Roseluck stared at her flower garden from the back porch of her house, their stems of green and petals of countless colours dancing in the chilling autumn air, some already having flicks of brown and grey, some already drooping and wilting, withering to husks before resurrecting into beautiful spectacles of greens, whites, oranges, reds and so many more.
Roseluck gave a melancholic sigh, wrapping her winter jacket just a little bit tighter with her forelegs. Her mind drifting to days long past, gone, like autumn leaves rotting to dirt.
Her mother and father never payed attention to her, leaving her home alone while they traveled and when they did pay her attention, it was with anger at a mistake or a accident she caused, a mistake they'd call her, Roseluck sniffed, hoof raised to eyes pricking with tears, just remembering that day hurt. Daisy and Lilly were just some neighbors back then, their home a reprieve from the crowded loneliness of that house, the three grow to be close friends.
On her sixth birthday she got her greatest present and greatest tragedy. Her mother and father died in a airship crash, a Crystal Pony AA gun emplacement was supposedly the cause.
The Crystal ponies, oh how they cling to their traditions, their culture, their legacy. Unlike most ponies, the Crystal ponies didn't shy away from violence, relishing it when it came to them, yet treating it as a chore when they had to start it. Roseluck looked at the solid wall that was the clouds. Not many regular Ponies appreciated the Crystal ponies, calling them brutes, hoarders, cruel murderers and criminals.
Roseluck gave a sigh, idly watching the thin, near invisible mist of her breath. She couldn't bring herself to hate the Crystal ponies the same as other Ponies, it would be like somepony she didn't know or particularly liked barging into her garden, rearranging her flowers and telling her she was gardening wrong and that she was a horrible pony for having it the way it was.
Then again, she may be biased since they opened the doors to her having a real family. Roseluck looked back down at the flowers. The Crystal ponies lived persistent in warrens or as nomads when the rest of equestria would rather see them gone or converted to their own ways of life, Roseluck gave a angryer sigh, what a waste that'd be, a death of perspective.
Death is a funny thing, not in a pinkie way, but in the multifaceted way. There is death of body, processes failing all at once or one by one until the body can't sustain its self. Roseluck gave a shudder, the sudden awareness of both her biological clocks ticking. will she grow old like Granny Smith, fading away surrounded by loved ones or will she come to a quick and sudden end? Most likely from some monster attack.
Will it be painless or the burning of a thousand fire ants?
One of the red roses swayed in the breeze, petals falling slowly and she wondered.
Will her death be as gentle as this flower?
Roseluck shifted on her cushion, her mind drifting to school where she meet friends outside of Lilly and Daisy, and Roseluck's greatest source of happiness and her greatest regret.
Cheerilee always had this infectious optimism, that everything is going to be okay, that no mater what gets you down that you can always get up again; that optimism was what drew Roseluck to Cheerilee after some bully troubles then it was the way her eyes shined with care and attentiveness then it was her pretty smile and next thing Roseluck knew she was head over tail for the now school teacher.
Roseluck never had the courage to ask Cheerilee out, "What if she doesn't like fillies that way? What if she doesn't feel the same way? What if confessing my love ruins our friendship?" she'd worry herself sick, sometimes literary on these hypotheticals. That fear of ruining their friendship becoming moot as they drifted apart more and more.
Roseluck smiled bitterly, standing up and trotting through her garden.
There is death of mind, that decay of memory, creativity, innovation and reason, those things that separate Ponies from basic animals. To have such thing degrade until a Pony is nothing more then a hollow prey animal or a husk, to be like a house with the lights on but nopony home, a perfectly good wagon but nopony to pull it. Roseluck shuddered absent of the cold. Could a pony be preserved by one of those new computers that Twilight recently invented? Can a pony's mind and heart be broken down into ones and zeros? And if so, what of the copies of the copy? Would they be the same pony or would time and experiences make them new ponies?
Another rose, it's petals a deep blue with a silvery centere, a petal falling and then carried on the wind.
Will her death be gentle as this flower?
Three fillies shouted out in the distance, giving everypony who heard it a start, charging head first to find their cutie marks, the CMC, the sisters of Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Roseluck gave a derisive snort, those three aren't fooling anypony, Roseluck patted her lower barrel, just above her teats, would she be a good mother? Could she give a foal the love, affection and morals that they'd need?
It's odd how some Ponies are better family then one's own flesh and blood, her two friends turned sisters and their parents pulling Roseluck out of the pit of neglect she found herself in, the hugs, the talks and their general presence felt smothering at the start then melted to things she cherished, she'd quickly found that she was the bravest of the trio, always the one to deal with a spider, rat or mouse. A smile crept up her muzzle, eyes trailing the dying flowers, her orchids suffering the worst with large splotches of brown, petals almost withered completely.
Will her death be as gentle as this flower?
Is it even possible to ask her one and only crush? Had that ship sailed already or is there still a way to catch it and board? Lilly and Daisy keep telling her to ask out Cheerilee, even when it seems Red Heart had caught her eye. Equestria has been rather peacfull for the last few years... maybe.
Roseluck looked out to the side of town that was home to the everfree forest, what was the world like before Ponykind came to be? was all of equess like the everfree forest, did Discord break something during his reign of terror?
And what about Discord, not that time he annoyed Twilight with bad puns involving oranges, but in a cosmic sense. If somepony were to kill Discord, as unlikely as that'd be, would all of existence cease? All frozen in perfect, unchanging order. Does Discord have a sibling that represents his opposite? Would his death cause all of creation to fly apart? No order at all to keep reality together.
Roseluck's old philosophy teacher liked to say that apathy is death and Roseluck was inclined to agree, death of growth, death of art, death of innovation, death of legacy.
Death of caring.
"Rose! Diner's ready," Daisy called out from the backdoor to the house they shared, her face turned in slight worry.
"Coming!" Roseluck called in return, a genuine smile growing, trotting to the door, taking one last look at the decaying garden.
Will her death be gentle like her flowers?
Roseluck closed the door, trotting to the the dining table with her sisters, eggs and bacon being served by Lilly.
Roseluck gave a content breath.
Maybe, maybe not, but until that day comes, she'll live her life.
Author's Note
A one shot
