Perennial Problems

"Miss Roseluck, Come on!" I received strange stares from stranger mares that attend the prison. Stares that beamed at me through the cell doors and the prison balcony high above my head.
Stares of jealousy. Heh heh, they mad. I was very grateful to have been picked up by the princess herself. I didn't really know what she was doing picking up a commoner from a prison for. Was it because she felt bad for running me over? No, no... she said she wanted to talk to me about my flower work? I tried to think of a reason as to why I deserved to be chauffeured by royalty.

I boarded the pearl colored two-car carriage with gold trimming. There, I saw my two friends, Daisy and Lily. I had just walked in on their conversation on why we were in prison.

"We weren't in any real trouble, Lily." Daisy informed.
"You guys had me worried sick!" Lily whined. "The princess came to my house and told me you guys were in prison!"

"Did she tell you why?" I added myself to the conversation.

"No, she just told me it was important to get you."

A small chuckle escaped from the royal mouth in the front carriage.

The carriage arrived at a small, snowy pasture a mile away from Ponyville. It had not trees and it seemed as if no plants would have naturally grown here in the proper climate. I could tell by how smooth the snow lay on the ground. Like a white polished ballroom floor.

The princess got out of the carriage and walked back to open the doors for the flower trio, asking them to step outside.
The trio walked onto the snow covered ground and instantly began to shiver. Lucky, Lily brought everypony scarves and sweaters. Princess Celestia didn't seem irritated by the weather. She didn't even shiver.

"I've gathered the three of you here today to give you all an assignment." Celestia's voice seemed to make every other ambient noise disperse. The message was clearer than the day that she brings.

"The three of you are quite good at what you do. I've seen your works. Little did you know, I've sampled flowers from each of you by having my star pupil, Twilight Sparkle, pick them up for me at your shop."

"Really?" Daisy said, eyes widened with awe.

"Yes. At most royal gatherings, I like to decorate with flowers. Your flowers."

I felt honored to have the princess praise my friends and I for our work.

"So, your highness, what's our assignment?" Lily asked, slightly frightened, but mostly curious.

"Well," The princess began to speak, "You see this land here? I'm going to have you mares go over seas and find some exotic plants. Plants we simply can't have here naturally. I'm going have you pick up some flowers in Fillitalia and have then planted here."

Fillitalia. A very beautiful place. My parents currently live in Fillitalia. However, they are from elsewhere. I don't remember the last I saw them, though.

"I'll provide your stay there and cover food expenses as well."

Wow...
Out of all the florists in Equestria, the princess picked the three of us. I was feeling a bit skeptical. I forgot to hold my tongue and asked why.

"Well, Rose, I've been getting some feedback from my star pupil about how your flowers are the most vibrant in Ponyville. And between the the three of you, I really really like flowers."

The princess seemed embarrassed. However, she still looked infinitely elegant.

"Wow, your highness! I dunno what to say!" Daisy exclaimed.

"You three must depart before next winter." The Princess commanded.
"Make this place beautiful."

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Later that day, Lily was kind enough to host a party for our assignment.
It was Herself, Daisy, our friend Cheerilee, her sister, Berry punch, and Berry's friend, Colgate.

Some of the mares there I never got to fully meet. I had never gotten a chance to meet Colgate, a blue unicorn with a darker cyan colored mane that reminded me of toothpaste. Her cutie mark was an hourglass, and she had an optimistic personality. Shes tons of fun to be around, especially with those cool bar tricks she does.

I also got to meet Cheerilee's sister, Berry, who probably spends most of her time drunk. She resembles her sister. Her mane is messier and darker than hers, plus it's a solid color. She also has a wine colored coat. Her cutie mark is a bunch of grapes and a strawberry. Her bubbly personality is probably the only reason this get together would be considered a party.

In any other building, this party would be considered small, but since Lily's house isn't exactly "big" this was a huge celebration. Six mares crowed in a four-roomed apartment. It didn't add up. He all huddled in Lily's living room, which was the biggest room in the house. It consisted of two white lamps, a dark red carpet, pink walls, a wooden table, and a chandelier that was a simple round shape.

"Toast to the best florists in Equestria!" Berry cheered.
We all raised glasses toward the chandelier which re-colored the room as the light passed through the drinks and had a sip of champagne.

"Toast to Lily who hosts this party!" Berry said again.
We repeated our action, only quicker.

"Toast to Colgate being the only non-Earthpony!!!!"
"B-P," Colgate began to speak to berry,

"Are you just finding reasons to drink?"

"Yes!"

We all laughed and cheered. We had a pretty good time. Soon Cheerilee finally began to wonder why we were celebrating in the first place.

"Hey, Rose, why are we holding this party? Is there a special occasion?"

"I'm glad somepony finally asked. I was starting to think you guys just came here for the drinks."

"Is that a problem?" Berry asked.

"Well, no, but there is a reason behind this." Lily explained in her usual shy tone.

"Yeah, basically, the princess wanted us to do a little deed for her. She wants us to go over seas and pick up some flowers for this field that hasn't been occupied yet. Seemed like fertile grounds to me. Even under all that snow. So the princess is going to pay for our room and board over there." Daisy explained.

"That's fantastic! Were exactly over seas?" Cheerilee showed great interest.

"Fillitalia. Tons of exotic flowers and rare herbs there."

"And great wine!" Berry Punch exclaimed.

"This is really cool, guys!" Colgate said.

"Yeah, I can't wait to tell everypony that my friend has a royal assignment from the princess!"

"Yeah," Daisy said, "Tell everypony."

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After the party was over, I was left with daisy and Lily to clean up. It wasn't a huge mess, but we decided to help Lily anyways. It was only fair.

We talked about what we were going to do when we left and what flowers we were going to bring back. We wondered what foods we'd get to taste, who we'd meet, the wild parties we'd have. Never once did it cross our minds on how we were going to get there, or how long it would take to get there or even when we should leave.

However, we did agree on when we'd get back. Before Spring. We had to be back before Spring because we needed to plant the flowers in the proper climate. We discussed the whole matter until gradually we fell asleep on the cozy carpet.