Flying Flowers Floristry

[TenderHeart]

It was a new day in Canterlot, Princess Celestia had risen the sun and the birds were tweeting. Stores and cafes began to open for the new day. Tender smiled as he opened his flower shop, the shelves were packed with beautifully coloured and smelling flowers, the front of his store had a small rack of empty vases and flower pots. hanging pots hanged from his awning and a small black board was left outside with what's new in stock and what's in season. To the back of his store was his Greenhouse, filled with flowering, budding and sprouting plants. Each one was watered with a small rain cloud that he caught. TenderHeart hummed happily as he trotted around his store, checking his flowers and pruning when needed.

[Sleeper]

The gentle chirping stopped abruptly as the sound of something heavy being smashed against the stony ground echoed across the block. "I...ouch...uh." A monotone voice spoke. "Yeah...should've closed the straps before the saddlebags..." The voice complained as the birds continued their opera. More clattering was heard as the pony was more than likely trying to gather all the items together with his front hooves. "Aw...mom's not gonna enjoy this."  He continued as he sat down with a thump, followed by even more clattering. It lasted for its own while before the general silence succumbed once more. A loud huff was heard before he talked. "Dang, look at this! It's broken from here and here...and oh...here too! What does mom even do with these? She's a cleaner for crying out loud!" The male voice continued to no one in particular, exasperation slowly making its way into his vocals. "Now...if I was a mare, what would I like if my son obliterate-" His tirade stopped mid sentence as he had spotted something of interest, a short burst of comically evil laughter following. "Flowers! Yes!" He laughed as galloping hoofsteps approached the store, loudly clattering against the pebble road. "Hahaha! I win! She will be enchanted by the might of my green friends and never even notice that we just went bankrupt!"  His tone mixed with laughter was getting borderline insane, all until he was right at the door where he stopped as if he had seen a cockatrice. He coughed, attempting to gain a more collected posture before smashing his skull against the door a tiny bit too eagerly, luckily not blowing the thing off its hinges. The white stallion emerged from the doorway with several knightly looking steps, his face oddly covered by a black balaclava. His sides were decorated by filled brown saddlebags as his blue tail slowly swung from flank to another, his baby blue eyes scanning the store with determination.

 

[TenderHeart]

As the Stallion noticed the loud crash, he couldn't help but look outside his window. Staring at the male from afar. He smiled slightly at his goofy antics before returning to running his store. As Tender checked his stock he heard the front door smash open and then the sound of the small bell clanging to the ground. His wings immediately flexed out, his mane and wing feathers stood on edge from the fright. "Oh my Celestia! W-What was that!?... Are you OK sir and or madame?" Tender quickly trotted out of the stockroom to check on the door and hopefully find that no-pony got hurt. As he eyed the small bell on the floor first, he noticed that it luckily hadn't been broken off, just knocked. His deep purple yes then quickly followed the large shadow upwards and at the Stallion. His pupils constricted as he noticed the large, white Stallion with a Balaclava over his head. He took a deep and shaky breath before smiling softly. "O-Oh hello sir! What can I help you with? Looking for flowers for a special somepony?" He didn't want to seem scared nor cause a panic. This Stallion had the unfortunate fashion sense of seaming like a criminal, though maybe he could win them over with either buying a flower or just taking one.

[Sleeper]

Absolutely ignorant to the fact that he did indeed look like a burglar, the pony stood firm, not even making an attempt at explaining. He raised his left front hoof to meet his chest, trying to seem official in front of the other stallion. "Yes, I need a darn fine flower for my...mom...uh..." He said, words trailing off at the end. Even if his face was concealed, the flush of red almost shone through, making him cough and swiftly 'correct' himself with a nervous laugh. "Er...I mean my marefriend. Totally my marefriend, who else?" He exhaled audibly, stretching his wings awkwardly in order to correct the position of his saddlebags. He still had not quite figured out the straps and how to close them, resulting in the bags constantly sliding off-center. The pegasus shifted his baby blue eyes around the store, locking them into all sorts of plants as he rubbed his chin with his hoof. After a long (and relatively awkward) silence he finally spoke again. "Gimme...um..." The stallion started, uncertainty blatantly obvious in his voice as he squinted his eyes, averting his gaze from left to right in utter cluelessness. "What's the...what's the one that you know...looks all cool n' stuff?"

[TenderHeart]

Tender slowly began to genuinely smile at the Stallion, he was kind of adorable in a way. "Oh? If it's for your mother then something simple like Carnations or Roses always does the job!" He smiled and began to trot off, grabbing a few roses and a variety of different coloured Carnations, ranging from pink to red to orange, yellow and white. "What kind of Carnations do you think she likes? Maybe even ones that remind you of her." The red Stallion was beaming with happiness, loving to help out others when picking a bouquet. "As a first time customer, you get a 30% off discount... Would you like help with your straps? The can be a bit tricky to put on straight." He gave him a kind smile be blushing a bit, it was a slightly lighter hue than his fur. "O-Oh where are my manners. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm TenderHeart, most call me Tender."

[Sleeper]

The pegasus slightly threw his head to the side, grumbling something inaudible under his concealment, most likely because he couldn't cover his tracks about the fact that he was indeed shopping for his mother. He did, however, lock his eyes back onto the pony in front of him again as he begun explaining about the various roses, shifting his eyes from the veggies to the pony and vice versa as he fiddled around with them. "Reminds me of her? Uhh..." The stallion begun as the various plants were rotated past him. "I think she like...mops the floors so...I guess-"  He was cut off by the other pony, perhaps because he was talking in a mere whisper of uncertainty. The white stallion tilted his head to the side in slight confusion as the red one went on and on. "Erm...discount? That's swee-" His voice trailed off by itself this time, the salespony already moving on to the subject of his saddle bags. He gave them a swift glance over his shoulder before opening his mouth. "Uh yeah, mom never...I mean...no one ever told me how they work ya know? Had to improvise a little." He said nervously, afraid that his incompetence would become nothing short of public knowledge. He faced the stallion standing in front of him again, now presenting himself as TenderHeart. The pegasus squinted happily at him, most likely smiling under his balaclava, before speaking in a proper tone for once. "Oh, that's wicked! My name's uh...Solarline, yes that's it. Nice to meet ya!"

[TenderHeart]

Tender blushed a little as he noticed that he got a bit carried away and kept interrupting him. "Sorry for interrupting, it's a pleasure to meet you!" He walked out from behind his counter and began to help the larger stallion with his straps. "Well.. When I talked about what reminds you of her I meant the colours. Like. Which of these Carnations seem to remind you of her. You only have one mother after all...." His voice seemed to grow silent towards the end of his sentence. He coughed slightly after finishing the straps before moving behind the counter again. "You just needed to pull your straps a little tighter so the saddlebags don't slide around. So Soraline, have you made a choice?"

[Sleeper]

"Naw...it's fine." His eyes fully opening once again as he heard Tenders mood deflate, even if just very slightly. He flicked his ears in slight confusion before adding to the conversation himself. "Yeah, that's what they keep tellin' me..." He mused as he eyed the roses, giving the stallion the slightest of concerned looks, he didn't want to question though, as him intervening usually had the side effect of making everything twice worse. He nodded to Tender as he shook his body a little, the saddle bags staying firmly where they were supposed to stay. "So...er..." Solarline refocused his eyes onto the flowers that were nicely set in front of him. "...I'll go with the..." He squinted his eyes in pure determination, scanning through all of them one by one. "...the pink one! That's the one!" He shouted eagerly, stomping his front hooves onto the floor in excitement. His foolproof plan was coming together at last.

[TenderHeart]

Tender nodded softly and began to arrange the small bouquet, four roses surrounded by pink Carnations. After some fiddling about with the arrangement he finally finished and began to tally up the cost. "Ok so that would of been 20 bits but with your 30% off it's 14 bits." He smiled softy as he wrapped a small pink bow around the bouquet to keep it in place. "I hope she loves these and hope to see you back someday, maybe for that special marefriend." He laughed softly at himself.

[Sleeper]

Solarline eagerly turned his head to his left, reaching for his saddle bag. He dipped his snout into the bag, sounds of broken glass and ceramic with a slight tinge of metallic rattle was heard as he went through his inventory. His head stopped abruptly, staying completely still as he probed an item of interest with his fabric covered mouth. "Hah...gotcha." His muffled voice said as he lifted his head, a very corny looking brown bag of bits hanging from his teeth, the masks fabric awkwardly going into his mouth as he tried to get a proper hold of it. The white pegasus dropped the thing onto the counter with a metallic thump, indicating that there indeed were bits inside it.  "That's um...just take what you need from there."  He said, squinting his eyes happily at the red stallion. That was the only way he could indicate his apparent happiness through a mask that revealed nothing but his baby blue orbs. It was harder than usual this time though, especially when the bit bag was meant to be his next months rent.

[TenderHeart]

Tender nodded and opened up the bag, counting the proper bits in front of the other Pegasi, he had no intention of swindling anypony. As he finished, he put the 14 bits into the cash register and beamed another happy smile. "That's all, hope your mother loves the flowers and don't be afraid to stop by, even if you're not buying anything. I love to talk." With that he waved slightly.

[Sleeper]

Solarline grabbed the now lighter bit bag into his mouth, lazily throwing it into the depths of his saddle bag before refocusing on Tender. He snorted audibly. "Yeah. She better love these or I'm done for." He said in a humorous tone, averting his gaze from the red pegasus, instead locking his pupils onto the flowers that were set in front of him, quite a beautiful sight they were indeed. There was a short silence as the white pony sunk deep into his thoughts, apparently enchanted by the pretty plants. "But...ya know..." He suddenly begun, raising his head to meet the salespony once again. "...got any clues where I could get an apology card to go with uh...these?" He asked, raising his left front hoof to point at the flowers sold to him. "Something that says...I don't know...'I'm sorry I kinda ruined your life and future' or something similar?" He continued, a slight hint of concern in his voice.

[starsteemer]

From the windows of the shop, a taller than average but not alicorn height pony wearing a dark cloak with the hood up and high grade sunglasses peered into the floristry's windows. She looked around inside the shop for a good long while, checking out the blackboard out front and looking thoughtfull. Eventually, the covered up mare opted to go inside to look around. The sun was bothering her outside anyways, she never liked to be out in daylight for too long if she could help it, and it usually wasn't a problem where she lived. The mare timidly pushed the door open, seeming nervous and a little jumpy. Ignoring the ponies at the counter out of anxiety, she wandered around and checked out the various flowers, looking for a specific kind of flower, muttering about yellow shrimp. When she couldn't seem to find it, the covered mare awkwardly waited to the side, patiently waiting for the transaction to complete before confronting the store owner. Even indoors, she did not remove her sunglasses, and her cloak only allowed a bit of her golden hooves to be seen, and her pastel yellow legs. 

 

(Hullo i am joining in, my OC is Golden Glow)

[TenderHeart]

Tender thought for  bit, it was an odd kind of request for a card, he probably wouldn't ever find one close. "Oh? Hm... I don't think I've ever seen those types of cards before heh. Why don't you try out a poem? Or even just a small note you made yourself?" As he was speaking, Tender heard the store bell ring as a new pony walked in. With his usual smile he turned to the are and waved slightly. "Oh welcome to Flying Flowers. I'll be with you in a moment, Ma'am." 

[Sleeper]

Solarline rubbed his chin in thought. "I guess you're right." He said with an exhale, not even remotely noticing the mare that just entered the building. The white pony flicked his tail, grabbing the set of flowers into his maw before carefully placing them into his right saddlebag, the plants clearly sticking out from there. 

 

"Hm...how about-" He was cut short as he noticed the other pony, looking almost as shady as himself, instead of a balaclava suited for a burglar she was wearing all sorts of cloaks and glasses. He stared at her for a good awkward while, squinting his eyes, slowly waving his left front hoof to her in a manner of greeting before turning his head back and refocusing on Tender. "Aight, aight...I think I'll figure something out." He said, tilting his head in order to check behind Tender for any semblance of cards. "You got like...blank ones here or...something?" 

[starsteemer]

The mare seemed to be a little embarassed by the stallion's staring but she did not move to remove her cloak and sunglasses. Realizing that this could possibly take longer than she expected, the Aerion pretended to look around a little more, looking at some packets of seeds and trying to determine which ones were easiest to grow without much attention. Every plant she payed attention to mysteriously died. The cloak was a bit big for her and she had a little trouble walking around in it, her hooves constantly stepping on the unremarkable black fabric. She'd rather have it on than off, though. 

[TenderHeart]

Tender nodded and brought out a plain white card. "Oh of course, I have them for personalised messages and notes." He watched the mare for a bit before turning back to Solarline. "Blank cards are free so don't worry about paying for it." Around the shop there were flowers and small bushes arranged by colour, on the wall that GoldenGlow was checking there were an assortment of seed and bulb packets."Oh do you need any Help Ma'am? You seem a little lost." 

[Sleeper]

The pegasus smirked, grabbing the card that was offered. He quickly scanned the counter for a stray quill or something of resemblance, quite swiftly spotting one just lying on a corner of the table. He didn't see any ink though, but the tip of the quill had some already so at the very least he could scrape up something.

 

Sure, not having a horn made things difficult for a pony, and so Solarline rolled up his mask, just to reveal his mouth as he clenched his teeth on the feather. Sharp rustling was heard as he wrote, occasionally rising his head and squinting his eyes in thought. "Did 'mom' have two m's in it? Right...thought so."

[starsteemer]

The Aerion mare looked surprised at being talked to, and a little offended at being accused of being lost. She came up to the counter, pulling her hood back but keeping the glasses.

"No, not lost. I'm here in Canterlot visiting a friend, and she really likes a specific kind of flowers I can't find. They have multiple names, like... Golden candle, lollipop flower, golden shrimp..."

 

Golden Glow nervously dug in her pocket for her money. "I also need potted plants, flowers that bees like. I can't grow anything from scratch.. black hoof. " 

The mare smiled sheepishly, revealing long canine fangs. 

[TenderHeart]

Tender thought for a bit, did he have some growing in the greenhouse? "Hold on a moment, I think I have some in the back. As for bees the bees, I have Lavender bush towards the front. Easy to maintain and bees love it, not to mention they smell great." He gave his usual kind smile and began to head towards his greenhouse. He checked some flower beds and little signs he made before digging up the small shrub. He transplanted it into a large pot before bringing it to GoldenGlow.  "They're not budding yet but they should around a month or two. Oh I forgot to introduce myself, I'm TenderHeart."

[Sleeper]

All good things must come to an end, and so the quill snapped. "Aw dang it!" He yelled out in exasperation, raising his head to view the ceiling before closing his eyes and slamming it against the counter. The pegasus stood there for a moment, head against the wooden table, slowly shaking it in frustration before reopening his eyes and looking the card through. What do you know, he had finished it already. "Oh." He sighed, rubbing his forehead with his left hoof before rolling the mask back down. Solarline gave a quick glance at the shopkeeper, making certain that he wasn't looking before swiftly swiping the quill onto the floor behind the counter. He was an honest pony (at least somewhat) and he doubted that the red pegasus would pay too much mind. It never hurt to be sure though.

[starsteemer]

"I'm Golden Glow." Goldy responded, looking at the potted plant. "Are you sure there's none in bloom? I am visiting my friend like... today..."Golden Glow looked embarassed, she didn't really want to be a bother.

"Um... it's okay if you have none in stock i guess, but that means i need to get different flowers.. see, my friend Vanilla Wax is old and can't get out much but she loves flowers, so i wanted to bring some to her. She lives in an old folks home here in Canterlot. I brought some of her favorite scented candles, and candles enchanted to calm you down because some folks at the home can get grumpy. So uh... yeah it's important to me that i get some flowers for her.. "

Golden Glow looked around at the arrangements of flowers, wishing she knew enough about flowers to sound eloquent when she asked for something specific, instead of some hermit bat pony who rarely saw normal flowers due to her sleeping schedule. "Oh and... does lavender grow good in the shade? I need flowers that can grow in the shade. " She kept looking around, hoping some line of smart words would strike and she'd get exactly what she needed, instead feeling a little socially inept and out of place in the daytime. "What about a huge bouqet in a vase? Do you do personalized bouqets for ponies who can't tell a daisy from a sunflower?" She smiled sheepishly and wished she didn't take her hood off because now her pastel yellow cheeks were growing a tint of red blush. 

Golden Glow glanced at the pegasus, her eyes following the path of the snapped quill to the floor. She was undecided on whether it was polite to say something or more polite to not say something. So the anxious Aerion sneakily set her own quill on the counter and gave the pegasus a shy wink. 

[TenderHeart]

Tender began to think bout which flowers were in bloom and which ones would work well for a bouquet for an old pony before smiling. "Yes I do, do  personalised bouquets do you know her favourite colours and how big and how many different flowers would you like? I could even make a bouquet where each flower has it's own little meaning." He smiled brightly at the Mare, loving to help ponies and loved ones. He didn't really understand the wink... Wait was she flirting with him? Oh no... His cheeks began to fluster a bit out of embarrassment. A light pink began to show through his dark red fur though most of it was luckily masked by his red fur. He hadn't noticed the broken quills so to him this got awkard, how would he be able to tell her he prefers stallions? Maybe she won't visit often and he wouldn't have to explain... Yeah hopefully. "Y-Yeah, Lavender grows well in shaded areas.. White flowers also do the trick with the lesser need of Chlorophyll.."

[Sleeper]

He gave Tender another confirming glance as he had 'cleared' the table, his eyebrows raising in confusion at the stallion's apparent discomfort. He switched his eyes from Golden Glow to Tender several times before realizing what was going on himself. He snorted, slowly shaking his head before returning to his card. The writing looked like it was made by a newborn, only thing that the card lacked now was some macaroni. The pegasus smiled under his mask, narrowing his eyes in happiness as he grabbed the card and inserted it into the same saddlebag as the flowers, turning a 180 to meet the door. "Aight, cheers! I'm gonna go now and-" He begun his goodbyes to the shopkeeper, keeping his eyes locked onto him as he spoke. This meant that he did not watch where he was going and missed the door by a good few feet, trotting head first against the wall.

 

Solarline stumbled back, seeing stars all around him until giving his head a swift shake. "Ugh...who moved the door?" He said as he moved a few steps sideways, correcting his course with the exit. This time he paid attention, squinting at the door, waiting for it to move any second as he sneaked towards it. "A ha!" he shouted as he got to it, pulling the door open with all of his might and diving out, effectively face planting on the stone flooring of the outside world.

[starsteemer]

Golden Glow looked thoughtful for a second before answering. "Vanilla Wax likes white, yellow, red and orange flowers. She likes big flowers too, and she would be very flattered by a bouqet where the flowers have meanings...That sounds very nice indeed. If you know of any other flowers bees like that grow well in the shade, i'd like to hear them! The more for my bees, the better!" Golden Glow smiled at him, completely oblivious to his inner dilemma. Of course, she also thought she was being sneaky by winking to the pegasus in the mask so she didn't think Tender wouldve noticed.

 

Golden covered her mouth with a hoof to obscure her giggles, watching the masked pegasus on his little journey out the door. She felt a little rude for laughing however so she quickly quieted down, focussing on the shopkeeper