[Ponyville] Rock Garden

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble Rose, newly employed to Lily, was off on his first big job. A pony in town had a garden he wanted brightened up - seems they had a brown hoof, and wanted a professional in to take care of the garden. Bramble knew he could handle the job, but was glad he got to take care of it by himself. He always got so clumsy when people were watching him...

The garden itself was behind a low wall of bushes, up behind the house. The flowers looked wilted and saggy, the bushes ragged, and the dirt they were planted in was muddy to the point of having puddles in the mud. Bramble sighed - so many people were so scared of underwatering their garden that they overwatered it, drowning the poor plants. Well, no worry - he could help them.

Bramble trotted over to one corner of the garden, the small, delicate purple unicorn eager to start work. He lowered his head, his horn glowing a soft green. His saddlebag opened up, and a big radio with a round top floated out, glowing the same green as his horn. It settled onto a windowsill, and then the glowing receded down to just the big knob on the front. The radio clicked on, and Bramble started cycling through the channels, seeking some music he could work to.

Familiar music came through the speakers, and Bramble grinned. One of his favorite songs! He backed off to the center of the garden, tossed his long, sleek white mane as he felt out the living energies flowing through the garden. Then he started to dance with the music, just a slow little prance at first, but then a faster beat with his hooves clip-clopping through the soft garden, as the music picked up. And because he couldn't let music go on its own, his delicate voice lifted up, quiet at first, but growing stronger as he lost his self-consciousness in the music.

o/~

Poor old Sunny Ray... whinnied sad upon the radio,

moved a million hearts in mono!

Our dams, they cried ... sang along, who'd blame them

now you're grown, so grown, now I must say more than every

go tooooo raaaa looo raaa tooo raaa looo rye aye!

And we can sing just like our sires!

o/~

As he danced, his horn glowed, the glow throbbing to the beat of the music, and the garden around him changed with his passing. The earth dried up, the plants straightened up, as if listening. And as the music swelled, each drum beat was matched with the unicorn striking the ground with his hoof, and another flower *bursting* with renewed color and life, the brown edges disappearing, the blooms growing bigger than ever. The entire garden thrilled with motion, silently matching the music with its dance of color and life.

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble's lovely voice cut off with a startled *squeak!* as the sudden voice told him that someone was actually *watching* him! Two flowers right next to him exploded, sending soft pink petals floating down around his delicate form. His front half tried to turn and look at who was listening to him sing, while his back half kept trying to walk forward, ending up with him face-down in the mud.

He was quickly up on his feet once more, wiping the mud away with one hoof, his eyes just a bit wide as he gave a nervous grin. "Ah-heh... oh! Hhhhello!" he piped up nervously, his normally purple cheeks bright pink with embarrassment. "Ah... th-thank you! Yeah, I ... I prefer ... gardening to music! You know, gotta sing to your flowers to help them grow!" He looked back to the plant that had lost two lovely blossoms and lowered his head, his horn touching the petal-less centers that were still attached. New petals budded and grew, uncurling as the fresh, new flowers displayed themselves with vibrant color and life.

"Ah... I'm new in town! Hi! My name is Bramble Rose!"

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble Rose stands there bashfully as she helps wipe the mud off, a pink flush spreading over his cheeks as the pretty filly complemented him. "Well, thanks. It's just... y'know. Something I love. It's easy to do something better, when you love to do it."

He gives a little hesitant grin. "I could always help you with that little planter..." He pauses, thoughtfully. "though I guess Lily would want me to charge for it..." he says as an afterthought - it was hard to think of *charging* people for doing what he loved to do so much! Especially pretty fillies like this one!

He shook his head, gave a shrug. "not much, of course, for just a windowsill. A bit or two." He smiled to her, looking her over properly, as he got over his bashfulness. Like most fillies, she was just a bit bigger than he was. He noticed, then, her drumsticks, and her cutie mark. "So, um... I take it you like music a lot?"

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble smiled tentatively to Djemba. She seemed nice enough ... he'd have to assume she wasn't actually making fun of him. He hoped.

"You're being too nice," he said modestly, "I just like singing along with the radio, is all ... I'm nothing special." Then he cleared his throat, puffed up his chest. "Uh ... not that I haven't been in a band before. I was in a band in high school. Best band in the school!"

If you glossed over the fact that he'd been a backup singer in the band for a whole five minutes, just long enough for the lead guitarist to hit on him ... and find out he *wasn't* a filly ... oog. That had started the most miserable two weeks of high school...

"But yeah, um ... everyone says you're supposed to sing to your flowers, so it just seemed natural! I'll just ... finish up the garden here, and then we can move onto taking care of your box!"

He put a little spring into his step as he trotted over to the radio, and started looking for a new song, the "Come on Rail Lean" having finished up.

o/~ o/~ o/~ o/~

You and I, gonna misbehave

Buy a couple of apples with the bits that we've saved

Settle down in the fields at dawn

For a tasty meal after a morning run

On the blanket, ants in the pie

But doesn't matter to you and I

Looking at the summer sky

Ninety-nine red pegasi go by

o/~ o/~ o/~ o/~

Again, he sits to listen for a little... then starts to sing along, the garden resuming its dance of color and life, though a little less smoothly than when Djemba had come in, the little stallion feeling nervous now that he's being watched.

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble Rose looked up, startled. "Oh, no!" he said, quickly. "No, you're not making me nervous!" that wasn't entirely true, but Bramble certainly had a small problem with stage fright. "Please, please stay!" He didn't want her to leave just because he was being an idiot.

"You'd really be interested in me as a backup singer?" His heart thudded quickly in his chest with nervousness. Sing in front of people? He'd fall on his face. He always fell on his face. But ... "I could ... at least practice with you, see how practice goes?" he offered.

He reached the end of the garden, and turned around... his hooves hit the ground, and a final wave of green spread, vibrant, across the garden, taking all the plants he'd revitalized and giving them an extra-special final touch. With a grin, he clicked off the radio and slipped it back into his saddlebags.