Lure of the Flower

by Impossible Numbers

Stuck

Darlingtonia californica. Cobra lilies. Of course.

Around the wandering ponies – Daisy leading like an unstoppable locomotive, Lily following some way behind in case of crashes – browning leaves reared up and bulged at the top: veined sails on a corrupted sea. Bloody leaves forked out of their mouths; they had earned their name, at least. Lily kept her gaze up at them in case any struck.

Fortunately, the swamp was easing up. Instead of endless green, the streaks of algae gave way to cleaner waters. With nothing but the black mist around them, they were now sloshing through darkness, but compared with before, the slightly hazy reflections of the cobra lilies were beautiful. Or beautiful according to a much-distressed state of mind.

In a way, the plants were more encouraging. These were Equestrian varieties, at least. All that exotica from Didgeridoo had put Lily's teeth on edge. Even the air felt lighter on her flanks now; the atmosphere was no longer trying to suffocate her with its weirdness.

She just wished Daisy would say something. Walking in silence was putting a gag over her mouth. If she could just use words, maybe talk the world into a more familiar shape…

“Um,” Lily said.

Still, Daisy did not look round.

Lily lost her grip on her own temper. “What is this? The silent treatment? All right, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I burst in on your dream. I didn’t know you liked it here. I thought you were in trouble. Don’t go blaming me if I’m not told everything or if I worry over whether or not you’re seriously ill, sleeping all the time like that. Pardon me, I’m sure!”

And still Daisy didn’t respond. Lily splashed with the effort of not rushing over and strangling her –

“It’s OK,” said Daisy eventually.

Good. She was saying something. Now she could turn around when she spoke.

“No, it’s not OK!” said Lily. “I’m fri – I’m getting bored here. Why did you want to stay here anyway?”

“I didn’t want to stay, exactly. I was going to come back sooner or later, once I’d figured things out.” Daisy breathed deeply, and Lily saw her belly swell and shrink under the effort. “This place… is peaceful.”

“Uh huh.” Lily cringed under a cobra tongue she hadn’t even noticed until just then. It loomed overhead.

“I mean nice and quiet. Sometimes, it’s good to get away from it all.”

Soon, once more, the last of the cobra lilies surged past and they were walking in clear blackness. Only their reflections contained any colour, and the odd sloshing of their legs through the surface merely enhanced the contrast.

“You were coming back, right?” said Lily.

“Of course. Once I’d figured out what I was going to do. Only… don’t you think this is quite a nice place?”

Lily looked around. Blackness still. Their reflections. The odd slosh.

“If you’ve got a mind for it,” she said with a shudder. “Looks dead to me.”

“No, no. It’s just quiet. And cool, too. You feel it?”

“Yeah. I definitely feel the coolness.”

That wasn’t merely cattiness, though Lily wasn’t good at cattiness to begin with; she’d only ever managed to get mildly peeved before her blood and heart insisted on getting worked up for more terrifying stimuli. In addition, the air around them felt as though it were drawing away from her skin, pulling hairs up. Part of her wanted to go back to the Didgeridoo exhibit.

“I’ve never liked dreams,” she admitted. “Anything can happen in a dream.”

“Exactly,” said Daisy triumphantly.

Lily thought a bit about the magical land of Equestria. “Well, fair’s fair, anything can happen in real life too, but at least there it sort of happens because it makes sense. Kind of. For reasons, anyway. Not always sensible ones, but…” She gave up. “You know what I mean.”

Frustrated, she upped her ambling walk to a trot. Anything to bridge the gap between them.

“You’re sure Luna’s not here?” Lily said hopefully.

“No. I thought you brought her. How else could you get in a dream?”

“Doc had a helmet,” said Lily. She reached up to her scalp. Same strange weight on it, same intangibility when she tried to move whatever it was.

“Oh. Right. You said.”

“Admit it; you’d have been stuck in here forever without us.”

“No.” Daisy turned her head so Lily couldn’t see her face.

“Yes. I’m watching you. I know you. You don’t really have a clue how to get out, do you?”

“I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

“I have lots of clues. Lots of ideas.”

“You were stuck in here, weren’t you?”

“No.”

“Someone would have had to come in sooner or later. You don’t even know where you’re going.”

“No.”

“You were stuck.”

“No.”

“You don’t know how to get out, or you’d have gotten out.”

“No.”

“You’re really stuck, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“You are. Own up.”

“No.”

“You are.”

“No.”

Lily shrugged. “All right. Have it your way, then.”

A pause. They wandered onwards.

“Yes!” Daisy said, and she sighed. “Yes, all right? I don’t know how to get out! What am I supposed to do, just wish myself awake!? I’ve never been asleep this long before! I don’t know what I’m doing! I don’t know how to leave! I’m not even sure I want to leave!”

Having almost drawn level with her friend, Lily suddenly stopped. The words hit her over the head. So many rushing emotions crammed into her heart that, for a moment, the thing went out and cut off all life in her limbs. She swayed.

Then it burst through. Sloshing furiously, she surged forwards. Daisy hadn’t even noticed her fall back, but at the surge coming towards her, she looked round in fright and Lily’s glare gripped her face and held it.

“How can you say that!?” Words burst out of Lily’s mouth. “Daisy, do you really think, just because the shop’s having a hard time, we’re going to drop you like a broken plant pot?”

“I didn’t mean that.” Daisy shook as though feebly struggling against the grip of the glare.

“Something’s clearly bugging you, and you expect us to ignore it, do you? Well, tough. I am not going to sit by or stand by or whatever and let you kick yourself into a corner. For goodness’ sake, just tell us!”

Daisy mumbled, but through the ringing and the blasting, Lily’s mind caught none of it.

Lily backed off. More gently, she added, “Your problem is our problem. Maybe if you talk to us, we can work something out together, or… or, I dunno, just hang together, like we always do. When we’re together, there’s nothing that we can’t overcome… Well, there is, but we can at least run away from it together. Or hide from it together. Or, uh, just be together. Oh, look, I’m rubbish at encouraging speeches. All I know is, you shouldn’t bottle things up like this. We’re your friends. We want to help you.”

Daisy’s face was sodden with misery. Her eyelids were coming down. The corners of her mouth sagged with it. Even the skin under her eyes had bags of depression. Yet she cocked her head, as though listening to whispered instructions. In the end, she shrugged.

“Maybe I’ll think about it,” she mumbled.

Lily relaxed. This was something. She couldn’t help noticing, however, that Daisy was inching away while they walked, as though a pit were opening up between them. And now she was looking away.

Feeling she had to do something, Lily moved across and nudged her friend's neck with her own muzzle. “Chin up. I’m sure we’ll find a way out sooner or later.”

They carried on while she waited for an answer. The maddening feeling crept up on her again.

Soon, new plants emerged from the mist. They were sundews. Was it just her, or were they packed together a little more tightly than the last lot of plants?

---

Comments

[Impossible Numbers]

8791401

Really? I thought it was common enough to be unremarkable, but maybe I was mistaken.

One can only hope. More coming up over the next few days, so stay tuned!

[Whinifree]

What sort of wacky adventures await as we delve into the deepest reaches of Daisy’s psyche? You had my interest. Now you have my attention.

[Impossible Numbers]

8791452

I don't know about "wacky" - given that it's a Dark Mystery Drama, those tags don't allow a lot of room for "wacky" - but nevertheless, I'm glad to see such enthusiasm.

[Whinifree]

8791471
Wackily dramatically mysteriously dark?

[Impossible Numbers]

8791478

Sure. Let's go with that.

[Whinifree]

8791505
Okie dokie lokie! Also if you like dark and mystery I’m working on an epic with those two genres.

[Sypher]

Hehe, that's great exchange between Lily and Daisy.

Really liking the character work in this story. Everypony feels reasonable/realistic, even though at times it feels exaggerated for effect.