//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: My Special Rose // by Yellow_Quiet //------------------------------// The sun rose from the edge of the sky, lighting up the sleepy town of Ponyville. Many ponies were just waking up... Except for one pony. This pony was tending to his flower garden. He finished watering his flowers, carefully looking over each one, all the while levitating small pair of scissors. He snipped any imperfections, ensuring they all looked ideal. The pony's name was Trailing Ivy. He was a small unicorn stallion, sporting a long bright green mane that offset a darker green coat. Ivy stopped as he heard a door creak open from next door. Ivy dropped his scissors and quietly trotted to the fence, as he did every morning. He carefully looked through a hole in the fence and saw an off-white mare, who had a red a rosy pink mane. Today, her mane was unbrushed, and she looked like she had just woken up. She was walking to her roses with a watering can in her teeth. Ivy quietly sighed. He stared at the mare and admired her beauty. Today was already a good day. "One of these days Roseluck... I will go out with you." He thought. "And today is that day!" He suddenly felt his heart beat faster. Had she heard that? Ivy poked his head out and looked at Roseluck. He felt his cheeks glow hotter than Celestia's sun. "Uh...hey, Rose!" Ivy said nervously. Roseluck's ears perked up. She put the watering down on the ground and she looked at Ivy. "Hi Tralling Ivy! Haven't seen you in a while." Roseluck smiled. "So whats up?" Good heavens her smile is adorable.... "Um...uh... I was wondering if you want to go out for a cup a coffee." Ivy smiled nervously. "Sure! In fact, I think ran out of coffee yesterday. I just need to get ready. Give me about ten minutes and meet me out in front." Roseluck trotted to her house. Trailing Ivy simply stood there by the fence, in utter shock on what he just did. "How did I just do that?" ____________________________________________________ Ivy was waiting for Roseluck outside her house, pointlessly looking up at the sky. He spotted a rainbow maned pony zipping around- a fairly normal sight. Nothing else indicated that today was going to be anything but another day... Ivy followed the pegasus with his eyes before he felt a light tap on his stomach. He jumped in surprise and turned around to see Roseluck smiling. Another normal day? Anything but such.... "Ready to go?" She asked. "Yeah." The two ponies started walking towards the center of town in silence. "So Ivy, what do you do for a living?" Rose asked, at long last breaking the silence. "Uh. I grow ivy, and I tend to pony's sick plants. Sort of a business I guess." "Hmm. You are quite the strange one." Rose said looking Ivy up and down. "W-what do you mean by that?" Ivy said in surprise. "Well, you are a unicorn gardener. It's like a pegasus scientist. You just don't see too many." "I suppose. Earth ponies are known for their strength and agriculture. And unicorns are known for their intelligence and magic. I'm kinda both. I'm skilled in gardening, but I know some magic. It's mostly plant magic though." "Really? I never met a unicorn unicorn like you before. Or a stallion as small as you either. We are about the same height!" "Well it kinda runs in the family." Ivy said nervously. There was that height thing again... "Don't worry about it. To be honest, it's kinda cute." Ivy stopped in his tracks. Cute? He felt his cheeks glowing."Is there something wrong Ivy?" Roseluck asked, concerned. "Oh! No nothing is wrong." Ivy said nervously. Saysomethingsaysomething! "Oh, um...Look, we are here!" Ivy said pointing a hoof at the cafe. The two ponies walked in, glancing around at interior. It was dark brown, and had matching tables and booths with ponies in a few of them. On the right side of the room there was a long counter, and a brown mare by the cash register. "I'll go order for us. What would you like?" Rose asked. "I would like a cup of black tea." Ivy responded. Roseluck walked to the counter while Trailing Ivy took a seat in the nearest booth. He couldn't help but look over at Roseluck who was ordering their drinks. "Okay. I'm doing great. She must like me at least a little bit. She called me cute. That must mean something...right?" Ivy thought to himself. Roseluck returned to Ivy with a tray in her a mouth and two drinks on the tray. She set the tray on the table, giving Ivy's drink to him with her mouth. "You know, one thing I admire about non-unicorns is their ability to use their mouths to move stuff. If I went a day without using my horn, I would make a huge mess, and probably drop something." Roseluck giggled. "Well, Celestia created us all equal. It would be unfair if one race was superior to all of the others." Rose poured some creamer into her coffee. "It would. I'm surprised some psycho pony hasn't tried to kill off all of the other races." Ivy stirred in some sugar into his tea. Awkward. Totally not the thing to say over tea and coffee.... "We should talk about a less depressing topic." "Fine with me! Well, what do you do for a living?" "I grow roses and other various flowers. Big surprise, huh?" Ivy smiled a bit. "Well gardeners are not very different. Its usually the pony who is different." Ivy sipped his tea. Not bad...a rather insightful comment, especially for him. "Uh. Rose?" Ivy blushed. "Yes?" Rose sipped her coffee. "Well... It's that..." He slowly stuttered. Roseluck stared at him in confusion. SaySOMETHING! Don't make a foal of yoursel- "Ithinkyouarereallypretty." He blurted. Ivy's cheeks glowed a bright red. Roseluck looked at him, blushing as hard as he was. "Umm...Thanks Ivy." She said shyly. "Nobody ever has said that'd I'm pretty before...." Rose fiddled her hoofs, which was a good thing, because Ivy's jaw went slack briefly. Never? But....she was so...... The two embarrassed ponies finished their drinks quietly, giving each other an occasional glance and shy smile. They both finished their drinks at the same time (thank Celestia!) "Ready to go Ivy?" "Yep." They left the cafe and started to walk, an awkward silence returning. "So do you have any friends?" Rose asked. "Umm...Not too many....ok, not really. I kinda just live alone, quietly. I keep to myself mostly." "Somehow I'm not surprised. So who is the closest pony you know?" "My sister. Although I haven't seen her in a year." "What is she like?" "Well she's kinda the opposite of me. She is quite bubbly. But we get along quite well." They stopped at Roseluck's house, turning to face each other. "I had a nice time." "So did I." “Sooo...see you again sometime?" Rose asked. "Uh... Yeah...sure!" Ivy replied. Ivy shyly looked away for a brief moment. Now what? Well, he had to do SOMETHING....well, oh why not. He placed a quick kiss on Roseluck's cheek. Yep. That felt right. Both ponies looked at each other and blushed heavily. "I should get going now..." Ivy started to walk away. "Wait Ivy!" Ivy turned back, facing Rose again. Roseluck walked up to Ivy and placed a kiss on his cheek. A warmth spread from his cheek, all the way down his spine. Wow. "Uh... Does this mean that..." "...I kinda like you? Yes." She paused and smiled. "So see you really soon?" "Yes." Ivy smiled. He walked back to his house on slightly-wobbly legs, then going inside to sit on his couch. "Seriously. How did I do that?"