//------------------------------// // 01: No Present Like The Time // Story: Character Development // by GreyCapstan //------------------------------// Character Development By Grey Capstan Chapter 01: No Present Like The Time Roseluck wished she hadn’t bought that stupid thing. “Have a great day!” She dragged two bits placed on the counter into a basket on the shelf built into her flower stand. As she did so, she waved to the satisfied customer with a twenty-tooth smile set inside her muzzle. The smile was faker than usual. She could hear the darned thing in her saddlebags. With the line of patrons cleared, she glared down at the tell-tale piles of canvas for what probably was the sixtieth time since her shift started. She gave her sneeriest look of disgust, but the intimidation wasn’t working. The constant sound marched forever onwards as another small bead of sweat formed on the side of her head. Ugh. What was I thinking? Rose lifted up her head. From her position, she could look into Daisy’s herb shop and see the clock on the side wall. 4:47. Thirteen minutes. That's not long at all, Rose. I really hope the store will still be open. She looked back down at the bags. I’m getting rid of it either way. I’ll throw it into the river if I have to. “Hey, Rose!” Her heart did a double backflip in her stomach as she threw her head over to the left. Lily, of course. Probably here to humiliate me some more. Lily trotted over to the stand, took a long, brash slurp from the hay shake she was holding and placed it on the counter. Roseluck stared at the shake. She was in no mood to look the pink pony in the eyes right now. “Hi, Lily.” Lily planted her forehooves on the counter and leaned in. “How’s the sales?” “Good.” The drawing of the banded bunch of hay on the cup was slowly burning into the back of her skull. The edges of Lily’s grin were pulled closer the middle of her mouth as she placed her hooves back on the ground. “You’re still not upset about yesterday, are you?” Roseluck broke her fixation off of the yellow slurry. No point in holding back. “Of course I am! I told you girls something personal and you two laughed at me!” “So you really were serious.” Lily reached for another sip of her shake. “Look, Rose, I’m sorry if I made you feel bad, but you gotta admit it’s kinda hard to believe anypony could have feelings for someone like that.” “Well, I would’ve been more than happy to explain if you two hadn’t laughed me out of the room.” “I’m listening now.” Rose froze, immediately aware of the loss she was at. How was she going to compress her feelings into a few sentences for Lily, or anypony? Her heart and her mouth spoke two different languages; in the cadence of her purchase, she had forgotten to translate. As she stood unprepared, the noise was more powerful than ever. Seriously, can’t anyone else hear that? “It’s not a simple thing to do, Lily. I’d… I’d need some more time to gather my thoughts.” Lily’s face scrunched up into one of bemusement. “Sheesh, Rose. Are you falling in love or writing a book report? How can you say you love someone if you have to think a long time to come up with reasons?” “You just don’t understand.” “I guess not.” Lily stared at the ground, right forehoof scraping idly along the dirt. Great. Now I’m making her upset. Celestia, is confusing and alienating a friend a banishable offense? If so, I’m ready to be taken away. The mocking clatter at her hooves returned to her ears. There was one place she could go. The cream-colored mare broke the silence. “I have an errand I need to run before I go home. Look, I promise that I’ll explain everything to you and Daisy. I just have too much running in my head right now.” As Roseluck entered the jewelry store, the whoosh of air from the door tinkled the hearts-and-horseshoes wind chimes hung behind the counter. It was how Karat knew that he had customers. Five seconds later, she saw him come out of the back room and greet her with a smile of familiarity. “Miss Roseluck! So good to see you again.” He adjusted the visor on his head and pushed the jeweler’s loupes further down his muzzle and out of the way so that he could get a better view of her. “How is that new watch working out for you?” “Well…” Her voice cracked. Get a hold of yourself, Rose! Exercise your right as a customer, return the watch and be done with the whole thing. “That’s what I wanted to ask you about.” She pulled on the strap of her right saddlebag with her teeth and fished out the golden timepiece with her left foreleg. The accursed ticking of it now rang straight across the air. It was almost relieving to hear it, now that she knew it meant not having to hear it anymore. She plopped it on the glass display case. “Is it possible for me to return it and get my money back?” Karat was perplexed by her sudden change in purchase excitement. She was absolutely beaming over the thing two days ago. She even looked like she was going to pass out at one point. The grey-coat colt pushed the loupes back up his face and lifted up the watch. “Well, as long as there’s nothing wrong with it, then I don’t see why not.” Rose stood there as he examined the movement of the hands, making sure that it was ticking at the proper speed. He looked over at the clock behind him. They were still synchronized. “If you don’t mind me asking,” he began, “why do you want to return it?” If there was a skyscraper in her chest, her heart had just taken a reckless dive off the roof of it. Why did he have to ask? What am I going to say? She already had two ponies creeped out, but at least it was kind of fun to mess with Daisy and Lily. “Does it not fit right? I can adjust the band for you.” “No, it’s not that.” She sighed. Here goes nothing. “It was supposed to be a gift.” “And they already had one,” Karat guessed. He now had the watch turned over to inspect the inside of the band for scratches. “It was supposed to be a special gift.” He glanced up at her. “Ohhhh.” There was several seconds’ silence as he checked the outer side of the band. “And I take it that the recipient was already taken?” Without thinking she replied. “No. Well, at least I don’t think so.” She bit her tongue. Why didn’t I just say yes? Now he’s really gonna be curious. Satisfied with his examination on the aborted gift, he pushed his loupes back down and gave her his full attention. “Cold feet?” “You wouldn’t understand,” she blurted out defensively, cringing. “It’s not easy to talk to her.” Immediately, she covered her mouth with her hoof, pupils dilated. What the hay is wrong with you? Bothering him with her silly pursuit was bad enough, but telling the total stranger that she was a filly-fooler was the last thing she ever wanted to do. In her mind, she was already five paces out the door, galloping down the thoroughfare to her thatch-house behind the town square. In reality, she stood firm, deciding against social escape. She still had to return the watch. Karat placed it down softly on the counter. “There’s no need to be embarrassed, Miss Roseluck. We’re adults here.” He ran his previously watch-holding hoof through his hoary mane and across his forehead. Rose’s red face had probably raised the room temperature by a few degrees. After about half a minute (which felt like four hours in Roseluck’s head), the adrenaline that had coursed through her was diluting enough to where she could comprehend what he said. She still trembled as she replied. “S-sorry. It’s j-just not something I wanted to share with a stranger.” Her still-brickshade visage was parallel with the checkerboard tiles. “Well, now that you told me, why not tell me what the issue is you’re having? I’m not one to pry, but I’m sure you’ll feel a lot better if you tell somepony.” He planted his forehooves on the counter and leaned in slightly. Oh Celestia, this is going to be like Lily all over again. She jerked around, attempting in vain to physically shake the thought from her body, but stopped. Oh, forget it. He’s right; I’ll feel better if I just come clean. He asked for it, anyhow. She lifted her head and looked at Karat directly, the scarlet finally draining from her expression. “The problem is that she’s… misunderstood. Ponies here take her at face value and dismiss her. I feel like I’m the only pony in Ponyville who realizes her hardships and sees that she needs companionship as much as anyone else.” Karat listened intently. He never thought that she would have a thing for Pinkie Pie. It had to be Pinkie Pie; he couldn’t imagine anypony else fitting that description. While she is as friendly as they come, Pinkie was a little too spastic and grating for his tastes. “I bought the watch to show her that ponies can be caring and compassionate. An unsolicited gift.” She turned away from him. “I just... I don’t think I can go through with giving it to her. I don’t even know if she’d want to talk to another pony after what happened at the party.” He wasn’t sure now. That didn’t exactly sound like Pinkie Pie behavior to him. Maybe there was some recent party he wasn’t aware of? He wasn’t exactly on the cusp of every going-on in town. “Yesterday I told two of my friends how I felt about her, and they flat-out laughed at me! I felt awful, like it was wrong for me to feel this way!” Karat finally spoke. “I see. I suppose that that’s what inspired today’s visit?” Rose sighed and began to drop her head again. “Yes.” “I don’t mean to be invasive, as ever, but I don’t think you should let your so-called friends sway your emotions like that. If you really have this affection for her, you should seek it out and face it, rather than cower away and let it fester forever. There’s nothing worse than spending a lifetime wondering what could have been.” Rose tilted her head towards the floor again, this time out of ponderance instead of discomfort. “You know what?” When she looked back up at Karat her worried droop was morphed into a smile. A real smile this time. “You’re right. I want her to be happy, and I want to be happy. None of those will happen if I let Daisy and Lily get to me.” She placed her hoof on the counter. “I’d like the watch back, please.” Karat’s smile matched hers. “That’s the spirit.” While he sold watches and knew how to repair them, he wasn’t much of a watchmaker. He considered himself to be more of a matchmaker. In the jewelry business, genuinely wanting your customers’ relationships to succeed was essential; otherwise, it meant dejected ponies he’d never get to see and converse with ever again. And no repeat business. He slid the watch to Roseluck’s side of the case. He spoke again. “Sorry to impose one last time, but do you need any help? With your friend, I mean. I can give you some pointers, if you’d like.” She was surprised to receive such an offer from a formal businesscolt. “Really? You’d do that?” “Of course. I’ve seen a lot of liaisons pass through here, and over the years I feel I’ve developed a sense of knowing what works and what doesn’t. I’ve seen and heard it all.” “Thanks, but I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into.” “I insist.” Rose put her hoof to her chin. “If you really insist, than who am I to say no? I could really use another pony’s help.” She extended the foreleg to offer a hoofshake. “It is settled, then.” His hoof met hers and they shook. Never had Roseluck ever thought that the gyration of a limb could be so empowering. This is it. I’m really gonna do it! After they separated, Karat cleared his throat. “Now that we have the ball rolling, an inquisitive pony wants to know: who is this special somepony?” His question pulled the plug in her tub full of inner strength. Horsefeathers; I forgot I haven’t told him yet! She opened her mouth and allowed the name to ring out clearly for all to hear. Unfortunately, her jittery lungs refused to cooperate and made the word barely audible to her own self: “Gilda.” “What was that?” She closed her eyes and swallowed, focusing her energy on the utterance. “Gilda.” She attempted to open her eyes but jammed them back closed after she heard him sputter in astonishment. “Gilda? You mean the griffon?” Rose’s eyelids were clinched as tightly as she could make them. “Yes, the griffon! Gilda the griffon!” She swept her head away, awaiting the inevitable, but all she heard was silence. Finally, she opened her eyes, expecting to see him slumped over the counter in cardiac arrest. Instead, he held the same calm demeanor that he had since she came in. She was astonished herself. “Well, what are you waiting for?” “What do you mean?” “Aren’t you gonna laugh? Aren’t you gonna run out the door screaming and call for the police? Whatever you wanna do, just do it!” She was quivering; tears were being primed in the corners of her olive-green eyes. “Miss Roseluck, what I want to do is help you. Sure, I was a bit surprised, but it’s very obvious that you see something in her, something that you hold a high compassion for. That’s love, and love is not a joke.” She sniffed and wiped the droplets attempting to form in her eyes away. When her leg left her face, the previous smile had been reinstalled. “I… you don’t know how much this means to me.” “My offer still stands.” “And I still accept.” She sniffed again, trying to collect herself. The swirl of fear and exuberance had made her dizzy. “When do we start?” “The sooner, the better.” “How about tomorrow at Ponyville Park? Is 2PM alright?” “Sounds good to me.” “Thank you so much.” She turned around and headed for the door. “Miss Roseluck!” She whipped herself back around. He had the watch in his left forehoof. “You forgot something.” “Almost forgot!” She trotted over and quickly flung the watch back into her saddlebag. With that, she gave him a wave goodbye and ran out the door, bumping into the door frame as she did so.