Meanwhile, in the Background...
Roseluck stretched in her bed even before she opened her eyes. She smiled at the feeling of freshly-cleaned linen and early morning sunlight against her pale fur. She turned, reaching out a hoof, opening her eyes at the familiar feeling of soft pony fur beneath it. The fur was a pale magenta, lightly mussed from tossing and turning in her sleep, as were her light lime green curls. She leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to Daisy's soft, warm, velvety nose. The soft gesture didn't wake the other mare, though Roseluck could have sworn that the corners of her mouth tilted ever so slightly up.
Then she turned around...and frowned.
The part of the king-sized bed that their other partner usually slept in was empty.
With a groan, Roseluck rolled out of bed. Daisy stayed where she was. Roseluck shook her head, exasperated but good-natured; Daisy was the heaviest sleeper out of all of them. As well as a notorious cover hog, though she'd never admit it. The quilt remained firmly under and over her.
Her worry was palpable as she made her way to the living room they shared, having a pretty good idea where the other mare was. Sure enough, there she was, snipping the leaves and stems from a hooffull of her own namesake. All three of the earth mares suffered from anxiety, to an extent; they'd all become spooked by something or other at some point in the last month, alone. But out of them, Lily Valley suffered from it the worst. It was one reason why she worked in the garden and the flower shop; it was one of the few things that could soothe her.
"Lily?" Roseluck tried to keep her voice level, but it was still deep and raspy from sleep. She winced as it cut through the still air of the morning, not missing how the pink-furred pony at the kitchen table flinched.
"Oh! Oh..." Realizing who it was that had broken her concentration, Lily managed a weak smile. "Morning, Rosie."
Roseluck sat at the table. Without asking, she reached for a hoof full of some Lilies of the Valley, snipping away anything that would make it hard to sell them in a bouquet later on. "Bad dream?" she asked.
Lily could only manage a nod.
"You wanna talk about it?"
Lily shook her head, making her golden forelock sway, catching the sunlight.
"Okay. That's fine." Creatures often raised eyebrows when they learned about the arrangement the three of them had. Roseluck's answers to the questions they often had almost always were 'communication.' That was how it worked between the three of them. Other answers were 'respect' and 'boundaries.' If Lily wanted her to know, she'd tell her in her own time; if she never did, that was fine. That was hers to hold onto. "Have you eaten yet?"
"No."
"Think you can get anything down?"
Lily opened her mouth for a second, closed it, then opened it again. "...I...could go for pancakes?"
Roseluck smiled and chuckled. "I'm on it."
Roseluck hadn't come to bed with them last night. That might not have been so concerning, Daisy thought; she'd gently shushed Lily, who was curled up in her forelegs. "We knew this might happen," she'd said; "Sometimes we all need space. It's okay." Those words had been enough to get her fillyfriend to fall asleep, her head nestled beneath her jaw.
It hadn't been concerning when Daisy found Roseluck sleeping on the couch in the living room, either. Lily, miraculously, was still sleeping; they'd become untangled some time in the night. (probably to get away from Daisy and her alleged snoring. She did not snore, thank you very much), so she stumbled onto the sight on her own.
What made her green brow furrow was the sight of the papers spread all over their coffee table. She didn't know how to read upside down, but she could still recognize all the numbers from here.
"Oh, Rosie..." she sighed. Of course all three mares were invested in their flower business; it was what kept the adorable thatched roof over their heads. But out of them, Roseluck had the best mind for numbers and finances. And much like Valley Lily, when she got into what she was doing, she'd often be at it for hours without a break.
Even the realization that she most likely hadn't come to bed because it was too late and she hadn't wanted to wake her fillyfriends didn't make Daisy feel any better.
Poor Rosie...she's gonna have a hard time at the stall today...
Daisy was right. It wasn't even noon yet when she glanced off in the direction of Roseluck's rose stall and saw her nod off, chin touching her chest, for the third time in the last ten minutes.
Shaking her head, Daisy used her mouth to hang a sign over the stall of her own namesake that said "Closed: Be Back Soon," and trotted off.
A few minutes later, she returned. Roseluck's eyelids snapped open yet again, blinking rapidly in her direction. It took her a moment to see the drink carrier in Daisy's mouth, but when she did, her face lit up. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "You got me coffee!"
Daisy, whose mouth was full, could only nod.
Balancing the cup between her hooves, Roseluck took a generous sip of the sugary, caffeine-laden treat. Daisy bit back a snort; when she pulled the cup away from her mouth, a layer of cream was on Roseluck's top lip. "Full of sugar and hazelnut cream...Just how I like it."
The conversation drew Lily to them. Her gold eyes widened at the sight of the drink carrier in Daisy's mouth. Roseluck's order wasn't the only one in it. "Wait, did you...?"
Daisy nodded, pushing her head ever so slightly forward, indicating that she should take it. She did, smiling at the smell.
Daisy finally set the carrier down. "Your favorite: chai with extra milk."
The other mares smiled fondly at her. There really was no other way of putting it; their green and gold eyes were full of love. It didn't matter how long they'd known each other; Daisy lowered her head, suddenly feeling bashful.
"Thank you so much. It's just what I needed," said Roseluck.
"Thanks, Daisy," Lily agreed.
Daisy just shrugged.
Lily was already awake when she heard Daisy gasp, swallowing a sob. She reached out, but Roseluck was already there, running a hoof up and down the area where the crest of her lime-green mane met her withers. As long as Lily had known her, that little motion had always soothed her.
"Nightmare?" she asked, voice uncharacteristically soft in the stillness and darkness of night.
Her eyes were used to the darkness; she could see her fillyfriend's curly forelock, mussed with uneasy sleep, bob.
Sombra's attempted takeover of Equestria had been taken care of, fairly swiftly, by the Elements of Harmony. Like usual. The clean-up of Ponyville had been pretty swift, too; ponies, social herd animals that they were, were all very familiar with how quickly teamwork could make things.
By all accounts, everything was fine. Or at least, it should have been fine.
But Lily was beginning to miss those first few days afterwards. She'd been a gardener for most of her life; she was used to getting her hooves dirty. Physically doing things with her hooves had always worked to take her mind off of things; helping to clean up and re-build was no exception.
It was moments of rest in between that had been the biggest problem. Roseluck and Daisy had thrown themselves into the work, too, but not to the same extent she had. If she allowed herself a moment, a second, to rest, her mind would immediately go back to that awful day that unicorn had showed his glowing red horn in their town. She'd remember a thick fog covering her mind; she'd been vaguely aware of her legs moving, though she hadn't been the one moving them.
She'd remember the same blank look in the glowing eyes of ponies she'd known as neighbors and friends.
She'd remember desperately wishing she could scream, but not being able, not being allowed, to.
Thad had been weeks ago. Their beloved town was standing and free of vines yet again, but here the three of them were, still plagued by nightmares of Sombra's takeover, of his mind invading all of theirs.
Daisy's eyes were closed; Lily's heart clenched, until she turned to her and opened her eyes. They were still that striking shade of lime-green, they were filled with tears...but they weren't glowing in that awful blank way.
Lily breathed a sigh of relief, leaning forward to kiss Daisy's nose. "We're here," she murmured. "We're okay."
"Yeah..." Roseluck whispered, draping her foreleg over both of them. In the moonlight, Lily saw that her eyes were their usual beautiful apple green. There was a haunted look in them, a look she was sure was reflected in her own yellow ones, but they weren't glowing, either. "It's us...it's just us."
Just us...In a way, that was how it had always been. Somehow, the three of them had found each other. They'd been together ever since.
"Yeah. It's just us." The words were comforting.
They stayed like that, holding each other, for the rest of the night. Lily wasn't sure sleep would come back to them, but she supposed it was all right. They were together; that was what mattered the most.
Author's Note
This is shorter than what I usually write for this fandom. But darn it all, I adore poly ships in fandoms, and this one is no exception. When I saw the theme of Bicyclette's recent contest, I couldn't help myself. I just knew I had to enter.
I'm still kinda burnt out, writing-wise (...if you know why, you know why), but I wanted to write something for this.
