[Canterlot] The Green Hoof Floral Shop (Open)

[PedestrianWolf]

Fuchsia Blooms giggled as Bramble Rose gave her a courtly bow and kissed her hoof. And again, when he started speaking in the upper-class Canterlot accent.

[colour=#800080]"A wine shop? How interesting! It was an empty storefront when I moved in here a few months ago. I admit, I did not usually frequent this part of Canterlot when I was a foal, so I didn't know what used to be here. We didn't drink much wine in our house, only mulled cider for the holidays."[/colour]

Fuchsia cleared a space in the display case for a bucket to put the cut flowers in, then turned to the potted plants on the counter.

[colour=#800080]"The cut stems can go in the case up front here, and I'll take the potted ones to the storage area in back of the shop."[/colour]

The pots on the counter glowed with a gentle pink aura, as they floated up and away to the shelves in the back room.

Just then, Flit appeared from the orchid still on the counter from earlier in the morning, with a guilty look on his tiny face. He zipped over towards the door, and stopped abruptly in front of Bramble's nose. Hovering for a moment, the little hummingbird gave a defiant look to the unicorn stallion, and then whirred away to the birdhouse in the rafters.

Fuchsia sighed. Flit was being decidedly overprotective of her today for some reason. He didn't normally challenge every stallion that came in to the shop. Maybe he was just jealous. She did have her hoof kissed, twice! By two different gentlecolts. That was unusual. Sweet, but unusual. Hopefully he would work whatever it was out of his system before he really offended somepony.

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble Rose rocked backwards a moment, the cut blossoms almost falling out of his magical grip as he was surprised by a sudden hummingbird in the face! He steeled his will and recovered his composure, giving a soft laugh as the bird zipped back up to a sweet little birdhouse hidden up above. [colour=#808080] "Well, hello up there!"[/colour] he laughed. He rubbed at the back of his neck, then continued bringing in the flowers. [colour=#808080]"heh, well, as you can see, my skill with plants doesn't really extend to animals. He doesn't seem to like me that much!"[/colour]

He chuckles. [colour=#808080] "You must get along fine with him, though! I don't meet many unicorns who are plant-focused. My sire is an Earth pony from out west, my dam's a unicorn from right here in Canterlot."[/colour] Stop babbling, you idiot! Talk about her! [colour=#808080]"So you grew up around here? Where is your family now?"[/colour]

​

[PedestrianWolf]

[colour=#800080]"Oh dear. I apologize for Flit. He doesn't normally act like this around other ponies. Something must be bothering him today."[/colour]

Fuchsia turned to take the orchid back to the storage room, and to make sure that Bramble Rose didn't need any more help with the cut flowers.

[colour=#808080]"So you grew up around here? Where is your family now?"[/colour]

[colour=#800080]"They still live in the same house, in one of the outer neighborhoods of Canterlot. My mother keeps a large backyard garden, and often comes to visit me in my greenhouse during the winter months. My father is semi-retired. He was a traveling salespony, but these days he mainly works out of the office. Ma likes that he's home more often, but I can tell that he misses visiting all the corners of Equestria."[/colour]

Fuchsia Blooms never liked the terms Dam and Sire. They felt so... formal. She preferred the more familiar terms mother and father.

[colour=#800080]"How about your family? You said your, um, dam works at the University. What does she teach?"[/colour]

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble smiled up into the rafters. [colour=#808080] "Pleasure to meet you, Flit!"[/colour] he said brightly, then smiled down to Fuschia against. [colour=#808080] "Oh, she teaches basic and advanced aetheric theory, with a focus in the variation of practical application constructs from regional and individual influences."[/colour] He paused a moment, wanting to build on that ... [colour=#808080]"But honestly, a lot of it isn't in my field... I focused in a somewhat different direction, and two thirds of her papers go right over my head."[/colour] He grinned bashfully, rubbing at the back of his head.

[colour=#808080]"My sire travelled a lot, too. Still does, actually - Paw tends t' gather round Galloplajara Plateau, but he can't keep his hooves from itchin'."[/colour] As Bramble started talking about his father, his tone of voice started straying towards a little bit of a drawl, but he quickly snapped it back to a brisk, proper Canterlot accent. [colour=#808080]"He comes back home every couple months, and my dam misses him terribly while he's gone, but it's part of his job. I've always wished to travel Equestria, as well - some of my work lets me do that, now, but it's hard getting the bits together."[/colour] He laughed softly. [colour=#808080]"As I'm sure you know!"[/colour]

While he talked, he kept fetching cut flowers and more potted plants, floating them in from the cart outside, and settling them into various places around the counter, where Fuschia could take them further inside. [colour=#808080]"Sorry, heh. I'm babbling. So, um, this is a bit out of the Everfree, I know, but just from curiosity, um ... do you happen to have an Earth Pony in your ancestry ... ?"[/colour]

​

[PedestrianWolf]

Fuchsia blinked at the explanation for what Bramble Rose said his dam taught. It went straight over her head, too. She never attended university, just the regular schooling all Canterlot foals got. Her magic was limited to simple cantrips and levitation spells.

[colour=#800080]"Oh my! I never did any advanced studies like that. Most of the specialty magic I know my mother taught me. The rest I learned from books I borrowed from the library." [/colour]

Fuchsia Blooms continued to make space for the cut stems in the display cases in front of the store, and to carry the potted plants to the shelves in the back while she chatted. It was nice to talk and work at the same time. Most of the other delivery ponies just unloaded their carts at the door, had her sign the sheet, and left without passing anything more than a few pleasantries.

[colour=#800080]"My father actually took the sales job as a way to earn money while seeing all of Equestria, without having to join the REA. Not that there's anything wrong with military service," [/colour]she interjected quickly. [colour=#800080]"He's just a very laid back and informal sort of pony. All the formality and discipline required for being in the army was just not his style. Sales is definitely his calling. Ma says he can talk the bark off a Timber Wolf."[/colour]

She laughed. It was true though. Fullerton was a very distinguished Canterlot unicorn, but he was also very gregarious. He could strike up a friendly conversation with anypony, about almost anything. It was an asset for when he traveled to some of the more remote parts of the country, where the locals were a little wary of fancy city ponies like himself.

[colour=#808080]So, um, this is a bit out of the Everfree, I know, but just from curiosity, um ... do you happen to have an Earth Pony in your ancestry ... ?"[/colour]

Fuchsia was a little startled by the question. However, they had been talking about family, and Bramble did say his own sire was an earth pony.

[colour=#800080]"Actually, yes I do. My great granddam, on my mother's side, was an earth pony. Wisteria Lane, a society pony from Manehattan. Why do you ask?"[/colour]

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble rose laughed softly and nodded in understanding at the story of her sire. "[colour=#808080]Heh, my sire's the same way. He was in for about a year, but he couldn't stand the structure.[/colour]"

Then he let out a soft 'ha!' as his suspicions were confirmed. He smiled warmly as he explained, [colour=#808080]"It's a theory of nonstandard atherial phenotyping that's been around a while that's part of my research - your earth magic, like mine. Most unicorns have seem to have star or astrologicla themed cutie marks, or cutie marks based on high-level concepts... time, value, and the like. Much more rare are unicorns like you and me, with earth magic aspecting, and more down-to-earth cutie marks. The theory is that magical phenotype is carried separately from, but closely associated with, the physical phenotype ... "[/colour]

He paused... shut up! This is where fillies start getting glassy-eyed and walking away, usually! [colour=#808080] "Ah-heh. Sorry. It's just part of my studies, is all. I babble, sometimes, feel free to tell me to stop, if I start rambling. The other unicorns in the frat house used to call me Rambling Rose."[/colour]

​

[PedestrianWolf]

Fuchsia Blooms paused, and blinked once or twice, trying to parse what Bramble Rose had said about phenotypes and magical aspecting.

[colour=#800080]"So, what you're saying is, unicorns with earth magics, like my affinity for growing things, are more likely to have earth ponies in their family tree? I suppose that makes sense... I admit I had never really thought about it. I got my love of growing things from my mother, and she got her love of nurturing from my gran, who was a nurse."[/colour]

She surveyed the shop, making sure that all the flowers she had ordered were inside and put in their proper places. The cut stems were in the display cases up front, and the potted plants were on their shelves in the back.

[colour=#800080]"Well, I think we got everything in. Was there anything else you needed from me?" [/colour]Suddenly afraid it seemed like she was giving the purple unicorn the brush off, she hastily resumed, [colour=#800080]"Of course, you can stay to chat if you don't have somewhere else to be right away. There are no other customers at the moment, so I have some time."[/colour]

Fuchsia smiled at him. He was a nice pony to talk to, even if half of what he said went over her head. Maybe she should investigate taking some evening courses at the university...

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble smiled delightedly, as she followed his rambling as well as could be expected, and floated in his saddlebags from the cart outside. [colour=#808080]"Well, that's just a matter of record ... statistically. The question is really in the question of nature versus nurture ... does your magic develop as per how you were raised as a foal, or is your personality affected by your innate magic?"[/colour] The saddlebags set themselves down at his hooves, and he started rummaging through them. [colour=#808080]"For myself, I have written a dissertation and several articles about nature establishing itself through the focusing of nurture - a combination of the dichotomous theories."[/colour]

He finally found what he was looking for in his saddlebags, and pulled out a folder with Fuchsia's order listed on the paperwork within. He flipped the paperwork out onto the top of the folder, set it down on the counter along with a quill and a bottle of ink. [colour=#808080] "I'll need your signature here, and were you going to pay by bank note, or via a big sack of bits?"[/colour]

He kinda hoped it was the big sack of bits. He always liked the jangle, and he got to pretend that it was actually his money for a few minutes.

[colour=#808080]"And I do have other deliveries, but not enough to last me all day... I have time, too."[/colour]

​

[PedestrianWolf]

Fuchsia picked up the quill with a levitation spell, the feather glowing faintly pink with her magic. She dipped the quill in the ink bottle, and signed her name with an elegant flourish: [colour=#800080]Fuchsia Blooms [/colour]

She looked at the price on the invoice, and shook her head.

[colour=#800080]"I just made a deposit at the bank yesterday, so I don't have a big bag of bits to pay for all these. It's going to have to be a bank note."[/colour]

Keeping the quill hovering above the counter, she removed her bank book from its drawer and wrote out a cheque for the flower delivery. Setting the quill down after wiping the tip on a rag to prevent ink spots, she tore the note from the book and placed it on top of the invoice with her signature on it.

[colour=#800080]"So, Bramble Rose, you seem to be very interested in studying unicorn magics. Why aren't you also teaching at the university, or studying full time there? I would think that a stallion as intelligent as yourself would rather be in a library with his nose in a book, than pulling a flower cart." [/colour]

[colour=#800080]"Well," [/colour]she thought to herself,[colour=#800080]"maybe it's his father's influence. Perhaps he can't stand to be cooped up inside all day."[/colour] Fuchsia waited to hear what his reasons were, and if her thought had been correct.

[TehBbqdPizza]

Servante was walking down the roads of Canterlot, humming a tune that has been stuck in her head. In fact, it has stayed there like paper glued to each other for days ever since she had heard it from a phonograph record, and so she had hummed the same ten chords over and over again. Her clothing were evidently different from the "typical" Canterlot pony's clothes; it was middle class fashion, a plain gray coat. From another perspective, it was ideal for a few magic tricks she had up her sleeve.

As she continued trotting into another lane, she caught something that interested her- a floral shop. It seemed like it was one of those new shops that occasionally "springs into existence" from the founders' mind themselves. They were, in a way, miraculous. But Servante thought no more, and entered the shop in curiosity.

She opened the door, the "OPEN" sign dangling from the force of the push. Inside, she saw two ponies in a conversation, one, presumably the proprietor of the store, signing paperwork to a stallion. Servante felt like eavesdropping on their conversation, but she knew better not to from previous experiences, and pretended to be a "customer" looking at flowers. She paused for a short time as she strolled toward the roses, and smiled when she observed them. After all, she often used roses for transformation tricks, turning capes into flowers.

[PedestrianWolf]

Before Bramble could answer her query, Fuchsia noticed the door swing open as a new customer walked in. Not wanting to seem rude, she smiled and nodded at the newcomer from behind the counter.

[colour=#800080]"Hello, and welcome! I'll be with you in a few moments, feel free to look around in the meantime."[/colour]

Noticing that the filly in the grey coat started sniffing at the roses, she turned her attention back to the unicorn stallion in front of her.

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble Rose blushed for a moment, and tried to figure out a good answer to that question. Part of it was that he wanted to succeed on his own, not just live under his mother's shadow his whole life, but that was... personal. Without that reason, he really did seem sort of ... a failure to his upbringing... but grants didn't grow on trees no matter what sort of plant-growth spells you knew.

He hoped the arrival of a new customer would distract her, but evidently not, as she turned expectantly back to him. He blushed a bit, and admitted,[colour=#808080] "Well, that sort of life is very good ... and some day I'd like to have that life. But first, I want to travel a lot, see a lot of things, and some of my work allows me to see things I'd never get to see otherwise. I don't just deliver flowers, I have a number of little side-jobs... one of them actually took me down to the Gallopocus the other month! I got to see the grand gardens down that way, with all the different magical plants, and I collected all sorts of tropical flowers! It really was an amazing opportunity!"[/colour]

As long as she didn't ask what job took him down there and what he was doing... Change subject! His magic took a pinch of sand and sprinkled it over the wet ink, helping it to dry more swiftly, and smiled with a nod. [colour=#808080]"Bank notes are far more convenient,"[/colour] he agreed. [colour=#808080]"Lily prefers them."[/colour] He gave a bashful little grin, and in a whispered tone, admitted. [colour=#808080]"I prefer the big sack o' bits, cause it's just more fun."[/colour] Then he straightened up again, tucking it away into a folder. [colour=#808080]"I can see you have a customer, and I have a few more small deliveries to make around Canterlot ... but if you wanted, perhaps I could invite you to ... lunch? Can you close for a bit for lunch? There's a nice little diner a couple streets down, I know the owner... we're be sure to be able to get a table!"[/colour]

​

[PedestrianWolf]

Fuchsia Blooms saw the unicorn blush, and immediately felt that she had overstepped her bounds with that last question somehow. Well, no matter. Bramble Rose answered her anyway, and confirmed her suspicions that he had a bit of the wanderlust in his blood after all.

[colour=#800080]"Someday I would love to take a trip to the Gallopocus Islands. Especially to visit the gardens there. It sounds so lovely!"[/colour]

She looked up at the clock. Still mid-morning.

[colour=#800080]"Yes, lunch would be fine. Say, around 1:00? I should be able to close up for a little while then."[/colour]

Fuchsia came out from behind the counter and walked over towards the display cases in front.

[colour=#800080]"It was nice to meet you, Bramble Rose. I will see you again later this afternoon. Have a good morning!" [/colour]she said brightly.

Turning towards the newcomer to the shop, she asked, [colour=#800080]"Hello young lady! Is there anything I can help you find today?"[/colour]

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble Rose smiled, and his horn glowing a soft green to make the phantom shape of a fedora above his head. He swept that phantom see-through green hat off his head while giving a courtly bow, bending knee before Fuschia. [colour=#808080]"I shall-"[/colour] he started to say, but he bowed a little too far, sending himself into a slight stumble, the magic hat vanishing in a puff of green smoke.

He quickly reasserted his balance and gave himself a little shake, then remade the hat. [colour=#808080] "I shall be pleased to show off this city to you, m'lady!"[/colour] he said formally, just a hint of amusement and excitement in his tone. [colour=#808080]"I hope your day till then goes smoothly! ... And afterwards, smoothly too, of course!"[/colour] He stood up and let the hat disappear, and stepped quickly out the door to his cart, taking in a deep breath, and then letting it out explosively.

[colour=#800080]"Clutz,"[/colour] he growled to himself in frustration, then opened up a little cabinet set into the front of the cart and pulled out a list of deliveries to find his next stop. Then strapped himself in and set off down the street, giving a merry little whistle and with a spring to his step.

​

[TehBbqdPizza]

Servante was always the one to "overhear" other ponies' conversation. She didn't call it eavesdropping; she never thought of it that way, nor did she think she was doing so. But it interested her, nonetheless. She now knew that two ponies, one the owner of the store, were falling in love. They had planned to eat together at a lovely diner nearby. It was all so exciting, seeing how two ponies were having some relationship.

At first, Servante was frightened, thinking it was a sudden stage magic trick, but then giggled later, when she saw the stallion accidentally made his "magic" hat disappear before he finished bowing. The stallion soon created another hat, then quickly went off his way.

It was then when she noticed that she had been standing in the same place for some time now, and, in hopes of lowering suspicion, moved around the shop for a while. [colour=#800080]"Hello young lady! Is there anything I can help you find today?" [/colour]Servante nearly jumped, stopping in her tracks.[colour=#FFCC33] "Oh! I...uh..."[/colour] she said, quieting down into a mumble, until after some time she had decided what to say. [colour=#FFCC33]"...was just looking around to pick some flowers for a friend of mine." [/colour]Servante wanted to change the subject quickly. [colour=#FFCC33]"Anyways, what was that stallion over there? I can tell he was quite interested in magic, and I was curious, since I am a magician myself."[/colour]

[PedestrianWolf]

Fuchsia giggled as Bramble Rose attempted to be dashing with his magic hat, and nearly fell on his snout in the process. She hid her smile behind her hoof, then dropped into a little curtsey.

[colour=#808080]"I shall be pleased to show off this city to you, m'lady!"[/colour]

[colour=#800080]"I'd be delighted." [/colour]Despite having grown up in Canterlot, she was sure there were parts of the city she hadn't seen yet. And Bramble was doing his best to be charming. It was kind of adorable.

The filly in the grey coat nearly jumped a little when Fuchsia addressed her. She must have been absorbed in smelling the roses and hadn't heard the shopkeeper approach. She mumbled something about looking for flowers for a friend, then out of the blue sky asked,

[colour=#FFCC33]"Anyways, what was that stallion over there? I can tell he was quite interested in magic, and I was curious, since I am a magician myself."[/colour]

[colour=#800080]"Oh, him? He's the delivery pony. He was just bringing me a shipment of tulips and iris for the shop. But I think he studies the genetics of magic in unicorns, not stage magic." [/colour]

Fuchsia was pretty sure that's what the filly meant by being a magician. She had seen magic tricks performed at parties when she was younger, and she knew that the illusions were different from the spells she could cast. However, if the magician was also a unicorn, they could use both spells and illusions at the same time. It was highly entertaining, regardless of how it was done.

Bringing the conversation back around, she asked, [colour=#800080]"What sort of flowers were you looking at for your friend?"[/colour]