You're Not Here

Rose woke in the middle of the night to a tapping on her window. When she saw who was there, she facehoofed. "Oh for Celestia's sake, what now?" She opened the window. "Lily, what the hay are you doing out there?"

"RosehelpmeIdon'tknowwhattodo."

"Slow down, and come inside. No, not the window, come to the back door." Rose let her inside, and that sat down in the living room. "Now, what's the problem?"

"It's Daisy. She...I...Well. You know about all those nights we went home together, and yes, things did happen. Things we don't really understand. And they happened again tonight. Sort of."

Rose sighed. "I'm glad you're finally acknowledging it, late as it is. But tell me what you mean by sort of."

"Well, you see...I was, um, you know, my face was like..." Lily made a gesture indicating between her thighs.

"You were going down on her?" Lily blushed hard but nodded, embarrassed. "And?"

"She, she started crying. I didn't realise and I kept going until she came and then she pushed me away and ran out of the house. I don't know where she went. What do I do, Rose? She's my best friend, and I scared her away."

"Lily. Do you really care about her?"

"Yes, of course."

"Do you want to be with her? You know what I mean."

"I...yes. I do."

"You know what that means, right?"

Lily sighed. "Yes. I'm a lesbian. I've been lying to myself for so long. We both have, me and Daisy. Neither of us have really been interested in stallions. We've been best friends for so long, and one night we both got really drunk and went to my place to sleep. We just started cuddling and it sort of went on from there. It felt so good to hold her against me, her warmth, her soft body..."

"And there's nothing wrong with that. Now, you better have a shower before we go around looking for her, you're a bit...damp."

“Oh. Sorry about that, I did run straight here after going to Daisy’s. Don’t worry, I know where your bathroom is.”

As soon as Lily was out of earshot, Rose sighed and rubbed her face. “Oh you silly girls, why did you have to make this so hard? Well...I suppose love is never really easy...not that I’d know from experience. Now I’m talking to myself again.” She sighed even harder and went to get a jacket.

***

“Alright, so where do we start?”

“Hm. I already went to her house and there was nopony there, so maybe...her parents’ place?”

“You know where it is?”

“Yup. I’ve been there a few times. Come on, follow me!”

“Wha- Lily, slow down!”

***

“This is it, Rose.”

“Do you want me to knock for you?”

“No, I’ll do it.” Lily took a deep breath, and knocked on the front door with her hoof. A middle-aged mare answered, giving a disapproving look.

“So it’s you, Lily. I should’ve known you were the one who got my daughter into such a state. She’s in her old room, crying. I don’t know what exactly is going on between you girls, but you better fix it.”

“Yes Ma’am. I’ll go talk to her. Thanks for all your help, Rose.”

“It was nothing. I’m gonna go home and sleep now, I’ll see you girls in the morning.”

Lily steeled herself and went inside, slowly opening the door to Daisy’s old room. She was lying on the bed, hugging a pillow. “Daisy?”

“Lily? What are you-?” She was interrupted by a hug, the breath suddenly rushing out of her.

“Oh Daisy, why did you have to run away? You made me so worried.”

“I...I just didn’t know what to do. What’s wrong with us, Lily? Why am I like this?”

“There’s nothing wrong with us. I love you, and I want to make you happy. We’ll never be happy lying to ourselves. “

“But what about our families and friends? They’re going to hate us...”

“If they really want what’s best for us, they’ll understand. And if they don’t...well, we don’t need them, as long as we have each other. You’re more important to me that anypony else in the whole world.”

“Lily...do you really mean that?”

Lily moved forward until they were almost nose-to-nose, and then kissed Daisy gently. “Of course I do. I love you, you silly pony.”

Daisy pulled her friend into a passionate hug. “I love you too.”

***

Rose eased into her bed, stifling a yawn. “Sometimes I wish people could just fix their own problems for a change. But I’m happy for those two.” You’re talking to yourself again. “Shut up, brain.” She drifted off to sleep, but her dreams were filled with snakes and chains and a cruel laugh she did not recognise.