Ponyfinder: The Lost Flowers

by David Silver

19 - Standing Tall

With tools in hoof, the flower mares got to building. Much of their crowd faded away. Many of them insisted that they just didn't know how to do such things. Besides, a helping hoof wouldn't be all that helpful with a hundred eager butterflies crowding around a stall when only a few that knew what they were doing were called for.

This left the flower mares, and that male flutter that had offered the tools. He was busily sawing the wood into proper shapes. Seeing him work was enough to get the other mares to grab a saw each and join him. Each worked a log each to make planks out of them in a slow but steady process. Rose looked up from her slow work. "They don't have a sawmill around here?"

"Not in this town." The flutter shrugged his shoulders. "In others I have heard. In this town, if you want something cut, you do it yourself."

"Ah... Ponyville's like that, but we can place an order from the next big town over and get the planks sent." She sawed away, knowing there was no next big town to—

"You could do that." The male shrugged. "But then you have to pay for it."

Daisy giggled as she drove her saw down into its next sweep. "Bits, enemy of a good time. Let's finish this up so we can earn some of those. Maybe next time we can order things instead of making it all ourselves."

It took longer than they had hoped for, but they soon had rough planks and, with a little help, got it hammered up into the rough shape of a stand. "Now we make it prettier." He put the saws away and drew out a collection of files. "We wear away all the rough parts of the sanding to start."

The mares grabbed a unique file each and got right to work. They knew how a wood file worked, so instructions on its use weren't required. They were polishing away the rough edges where the wood showed the most obvious signs of the sawing they had just received. The stand was slowly becoming smoother as they worked at it.

Rose let out a labored breath. "Wow, this is hard. We're making progress, no doubt, but it isn't easy. Do you have any sandpaper?"

"Sandpaper? Oh! Yes, I heard of that." The flutter bobbed his head but didn't stop his work to polish the wood. "They make it most often near the sea, where the shells are. You buy those too. I don't have extra, so the files will have to work."

Partially defeated, they did not let that stop them. They eventually worked the stand to where they could run their hooves over the wood without risking splinters. "Ta Da!" Rose stepped back. "But something is missing."

Lily leaned over and whispered something to Bold. He stepped up and chomped into the wood casually. Rather than destroy it, he left a winding mark behind. Lily gestured to it dramatically with a big grin on her face.

Daisy put down the file she had in favor of a small one better for such work. "Genius! We have to do personal touches. I say we put flowers all over it."

"I love it." Rose swapped in the same way and all the mares attacked the stand. Lily used Even the mark Bold had left, turned into the thick stem of a flower that Lily expanded with petals as if they entirely intended it to be a pretty thing that joined all the other flowers that the others stenciled and chipped into place.

The flutter clapped with obvious appreciation. "You have done well. Get your flowers, so I can stop by tomorrow." He gathered up all the dropped tools, including the ones that were still held on hooves. Once his work bag was full of jingling metal, he lifted it with straps in his mouth. "Good luck!"

Lily considered their new stand. "I love it."

Daisy nodded in agreement. "It's great! But it has nothing in it."

Rose pointed down to the temperate rainforest floor far beneath them. "So we get to gathering? I was paying attention when the crowd was going nuts and I remember seeing some of those flowers when she sent us to see what was living around here."

With a communal cry, they rushed to the nearest elevator. There weren't any flutters joining them that time. Lily inclined her head at the missing crowd. "Is it dinnertime?"

Daisy shrugged. "Well, it is about that time, so I couldn't blame them if they went to get something tasty in them."

"Not even mad at them." Rose stepped off the platform as it reached the bottom and began a spirited trot towards something. "It's time to gather some flowers for tomorrow. I refuse to go two days with nothing to offer now that we have permission."

Lily sped up to remain a short distance behind Rose. "Now, I see lots of pretty flowers." Her eyes wandered over the colored spectacle that was the forest they lived in, or jungle to be more accurate. "What kind of flower are you taking us to?"

"Flowers, several kinds of them if I remember right." Rose sniffed at the air and turned to the left. "And they aren't nearly as remote as the one we chased one time."

"I swear." Daisy stomped as she followed along. "If you get us kicked to another world in search of perfect flowers, I am going to get so mad I don't even have words for it!"

"That shouldn't happen... I think, probably, or at least, the odds are really teeny tiny." She reared up to bring her forehooves close to one another, as if wrestling some unseen object as small as possible against her resisting hooves.

Lily snorted, an expression copied perhaps alarmingly well by Bold. "Rose is leading us straight. Just because one time it leads to a whole new world of excitement and adventure that we didn't ask for doesn't mean that everytime is going to lead to a whimsical land of excitement and adventure. We should be so lucky!"

Rose laughed nervously. "I can give at least a eighty-five percent chance we are not headed directly for a dimensional, oh here we are!" She pointed to a patch of dense flowers. "Like I promised."

Lily trotted forward with a twitching nose. "There are a lot of fresh flowers, oh hey!" She grabbed a few stems free from a neat pile. "This is one of the ones they were asking for! They'll be super mega happy to see them."

With no rift between worlds making itself clear, the flower mares got to work gathering up all the pretty flowers they could. They never took all of a flower, instead gathering a few of each with little whistles and giggling cheers. The flowers that remained were gently watered and loved so that the next harvest could be just as wonderful. Daisy grinned as she gently patted the ground. "Lovely plants will keep us supplied."

Lily inclined her head. "Unless the demand is larger than we expect."

Rose swept a hoof widely. "Then we go wandering further if we have to, but this is enough for now." She snatched up the basket that belonged to her. "So let's get these back and have the stand all ready for tomorrow."

With an excited cry, they rushed back to the elevator and, with nervously pacing hooves, got a ride back up to the branches. They rushed as one to the stand and began putting up flowers and plants quickly in an ornate spread of botanical wonder.

Daisy clapped with joy. "That's looking fantastic!"

"It is." Daisy looked over to see a new female flutter had joined them silently. "Are you selling the flowers, or something else and using the plants as decoration?"

Rose leaned forward against a propped hoof. "Now there's an idea, but the flowers are what we plan on offering as soon as we open." She gestured from one bundle of petals to the next. "As you can see, we have some things that don't qualify as flowers, but are just as lovely and waiting for a wonderful home."

The flutter clapped with a little giggle. "How exciting! I thought this market specialized in things you eat." She eyed some flowers with growing suspicion. "Though some of those look delicious... Will you get angry?"

Daisy fell with a sweep at the collection. "If you want a snack, we have all diets covered. Still, why eat them when you can take them home and enjoy them for a while?"

Rose folded her arms with a smug look. "But we are in the middle of closing, so..."

She got the hint without further prompting. "So I'd better shop quickly." She began pointing her hoof as she lifted into the air. "I'll take that and two of those and... How much is that one?" She darted in at the third one she had picked, sniffing it. "Smells great to have around and more... Lovely..."

Lily cantered in place. "I picked that one, and you'll love it." She cradled the plant carefully. "Not technically a flower, but it'll fill in all the spots! It was growing in a damp and dim place, so keep it away from the window and water it well and it'll last you for a while." The flower mares were all nodding in agreement with the suggestion.

"I want it!" But her hoof did not come closer to it. "You didn't say how much it is, though."

Rose nudged the multi-colored plant closer in its little pot. They had set no prices in the small time they had. They weren't even supposed to be open yet, but Rose had seen the prices of other things. "This rare plant is going for a gold coin, and that includes all the roots. You're buying a living plant, not a stem waiting to die."

The flutter's eyes widened at the idea. "A gold is expensive, but..." She circled left and right in the air with uncertainty clearly building with every move. "It is nice. Where did you find it?"

Daisy stuck out her tongue "We're not gonna tell!" No reason to give away their Rose-flavored flower sniffer. "But we won't tell anypony where you got it either."

"A secret..." The female reached for the plant, brushing its petals with a reaching hoof. "So nice... You won't tell anyone?"

Rose nodded firmly. "Not a soul. It's up to you what you want to tell ponies about it." She nudged the plant anew. "Now, we do need to shut down. So, are you taking this with you?"

The pressure was too much! "Alright! Okay! I'll take it." She gathered up the pot with a happy giggle and a twirl in the air that only a butterfly pony could manage easily. "It's so nice! The others are a copper each?"

That hadn't been the plan... Lily gathered them up anyway, bundling them together with a bit of rope to tie them tight. "It wasn't, but you've been such a good customer. How can we say no?!"

They exchanged coins, and the female flutter darted off with her bounty of a plant and several flowers. The grin on her face implied she was quite happy with her purchase. Daisy broke into laughter. "Rose! You put the pressure on that poor mare."

"Very good."Bright Eyes landed with a soft puff of dust. "You are leaving, yes?"

Daisy dipped her head at their landlord. "For today. But we had a good day even for being open so little."

"I saw! Do you need change?" He drew out a heavy pouch of coins. "I can take my share along the way. The rest is yours to enjoy." Without missing a beat, Bright Eyes casually swapped out the gold for some silver and copper. "Already you are doing so well for yourselves. I am glad the mayor had such good eyes."

Author's Note:

Commercialism! The mares are back in their element.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Gonna have a hard time if they cant keep their first made coin in the new magical realm. With the right mojo, and lots of effort, can change worlds?

[Chrome Masquerade]

"Not in this town." The flutter shrugged his shoulders. "In others I have heard. In this town, if you want something cut, you do it yourself."

"Ah... Ponyville's like that, but we can place an order from the next big town over and get the planks sent." She sawed away, knowing there was no next big town to—

"You could do that." The male shrugged. "But then you have to pay for it."

Daisy giggled as she drove her saw down into its next sweep. "Bits, enemy of a good time. Let's finish this up so we can earn some of those. Maybe next time we can order things instead of making it all ourselves."

You know what they say: "More money, more problems."