Love in Bloom

The next day, Bloomeria’s shop was now officially open. “There we go Ginger.” Bloomeria said. “We are now open for business.” Ginger trilled with joy. “Yeah.” Bloomeria said. “Maybe some work will distract me from what happened last night.” She sighed. She heard the sound of hooves coming in. "Hello," She said, "welcome to Blossoms and Bouquets.” She turned to see her six pony friends, and her baby dragon friend, in her shop. “Oh hi.” She said trying to be cheerful.

“Howdy Bloomeria.” Applejack said. “Quite a nice little shop you got here.”

“And what an adorable ferret.” Fluttershy said, noticing Bloom’s little friend.

“This is Ginger.” Bloomeria said. Ginger ran right over to Fluttershy and climbed on her. Fluttershy giggled.

“Aw, how sweet.” She said.

"Thanks." Bloomeria said. “What brings you here?”

"To answer your question," Twilight said, "we came to apologize."

“Everything that we tried to help you impress Blaze only led to disaster.” Rarity said.

“Except for the one thing we should have told you to do.” said Rainbow Dash.

"To just be yourself." Applejack said. Bloomeria didn’t quite understand.

“Be myself? But I didn’t think he’d want to be with me.” said Bloomeria. “If I couldn’t fly, I thought I could do something else that’s just as good.”

"You can." Twilight said. "We all completely forgot something. Sometimes, just being you is the best thing you can be.”

“Yeah.” said Spike. “Take me for example. I don’t have any wings. But that doesn’t stop me from being the best assistant I can be!”

“Oh Spike.” said Twilight with a slight giggle in her voice and a grin on her face.

“And for a pony to see that, you need to take the chance and speak up so he can really hear you.” said Fluttershy. “Believe me I know what it’s like to be afraid to say what you feel.” She smiled at her.

“I guess I should have been more straightforward.” said Bloomeria. “But how can I…” Bloomeria froze and gasped. For through the open door, she saw Blaze coming this way.

“It’s Blaze! He’s coming over here! Hide me!” She hid behind the counter. “I can’t let him see me after last night!” The other ponies looked at each other, as though asking what to do.

“So much for being straightforward.” Spike muttered.

“Hello?” Blaze called as he entered the shop.

"Oh hi." Pinkie Pie said. “Is the owner of the shop here?” Blaze asked.

"Oh uh, she's busy at the moment." Twilight said. “But we’d be happy to help you.”

“So what can we do you for?” Applejack asked.

"Actually, I'm looking to buy a flower arrangement." He said.

“Certainly.” said Twilight. “May I ask for what occasion?” Bloomeria listened to what they were saying.

"It's for somepony, actually." He said. “I just met a new pony and I wanted to surprise her with flowers.” Bloomeria felt her heart break.

"Oh, who?" Applejack asked, though she also felt her heart sink.

“Oh just one of the sweetest mares I‘ve ever met. But that’s all I can say.” Blaze said. He looked around. “That one over there looks perfect.” He said pointing to a bouquet of roses and snapdragons. "I'll take it. How much?"

“Oh um, four bits should do.” Twilight said. Blaze dropped the coins on the counter. “Thank you.” said Twilight as she summoned the bouquet with her magic. Blaze took it.

“Thanks.” He said before leaving.

“Have a good day.” Twilight said just as he walked out of the shop. Bloomeria slowly stood up from behind the counter, tears beginning to form.

“Uh, Bloom? You okay?” Spike asked.

“He… he’s met a new pony.” She said. “And after all that trouble to get him to like me. It turns out he likes somepony else.” Fluttershy put a hoof on her shoulder.

“I should have figured.” Bloomeria said. “After making a fool of myself last night, why would he like a pony like me?” She began sniffling.

"You know that ain’t true, sugarcube." Applejack said.

“No.” Bloomeria said. “I might as well face it. He hates me." She started to walk away from the group. If she had hands, she would be clenching them very tightly. Her anguish was getting harder and harder to hold back by the second. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be…FAR AWAY!” She cried out before galloping out of the shop sobbing.

"Wait!" Fluttershy called. But it was too late. She was gone.

“This is all my fault.” Fluttershy said. “I should have spoken up sooner.” Feeling guilty, tears began to form in her own eyes.

“Aw, don’t beat yourself up over this.” said Pinkie. “Then again why would anypony want to beat themselves up for anyway? I mean that’s just crazy. Not to mention painful.”

“Aside from that, we’ve got to find Bloomeria before it’s too late!” Rainbow Dash said. “The Pegasus ponies issued a storm for this evening!” Twilight gasped.

"How big of a storm?"

They heard thunder starting to rumble already.

“We’d better to get a move on!” Applejack said.

“You stay here Ginger.” Fluttershy said to the ferret. “We’re going to bring Bloomeria home. We’ll be back soon.” Ginger trilled, as if to agree.

“Spike, you stay here with Ginger and keep her company.” Twilight said to the baby dragon. Spike saluted.

“Will do!”

“Let’s go!” Twilight said. The ponies ran out of the shop and began searching the town, calling for Bloomeria. Spike remained in the shop as he was told. He looked at Ginger almost awkwardly.

“So uh Ginger…” He said. “Hey, is it true that you guys can tie yourselves in knots?”

Ginger trilled questioningly and cocked her head. “I didn’t think so.” Spike said.

Bloomeria, meanwhile, was running far away from Ponyville, crying from a broken heart.

She was so upset that she didn’t even seem to notice that she was running towards the Everfree Forest.

“Bloomeria!” Rainbow Dash called as she soared over the town. “Where are you!?” Her eyes scanned every inch she could see. Nothing. But her ears caught something.

Blaze’s voice.

“Rainbow Dash, what’s going on?” Blaze asked. “Have you seen Bloomeria?”

"I'm looking for her." She said. “She ran away.”

"Oh no." Blaze said. "Why?" Rainbow Dash scoffed.

“Why would you care?” Dash said glaring at him. Blaze was taken aback.

“What?” Blaze asked. “I do care. Why would you think that I wouldn’t?”

“Because you’re the one who MADE her run off!" Dash said, snarling.

“What!?” Blaze asked. He circled around in front of Rainbow Dash, stopping her in mid-flight. “What are you talking about?” He asked.

"Oh, like you don't know!" Dash shouted. “You’re the one who bought flowers for your new marefriend! Bloomeria heard everything and she ran off! So why should you even bother asking about her?”

"What the hay are you talking about?!" Blaze retorted, starting to get angry himself. “Those flowers I bought were for her!”

Rainbow Dash's expression turned from anger to shock. “The flowers were for who now?”

“Bloomeria’s the one I like.” Blaze said. “After what happened at the café last night I thought I’d surprise her with a bouquet.” Dash's jaw dropped.

“Wait a second.” Blaze said. “How did Bloomeria know about the flowers?”

“Well that was her shop where you got those flowers from.” said Dash. “She was hiding behind the counter when you came in.”

"Oh no." He said, his expression clearly in shock. "This...this is all my fault! Oh what have I done!"

“Well we can still fix this.” said Rainbow Dash. “We just have to find her.” Soon more thunder started to rumble. Signifying that this was going to be an intense storm.

“I’m starting to worry.” Blaze said. “She could be anywhere and the storm is really starting to build up.” Dash said nothing.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called from the ground. “Get down here! We might know where Bloomeria might be!”

"Where?" The two Pegasi asked. They flew to the ground and landed next the other ponies. They were quite surprised when they saw Blaze with Rainbow Dash. An expression of great concern and worry was painted on his face.

“Wait, Blaze? How come y’all are helping out?” Applejack questioned.

“Because this is all my fault.” said Blaze. “I didn’t know that Bloomeria owned that flower shop.”

“Turns out those flowers he bought were for Bloom in the first place.” said Dash. “But enough chitchat. Where is she!?”

“Bon Bon told us that she saw Bloomeria run into the Everfree Forest!” said Pinkie Pie.

"The WHAT!?" the Pegasi exclaimed.

From the center of Ponyville, the ponies could see that the storm was growing to be so big that it was reaching over into the Everfree Forest, where only a few brave ponies would dare to enter.

“We’ve got to find her! This storm is growing by the minute.” said Blaze. “She could get hurt!”

"Or worse." Twilight said. They looked up at the darkening sky. "We have to go, now." Twilight said. The ponies took off toward the Everfree Forest. Twilight lit her horn to give them light. Everypony called for her as loud as they could shout. But Bloom was a good distance away from her friends. She began to slow her run to a walk as she felt the energy being drained from her. Still heartbroken, she continued on. Unaware that her friends were searching for her that very moment. Into the search, Blaze began to panic.

“Oh, where could she be?” He said. “If anything happens to her, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”

“Don’t worry.” said Twilight . “I’m sure we’ll find her.” The loud thunderclap overhead signified that not only was this to be a real freak storm, but at any moment it was going to start pouring. But the ponies refused to give up. Soon a glimmer of hope came to them as they came across the domicile of the zebra, Zecora.

“Maybe Zecora has seen her.” said Rarity. She knocked on the zebra herbalist's door. Zecora soon answered. She gasped at the state of the ponies before her.

“My pony friends, what brings you here? Do you not know that a storm is near?” She asked in verse as she always would.

"Zecora, someone is lost in here." Twilight said.

“Have you seen a pony come through this way? Lavender blue colored coat, brown mane, pale blue eyes.” Rainbow Dash asked. Zecora nodded.

“Ah yes. A little pony I certainly did see. Just as you have described to me.”

"Really?" Blaze asked. "Where did she go?"

“The pony you seek was full of woe. Deeper into the forest is where you must go.” said Zecora. At the last bit, Zecora sounded concerned.

“Why didn’t you try to stop her?” Rainbow Dash.

“I did try to stop her young Rainbow Dash. Before I could talk to her she was gone in a flash. But as she ran I could hear her cry. So sad and brokenhearted, I must ask why.”

"There's been a terrible misunderstanding." Blaze said, hanging his head in shame.

“But we don’t have time to explain that.” said Twilight. "Thank you Zecora. We‘re going to keep looking!” The Lighting flashed brighter and thunder rumbled even louder. The wind was picking up and now it started to rain.

“Uh oh!” said Pinkie. “Now what are we going to do?”

“We’re going to find Bloomeria!” said Blaze, determination in his voice. “That’s what we’re going to do. Come on, everypony!" The seven ponies ran out of Zecora’s home and deeper into the forest. It was getting hard to run in the rain and wind. And especially hard to fly.

“Y’all better continue on hoof Rainbow.” said Applejack to Rainbow Dash who had tried to fight the wind current and ended up being smacked against a tree. “It just ain’t safe to fly in this weather.”

“I can see that.” said Dash as she collected herself.

“We’d better move quick.” said Twilight. “All these tall trees make it especially unsafe to be here.”

“Hey over here!” Pinkie pie cried. “I found something!” The ponies came over to Pinkie Pie who was looking down, asking what it was that she’d found. “Look!” She said. “It’s a rock shaped like a heart!”

“Pinkie!” The ponies scolded.

“But look what’s right next to it!” Pinkie told them. They looked down to see something they were hoping to find.

“Hoofprints!” said Fluttershy.

“They must be Bloom’s!” said Blaze. Soon the ponies took off along the trail of prints that they hoped and prayed belonged to Bloomeria.

As it rained and thundered, Bloomeria now kept on wandering. Scared, alone, lost, and heartbroken. She felt like the storm was her own personal rain cloud hovering over her head. She still sobbed as she walked. But it was raining so much on her that you couldn‘t tell which were raindrops or which were teardrops. She shook with each rumble of thunder. Soon she realized that out there was not the right place to be at this moment.

“Oh what am I doing out here?” Bloom asked herself. “I should be at home with Ginger. Not running away. That doesn’t solve anything.” Bloomeria observed her surroundings. She felt completely turned around. Oh why didn’t she pay attention to where she was going? “How do I get home from here?” She asked. She walked around until she came to the river. She saw that the water was rushing roughly as it flowed. She paused for a moment right beside the river to check if she was anywhere near home. Soon there was a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder so big that it scared poor Bloomeria nearly half to death. She stepped into a weak spot of the edge of the river and slipped! She screamed as she fell into the water. The cold water shocked her system.

Resurfacing, she coughed and cried for help. She could swim, but the strong current made it nearly impossible to do so. But by a stroke of luck. Bloom found herself heading toward some large rocks sticking out of the water. She managed to grab hold of one of them with her hooves. But she didn’t know how long she could hold on.

“Oh this dreadful weather is ruining my mane! And we’ve still yet to find Bloomeria!” said Rarity.

“And the rain is washing away the hoofprints!” said Rainbow Dash. “We’ll never find her!”

“Don’t say that!” said Blaze. “We can’t give up now! We just can’t!”

“Help!” a distant voice cried. The ponies looked up and listened. Over the wind and rain they heard a familiar voice. “Help!”

"That's her!" Blaze cried.

“Help me!” it cried again. The ponies quickly ran to the source of the cries. The river. They could see the water rushing as fast as stampeding cattle. They looked over the river and saw nothing.

“Where is she?” Pinkie asked.

"I don't see anything." Applejack said.

“Help!” The voice cried again. Blaze spotted some rocks sticking out of the water. And saw that Bloomeria was holding on to one for dear life! “Somepony please help me!” She cried.

“Bloom!” The ponies cried to her. Bloomeria looked up to see seven faces that offered her the slightest glimmer of hope in her turmoil. She cried out once more.

“Help me!”

"Hang on Bloom!" Dash called. “We’ll get you out of there!”

“What are we going to do?” Rarity asked.

“We can’t fly and get her.” Fluttershy said. “It‘s too dangerous in this storm.” Blaze began looking around for something to use, but all he saw were small sticks, leaves, vines and rocks. Wait, vines?

“Those vines!” He said. “We’ll use them like rope to pull her here.” He grabbed the thickest he could find. Applejack fashioned it into a lasso. Blaze checked the knot and then turned to Bloomeria. He saw that she was getting weaker by the minute. "Bloom!" He called. "You have to catch this vine!" She looked at them. Applejack tossed the rope but the wind and rain altered it’s landing. Bloomeria couldn't reach it.

“Consarn it!” Applejack said. She got the vine back and tried again. But with the same result.

Blaze saw she was starting to lose her grip. He gasped. They were running out of time! Applejack pulled the vine back in. “Let me try that again” She said.

Without thinking, Blaze snatched the vine, put the loop tightly around his waist and leapt into the water.

“Blaze!” The six ponies exclaimed.

"Are you crazy!?" Twilight shouted. But Blaze just kept swimming towards the mare in distress.

He grunted as he fought against the current. Soon Bloomeria was just too weak to hold on much longer. But just as she lost her grip, Blaze caught her and held her close.

"I got you." He said. “I got you.”

“Pull!” Rainbow Dash called out.

The ponies pulled as hard as they could. Soon they were able to bring the Blaze and Bloomeria back on land. Blaze quickly got her away from the water. But Bloomeria was shivering vigorously. Blaze curled up beside her, as close as possible.

“We’ve got to get back home.” said Applejack. “It just ain’t safe here.”

“But it will take too long to walk home.” said Fluttershy.

“And this storm won’t make it any easier.” said Rarity. Bloomeria was still shivering, and close to losing consciousness.

"I know what to do." Twilight said. "Everyone gather around." The ponies grouped up. Twilight focused as hard as she could as she readied her teleportation spell. One that she hoped would take them all to someplace safe. She concentrated with all her might as her horn began to glow with magic. Soon in a flash of light, the ponies disappeared.

“Bloomeria?” an echoed voice said. Bloomeria's vision was clouded. She couldn't tell where she was, or who was with her. She moaned softly and shivered still as she was coming to.

"Bloomeria?" Another voice echoed. Her vision started to clear up and she could see some familiar faces.

"Ugh." She said. "Where am I?"

“Oh thank goodness you’re okay.” said Fluttershy.

“You’re in Fluttershy’s cottage.” said Twilight. "We needed to get you warmed up, and she had the closest fireplace."

Bloomeria could she that she had a warm towel draped over her to help her dry off. And that she was in front of a roaring fire. She felt the warmth washing over her like warm bathwater.

“Hey where’s Spike?” She asked.

“He’s back at your place with Ginger.” said Rainbow Dash.

“I hope they’re all right.” said Fluttershy.

Meanwhile at Bloomeria’s, Spike and Ginger decided to busy themselves with some games.

“Ha! King me!” Spike said. The two were sitting on the floor, playing a game of checkers. And now Spike had one of his pieces at the opposite end of the board. Ginger obliged and placed one of the pieces she previously jumped and placed it on top of the other piece. “You’re move.” said Spike with much confidence. So sure that he was going to win this round. Ginger trilled and proceeded with her turn. She jumped the remainder of Spike’s pieces on the board and ended up on the opposite side, much to Spike’s chagrin. “Hmph. Lost to a weasel.” He muttered. “Again. Best three out of five?”

Ginger trilled happily.

Back at Fluttershy’s, Bloomeria was still trying to warm up, shivering still.

“Y’all feeling all right hon?” Applejack asked.

“Still kind of cold.” Bloomeria still felt a bit chilled after taking a major dip in the cold river.

But then she felt something else being draped over her. A quilt helped to provide extra warmth for the little pony. She looked up to see none other than it was Blaze who was helping her to get warm. He was smiling and in his expression he seemed relieved that Bloomeria was all right. But Bloomeria turned her head away from him, refusing to even look. Blaze was surprised.

“Thanks for saving me.” She simply said. “But why would you do that? I thought you hated me.”

“Hate you?” Blaze asked.

“Bloom, there’s something you got to know.” said Dash. “Those flowers he bought from your shop were actually for you.” Bloomeria looked up.

“Had I known that was your shop, I would have gotten you something else.” said Blaze.

“What?” Bloom asked. “But last night… I acted like a complete fool.” Blaze said nothing. Instead, he laid down next to her and placed a wing over her providing extra warmth.

He then leaned over and gently nuzzled her. Bloomeria‘s eyes widened and she gaped as she felt her heart race.

“Oh Bloomeria, I could never hate you.” Blaze said ever so gently. “I already liked you. From the moment I first saw you.”

“You did? But why would you want to be with a wingless pony like me though?” Bloomeria asked.

"Wings?" He said. "All these things do is make you able to fly." He said. "It doesn't make you any less than me." Bloomeria looked at him.

“Really?” She asked. He nodded, flashing his warmest smile. “You… you really like me?” Bloom asked. “Because I kind of had a little… crush on you since I saw you at the party.” Bloomeria’s cheeks turned pink. She couldn’t believe that she just said that to Blaze.

Blaze however, grinned at her. The other ponies could even swear they saw a blush form on his own cheeks. They were beaming.

"Bloom?" He said.

“Hmm?” She asked. Blaze didn't say anything. Instead, he leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek. Bloomeria’s cheeks turned red on the spot.

"Awwww!" the other ponies exclaimed with glee. Bloomeria giggled nervously and excitedly at the same time.

“I uh, I’m sorry for what happened last night. And about those cookies. I didn’t know you were allergic to nuts.” She said. Blaze smiled. “And I’m sorry that I ran away and got you all worried.”

“It’s okay.” He said. He continued to nuzzle her. "You know If you‘re willing, I wouldn‘t mind another try at a date." He said. Bloomeria grinned.

"Really?"

“We could have a picnic tomorrow after the weather clears up.” Blaze suggested.

Bloomeria felt like her heart would burst into firecrackers. She felt tears in her eyes, but they weren't tears of sadness. But tears of joy. “Well okay. I‘d love that.” Bloom and Blaze began to nuzzle each other affectionately. Soon there were tears starting to form in the other ponies’ eyes. The joy in the room was infectious.

“I think it’s safe to say that these two are an official couple.” Twilight said to her friends. Fluttershy sniffled.

“Y-yay.” She cheered in her characteristically soft way. “It’s so wonderful.” She said.

“And so romantic.” said Rarity.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her eye. "I’m not crying. It's just an itch." Twilight rolled her eyes. Pinkie Pie was crying her eyes out and blowing her nose into a tissue.

“Do y’all think this would be a lesson to report to Princess Celestia?” Applejack asked.

“Oh yes.” Fluttershy said. “I learned that a good friend should always be willing to speak up, especially if it’s about something important.”

“And that you should always take the time to actually listen to your friends instead of brushing them off.” said Rarity.

“And Bloomeria learned that if you want to actually be a friend to somepony special, the best thing is to reach out and be true to yourself despite your differences.” said Twilight.

Bloomeria turned and nodded. Blaze scooted closer to his new marefriend. Making sure that she was as warm as possible. She sighed with content. Blaze kissed her again, this time on the forehead.

"Come on girls," Applejack said, "let's give them some privacy."

“Right.” said Rarity.

The sound of twenty-four hooves leaving the room let the new couple know that they were alone. Bloomeria adjusted herself so she could get a good view of the fire. The flames danced in front of the two ponies. She felt Blaze's wing wrap around her. The two were engulfed in their newfound love for each other. Neither said anything, as nothing needed to be said. The warmth of the fire and the warmth in each other's hearts said it all. They just looked at each other, and pressed their noses against one another.

What a lovely sight.

The End