Ponyfinder: The Lost Flowers

by David Silver

26 - You Have Mail.

Rose stirred from sleep with a tapping at the door. It didn't sound like Tree, she had a different sort of knock. Who was it? "Coming." She half fell from bed as she staggered to the front door and grabbed the handle. She was sleepy enough that she forgot her hooves didn't work that way. "Right..." She grabbed the knob in her mouth and twisted it open. "Who--Oh!" Sleep fled her instantly.

"Who's at the door?" came the sleepy call of Daisy. "Tell them to come back later."

"Your highness." Rose dipped low. "It's good to see you."

"Twilight will do." She stepped inside with a bright smile, followed by the rest of her crew, another pony, Spike, and his girlfriend, Soft Mane. "When did you get so formal?"

Lily sat up so quickly, her beaver hissed and looked for the source of danger. "Is that Twilight?!" She focused on the named pony and hurried over to her in a tackling hug. "It's so good to see you!"

Twilight returned the hug with a soft smile, much more accustomed to that sort of greeting. "Nice to see you too. You've acclimated to the local plane, I see."

Daisy flopped free of bed. "We did the what?"

Twilight booped Lily's nose, close as it was. "You have the bodies of Everglow ponies. Don't panic, this will--"

"--wear off, we know." Rose waved that objection away. "When we get back to Equestria. Are you here to do that?"

Spike blinked softly. "That was the idea, but you're a lot less panicked than I thought you'd be."

Soft rolled a hand slowly. "Not going to lie, I was also expecting you to be in a less... collected state. I'm glad to be wrong on that."

Daisy scrambled to her hooves. "Are we in a hurry? I'd want to say bye before we vanished... We made some friends."

Lily bobbed her head. "If we go without saying bye to Tree, I'll just die."

Rose hiked a brow at Lily. "I thought you'd be more worried about your beaver." She pointed at the beaver. "Twilight, everycreature, that is Bold Support, and he's basically Lily's pet, even if she hates it when I call him that."

Lily and Bold scowled in unison. "He's way more than a pet. He's my other half; my partner!" She hugged close to Bold. "He can come with us, can't he? Equestria can deal with one extra beaver."

Soft crouched down on the level with the beaver. "Hello there... You've found a partner to dance with, even if you two have no intention of those particular steps. How lovely. All Lines Made One, in their different ways."

Spike got a hand on her shoulder. "Uh, what? Are beavers, like, part of the religion?"

"No!" Soft poked him in his belly. "That'd be silly. She's a community god, and a god of species coming together. They are both of those, union across species lines, and it's blessed in her eyes. That they can forge a community despite it is a wonderful thing."

"Not to question what seems like a good mood." Spike rubbed behind his head as he leaned back against a wall. "But when did you learn so much about Lashtada? Not like anycreature slipped you a book on it."

"We lost that." She scowled at that distant memory. "But I am still a vessel for her power, and I have been slowly gaining bits and pieces, putting it together. I'll write my own book, with her help. We could make it faster, rescue her children and ask them directly?"

Twilight threw a hoof in front of Soft Mane. "Woah there. We're already on an assignment. Let's not get distracted." That was a whole other tale of another purpose. "Now, none of us appear to be in any immediate danger, so I have no specific issue waiting a day while you say your goodbyes. I'm not a mon--" She was hugged by three Everglow ponies that had once been Equestrian. "You're welcome?"

Rose unleashed a thunderous yawn. "Now... You arrived in the middle of the night, so I'm going back to bed. Tomorrow is goodbye time, not this second."

The other flower mares took her cue and soon all three of them were snuggled warmly under their blankets and their soft snores filled their room as if someone hadn't come a dimension away to rescue them.

"Hm." Fast looked from the occupied beds to the rescuers left standing. "We'll... want to get temporary lodging, I imagine?"

Twilight brushed past Fast to the outside world and its many colorful inhabitants. "That would be a good idea, but I have a spell for that, I think." She willed a book to float free and began flipping through the large tome. "When in Everglow..." The book was full of Everglow arcane spells. "Now I heard... I thought..." But she hadn't actually learned that spell. "Darn... Do they have spells around here?"

Fast stepped side for Spike and Soft. "They have a library/temple. I would imagine they'd have a few spells, or Princess Luminace would weep."

Twilight smiled softly. "I imagine she would. She does like a spell, now... where?" She turned around in place, but there were countless branches leading in equally myriad directions that she didn't know.

Spike chuckled softly as he lifted on his wings. "Twilight, have you thought of just asking them? I bet they know." He zipped in front of a flutter that didn't seem to be in a hurry. "Hey!"

"Hello!" The male flutter looked Spike over curiously. "Oh, a luminous dragon! I never saw one in person before. That's exciting!" They clapped their hooves with joy. "How can I help?"

"Uh..." That was a new term for him, and yet, a friendly meeting. "Hey. We're looking for the library, actually."

"Of course! What else would a luminous dragon be looking for." He pointed off in the distance. "Go straight there. It has a big book picture over the door, nice and easy to spot."

Spike pointed down at his friends. "They don't fly as good."

"Oh!" He colored with a nervous giggle. "Silly me." He came down and landed among the group. "I'll show you." He trotted off at a brisk jog as their personal tour guide.

Spike landed with them and started the hike towards the library. "At least they're friendly."

Twilight nodded firmly. "Very. This is much nicer than some of the other Everglow places I've visited."

Fast snorted softly. "That is a guarded compliment. Most of Everglow is a friendly place within its cities. If you weren't already planning on leaving, I'd show you a few delightful places. Have you been to Viljatown?"

"Yes," echoed Spike and Twilight at once.

Twilight coughed into a hoof. "A fine place, but visited during unideal times... every time... They have a bit of a... fighting problem?"

"Fighting problem?" Fast frowned with thought as she walked along the branch after their guide. "Oh, did you visit the fighting rings? A bit violent, but harmless generally."

Twilight fluffed up. "My friend was in one of those fights, and lost a wing! Those ponies are mad for wanting such a... sport."

"Ah... Well, some like that sort of thing, and it's there for them... Ripped limbs is not the typical ending..." Fast hurried forward, giving up on that argument for the time.

Spike came in close to Twilight's side. "Don't yell at her for it. Not like it's her fault or anything."

"I know that." Twilight sighed softly. "Just a sore subject. Good thing we were able to fix that. This world... It has countless ways to be injured, and just as many ways to undo that. A contradiction, perhaps, or a requirement, so there are still any creatures left on it!"

Soft patted Twilight's free side. "Relax. Equestria has its own issues, and doesn't even have the healing magic to go with it. I'm still a bit baffled how you deal with it. Neither world is 'peaceful' in the end, but it has its great spots. This place seems nice."

"Thanks!" The male looked over his shoulder. "We're almost there. Do you have a library card?" All the creatures following him looked about equally as clueless. "Oh... I thought, being a luminous dragon, you'd have one... No problem! You just have to ask nicely when we get there and I bet they'll fix that. You need a library card to check out any books."

The building, or more of a tree with cavities like most of them, came closer with the big book right over its entry arch. "Here we are." The flutter accelerated into almost a gallop. "This is where everyone comes to get a book. They take real good care of them for us, and we get to read them, and even borrow them if we ask nicely and take care of them." He leaned to the left even as his wings leaned to the right. "So go in and say hello! Good luck!" Without further preamble, he took flight back to whatever he had been in the middle of.

Twilight advanced with a soft sniffing. "Ah, the scent of books. Impossible to miss in any world..." She went into the library as if she were returning home.

Soft Mane hiked a thumb at the departing alicorn. "And there she goes. If they let her, she won't need a room because she'll be up all night reading up on things."

Spike chuckled at that. "That sounds like her..." He turned to Fast Shadow. "But you deserve better than that. Thanks for showing us this far. You don't even owe us anything. You... look a lot like another pony with your name, by the way. It's uncanny."

Fast inclined an ear at the small dragon. "That's why my parents named me that. It's a tradition, if you get a pony that looks like a champion, you name them after them and hope it comes true. Which it didn't. I'm just an adventurer, not any world saving... thing." She shrugged gently. "But if I take after her, she was a good pony, so I could be doing a lot worse by the way I see it."

Soft smirked at that. "Ponies have some odd customs." As if she wasn't a part of that culture. "What happens if you have a child that looks like Fast Shadow?"

"Then I get to have an awkward relationship with another pony with my name." She shook her mane gently. "And my mane, which I take pride in. I'd show her how to handle it. It took years to get it right, least I could do as a parent. Now... Twilight hasn't emerged. She's a wizard, and like most wizards, she probably saw books and fell right in. Shall we rescue her?"

"Let's" With a thumbs up, Spike led the way into the library that smelled of sandalwood incense burning somewhere out of sight. The lighting was a bit dim, but candles offered brighter light around them at tables. "Huh..." It was clean and seemed well arranged. "Not bad..."

"Hello." A butterfly landed in front of Spike. "So many new readers today. How can I help you?"

Spike looked around, but didn't see Twilight. "We're actually looking for another new reader." He raised a hand high. "About this tall, wings, horn? She's probably reading a storm already."

"Oh, her." He nodded, easily recognizing the unified pony. "She's actually at a service."

Spike blinked softly at the butterfly. "Service?"

"Like a religious one?" Soft had arrived just behind Spike, and Fast with her. "I didn't see that coming."

"She said she looked forward to seeing a service to Princess Luminace. We weren't going to deny her that pleasure." The butterfly danced on his hooves. "Eager learners are very welcome here, friendly ones even more, and she feels like she is both of those things. Luminace be praised."

Spike pointed past the butterfly. "Can we see it too?"

Author's Note:

That's the obvious solution, right?

Twilight and Co. have joined the flower mares in the wonders of Prisma! Woo!

Join the special community of folks who like my stories and/or get your own here at atreon!

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Yaay, the rescue party arrived.

4 more hours mom, Im sleepy.

[redmar]

It makes sense for an Everglow library to have a shrine to Luminace if libraries aren't shrines to her already.

[FridayPie]

11238848
At least she didn't name companion Bitey. What I totally did in Kingmaker

[David Silver]

11239029
The temple is the library and vice versa. Praise her in your learning!

[howard035]

I can't wait to see a service to Luminace!

[geomease]

So with Twilight Arriving will this series be ending soon as they all have the means to return to equestria, or will the flower trio be christened as true everglow adventurers with a true mission and dungeon trek before departing?

[David Silver]

11247707
A fine question~