This story starts with four ponies, each of which, on the surface, commanded no more attention than anypony else.
The first, a slender brown earth pony, was such a dull color that the blue box on the corner was more dazzling and eye-catching than he was.
The second, a short but beautiful cream-coated pegasus, tended flowers the same color as her raspberry-streaked mane.
The third, a mint green unicorn who could often be spotted toward the back of wild crowds, wished only to learn about the elusive race of mammals known as humans.
The fourth, whose purple horn and wings have only recently become an iconic symbol of magic and power, was so bored that she had nothing better to do than sit and wait for a miracle.
Although on their own nothing much may have ever happened to them, the day they come together will be a day nopony will soon forget...
Episode 1: Roseluck
Chapter One
"Wow!" a pink mare bounded up to my small booth. I had been standing outside the flower shop,'Roses are Red,' for an hour or two, and nopony had paid me much attention so far, "Rose, your calla-lilies are beautiful! I bet you'll take first prize in the competion!" she tweeted
I smiled. Her electrically pink mane and tail seemed impossible-- in both color and style. Her eyes glittered with joy, and even though I had only moved here from Trottingham three days before, I was happy to learn that she knew my name.
"Thanks. Would you like one? On the house," I yanked one off the vine and tossed it to her, my accent now obvious to all in the area. The mare leapt up and caught it in her mouth, swallowing it with one quick gulp.
She trotted off, happy as lark, leaving me slightly disappointed that my first sale had gone directly down the throat of a wild earth pony. I stood up tall, trying to look inviting, and smiled cheesily. I didn't even recieve eye-contact from anypony else.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the pink snout of Lily Valley, peeking around a mannequin in the window. The mannequin was adorned with fake flowers of varying hues. I had been told that the artificial pony would hold a bouquet of flowers in season, though right now all it held was a cluster of dry husks that somewhat resembled tulips. Lily jabbed her hoof at the change box in front of me, which was empty (excluding a small spider and web in one corner).
I sighed, my wings drooping. Lily pushed open the door, swinging the 'come in, we're open! sign, and ringing the small bell which hung over her head.
"Listen, Rose," Lily began, apology already in her tone, "why don't you take the rest of the day off from stall duty?"
"No, no," I insisted, "I can handle this. I'm just, kind of..." my cheeks flamed, "n-new to this. I've never had a job like this before. I'll get the hang of it, don't worry."
"It's fine," Lily comforted me, "but I think a pony like you, a pony who is so..." Lily twirled her hoof, trying to think of the right world.
"dreadfully awful as a salespony?" I suggested.
"Naive. I was going to say naive," Lily said firmly, "A pony as naive as you would do better inside at the desk. No hard selling involved, just counting change. Daisy!" Lily called over her shoulder, "Daisy, you're going to run the booth, okay?" another, equally pink mare came out of the shop, ringing the bell again.
"Sorry about that, " Daisy whispered in passing. All I could manage was a moan in her general direction.
I slumped into the shop and drug myself behind the front desk. I watched as Daisy sold three consecutive flowers in the first minute.
I put both front hooves on the marble desktop and buried my snout in them. There was no way I could earn enough bits to keep even that small apartment on main street.
I was so deeply buried in self-pity that I didn't notice the sound until it was right behind me. It was an odd, sort of creaking sound, much like a floorboard makes when somepony steps on it just right. I looked around the shop, but I saw nothing. Then, once more behind me, I heard the creak, and whirled about, my snout smacking the face of...
The window dummy. The dummy, with a mane made entirely out of wax flowers and a bouquet of husks on the floor behind it. I jumped a bit, as it caught me off guard (I mean... it would catch anypony off guard), and a small sound of surprise tried to escape my lips, before I cut it off. Backing up slowly, I forced a chuckle, and scanned the shop for the jokester.
"Alright, Lily, you got me. Game's over!" I stopped moving after I had put a respectable distance between me and the mannequin. This time, it followed, "C-Carrottop? Is that you?" my voice shook as I felt the cold hard surface of marble on my leg. I was backed up against the desk, which was 'L'-shaped and impossible to escape without getting closer to the mannequin.
I heard the tinkling of the bell, and knew that somepony had entered the shop. I craned my neck around the creepy prankster to see the door. A tall, slender pony stood elegantly in the doorway. He was wearing a suit and a tie, and an abnormally voluminous trench coat which billowed in the small breeze from the ceiling fan. His forelock was spiked up, but it was long enough that it still drooped a bit in the front. He was holding a strange, silver stick in his mouth that caught the light. He mumbled something around the device, which I'm pretty sure meant something along the lines of, "what the hoof are you doing? Run!"
I've never galloped so fast in my life.