Petals Of The Infinite Rose
Mayor Roseluck looked proudly out at the crowd gathered for the Roseville Rose Celebration. Why, the whole town must have been there. And what roses they had brought! It was a rainbow of red. Roselucks had grown rose bushes in every shape and size she could imagine.
It was morning. Roseluck woke and gave thanks for the sun's light and for Princess Roseluck who brought it forth to shine on the garden of Equestria. She went downstairs humming cheerfully to herself and began to make breakfast. Soon some nice scrambled roses were sizzling in a pan. Roseluck trotted into the kitchen sniffing gratefully at the scent of roses. Big Roseluck followed, helping Granny Roseluck down the stairs.
Outside in her cottage garden Roseluck wandered. She sighed in contentment as she watched birds rustling around in her rose bushes, poking their heads out here and there, or suddenly bursting out and taking flight. She got awfully nervous living this close to the Everfree Thorns, but the critters were what made up for it. Norose else in town got critters like she did. And you didn't have to be a Roseluck to enjoy a pretty rose after all. A little red bird twittered among the red petals.
One fine summer day (was there any other kind of day?) Roseluck was chatting with her next door neighbor Roseluck. Suddenly a gust of wind slammed her back door shut with a loud bang. Both Roselucks screamed at the sound. Roseluck even fainted.
The smell of freshly baked roses filled the air in and around Sugar Rose Corner, tempting Roselucks in with the thought that a cup of rose tea and a hot rose was just the treat that they needed on such a nice day. A line of Roselucks chatted amiably and patiently, even though they stretched nearly out the door. Mr and Mrs Roseluck bustled between the kitchen and the counter. The little Roseluck twins played rambunctiously in their pen in the corner.
Princess Roseluck walked through the Great Garden of Canterlot. The bushes were thick and loomed over the path so that they seemed to fill all space. She did not need to stop or stoop or even crane her neck to smell them; there was no smell but their fragrance. At the end of the path roses of many colors bloomed. There came black roses, then white, then red. Red roses and edge of the garden, looking out over the horizon.
She looked over her kingdom, which was all the gardens of the world. All except the Everfree Thorns. There alone were thorns and flowers not the rose. There alone was Time who wilted petals and withered leaves. Her duty was to prune, to weed, to snip: it must not spread. For hers was the kingdom of the eternal rose. She trembled. It was a great task and she was only Roseluck. How terrifying it was to think of anything but roses.
It wasn't until somerose asked for it that Roseluck realized she had left the library's copy of the Big Book of Blooms up in her bedroom where she had been reading it the night before. She had meant to bring it down and put it back on the shelf. She felt a little guilty but not too guilty, anyrose would have done the same. She went up to fetch it, even managing to avoid tripping over the tiny bed that was on the floor next to her own. She didn't know where it had come from and she never seemed to remember to move it, so there it stayed. She gave the book away with a smile and looked forward to walking by Roseluck's house to see how the advice in it brightened her garden.
Roseluck had one purpose in life and that was to make Roselucks smile with her roses. As she worked in her garden she always kept one eye up on the street. There was Roseluck passing by with her head hung low, sad like a leaky watering can. She sprang on her with a hug and a bright flower. And there coming after her was Roseluck skipping and whistling along. Roseluck told her that her smile was as pretty as a rose, and watched as it grew even brighter.
The Great and Powerful Roseluck pulled her cart into the Roseville market. She flagged Roselucks down and gathered a small crowd around herself in her uniquely flamboyant way. When she had gathered a little crowd, she pulled the sheet covering her wares off with a flourish. Everyrose gasped: her roses were magnificent. Their petals caught the light and shone with that special bombast that Roseluck herself carried.
Roseluck turned in circles, admiring her new dress in the mirror. It was a beautiful thing with not a dozen but hundreds of real roses sewn into it. She looked and felt like a trotting rosebush, and could hardly believe she was not dreaming.
Roseluck and Roseluck sat together on their favorite bench in the park. They had their differences, Roseluck could be quite odd sometimes, and Roseluck had her dour moments, but even so they were inseparable. Like two branches intertwining, different plants, yes, but who can say which leaf belongs to which?
The Rose Mark Crusaders careened through the street, hauling a wagon piled high with roses behind them. Loose flowers flew everywhere as they sped and swerved. They left a wake of petals spiraling softly down as they raced off to their next adventure. Roseluck shook her head at the thought of the chaos they would inevitably cause, but she smiled all the same. She would have been just like them if she was a filly.
Roseluck stopped in the middle of the street, craning her neck upwards. A gentle breeze blew with the scent of roses and the sun was so warm and even the clouds looked like little flowers. Roseluck wished the moment could last forever. She got her wish and roses with it.
Author's Note
Inspired by https://derpibooru.org/images/3377754
