Love in Bloom: Part II

Chapter 2: Impressing the Stallion

"Thanks for your help Daisy." Bloomeria said as she set a garland of flowers on a hook.
The shop was now filled with the fragrance of hundreds of flowers, all arranged in lovely designs. But the shop wouldn't open for just a couple more days. Still needed to make more bouquets.

"We really appreciate it." said Bloomeria. She looked at a little friend of hers, who climbed up her leg and rested on her back. "Don't we Ginger?" She asked with a slight giggle.

The little ferret squeaked as though to agree with her. Daisy giggled.

"You're most welcome."  Daisy said. "I must say your flower arrangements are quite captivating.  You'll have customers in no time."

"I hope so."  She said.  "I'd hate to have all this work wasted."  She spotted an arrangement of roses and daisies. Smiling, Bloomeria grabbed them.  "Here."  She said.  "Take them, no charge."

"Oh you don't have to." Daisy protested.

"No, this is a gift." Blomeria told her. "A token of my thanks." Daisy smiled.

"Why thank you." She said as she took them. Bloomeria smiled back.
"It's no problem at all."  She said.

"Well I'd best be off." Daisy said on her way out, carrying her new flowers. "Good luck with the shop."

"Thank you."  She said. Soon it was just Bloomeria and Ginger.

"Ginger, can you fetch me some snapdragons?"  She asked. Ginger trilled and went off to do so.
Bloomeria got some rose petals and arranged them into a pile. She also gathered some string to make a flower necklace.  She hummed a cheery tune as she did so.  Ginger soon returned. A nice bouquet of Snapdragons was clamped in her mouth.

"Thanks Ginger." Bloomeria said. Ginger trilled as Bloomeria set to work. She then heard someone come in.

"Oh wow the place looks great!" exclaimed a familiar voice.  "Oh hi Twilight."  Bloomeria said. "What brings you here? My shop still doesn't open for a couple of days."

"I just wanted to stop for a visit." said Twilight.

"Well would you like something to drink?" Bloomeria asked. "The kitchen's upstairs, as is the rest of my home."

"I'm fine. But thanks for the offer." said Twilight. She allowed herself to gaze at the shop and it's stock of floral arrangements, garlands, and bouquets.

"Oh wow did you make all of these beautiful bouquets and garlands yourself? I'm surprised you're not open for business already."

"Well I wanted to get fully settled in before I open. And to answer your question, yes I made most of these arrangements."  Bloomeria replied. "Daisy helped too. And of course my pet fer…fer…" Bloomeria stuttered as soon as she saw a familiar face outside her shop.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked her. Bloomeria rushed past her to the door, but she only peeked through the top of the bottom half of the Dutch door.  "What are you looking at?"  Twilight asked.

"Oh…" She sighed dreamily. She saw Blaze walking around town looking at the sky.

"Hellooooo."  Twilight said. She approached Bloomeria. Then she too saw Blaze. He was checking the clouds from an Earth pony's point of view.

"Yep. Everything looks good here." He said before taking off into the sky.  Twilight got a sly grin on her face.

"You know you could always talk to him." She said.

"Huh?" Bloomeria shook her head out of it. "Who?"

"Blaze." Twilight said. "You've been looking at him like that since you came here. If you like him, you should get to know him."

"What?!" She yelped. "Oh no no…I can't do that. I just..he just..he…" Bloomeria sighed. "He'd never like a mare like me."

"What makes you say that?"  Twilight asked.

"He's a Pegasus. I'm an Earth Pony." said Bloomeria. "He has wings. And I don't. It just wouldn't work." Twilight gave her "you gotta be kidding me" look.

"Really?"  She said.  "That's what's holding you back?"

"How can we even be together?" Bloomeria asked. "We have totally different lives. He works with clouds in the sky, and I work with flowers here on the ground. It's just impossible."

Bloomeria hung her head in sadness only to be nuzzled by Ginger. She trilled at her master.
The little pony managed to smile. But it didn't last very long.

"Oh."  She sighed. Twilight looked at her with sympathy. It was obvious that Bloomeria was falling for Blaze. What could she do to help her?

Later, at the library, Twilight met up with her friends to discuss the situation.

"And she thinks they can't be together because she doesn't have any wings." Twilight explained to her friend about Bloomerias's situation.

"Explain to me how that's supposed to be a bad thing for them?"  Rainbow Dash asked.

"That's the same question I asked her."  Twilight replied. "But she said that because they have totally different lives, it'd be impossible for them to be together."

"Whatever did she mean?"  Rarity asked, adopting a sudden dramatic form.  "Nothing should ever stand in the way of true love."  Rarity began to imagine a wedding for Bloomeria and Blaze.

"Why, I can see it now." She said. "Miss Bloomeria in the most beautiful white dress, provided by me of course, walking over the most fragrant of flower petals."  She said dreamily. "And the dashing Blaze at the altar awaiting his fair mare. We, as her bridesmaids would be dressed in a lovely violet ensemble..."  She was stopped by Rainbow Dash.

"All right Rarity, that's enough." She said shaking her hoof. "No way am I wearing purple.... no offense Twilight."

"None taken." said Twilight. "But we are kind of getting off of the subject."

"Oh. Sorry."  Rarity said.

"Well I think we need to show Bloomeria that she doesn't have to have wings for Blaze to like her." said Fluttershy.

"Exactly." said Twilight. "But how can we help her?"

"I think I have I idea."  Applejack said.

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"If she's afraid to talk to him, we just gotta help 'em out a bit."  Applejack said.

"Like what? Think of ways for Bloomeria to impress Blaze?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Exactly."  Applejack said.

"Oh um, I'm not sure if that's a good…" Fluttershy quietly said but was suddenly interrupted.

"You guys could each teach her stuff that she could do to impress him." Spike suggested.
Rainbow Dash's eyes lit right up at that.

"And I know just the thing."  She said.

The next day, Rainbow Dash and the gang took Bloomeria out for her first attempt at impression Blaze… in a fashion that only Rainbow Dash could have thought of.

Bloomeria gulped.  "I'm not so sure about this." She said shakily.

"Don't worry."  Rainbow Dash said.  "It's easy." She and the other five were atop a large hill overlooking Ponyville with Bloomeria. Her hooves were shaking in some roller skates Rainbow Dash let her borrow.

The only thing was... she hadn't skated before.  Rainbow Dash place a helmet on her head.

"There." She said. She looked for some binoculars. "If I'm right, Blaze should be with his crew fixing the clouds over town." She spotted him. "Perfect." She said. "All right Bloomeria. If you want to impress a someone, you gotta show 'em what your made of!"

"My legs feel like they're made of gelatin." Bloomeria said.

"Don't chicken out now."  Dash said. "You like this guy right?  We'll start with something simple. Just roll down that hill."

Bloomeria whimpered, but readied herself. A look of determination appeared on her face.
Dash smiled.  

"And.... GO!" She gave Bloomeria a quick push which Bloomeria rolling downhill.
Bloomeria screamed at how fast she was going.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, how is Blaze going to see her when he's busy focusing on them clouds?" Applejack asked. Rainbow Dash suddenly had a thought... a bad one.

"Uh oh…" She said. "I didn't think of that."

They heard Bloomeria scream again. She came barreling down the hill at breakneck speed. "Come on!" Rainbow Dash cried out. Bloomeria saw she was coming up to the town. To make matters worse, she didn't know how to stop.

"GANGWAY!" She cried out. Other ponies leapt out of her way. Bloomeria raced through the town square. She screamed as she ducked under a fruit stall. She heaved a sigh of relief but it was short lived as she crashed into a stand filled with carrots.  The Pegasi in the sky looked up with a start.

"Did you hear something?" Blaze asked. A grey, wall eyed, yellow maned Pegasus popped her head out of one of the clouds and shook her head.

"Sounded like someone hit something?"  Another pegasi said. Blaze looked down to see a large pile of carrots on the ground and six little ponies racing to it.  Twilight and Applejack dug Bloomeria out of the pile. She had stars flying around her head and a wall eyed look.

"Are you all right sugarcube?" Applejack asked. Bloomeria shook her head out of it.

"Good thing I was wearing a helmet." She said. "But look what I've done."  Bloomeria frowned as she saw the carrot stand completely destroyed.

"Oh dear."  Twilight said. They heard another pony clear her throat. Carrot Top.  And she did not look very happy.

"I hope you plan on paying for those carrots and the damages to my stand." She said.

"Y-yes ma'am." Bloomeria said shamefully. Carrot Top glared at her.  

"And I'd also like an apology."  She said, her green eyes boring into Bloomeria's.

"Hey, it was an accident."  Rainbow Dash growled. "And… it was my fault anyway." She said softening up a bit. "I let her use the skates and I pushed her down the hill."  Now it was her turn to glare at Carrot Top.  "So quit pickin' on her already."  Carrot Top looked at Bloomeria who was still on the ground.

"I am so very sorry." Bloomeria said. Carrot Top could see in her pale blue eyes that this was true.  Her expression changed immediately to one of mercy.

"Oh dear."  She said.  Bloomeria took off her skates. "Here let me help you up." Carrot Top said.
She helped her out of the skates and onto her feet. "I'll tell you what." She said. "I'll help you clean up this mess and you don't have to pay me a bit."  She said.

"But I should pay you." Bloomeria said.  Carrot Top shook her head.

"Nonsense." She said. "Jut help clean up and it'll be water under the bridge."  Bloomeria couldn't help but smile.  But then again, she didn't do what she had set out to do.

Later at Sugarcube Corner, they all met up to clean up and get out of the public eye.

"Thanks for sticking up for me Rainbow Dash." Bloomeria said.

"Oh, no prob." She said. "I'd never leave a pony hanging. Besides, I should have figured that Blaze might not have been able to see you anyway. Him being busy with the clouds." She smiled sheepishly.  Bloomeria sighed.

"What am I gonna do?" She said. "Even if he did see me, he probably thinks I'm a klutz."

"You know, the easiest way to a colt's heart is through his stomach."  Pinkie Pie said. "That's what my Granny Pie always said."

"Huh?" The other ponies asked.

"To the kitchen!"  She yipped, dragging Bloomeria out into the bakery's kitchen. The other ponies followed.  Pinkie Pie dressed up Bloomeria in a chef's hat and apron. Bloomeria blushed a bit.

"So what am I doing now?" She asked.

"Baking cookies, silly!"  Pinkie said.  

"Cookies. Hmm." Bloomeria said, smiling a bit. She liked this idea.

"Whatever happened to cupcakes?" Dash asked.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, we can't make cupcakes all the time." said Pinkie Pie. "That'd just be boring!"

"So what kind of cookies do y'all plan on makin'?" Applejack asked.

"One of my favorites."  Pinkie Pie said.  "White chocolate macadamia nut."

"Ooh that sounds good." Twilight said. "Can we help?"

"Yes please." Bloomeria said. "I'm gonna need all the help I can get."

The oven dinged indicating the cookies were ready. Twilight gingerly took them out using her magic. She set the tray on the countertop. Bloomeria, using a spatula in her mouth, took each cookie and set them on a cooling rack smiling at her work.  Everypony took a whiff at the freshly baked cookies.

"Simply divine."  Rarity said.

"Are you sure you're not a baker in disguise?" Pinkie asked.  Bloomeria giggled.

"Well I might have learned a thing or two from my mother." She said. "But really, I couldn't have done it without you. I just hope Blaze likes them."  Twilight smiled.  

"Oh he will.  They're fantastic."  Pinkie Pie placed the cookies on a plate. They soon heard voices in the other room. Familiar voices.

"Looks like it's showtime y'all." said Applejack.

"Why hello dear." said Mrs. Cake greeting her customer, Blaze himself. "May I help you?"

"Hello."  He said.  "I was wondering what you had on sale today."

"Well…" Pinkie Pie said, practically in Blaze's face. "We have a fresh batch of cookies with your name on it. Free sample?"

"Why didn't you go out there?" Twilight whispered as they peeked through the kitchen entryway.

"Too nervous." Bloomeria whispered back. Blaze looked at the cookies.

"They look delicious."  He said.  Rainbow began pushing on Bloomeria.  Bloomeria shook her head at her.

"No, I don't want to."  She said.

"Come on," Dash said. "take a little pride in your work."

"Sure I'll try one." Blaze said. He took a bite. "Mm. Tasty." He said. "What kind of cookies are these?"

"Well, I'll let the one who made them tell you."  Mrs. Cake said. Bloomeria started to slowly walk out of the kitchen. That's when she saw Blaze suddenly start to break out into rashes.

"Oh no."  He said.  "These didn't have nuts in them, did they?"  He asked.

"Uh huh. Macadamia nuts. Why?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Is that bad?"

"I'm allergic to nuts."  He said. Bloomeria gasped.

"Oh no…" She squeaked. Blaze heard her but only saw a glimpse of the lavender pony run back into the kitchen.

"Who was that?"  He asked, scratching himself.

"Oh um…" Pinkie Pie said. "The chef."  She said, smiling sheepishly.  "Please don't sue her!" She then took off back into the kitchen.

"Ah, come along dear." Mrs. Cake said. "Let's go see someone about that allergy."

"Oh. Right." said Blaze. Mrs. Cake escorted him from the bakery but not before he could catch another glimpse of the familiar pony. When Pinkie found her, Bloomeria was in tears.

"I practically poisoned him!" She cried.

"It's not your fault." said Twilight. "You didn't know Blaze was allergic to nuts."

"I wonder where that fella gets his protein?" Applejack said.  Rainbow Dash glared at her as if to say "not now".

"Oh now what am I gonna do?"  Bloomeria said.

"Would a cookie cheer you up?" Pinkie Pie said offering Bloomeria a cookie.  But Bloomeria turned it down.

"No thank you."  She said.  Bloomeria sighed. She had failed again.  Fluttershy looked at her.
She wanted to say something, but she couldn't get it out.  And she wouldn't be heard, as Applejack was next to speak up.  

"Aw don't you fret now." She said. "I got something that'll be sure as shootin' to get his attention."