Lure of the Flower

by Impossible Numbers

Drifting Away…

“I need to stop,” moaned Lily.

Daisy wanted to scream with impatience, but pity and guilt won out; she remained firmly silent.

The sundews surrounded them both, like parodies of cacti in the desert darkness. Instead of thorns, though, they bulged with dewdrops on the tips of stalks, watching the ponies’ progress with a million eyes.

“Let’s keep going,” she said as kindly as possible. “We won’t leave if we don’t make an effort.”

“How do you know!?” wailed Lily. “A moment ago, you said you didn’t know how to get out! Oh, this is it, isn’t it? There’s no hope of escape! We’re trapped! Trapped!”

Not that she’d admit it herself, but Daisy was aching along her limbs. To hear her own worries shouted aloud in that ridiculous voice, though…

Daisy ground her teeth. She said, with her voice box straining to be calm, “Please, Lily. I know this is my fault, and I accept that. But if you dare say ‘The horror, the horror!’ one more time… Aha! Here we go.”

“What? What!?”

Nodding, Daisy indicated a green hunch emerging from the blackness. The island was clear of plants, and a perfect replica of the other one she’d used. Almost as if the dream were listening to Lily’s complaints.

Both of them headed straight for it, splashing up the slope and standing and panting. Which puzzled Daisy: surely, stopping to rest should be more out of mental habit than actual physical need. If “physical need” even meant anything when walking through a dream. Yet the ache felt real enough.

A slap: she turned to find Lily flat on her stomach, utterly defeated.

“Wow,” Daisy said with a weak chuckle, “you must be really tired. Not used to walking so much?”

“Oh, what’s the point?” Lily spoke so that her jaw pressed against the lump and the skull waggled instead. “We’re never getting out of here.”

“Chin up, Lily.” Daisy reached over to give her an encouraging nudge, but relented instead and brought her hoof down. She hadn't quite earned that right, yet. Not after what they'd just been through.

Not after I almost… I mean, I was so, so close to… Oh, Lily…

Lily’s head shot up.

She stared out at the blackness.

Then her whole body jumped up into a sitting position, upright and alert. “What was that!?”

“What?” Daisy licked her dry lips.

“I saw something move! Over there!”

Dutifully, Daisy followed her friend’s pointing hoof. After a while, she said, “Where? I don’t see anything.”

“I…” Lily lowered her forelimb. “I thought I saw something.”

“Oh, Lily. Please don’t start getting jumpy. I'm on edge enough as it is.”

To her surprise, she saw Lily hang her head in shame. Normally around this point, the two would launch into a rather loud discussion on the subject of paranoia. Even Lily’s ears hung themselves.

Daisy grimaced. Not that she deserved to hold her own in an argument. She, Daisy, the so-called sensible one, after all that they'd been through, after all she'd put Lily through, had almost slipped back into bad habits again. Hadn't she learned by now?

Lily didn’t speak for a long time, and that was really worrying, because in a paranoid mood Lily could talk the hind legs off a donkey and still make him run away screaming.

What am I doing? Daisy looked aside, surrounded by more sundews which closed in like a crowd. I shouldn’t have a go at her. I’m the reason she’s stuck here to begin with. She came here because of me!

I have to look out for her.

Oh, but what if she’s right? What if she’s stuck here too?

We’ll never see Roseluck again. I’ll never get to hear her talking about whatever latest gadget and gizmo Doc’s smashed together. I mean, it’s not like I enjoyed the idea of him trying to make a time machine, but at least Rose always had that lovely smile when she talked about him.

Her lip started to tremble; hastily, she bit it hard.

And Goldengrape! I never had a chance to see Goldengrape. Not for the last time. Not properly. Oh, I don’t care if he’s much too much like an overgrown colt and can’t tell a joke to save his hide. I should have talked to him. Said something… Said… Said…

She insisted to her tender eyes that they weren’t going to cry. She wasn't a child anymore.

I told him to stay away. And he listened to me! He didn’t even break his promise! And I told him to stay away!

True, she hadn’t expected this at the time. Presumably, she’d thought of visiting him later in the week. Her memory was confused on that front. Even if she had, though, the mere thought of it bit harder.

That’s not how it’s supposed to end! It’s not! He deserved better than that! Oh, Goldengrape, I’m so, so sorry… I never told you a thing…

The haunting faces of Roseluck and Lily stared at her, deep within her own mind, yet at the same time they were unfathomably far, well out of reach, and leaving her behind. She hadn't told them either.

The secret.

Well, OK, she’d told Roseluck, or at least had tried to. But she’d never told Lily.

Opening her mouth, she felt her heart leap for freedom. Anxiety slammed her mouth shut again.

No, that was nothing. She was letting this place – or more likely, Lily’s pointing-and-staring stunt – get to her. If she buckled, the whole thing would come down. Never, ever buckle.

Anyway, there was no actual need to reveal anything, was there? It’s not as if it were true anymore. No: Lily was definitely getting to her. Honestly, this was just another dream. It’s not as if they were doomed, when they were in a mere dream.

A dream that felt so real, that every nerve ached along her legs.

Every drop of water on her forelimbs – when she brought them up for inspection – gleamed as convincingly as real drops.

Her own head buzzed and darted and flurried under the storm of half-thoughts and alerts and momentary idle senses and smells, exactly as though she were fully awake and conscious.

Yet here she was, in a world where sundews were as tall as trees. Water stretched for miles around and yet remained no deeper than wading height. Lastly, that random black mist looked like nothing she’d ever seen while awake.

Well, that was it, then. She was going mad. On top of that, she was taking Lily with her.

Lily, who was sitting there, glancing about and occasionally giving a start as though someone had pounced.

Frantically, Daisy shook her head. No chance! I’m not going mad! I’m not supposed to go mad! And if I am going mad… that’s hardly an excuse to let Lily go the same way, is it? Come on, Daisy; think! It’s up to you how far down loony lane we wander.

I need an anchor. No, more like a plant pot full of soil. Something to plant ourselves in and hold on to. Something that keeps us together.

“You remember the good old days –?” she began.

Lily rounded on her. “What? What’s this all of a sudden?”

“Just asking, just asking. You remember them, don’t you? All our school lessons together… our travels around the country… when we first set up shop in Ponyville and had all those crazy, exciting ideas –”

“Are you trying to make me feel better? Because the last time we tried this happy memories thing, I almost got eaten. So if you're trying to make me feel better –”

Daisy’s sigh stretched. Too much was going on for her to muster up a lie.

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I am.”

Lily went back to her jumpy, twitchy inspection of the surrounding darkness.

Then she added, “Um. Well, I did like the travelling. School was a pain, but going out and seeing all those shining meadows… That was a sight worth a split hoof.”

The corner of Daisy’s lip ventured a smile. “Certainly inspiring.”

“Ha,” said Lily, turning to beam at her, “remember on Clover’s Creek, when we met that deer near the forest, and Roseluck turned around and said, ‘Life is so fascinating! I wanna go to Canterlot like all the unicorns and study biology.’”

“Ha, yes. I told her she’d better start saving up for the fees, then. Oh boy, did she give me the evil eye for that.”

“Yeah, that was funny,” said Lily with a chuckle. “She wouldn’t have liked it, anyway. She only wanted to study plants, not animals.”

Daisy’s smile spread down her lips to encourage the other side of her mouth. “I liked your suggestion, though?”

“Which one? I made so many.”

“The one about taking up drama. Very appropriate for you.”

“Yes, well, I do have a flair for the literary, do I not?”

“Actually, I was thinking how much of a drama queen you were.”

“Oh, don’t you start that again.” Yet Lily’s hoof-bop, when it came to Daisy’s muzzle, was gentle, and delivered with another chuckle. “Hey, this cheering up thing was a good idea. I feel better already.”

“Glad to hear it!” Almost reaching up to her eyes now, the smile warmed her up.

“I don’t remember what you said you’d like to do,” said Lily. She nodded encouragingly.

After a while, she nodded again.

After a second while, her face fell. “Don’t you remember?”

The smile cooled. “N… No? I thought you and Roseluck remembered.”

“Uh… I don’t actually remember you saying anything. Not in so many words. Why, don’t you? You don’t, do you?”

I did.

I remember I didn’t say anything.

“Uh…” she said, fighting to keep the smile. “Never mind. Me? It was probably something childish, anyway.”

“Oh.”

As clear as her reflection on a steady pond, the day came back to her. There were bluebells blushing underfoot. They heard the whistles and beeps and chattering chirps of a friendly nightingale. All three of them stood side-by-side, Daisy at the core and the other two standing on either side, their mere presence coddling hers as though she could feel the natural heat of their living bodies.

She’d thought every day was going to be sunny. She couldn’t quite remember if she’d actually said as much; everything before the florist’s was a tangle of impressions. Only bits and pieces made sense from the whole.

“Come on.” Reluctance weighing her down, she heaved herself onto all fours. “Rest’s over. We need to keep going.”

“Oh.” Lily’s voice was small. “OK, then.” Halfway down the slope, Daisy heard: “You sure you don’t know where you’re going?”

She didn’t look back, or even stop. “Not right now, but it’s only a matter of time, right?”

“Er, is it?”

“Of course! You don’t expect us to get out by hanging around here, do you?”

They met the water, and the sloshing fell into step alongside them. Even Daisy looked over her shoulder and watched the island fade into the blackness.

“I do feel a bit better,” Lily said; her voice remained small. “Thanks for that.”

Gamely, Daisy stretched the remnants of her smile for one last push. Her mind was alone again, though. The memory, awoken by her prodding, rumbled and blared deep within. Rising to the surface.

She didn’t speak. She’d rather remember this one alone. Anyway, she’d only told Roseluck the secret, or tried to. Lily didn’t have the full memory.

Come to that, she wondered if Roseluck remembered it. Probably not. Not anymore. She’d thought it was nothing.

The tears threatened. Angry and ashamed, she clenched her cheeks for the effort and forced them down.

But now the memory came back strong, and Daisy walked on in silence while it worked its magic over her mind. And this time she kept it there; any time a patch of white tried to fade into view before her, she willed it to go down, until it opened instead inside her mind, where Lily especially couldn't see it.

Daisy closed her eyes tight, willing the thing to stay out of sight. She didn't worry about walking into anything; after all, if the previous memory had proven anything, it was that she had a slight but substantial control over things in her own dream.

Behind her eyelids, the memory brightened and rose in intensity, until she had to grit her teeth hard enough to hurt her gums, and thus remind herself that she wasn't actually there, all those years ago, standing before the florist's for the first time…

---

Comments

[Impossible Numbers]

8822405

Good comment!

I extrapolated that trait from "Slice of Life". When you spend a good amount of work and research and effort trying to build a time machine and then find out there's a unicorn spell for it, I doubt you're gonna be kindly disposed towards magic. Although he does need to think this through a bit more, for someone allying himself with science.

Absolutely. Poor Rose. If it wasn't for the fact Doc's doing this unintentionally, that wouldn't reflect well on him (heck, it probably doesn't anyway), but it's still rough.

[redmar]

Daisy really needs to tell Lily the secret she's so worried about it might be important to waking up.