Forbidden Flowers

by Dragonqueen5900

Chapter 6: Confiding in a Friend

The door slams behind her as Orchid enters into the living room of her home. Another long, exhausting shift has come and gone, and the particularly stressful conversation with that changeling officer has left her reeling emotionally. She drops her saddlebag against the wall by the door, and strides over to her couch, nearly falling down on top of it with the weight of the day.

Leaning back into the comfortable, flower-patterned fabric, she tries her hardest to forget the things she had said only minutes prior. Despite her best efforts however, her mind inevitably ends up berating herself for it. “Stupid! You don’t talk back to a changeling! What were you thinking…” Her anxiety getting the better of her, and she buries her face within her hooves and groans. “I’m gonna get sent to a camp or something… they probably know where I live too!”

She finds her determination to continue helping her friend wavering in the face of fear. “Why did I have to agree to help Marble? Every time I’m near that officer I swear I’m two trots from a heart attack.”

Sitting upright again, she rubs her eyes with her hooves, pushing her glasses up onto her mane. “Sweet Celestia, Orchid, get a hold of yourself!” She says to herself. “Remember what Sky taught you. Breathe… You can do this! It’s for a good cause.”

Slowly taking breathes in and out for a few minutes, Orchid finally manages to calm down. She sits there on the couch for a while more, quietly shoving her thoughts to the side. “I can deal with those later. I’m home now.” After making her head as empty as she can, Orchid relaxes, finding the moment rather pleasant.

Her calm, however, is broken too soon by a pang of hunger in her stomach. She lurches upright, suddenly acutely aware that she hasn’t eaten anything besides some oatmeal today. “Dammit… I should probably get something, sleeping on an empty stomach isn’t fun.”

She begrudgingly pulls herself to her hooves, and trots over to the kitchen. The room is a rather simple affair; separated from the rest of her house by a half wall, it contains only the bare necessities like a stove, sink, a refrigerator, and some cabinets. Orchid never has a whole lot of food in the house, but she makes sure that she at least is stocked up on staples like flour and oats and such, as well as any leftovers he might have.

She checks inside the fridge, scanning over the sparse contents until she sees half a daisy sandwich she didn’t finish the other day. “Better than nothing I suppose.” Removing the plate from the metal rack with her mouth, Orchid brings it over to the coffee table by the couch and sits back down. She eats her dinner slowly, taking off her work clothes in-between bites and placing them besides her. The daisies are a bit wilted from having spent a day or two in the fridge, but it still tastes good, even if her food doesn’t last long.

Having finished her meal, Orchid’s face relaxes as her hunger subsides. She’s not full by any means, but it should at least tie her over until the morning. Casting a cursory gaze up to the clock, she expects it to be time to go to bed given her unusual schedule the last few days. Instead, she is pleasantly surprised to see that it is only 8:02. “Huh. I guess having to work overtime yesterday threw me off a bit.”

Given that she has some free time this evening, Orchid begins considering the option of hanging out with one of her friends with the time she has left. It might be what she needs to get her mind off of things. “Perhaps Blueberry is open? I should call her.”

Orchid gets up and walks over to the telephone mounted on her wall. There is a book of phone numbers laying around somewhere, but she has the number she will be dialing memorized, having called it many times before. She enters the numbers one at a time, spinning the dial with the tip of her right hoof and holding the receiver to her ear with her left. A series of prolonged beeps follow as it connects to her friend’s line, and eventually a familiar voice comes through.

“Hello, Berry residence, who is this?” Says a mare. It is definitely Blueberry, given her warm voice and Bronclyn accent.

Orchid leans up against the wall by the telephone, shifting the receiver over to her right hoof. “Hi Blueberry, it’s Orchid.”

The voice on the other end of the line suddenly becomes much friendlier. “Oh Orchid! Good to hear from you hon. How’re you doing?”

“I’m alright.” She lies. “I was wondering if you would maybe be open to meet up somewhere this evening? Perhaps get some drinks at the tavern?”

A brief pause follows before Blueberry responds. “Uh, sure! Yeah, that sounds lovely. Just let me get ready and I’ll be there in about half an hour, that sound good?”

“Yeah, that’d be perfect. See you soon.”

“See you soon.”

Having successfully arranged the meet up, Orchid places the receiver back on the box with a clack, and takes a deep breath. “Guess I should get ready too.”

Pulling herself away from the wall, she heads over to her bedroom and pushes open the door. Orchid figures that since she actually has some time today, she might as well put on some better clothes than the simple, white dress shirt and pants she wears for work. “I’ve been caught in that far too many times recently. Now I finally have the chance to wear something that actually looks nice.”

She thinks of the sparse times she’s had the time or energy to socialize, with most of them being at the Tavern immediately after work. At the thought of her job, her face furrows in annoyance. “If I’d known they’d be making me work so long all the time I wouldn’t have signed up!” She breathes out in frustration, but then deflates in defeat as she remembers a certain key detail. “Though I guess that is just the normal now… damned changelings…”

Orchid puts her thoughts aside for now and finishes getting dressed. After some deliberation, she decides on a soft, violet-colored sweater and grey slacks, perfect for a casual evening hang out. Looking at herself in the mirror, she manages to smile for the first time she can recall in several days. “Oh, how I miss actual clothes! I’m glad Blueberry was open, otherwise I’d probably just sit here watching television until bed.”

With her outfit selected and a rare positive attitude gracing her, she grabs the small bag containing her bits and identification then heads out the door, locking it behind her. The walk to the tavern isn’t long, since she lives just up the street from it, something she is frequently grateful for. The nighttime breeze brushes against her face and mane, bringing with it a pleasant chill which her clothing selection is perfect for.

The sidewalk on the way is fairly empty, with only one other pony, a tired-looking unicorn stallion, passing her, though they pay each other no heed. Within a few minutes of trotting since she left her house, she arrives at her destination. The familiar entryway to the Portside Tavern is lies in front of her, and she can hear the sounds of merriment inside. A gentle smile spreads across her muzzle at the welcoming sight, and she moves in through the door.

Unlike the last time she was here, it is much livelier, with about two or so dozen ponies scattered throughout the booths and barstools. She pays a respectful glance towards Bluestar as she enters, who gently waves a hoof back at her while taking an order with a pen and piece of paper held in their magic. Orchid then surveys the place in search of her friend, in case Blueberry beat her to it.

Her suspicion appears to be correct, as she eventually spots the light-blue earthpony sitting at a table by the window. She marches straight over and taps her friend on the shoulder with her hoof to let her know she’s here. Blueberry turns around, and a warmhearted smile stretches across her face as she recognizes the pony behind her. “Orchid! It’s good to see you! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Orchid takes the seat across from her, returning her friend’s smile in earnest. “Yeah, it’s been far too long. Over a month, I think. What’ve you been up to?”

Blueberry leans back in her chair, and looks out the window. “Oh, not much. Work’s been a pain as usual, and I had to stay home a few days last week because my son got sick. My boss wasn’t very happy with that, but it’s not like she can fire me for it.”

“Is Berrytwist okay?” Orchid asks, voice laden with concern. She’d only met Blueberry’s son once a few years ago, but she remembers him being quite young at the time, around 4 or 5.

Thankfully, Blueberry nods. “Yeah, he’s fine now. Just a bit of a cold. Bad enough that he had to stay home from school though. He’s still trying to catch up on the homework.”

“Well I’m glad he’s better now.” She offers.

Her friend nods again. “Me too.” There is a momentary pause as she still looks through the window, then turns back to Orchid. “How about you, hon? Anything been happening recently?”

“That’s a hard one to answer…” She considers the events of the last few days carefully, weighing whether to tell her or not to tell her everything. “I really don’t want her to worry about me, and I especially don’t want to have to think about it more than I need to. But on the other hoof, having somepony to talk to about this might be nice.”

Another moment passes, and Orchid finally makes her decision. “To be honest, a lot has been happening lately… a little too much, I think. I’ve been having a hard time because of it.”

Blueberry’s face tilts in concerned compassion. “Oh hon, I’m so sorry to hear that. Is it something at work? Or that weird inspection the changelings did a few days ago? Something else?”

Orchid takes a deep breath in preparation, then begins to explain. “Well, yes, but it was mostly something else. So about three weeks ago, a pair of changeling officers started making it a regular thing to visit the café in the morning. It was a little nerve-racking at first, but I’ve had changeling customers before.” She pauses to take another breath, then continues. “But then Marble said that I should try to get in with one of the officers to see if I can get anything helpful for his rebellion. I didn’t want to agree at first, but something… I don’t know… I was convinced to help him anyways. So I was building up my confidence when that inspection happened, and my boss gave me a double shift like an asshole and then when it was just me alone in the café, one of the fucking officers came in and asked me to talk with her a bit and I got really scared and then she came and approached me on my way home earlier today and we talked about things and I might’ve said things I shouldn’t have because I was trying to help Marble and I’m probably going to get arrested or beaten on something…”

She doesn’t realize her whole body had tightened until she feels a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, and the caring smile of a friend. “It’s okay hon, breathe. No changeling is going to hurt you on my watch.”

Orchid near collapses on the table from the release of tension. She feels like crying. “I’m so sorry, that was a lot and I kinda ranted a bit, I know you probably have your own problems…”

“Orchid, stop it. I’m more than happy to listen to your problems, especially when it seems to be impacting you this much. Please, just, calm down a bit. I’m here for you.”

She follows the advice and breathes for a few moments. Orchid definitely didn’t realize how much she had been bottling up, and feels guilty for pressing it all on Blueberry. She knows that her friend is the type of pony who would care for her no matter what, but that doesn’t stop the aching feeling in her chest. “Thank you… I didn’t realize how much I needed to talk to somepony about all this.”

Blueberry smiles, and takes one of Orchid’s hooves in her own in a comforting gesture. “I’m just glad you decided to call. I can tell you’ve been letting this get to you.”

Orchid merely lays there, absorbing the comfort in silent appreciation.

“Now about Marble getting you to do all this…”

The sudden shift causes Orchid to jerk upright, not wanting Blueberry to get mad at her other friend for something she chose to do. “No no no, it’s fine. I’m the one who did this, please don’t get upset with Marble over this.”

All she gets in return is an incredulous look. “You really expect me to believe that you, the pony who I’m pretty sure gets a panic attack from looking at a changeling, chose willingly to talk to one to help a rebellion she’s said before she wanted no part in, completely of her own volition?”

“Well when you put it like that it sounds ridiculous…” Orchid looks around nervously, still trying to defend her friend’s integrity. “Yes?”

Blueberry sighs. “Look hon, we’ve both known Marble since we met in the factory, and we both know he takes whatever he does very seriously. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to force something like that on you, and given your explanation that seems to be exactly what happened.”

“I… He… It’s not like that…” She turns to look out the window in an attempt to avoid her friend’s glare. “He asked me to, and I agreed to do it.”

“Uh-huh. And how is that going so far?”

She groans quietly at the memory of earlier. “Auugh, horribly. I feel terrified whenever the officer speaks to me, despite the fact I seem to have caught her attention for some reason, and I’m pretty sure I caused her an existential crisis or something? I don’t know, she looked really distraught at one point and I actually felt kinda bad.”

Blueberry raises an eyebrow in a quizzical expression. “Orchid? Feeling bad for a changeling?” Her tone somehow comes across as both joking and serious at the same time.

“Shut up!” Orchid retorts, emotions too muddled to sound like anything in particular. “I’m trying my best!”

Sighing, her friend sits back in her chair to give her some distance. “Look hon, you’re clearly really stressed from all of this. If I were you I’d just forget about whatever Marble said and go back to doing your normal thing.” Orchid attempts to look away, but is caught by an intense stare. “If you want to talk about it more, I’m here for you, but please just stop. This isn’t healthy.”

Verbally cornered, Orchid finds she has no choice but to concede. She sprawls her hooves and head across the small table before her, simply exhausted from how much she has carrying on her shoulders. “I’m sorry… it’s just been so much…”

Orchid’s drooped ears perk up at a gentle stroking sensation felt across the top of her head. She looks up from the dark embrace of her forelegs to see Blueberry comforting her, a serene smile upon her face. “I know hon, I know. It’s a really brave thing you tried to do. Just relax for now, I’m here for you.”

Accepting the gesture, Orchid lays there within her hooves for a moment as her friend strokes her head. The calm, repetitive sensation sends warmth throughout her troubled mind, and finally she begins to unwind the tangle of stress and worry.

She sits up again, eyes slanted downward, a little embarrassed, but calm. “Thank you. I really needed that.”

Blueberry smiles. “You’re very welcome. Now, did you want to continue talking about it, or should we get some drinks?”

“Drinks please. I think I’ve had enough of all that for one day.”

“Alright then. I’ll go up and order some. What do you want?”

“Just a beer will do. Bluestar knows what I like.”

And with that, Blueberry gets up and trots over to the bar counter, leaving Orchid alone at their table. She looks out the window at the street, watching the cars zoom past. She’s always been happy to live in a part of the city where there isn’t that much traffic, even if she only ever travels by hoof; it means that Portside stays pretty quiet compared to other places.

Thoughts drifting to the freneticism of recent, Orchid sighs. “I have to remember that all of this was only the last few days. My normal is manageable. Normal is okay, I can do this.”

She hears hoofsteps approaching, and turns to see Blueberry returning with a pair of glasses brimming with alcohol. She places one in front of Orchid and another in front of herself before taking a seat. “There you are, best one that Bluestar had on tap.”

“I really don’t know what I’d do without you sometimes.” Orchid says half-seriously.

Blueberry seizes her glass with her hoof. “Beer-lessly cry about your problems probably.”

She stifles a laugh. “Yeah, probably.”

The two lift their drinks together with a clink of their glasses, and take their first sips. As usual, Bluestar’s drafts are exquisite, and Orchid finds herself quickly downing a decent portion of it. There is a momentary pause in their conversation while they drink, but after that the words flow naturally again.

“So.” Blueberry starts. “Changelings and your dumbass boss aside, how has work been treating you?”

Orchid sips her drink, avoiding eye contact. “It’s been fine. The hours are a lot harsher than before the war ended, but it could be worse. The most annoying part is just my coworker.”

Blueberry raises an eyebrow. “Oh? What did she do this time? Her name was something about the sun right?”

“Sun Lily.”

“Right, I remember now.”

Orchid continues. “Anyways, she’s just an annoying pony to be around, and is way too friendly.”

Her friend snorts trying to drink from her glass. “Since when is being too friendly a bad thing?”

“You clearly haven’t met her then.” Orchid thinks, before deciding to try something less mean sounding. “It’s not usually, but with her it is. It’s hard to explain.” She quickly adds on the other detail. “She’s also just bad at her job, and constantly needs me to cover for her.”

“See, that part makes more sense.” She says, motioning outwards with her hoof. “Here I was thinking you didn’t like her just because she was being nice.”

Orchid feels a pang of guilt at that, but tries to put it aside. “She’s not a bad pony or anything, just annoying to deal with.”

Blueberry finishes another sip of her drink. “Sounds like the type of pony that would be better as a friend than a coworker. Perhaps you should try talking to her outside of work.” She goes in for another swig, leaving Orchid speechless at the suggestion.

“…outside of work? Her? Why would I want to hang out with her at all?” She finds herself wondering what Blueberry is trying to do, considering she has attempted to intervene on two separate relationships of hers just this evening. “She’s being way too motherly, I don’t need somepony to tell me what to do with my life… Then again, that doesn’t seem like a thing Blueberry would do. She’s probably just trying to look out for me… like always.” Orchid feels a little bad for doubting her friend, however briefly, and tries to return her focus to the mare in front of her. “Why would you say that?” She tries.

Blueberry shrugs. “I don’t know really, just a hunch.”

Completely unsatisfied with the answer, Orchid opens her mouth to press the issue, but decides it isn’t worth it. “I…see.”

A moment of awkward pause follows, and both ponies drink from their glasses quietly. The hubbub throughout the room around them grows as more patrons come into the tavern, and Orchid watches as her friend finishes off her drink and stands up onto her hooves. “Well, it was really good to see you again Orchid. I should be getting home now, my son needs to be put to bed soon.”

Orchid nods understandingly. “It was good to see you too. We should meet up again sometime.”

“Yeah, we should. I’ll call you when I know my schedule for this next week. See you soon.”

“Say hi to Berrytwist for me.”

Blueberry nods with a smile, and heads out towards the door. Orchid stands up herself, deciding that she should probably get back home too. “I do have work tomorrow after all, I can’t stay up too late.”

She grabs her bag and starts for the door, before remembering she hadn’t said a proper hello to Bluestar yet. Shoving her way past a few other ponies crowding around the center of the tavern, she finally makes it to the counter. Bluestar is there behind it, filling up glasses and mugs and dealing them out to the ponies sitting around them. The way they wield their magic has always been entrancing, as they have trained enough to be able to levitate multiple objects deftly without even needing to see them. “That’d probably be more impressive if I actually knew what using magic felt like.”

When they finally turn in her direction, she waves to flag them down. “Hey, Bluestar!”

They quickly spot the pony calling their name and looks towards Orchid with a smile, walking forward slowly while cleaning the counter with a rag held in their magic. “Ah, Orchid. Good to see you. You heading out I assume?”

She nods. “Yeah, I just finished with Blueberry and figured I’d say hi.”

They eye the window table they were sitting at moments prior. “Well thank you for the consideration. I saw you earlier, before Blueberry came up to get drinks, and figured you could use something good from how you were looking, so I put yours on the house.”

Orchid suddenly feels both flattered and embarrassed that they actually noticed that, but also appreciative for the gesture nonetheless. “Thank you, it was really good.”

Bluestar smiles. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“Anyways, now that I’ve said hello I should really get going now, it is getting late for a work night.” She says, glancing up at the clock mounted on the wall.

They nod in response. “Have a nice night, Orchid. Thank you for stopping by.”

She smiles warmly at them, thankful for their kindness, and takes her leave. Orchid begins the trek back home, actually feeling good for once. “I think I really needed that. I’ve been letting the stress get to me too much recently.” She stretches her back a little, allowing herself to gaze up at the night sky. The moon is already out, and the starscape behind it is quite beautiful, accented by the rising smoke trails coming out of hundreds of chimneys.

A few minutes later, she arrives at her building, pushing through the front door and climbing up the stairs as she’s done countless times before. For the second time today, she enters into her apartment, this time closing the door carefully behind her to not upset her neighbors.

She places her bag on a nearby counter, and goes to her bedroom to undress. Opening up her closet, she takes off her slacks and put the up on a hangar. While removing her sweater, standing next to her bed, she catches a glance of the black and white photo framed on the table beside it.

A tightness lurches in her chest, and Orchid finds herself thinking of what Blueberry had said. She considers the idea of simply ducking out from Marble’s request, and compares it to staying with it. “It would be easy to stop. He’s still out on that trip of his, so he wouldn’t know any better…” Despite her best arguments against it, she feels it is incredibly hard to decide to stop with the pony in the picture staring at her, that gentle smile seemingly urging her onwards. “Dammit Meadowdancer, why do you have to make this so difficult?!”

She finishes taking off her clothes, and starts her bedtime routine, resolving to figure out her dilemma tomorrow. Heading to the bathroom, she brushes her teeth and takes out the band holding her mane in a bun, allowing the cream-colored hair to flow free. Afterwards, she returns to her bed, where she sets her alarm for the next day and takes off her glasses, carefully placing them on the bedside table.

Crawling into the warmth and comfort of her sheets, she closes her eyes and pulling the blanket up close with her hooves. While her head is still swirling in the emotion of the day, she falls asleep quickly, carried by residual exhaustion from the night before, as well as the weariness of her own mind. For the first time this week, her dreams are peaceful.