Why didn't I ask for directions? Turrok pondered to himself wandering the streets looking for a florist. After ten minutes of searching aimlessly, he was about to give up. Until a hoof tapped his shoulder.
"Excuse me, sir. You look a little lost." He turned around to see a mare with a creme colored coat and dark red mane looking at him curiously.
"Um, yes I am very much so. I am looking for a florist and having very little luck," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, convenient for you I am a florist coming back to my stall after taking a short break. Follow me." She led him through the maze of stalls when he noticed her mark being a rose. The gods show me favor? When did this happen? "So, what are these flowers for? An apology or a date? If you don't mind my inquiry."
"To be honest, a little bit of both," he admitted.
"Ah, I see," she replied. "My name is Roseluck, by the way."
"T-" Turrok stopped himself. Come on, pony name, pony name... you made up plenty of them. "Sand Shifter."
"Nice to meet you. I take it you haven't been in town long?"
"No ma'am, this is my second day in Ponyville."
"You haven't met Pinkie Pie yet, then?"
"Oh yes, I met her when I first came into town."
"How come we haven't had a welcome party for you yet?"
"Well... I'm not the most comfortable in that kind of environment. I managed to convince her to let me chose when it happens."
"Well don't worry, her parties might be a little loud but they are definitely a blast," she encouraged.
"I'll keep that in mind, Ms. Roseluck."
"Please, the Ms. is a bit informal around here."
"Yeah, you aren't the first to tell me that. It's just hard-wired I suppose."
"Don't worry, this place will get that out of your system pretty quick," she grinned.
"I take it you've been here a while?" Turrok asked.
"Oh yes, I've been selling flowers here for a couple years now. Things are always happening around here, some of which are just crazy. But, it's a bit better than living in a completely boring town."
"Things can't be that crazy," she doesn't know about the changlings coming here, right?
"Well, there was Nightmare Moon, an Ursa Minor, a napping dragon, a swarm of parasprites, Discord running amok, a lightning pony, et cetera, et cetera."
"And, that doesn't bother you in the slightest?"
"Not really, once you see everything, it kind of loses affect. I have found that nothing really surprises me anymore." I can think of one thing... although it's not worth blowing my cover. "Ah, here she is."
The two reach a flower stand with several different types of flora on display. Daisies, carnations, lilies and daffodils to name a few. But, the most noticeable thing being the bouquet of red roses among the rest.
"So, what kind are you looking for?" she asked, stepping behind her stand.
"The roses seem most appropriate."
"Ah, good choice. That will be twenty bits for a bouquet, two bits for a single flower."
Turrok pulled out the pouch he was given. Let's see, I count... twenty five bits. And I don't think he expects to receive any remainder. "I will take a bouquet if it's quite alright."
"Of course, twenty bits please," she requested.
He placed the pouch of coins on the stand. "Here you go."
Roseluck counted the bits. "Uh, Shifter, there's twenty five in here."
"Keep the change, you've been most helpful."
"Are you sure?" she placed the bouquet in front of him.
"Of course," he picked up the bouquet in his teeth, careful to avoid cutting himself on any of the thorns.
"Well, thank you! Be sure to come back, and if you get the chance can you let me know how it goes?"
He gave a nod to avoid talking around the flowers and walked back to his temporary home. His smile immediately faltered when he turned around. I just hope that it will be enough.
...
The changling stood before the dreaded structure for a moment. The Carousel Boutique, he never understood the name but right now it was the very least of his worries. After taking a minute to relax himself, he opened the door and shut it quickly after he entered. He levitated the roses out of his mouth before calling.
"Rarity?" Turrok asked as his disguise fizzled away in a green flame, flowers hidden behind himself.
"In here Turrok," she called from a room in the back of the building.
He followed the voice to the room and entered what appeared to be her work room. Unlike the rest of the house, it was a complete mess. Bits of fabric of all colors were strewn across the room in random fashions, balls of paper with scribbled designs covered the floor and the most notable thing about was the completely frazzled white unicorn levitating a needle and thread in front of what looked like a model of a pony.
"Am I interrupting your work?" he asked hesitantly.
"No... I just... I just can't work right now," she admitted with a hint of frustration.
"Anything I can do to help?" his hesitation was masked by genuine concern.
"You can go sit down in the living room, I will join you in a minute," it was obvious that he was the source of said frustration.
Turrok backed out of the room careful not to reveal his 'sorry for being an idiot' gift. Once he left he saw the door swing shut and gave a sigh of disappointment. Well... this is going well... He found a chase lounge sitting in the main room and sat down on a small red couch. Deciding against pulling the bouquet in some romantic gesture, he just held it in his hooves and waited for his gracious host to join him and possibly continue her lecture from earlier.
Said host left the work room with a more composed and calm demeanor. She had a weak smile on her face as she sat down on the couch. The changling gave her the roses. "This is just me saying 'I'm sorry' for what happened earlier."
Rarity took them in a light blue aura carefully and inhaled the aroma. "Before you say anything more about what happened this morning, I want you to know that I am not angry with you or anything. I am far from pleased about what happened but I can't really blame anyone besides myself for this," she laughed a little. "Ever since I was a filly I wanted to be swept off my hooves," she swung her leg out to demonstrate. "But, when any stallion summons the courage to try I sort of..." she trailed off trying to find the right words.
"Blank?" Turrok finished.
"I suppose that works, yes. But the point of this discussion is not my inability to handle romantic surprises. But, before we go any further down this path I need to know something."
"What do you need to know?" his voice carried a curious tone.
"Are you sure about what you said? Are you certain that you... love me? I mean, you've been through quite a lot recently and that came with a lot of emotional turbulence and I was probably one of the first ponies to actually give you the chance to live here. Is it entirely out of the question to say that these emotions being stirred up again could have made you think that you feel that way about me?" The question perplexed him, he wasn't sure how to answer. Either one could have detrimental affects on their current situation. But, after a moment of debate he came across a terrifying realization. He didn't know. He didn't know if his heart was speaking when he said that, making him feel even worse about the situation.
After a few minutes of pain-staking silence, he found the strength to answer. "I... I'm not certain... it seemed so clear at the time that I just accepted it as a fact."
"Then, you need to answer that for yourself. If you still have feelings toward me at the end of the month, when things quiet down again, we will talk about it. Okay?" he voice was soft and comforting.
"Okay, but before we end this discussion, I need to know. What are your feelings toward me? And please don't try to lie. I can sense emotion even though I am trying to suppress it while I am here." It seems a little unfair to use my ability, since I'm the only one who can use it here.
"Well... just know that you are my friend and nothing will change that and that no matter what happens my door is always open." The unicorn placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder and smiled confidently.
"That's good enough for me," he smiled, at least until I get my answer.
"Splendid, how about I fix us some dinner?" She rose from the couch and moved to the kitchen
"That sounds pleasant, thank you."
***
"Please Twilight?" Dusk begged.
"For the last time, no! Teleportation spells are very tricky to learn, not to mention dangerous."
"Do you remember who you are talking to? I've nearly died at least three times in my life."
"Why do you want to learn so badly?"
"Because chasing down our guest today made me realize how much of a run it is to go from here to the edge of town and back. Unless I magically sprout wings, magic is my best bet to solve this problem."
"My answer remains the same."
"What sort of gain is there from with holding such a powerful tool so I can't use it?"
"Because if you end up being stuck in a wall or something it would be my fault!"
"It won't be abused, I promise! It will be for when I need to be across town quickly!"
"I said no, Dusk!" she stomped the ground to show that she was not going to budge on the matter.
"Twilight, I need to learn how to do this!"
"I won't make you any better than me and that's final!" Twilight immediately covered her mouth and went silent.
"Okay," Dusk sighed, sitting down in front of her. "What is this really about?"
"It's just- you're the favorite!"
"Favorite? What do you mean?"
"You're Celestia's favorite, okay?"
"What in the name of Tartarus are you talking about, Twilight?"
"She's raised you for years, she's been there every step of the way for you. She raised you like she would a son and I... I just can't compete with that."
"And she's raised you like she would a daughter, what's your point?"
"She's been paying more attention to you than she has me, ever since you showed up I feel like I'm in your shadow. Especially after the wedding, Celestia would always ask me about how you were doing when we got back. She never once showed as much concern for me as she did you. She rushed to the hospital to see you, she never asked me if I was even okay after what had just happened! And after what happened when we first met, she wasn't furious... she was livid! I couldn't even get a response from her for about a week after that happened! She just... she loves you more than she could ever love me..." Twilight just broke down and started crying.
"Twilight, listen. I can't speak for her, but I can say that is ridiculous."
"How?"
"Well, from a metaphorical standpoint, you are saying that we are both children of Celestia, right?"
"Y-yes."
"Okay, so you're saying that she picked a favorite child, even though she cares for us both the same way."
"I-I guess."
"Does that sound like our 'mom'?" Dusk air quoted the word mom, to show that the term was being used in a metaphorical sense.
"N-no, but she does show more concern about you than she does me..."
"Twilight, how many times have you been admitted to the hospital, excluding birth?"
"Um, zero."
"Well, I have been there three times, the last time being a few months ago. She doesn't worry about you because you don't give her any reason to worry. I on the other hoof, give her a lot of reason to worry," he couldn't help laughing a little about that. She worries about me as much as my parents do... I guess she is like a mother to us. "It proves that she is confident that you won't give her any reason to feel worried about your well-being. How long have you felt this way?"
"Since... since you came to town... and that's the reason why I was so harsh that night. I felt like... like you were going to replace me or something!" She didn't stop crying yet, but she was beginning to calm down and that was a start.
"Twilight, no one short of Celestia herself could replace you... you know that right?" he asked, the concern all too apparent in his voice.
She gave no answer, but the silence lasted no more than a minute.
"You are the physical embodiment of magic, Twilight. You are an amazing pony, I could never hold a candle to you," Dusk told her.
"You're just saying that..." she wiped a tear off her cheek.
"No I'm not. To be honest, you're like a sister to me. We can be at odds with one another, but I feel like you are the one who can help me when I need it most. That's why I came to you with this request. Sure I could ask the Princess, but I wouldn't want to trouble her over something like this. And besides, I thought you liked teaching magic?" He asked with a smirk on his face, knowing that it was a point she couldn't refute.
"...Just get in here and start reading 'little brother'," she couldn't fight the smile that was forming.
"Sure thing 'big sister'. But, you should really send a letter to the Princess about this. I had no idea that you felt like I was given her favor over you."
"I'll do that right now, Dusk."
The two walked inside the library, their bond changed from simple friendship to a bond between a brother and sister.