to be Lily's thoughts, then I'd suggest italicizing it. Either that or do it like this: "Maybe I've approached this the wrong way, Lily thought. Maybe being equines [...]" Otherwise it's disorienting.
As far as the content, it was quite good. Some nice philosophizing here! Just needed some improvement on the writing.
I wish you luck in your future endeavors, akaPinkiePie!
Also - 1390461 Shut up, you.
It was a calm day, and then Lily had an existential crisis. I like how you maintained an appearance of lightheartedness even as the snapshot waxed philosophy at the end. The whole thing felt very in-character to me. It might have something to do with her freakout over the baby bunny stampede in the show. I don't know for sure, but it felt right.
My one critique is that the perspective jumps from third person to second to first without any warning in the narration that we're entering Lily's thoughts. It's not impossible to follow by any means, but it was was noticeable.
1423381 Yeah, when I helped with that part, I wrote it in first person and I suppose aKaPinkiePie neglected to amend that.
1384582 Give my regards to Count Stradh. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Spike_lolface.png
I was gonna say some stuff, but this guy 1423381 covered it. Hm.
Personally, I think that with this sort or thing, you really need to go big or go home, that sort of thing. When approaching such a philosophical topic, use a vastly different vocabulary and sentence structure in order to give that stark contrast of every day life and inner mechanization of the mind. Alternatively, you could gradually shift towards that writing style so that readers don't notice at first, until you start using pretentious words like gestalt and anathema.
In any case, it was a fun read. The world needs more flower sisters.
It feels a bit rushed and confusing. I feel like I understand the aim but that I didn't get the execution. no pun intended. Still a nice piece.
1515805
Good one.
This one was a little short, but I like the deep thinking thing. Even if it is about flowers. Lily should have also mentioned how some flowers are food for ponies, like daffodils and daisies.
~LATEP