Love in Bloom

Later at Sweet Apple Acres. AJ and Bloomeria were outside her barn. AJ had scrounged up two lengths of rope, which she fashioned into lassoes.

“Now,” Applejack began. “one thing that a colt likes in a girl is one who can do something high-flying fantastic." She said.

"Does that have something to do with these ropes?" Bloomeria asked.

“Watch and learn sugarcube.” AJ said. She grabbed one of the ropes and got the lasso spinning.

Bloomeria was amazed. Applejack then used the lasso to grab an apple to pull it right into her mouth. Bloomeria stomped her front hooves together in an equine applause.

"Woohoo!"

“Wanna give it a try?” Applejack asked. Bloomeria gulped.

"Ah, I don't know..."

“C’mon now.” Applejack said. “You won’t know until you try.” Bloomeria gulped again, but knew AJ was right.

“All right.” Bloomeria said. She attempted to twirl the lasso with her tail. She didn't quite get it the first time. In fact, she ended up hogtying herself.

"Eek!" She squealed as she fell over on the ground. Applejack chuckled.

“Don’t you worry. Happens to the best of us. Now let’s try again.” She said. Bloomeria did try again. Several times. But each time, she ended up entangled in the rope. She managed to get an apple stuck in her mouth on one try.

“Don’t laugh…” She said, her voice obscured by the fruit. Applejack tried so hard not to.

Bloomeria sighed. "I guess I'm not cut out for rope tricks." She said.

“Well it ain’t for everyone.” Applejack said, untying her.

"But surely there's something else you can do." AJ began wracking her brain. “Hey maybe Twilight can help.” She said. “For all we know, she’s probably got a book on the subject of impressin’ colts.”

Bloomeria looked up hopefully.

The next day, she met Twilight at her library.

“Hmm.” Twilight said as she searched through her books. She had books on just about everything, so both of them were hoping that she could find something to help.

“Did you find anything?” Bloomeria asked. “Not yet.” Twilight asked.

“I don’t get why you even like this guy.” Spike pointed out. “You hardly even know him.”

"Spike!" Twilight scolded him.

"Seriously, I don't." He said.

"You like Rarity, don't you?" Twilight said. "You started making lovesick faces the very first second you saw her." Spike chuckled sheepishly.

“I don’t know exactly why I like him.” Bloomeria said. “It was… just the way he looked and smiled at me when I saw him at the party.” Spike opened his mouth to say something, but realized Twilight and Bloomeria were right.

“Hmm.” Twilight said. "Well, nothing on relationships, though there is something else I can do for you."

“What’s that?” Bloomeria asked.

"I know for a fact that a lot of colts these days are attracted to intelligent mares." She said.

“Well I don’t know if I’m all that smart.” Bloomeria said.

"We'll see about that." Twilight said, getting some books from the shelves.

“Oh boy.” Spike said.

Time passed and by now Bloomeria’s eyes were getting tired.

"Ugh." She said. Her head spun from everything Twilight was teaching her.

“Now this constellation is called Cygnus. Meaning swan.” Twilight said pointing to said constellation on her chart. "This one is called Aquila, meaning eagle." Soon Bloomeria could have sworn she saw the stars move and fly away. She giggled.

“Heh, bye-bye birdies.” She said dizzily.

“Uh Twilight, don’t you think we should take a break?” Spike pointed out.

"But we're almost to..." She stopped herself when she saw Bloomeria. "Oh." Bloomeria mumbled something unintelligible and fainted. Spike stared at her.

"You killed her." He said.

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Bloomeria…” voices said to her as the said pony came to.

"Ugh... mommy?" Bloomeria asked. She opened her eyes to see three pony faces and a baby dragon staring at her.

"Whoa." She said.

“Are you all right?” Fluttershy asked.

“I feel like my brain is fried.” said Bloomeria. She rubbed her head. Fluttershy and Rarity helped her up.

“I’m sorry Bloomeria.” Twilight apologized. “I guess I overdid it. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t smart.”

Bloomeria smiled a bit at that.

“Thanks.” She said.

“It’s a good thing we’ve arrived.” Rarity said. "Come dear, it's time to go." She said to Bloomeria.

“Go where?” Bloomeria asked.

"Makeover!" Rarity cheered musically. Bloomeria was taken aback.

"Oh great." Twilight said. "Here she goes."

“A nice time at the spa is just what you need.” Rarity said. Plus, it will be phase one of my plan for helping you to impress Blaze.”

"Phase one?" Bloomeria asked.

“Um, but Rarity…” Fluttershy said softly.

“Come along Bloomeria.” Rarity said ushering her out the door. “You will soon see what I mean. You too Twilight. The more the merrier.” Twilight groaned.

"OK." Twilight soon followed. Fluttershy only sighed.

“What’s wrong Fluttershy?” Spike asked.

"No one's listening to me... again." She said.

“Maybe you should try speaking up.” Spike said. “What’ve you been wanting to say?”

“Well, it’s just that I don’t think that Bloomeria needs to…” Fluttershy said before being interrupted by Rarity calling for her.

"Oh, not again." She sighed. “I’ll tell you later Spike.” She raced out the door after her friends.

“There now don’t you feel better?” Rarity asked as the three little ponies walked out of the Ponyville Day Spa. Indeed, the lot of them were looking like a million bits.

“I know I sure do.” said Twilight.

“Oh yes.” Bloomeria said. “Thank you Rarity. That is just what I needed. I’ve been so stressed out. My shop is going to open soon and all this trouble to impress Blaze. I’m starting to wonder if it’s worth it.” Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Don’t you worry darling.” She said. “Love is always worth it. Now on to phase two.”

“Which is?” Fluttershy asked.

“The perfect dress.” Rarity said.

"Oh boy." Twilight said. The three of them walked to Carousel Boutique.

“Follow me please.” Rarity said. Bloomeria did so.

“This is where I make all my wonderful outfits." She said. “Each, a work of art.”

“Oh wow.” Bloomeria said. It wasn’t long before Bloomeria was being measured. Rarity carefully took each measurement.

“Mmhmm.” She said. She stood back and looked at Bloomeria. "Idea!" She chirped. “I have the perfect dress in mind for you.”

“That fast?” Bloomeria asked.

“That’s a talent of Rarity’s.” Twilight said. “She knows just what you’ll look good in.”

In a flash, Rarity was off.

“Ah yes. Perfect.” Rarity said as she saw Bloomeria in her new dress. Twilight smiled at her.

“Wow Bloomeria! You look great!” She said. Bloomeria blushed as she looked over herself.

The dress was light blue and beautifully decorated with a white floral pattern.

“Of course she‘s naturally lovely like many ponies. But there’s nothing wrong with taking it up a notch as they say. Now for your mane.” Rarity said.

"My what?" Bloomeria asked. Rarity got a hairbrush with her magic and went straight to work.

Bloomeria sat there, almost afraid of what she was doing. She gulped. Soon her hair was done up in a fancy but simple hairdo.

“There.” Rarity said. “But it’s missing something.” She thought for a moment. “That’s it!” She snapped with a big grin. Rarity summoned a few white flowers and made them into a crown.

"Oooh." Twilight said. Even Fluttershy was smiling.

“Oh you look so pretty Bloomeria.” She said. “But um, don’t you think that…”

“Now on to phase three!” Rarity chirped. Fluttershy sighed. “The date!” said Rarity.

"What?" Bloomeria asked. “Oh you are going to love this.” Rarity said. “I’ve arranged a little get together for you and Blaze."

Bloomeria gulped. “You did?” She squeaked. Rarity nodded.

“Oh my. What’ll I do?” What’ll I say to him?” Bloomeria said pacing back and forth. “Wait. What did you say to him?”

“Oh that just a certain special mare would love to be in your company this evening.” Rarity said.

Bloomeria gulped hard.

“Don’t worry Bloomeria.” Fluttershy said. “You’ll be fine. Although I don’t think that…”

“Fluttershy’s right.” Twilight said. “You’ll be just fine.” Fluttershy tried to speak again but she couldn’t get it out.

“Hey, what dress is that?” Bloomeria asked when she saw a white dress on one of the mannequins. It looked like a wedding dress.

"Oh." Rarity said, blushing a bit. “Um, it’s nothing you need to worry about right now. We have to talk about how your date is going to be. And that will include a crash course in proper pony etiquette.” Despite the smile on Bloomeria‘s face, she was very very nervous.

Hours later came the beautiful work of Princess Luna as the stars twinkled in the night sky. Blaze was waiting at the café for his mystery date. He had been told to dress appropriately, so he did so by wearing what would pass as a tuxedo. Nothing too fancy. He smiled.

“I wonder where this mystery pony is.” He asked. He looked around. He heard somepony clear her throat. He turned around to see Bloomeria dressed up and right in front of him. He gasped.

“Um… hello.” Bloomeria said shyly. Blaze gave her his most winning smile. “I’m Bloomeria.” She said.

"Blaze." He said. “I thought you looked familiar. You’re Ponyville’s newest resident right?”

“Uh huh.” Bloomeria said, blushing. She ran her hoof along the ground in circles.

“Would you like to sit down?” Blaze asked her.

“Yes, please.” Bloomeria said. They both took their seats. Unbeknownst to them, the two had spies watching them.

All six ponies watched from the shadows.

“Aren’t they a lovely couple?” Rarity whispered.

"Uh huh." Pinkie said. They could see the two ponies talking. They seemed to be getting along just fine.

“How wonderful.” Fluttershy said. Twilight beamed.

“Whew. I was afraid something was going to go wrong again.” She said.

“Oh nonsense Twilight Sparkle.” said Rarity. “This plan is foolproof. What could go wrong?”

But soon they were running out of things to say. Blaze was working on his second drink of the

evening, while Bloomeria just sat there, smiling. She was getting nervous. What was she supposed to say next? She desperately wracked her brain. She came up with one thing.

"Oh, aren't the stars simply divine." She said, in a clipped, upper class accent, mimicking Rarity.

“Ah. Yes they are.” Blaze said. “Say uh, what’s up with your voice?”

"Whatever do you mean, darling?" She asked.

“Uh, why are you talking like that?” Blaze asked. “Doesn’t sound like you at all.” She just smiled at him. She was starting to perspire from being nervous.

“Hehehe. Oh my.” She said still trying to act all upper classy. “Is it getting warm out here?” Blaze was confused.

"Oh no." Twilight said. "She's dying out there."

“I uh…” Bloomeria said. She began to sweat even more as she tried to make small talk. “Did you know that there’s a constellation called Cygnus?” She blurted.

"Huh?" He asked. He was feeling a bit uncomfortable now. “Are you feeling okay?” He asked.

"Oh just wonderful darling." She said. Her eye started twitching. “Oh goodness I’m really feeling warm now.” She said. Blaze was taken aback.

“Uh…”

“I’ll be right back.” Bloomeria said standing up. “I think I’ll go freshen up in the powder room.”

She tried to walk with grace with her eyes closed and her nose held up high. But that only led to her bumping into a waiter who was carrying a tray full of food.

"Yah!" They both yelped. All eyes were fixed on them when the food came down on Bloomeria. The other ponies gasped.

“Oh no.” said Fluttershy. Bloomeria looked herself over. She was a complete mess. Blaze looked at her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

“I…” She said, not even looking at him. “I’m sorry!” Bloomeria took off.

"Wait!" He called. But Bloomeria was either to far away for her to hear, or she ignored him.

Blaze looked at her as she ran off. "Oh no." He said.

“Poor Bloomeria.” Twilight said. Fluttershy frowned. She felt that this was her fault because she didn’t speak up about her opinion on the matter. Not anymore.

“What are we gonna do now?” Applejack asked. “We tried everything.”

"No you haven't." Fluttershy spoke up, sounding a bit annoyed. All the ponies looked at her.

“The one thing you didn’t suggest was just to let her be herself.” Fluttershy said.

"What?" Rarity asked.

“I think that if Bloomeria wanted Blaze to like her, she would let him see the kind of pony she really is.” Fluttershy said. “You don’t need to do anything extravagant to impress a pony. You should just be yourself.” Her expression soured. “I tried to tell you all before but I kept getting interrupted. It makes me feel bad that you don’t appreciate what I have to say.” Her expression then turned to one of sadness. As did the other ponies.

“We’re sorry Fluttershy.” Twilight said. “We should have taken the chance to listen to what you had to say.” Twilight put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. “Can you ever forgive us?” She asked. Fluttershy gave a little smile.

“You’re my friends.” She said. “Of course I forgive you. I also should have spoken up when I felt I needed to instead of being afraid.” She lowered her head a bit.

“Aw, it’s all right Fluttershy.” said Pinkie Pie.

“But what about Bloom?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“We can swing by her shop tomorrow and talk to her.” Twilight said.

"Good idea." Pinkie Pie said. Everypony agreed.