Spoken by the Roses
Everything seemed so surreal around her as Alice leaned against the counter in the kitchen of the small cottage. All the minor details seemed so much more crisp than usual. The result was Alice wondering if, in fact, her subconscious wasn’t just dreaming up this world as some kind of reaction to her own twisted mind. At this thought the girl looked out the window of the kitchen to see the pegasus who had met her earlier that same day moving about the backyard as she took care of the various animals that took residence there.
Alice smiled as she witnessed the care that the pegasus would treat each of the animals with. She had unending patience and if an animal started to act up she would calmly wait as it vented its emotions. It amazed Alice to see this creature use so much of her own time to take care of this vast amount of animals that had taken up residence in and around her house. So much kindness for something so small.
With a mental snap Alice returned to her previous dilemma, was the world around her real or fictional? Not entirely sure either way Alice ran over several thoughts as to some way she could find out if this world were in fact real. As this thought danced through her head an option came to her mind and Alice turned her head to the side in order to examine the utensils that rested in the sink from the lunch that had been served moments earlier.
With a gentle hand she lifted the knife that had been used to cut the fresh loaf of bread. The human examined the sharpened blade as she ran her eyes over the several jagged ridges designed to shred loaves of bread to bits. Alice was apprehensive of what she was just about to do but sighed as she steady her grasp on the knife and pricked her thumb lightly. After the deed was done Alice removed the blade from her thumb but kept it on hand.
She had felt a twinge of pain at the puncture and had flinched slightly before she looked at the thumb, the blood that pooled from the wound was shocking in the sense that it seemed so wrong from its surroundings. While all other red in the house was distractingly bright and stark her blood was still the same as it had always been, a dull crimson. Distracted as she was, Alice didn’t notice the arrival of the yellow pegasus until she gasped.
Alice was quite the sight standing there with a bloody finger and a knife with a stain of red at the tip. The pegasus immediately ran over to the girl and took the blade from her grasp and hurriedly stashed it away in a chest of drawers, immediately locking it shut with the sharpened blade tucked deeply within. Though the girl realized this was quite the serious situation for the pegasus Alice couldn’t help but laugh at how she had reacted to the sight.
This worried the pegasus more but she didn’t have time left in the day to go get anypony to help her with this unexpected guest who seemed to have just hurt herself for no other reason then 'just because'. With this in mind the cream colored pony decided that she would watch the human for the rest of the day and first thing tomorrow after she awoke she would go and fetch the one friend she could rely on when her own knowledge on animals was put into question.
With this decision in mind the remainder of the day went largely without event as the pegasus was dead set on making sure that Alice was safe from herself and Alice was trying her best to not worry the frantic caretaker. After several attempts at trying to calm the butterscotch pony through showing her that she wasn't insane Alice eventually just ended up sitting once again on the couch in the living room of the generous pony who had taken her in.
As the time ticked by Alice began to pay attention to the idle whispers of the pegasus as she talked to the other animals that shared her abode. It seemed that even if Alice figured out what each of the sounds actually meant she wouldn’t be able to speak the language because of the technicals behind how it was formed.
The pony used the entirety of her muzzle to shape the sounds of her language for each of the words she spoke. Alice, lacking that much volume in her own mouth, realized she would be unable to recreate the vast majority of the sounds without extreme practice. With this in mind the human leaned back on the couch and looked blankly into the air. Her thoughts drifted to the idea that this world was indeed real.
The world was most definitely not imagined or, if it was, then it was most likely medically induced given how she had actually felt the pain in her finger when she had cut it. With this in mind Alice brought her 'wounded' hand up to her face and examined the already healing wound upon her thumb. Now the only thing left for Alice was to try and figure out what exactly it meant that she was now in another world that she could never hope to understand.
As the thoughts raged on within the girl’s mind the day passed and Alice soon found herself sitting in the fading twilight of the afternoon. With a smile to the butterscotch mare she rested her feet upon the couch and yawned loudly and purposefully before placing her beret on the end table behind her head. She closed her eyes and after a few moments the mare finished whatever she had meant to do that night before she retreated to what Alice assumed to be her own room up the stairs.
I really do owe her for what she’s done for me, I just wish I knew a way to pay her. Alice thought to herself. As she lay on the couch the girl got an idea for how she could show her appreciation. With a small smile Alice opened one of her eyes and noticed her art equipment resting just across the empty living room from her. With a glance around the silent apartment Alice raised herself slowly off of the couch and flinched as the springs squeaked slightly in response causing the artist's grin to vanish altogether.
After a moment where Alice remained stock still, she reached over slowly and grabbed her beret. Another moment longer in the painful silence and the girl began to move fully once again, sure that the cream colored pegasus was not descending the stairs. Her first choice of action was deciding to approach her easel and she smiled happily to herself as she moved it to the middle of the room. Once there she clicked it noiselessly open, opting for stealth rather then speed in this situation, and angled it so that she could use the moonlight leaking in from the window to provide enough light for the distinction of colors. Afterwards Alice set up her single blank canvas upon it and set about placing various paints on the metal tin she used to keep the colors contained.
She looked intently at the blank white canvas that rested in front of her as she imagined what the end result would look like. After a moment a smile crossed her face and she dipped her brush into the yellow paint. She hurriedly placed the outline upon the painting surface, occasionally pausing to look at the mare in her memories before she continued her work at a busy pace.
The night passed to the sound of the brush scratches upon a canvas as the girl busily went about painting her payment to the caring veterinarian. After the mare herself was complete, butterfly mark on her flank and all, the girl began to draw a small rabbit that stood at her lowered muzzle. The rabbit was tightly hugging the mare with compassion and Alice smiled to herself at the sight. She had seen the rabbit around the building but he hadn’t seemed to like Alice much.
With the details of the rabbit completely displayed upon the painting the girl moved on to the sprawling green grass with a forest behind it as her setting. With surprising eagerness Alice found herself drawing the painstaking details of the background. This was payment after all and Alice wanted desperately to show how grateful she was for the kind caretaker who had taken her in with no notice and had fed her from her own supply of food. It was a kindness that she hadn’t come across and she wanted to show the mare that she didn't put it off thoughtlessly.
With the background painted Alice stepped away from the painting and looked at it from her increased distance. It was immediately apparent to the skilled artist that the sides of the painting produced too much mundane space around the mare for her liking. Desperate to find something to solve this problem the girl let her gaze drift around the room until it came to something that gave her an idea.
On the table in the kitchen was a vase full of dethorned white roses. She smiled to herself at the symbolism of a rose without thorns in this current world and turned back to the painting that rested in front of her. With her keen eyes she realized that white wouldn’t look quite right among the other colors of the painting and decided on a much more bright replacement.
Alice stepped away from the painting once again, this time in finality, and habitually ran her fingers over her pants. Smiling at the finished product, Alice moved behind the easel and repositioned it, along with the painting still upon it's rest, so that it would be obvious to the mare when she came down the stairs in the morning. With that last bit of work done Alice happily placed her hat once again on the end table and laid down on the couch.
She was awoken a few hours later to the sound of a gasp and smiled to herself, the girl sat up from her impromptu bed in order to catch the look on the mares faced. It was practically decorated in surprise which swiftly changed to appreciation. The mare started to look around and caught the smile of Alice, who was looking over the back of the couch. The pegasus returned a genuine smile in response and Alice let the subtle fears of rejection disappear from her mind. She had doubted that the mare would have done such a thing, but her inner pessimism had spoken against it and left the artist unsure.
After a moment the pegasus approached the girl and leapt into the air, Alice flinched slightly at the act but the flinch turned into shock as the cream colored mare wrapped her hooves around the girl’s neck. Deducing this as an act of thanks the girl returned the hug for a moment before pulling the mare away from her neck and looked into the eyes of the softhearted pony that were slowly gathering tears of joy. Alice clicked her tongue to get the mare’s attention and, after she was looking at Alice, shook her head and pointed at the tears that were beginning to fall down the face of the mare.
Understanding the actions of the girl the mare shook her head and wiped her cheeks clean of the salty liquid. With that done Alice set the mare upon the floor once again and stood from her seat in the couch. Now upright the girl retrieved her beret from the end table and stretched out as her back popped several times. The sudden noise alarmed the mare but when she saw Alice walking perfectly fine toward the painting she smiled and shook it off as an oddity for another time.
Alice looked at the painting in this full sunlight and smiled at the way it had turned out, despite the time of day that it had been drawn at. As she studied it she felt some pressure and turned to see the mare nodding her head sideways toward the door. Alice returned with a nod and had started to head towards the destination when she felt a tug on her sleeve and saw the mare pointing towards the painting.
After a moment Alice realized the message and picked up the now dry painting from the easel; slid it into the rectangle of cloth, the one that had held the sunrise upon her arrival; and placed it once again inside the box. Then, with finality, Alice took the package that contained her painting out the door that the mare opened for her as they left. Once outside the girl was overcome by the extremely fresh air and paused to take two deep inhales of it. In the smog filled city you couldn’t find this kind of air no matter where you looked but here it was as clear as it was plentiful.
After taking her share of the refreshing oxygen the girl nodded to the mare and the two of them set out. It was clear that they were heading towards the town that sat in the distance. What would happen within that town, however, was still up to question. One thing was sure though as both of the females approached the settlement that sat in the distance, they would be importing far more questions than they would answers.
This became more than obvious when the human’s welcome to the town was composed of a flash of cyan and sudden pain in the right side of her face. Her instincts kicked in as the girl fell to the side, she quickly spun with what little traction remained in her right foot and landed on her back with the painting held tightly to her chest.
As she lay motionless on the ground she heard an exchange of ‘words’ between whatever had just hit her and the butterscotch pony who had taken her in. For a moment she merely laid there until she eventually decided to stand from her prone position and take a look at her attacker. She was surprised to see both ponies looking at her in shock as if she had just risen from the dead. Ignoring the looks she lifted her fingers to massage the side of her head where she had just been hit by what felt like a sledge hammer.
Alice's fingers touched her skin and informed her of a sickly wet feeling, hesitantly the girl brought her fingers down into view. She was shocked silent as she saw they were covered in blood that had now started to run down her hand. If her mind had ever come back from its fishing trip it would have left right then as the girl stood stock still and didn’t move.
Her actions, or rather her inactions, were imitated by her would be attacker and her caretaker until suddenly the latter of the two sprung into action. She quickly rambled off several 'words' to the blue pegasus that hovered in the air to her side and with a nod the speed demon was off again. With the attacker gone the caretaker jumped into the air and fluttered over to the human. With a determined expression on her face the pony pressed Alice’s hand against her own head. Catching the idea Alice began to push against the wound with her own strength and the mare let go to hurriedly look around the area.
She dashed off at a fast pace that was slightly slower than that of the blue mare, a minute later and she had returned with a torn piece of rough white cloth. She lightly nudged the human's hand and Alice removed it from the wound. The pressure now missing from her own hand was quickly replaced by the pressure of the ad-lib bandage as it was wrapped around her forehead and when she was done the pegasus backed away to double check her work.
A minute or two later and the would be attacker arrived with another pony. This one didn’t have wings, rather its head was decorated with a horn. Despite the urgency of the moment Alice’s breath left her in surprise as she saw the pony. Pegasus? Okay, the girl could deal with a pegasus. A unicorn though? That was something she wasn’t entirely sure she could believe.
A second passed where the unicorn hurriedly looked the human over before Alice found herself being ushered along behind the unicorn as the two pegasi pushed her lightly from behind. They quickly made their way towards a tree that stood in the distance, Alice was unsure what to make of the destination until she noticed that it was another hollowed out tree house, much like the cottage she had been living earlier.
Once inside the odd house the bandage was removed and a sponge was used to clear the blood from the wound. With the wound fully revealed the cream colored pegasus visibly flinched from looking at the lesion. This was a cue for the cyan pegasus to pull the pink haired animal caretaker into a hug to provide what comfort she could, with the pegasus in her arms the rainbow maned attacker looked to the unicorn who nodded.
The unicorn closed her eyes and slowly a glow began to emit from her horn. No way... Alice thought as the light continued to build. After a moment longer a small orb had formed at the tip of the lavender unicorn’s horn for a second before it suddenly shattered and a beam hit Alice in the side of the head where the wound was. Surprisingly the magic didn’t hurt and actually numbed that side of her face for a moment before the glow stopped and the unicorn opened her eyes. “No way, magic is real here.... Maybe I am dreaming after all.” Alice said out loud in disbelief
The other two ponies looked confused by her words but her caretaker nodded her head. Ah, so they can’t understand me either. Can’t say I didn’t expect that to happen. Alice thought to herself as she looked into the faces of the three mares that were gathered around her. After a moment the cream colored pegasus started speaking to the unicorn and a discussion started up between the mares.
As they started up a conversation that Alice was completely incapable of understanding the human removed the layers of protection from the painting and looked once more at the work of art that detailed the veterinarian amongst the several red roses that bloomed from the bottom corners of the picture. Not a moment had passed before the dark voice in the back of her head started to compare her to a rose in the manner that in order to get a proper rose bush it had to be cared for and yet it provided nothing solid in return.
It compared her to the uselessness of roses beyond that of pleasure of sight. It compared her to the red that decorated the multitude of petals in the picture, red like blood. It compared her to the thorns that were commonly decorating the flowers, the thorns were simple things that could harm those that tried to appreciate the beauty and scent of the flower but could so easily be removed by someone who knew what they were doing.
In this process of thoughts that collected amongst her she became suddenly aware of a silence in the air around her and the feeling of three pairs of eyes drilling holes in the back of her head. Suddenly she became aware of shivers running down her spine and turned around to look at the mares but paused half way when she noticed something that was different about herself. A dark aura seemed to surround the girl as she moved and the thoughts dug deeper into her head until the voices telling her to kill herself died away. With the voices out of her head the darkness that surround the girl dissipated and she sat down hard onto the floor, astounded.
For a moment nothing happened, nothing but silence as the three mares looked warily at the odd creature that had not a moment prior been surrounded by a dark aura. Suddenly the silence was shattered as the girl cried. She hadn’t cried in so long but with the culmination of everything that had happened so quickly she couldn’t help it. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back and Alice clearly wasn’t going to be getting medical attention in regards to her soul anytime soon.
With a look of compassion the cream colored mare started toward the crying human but found her path blocked by the cyan pegasus. With a few words that the flyer didn’t expect to hear from the caretaker she let the shy veterinarian through to sit next to the weeping Alice who only cried harder in response. The girl's mental capacity for emotion had finally shattered and now here she was crying. Things didn’t make sense to the girl and she very much doubted they ever would.
(Alright, first reference to Alice in Wonderland was easy to find last chapter. If you can find the one in this chapter I would like you to imagine me applauding your achievement. -N64Fan)
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The feels...
So she will never be able to speak their language, I like that, its realistic.
In any case, this is a great fic. I eagerly await more!
have some pinkies!
Loving this story so far!
Please Continue!
interesting, i cant wait for more :P
Haven't read Alice in Wonderland for ages but I'm pretty sure the reference was when Alice painted the white roses red in the painting of Fluttershy and it was in reference to when Alice (the original) came across the three gardeners (I think the card values were two,five and seven don't quote me on that though) painting white roses red in the Queen of Heart's garden when they mistakenly planted a white rose bush instead of a red one.
730172
Points for you good sir, points for you.
Now have some *Fake applause* as promised.
*Fake applause*
730482
Fake Applause?
Wonderful! I revel in all manner of internet endearments and general acclamation, be it sarcastic, emoticon-ic, onomatopoeic or otherwise.
I'm loving this story so far, really, but "dark aura"? This sounds like something I've seen done in hundreds of fics and it's never been interesting to me, still, I'm not sure exactly what it is and you might just nail it. I still eagerly await the next chapter.
That painting bit was cute :3.
731569
Would it comfort you if I told you that the dark aura wasn't related to nightmare moon in any way shape or form?
731779 Hhmmm that eliminates about 70% of times I've seen a dark aura in a story. So yeah, I guess, as long as it's something original I'm fine with it.
Well I'm sold after that chapter. Also a fic where RD actually injures someone she hits! Don't see that much.
Your story has my attention.
Yay! Plot! Dark aura = emotion showing? Anyway, wanted to show you these:
"Once inside the odd house the bandage was removed and a sponge was used to clear the blood from the wound. With the wound fully revealed the cream colored pegasus visibly flinched from looking at the wound. This was a queue for the cyan pegas-"
Injury or lesion would work instead of wound to avoid word repetition and it should be cue, not queue.
I imagine you applauding anything I do.