In the heart of Ponyville, there are several fruit and vegetable carts, stores promising candies and cupcakes, a diamond ring shop and even a boutique. All sorts of things any bustling town needs. And it has one flower shop. It’s an unassuming little wooden structure on a corner, with flowers in the one front window and a hoof painted sign: Roseluck’s.
Honestly, if you blinked you’d miss it.
And yet, many ponies find their way there. Or rather, they take a walk through the market, meander for a while, and realize they’re there. No one quite remembers when it first arrived in Ponyville, or how long it’s been open. One day it was there, and somehow the next everypony felt like it had always been around. Need flowers? There’s a little shop in the heart of town that sells them.
The flowers come in an array of shades, types and sizes. Behind the counter stands a mare, staring intently at any customer who steps into the shop. Two-toned red and pink hair, yellow coat with green eyes, her smile as gentle as her eyes are canny. Well-acquainted with her trade as well as the cutie mark on her flank would suggest, she can recommend flowers to complement, contrast, or counterbalance. She knows flowers, and she knows her customers, even if she’s only just met them.
“Hello there. Are you looking for something in particular?”
Her name is Roseluck, and she sells flowers. Many to catch the eye, some to catch the appetite, and a few to catch the heart. Expressions of affection should be available to all ponies, and Ponyville is not a town of the trivially wealthy. No matter the flower, her prices are reasonable.
Except for one flower.
One specific rose, claimed to be a rare species named ‘Truest Desire’. Only the florist calls it that, though. Virtually everypony in Ponyville calls it the Starlight Rose, because they’ve heard they seem to twinkle and glitter. Roseluck only ever has the one on any given day.
The price should be exorbitant, and instead it is nothing at all.
It’s not easy to get, though. You have to know to ask for it, since she won’t even put it on display or mention it without you asking. “Too rare. If I advertised them, it’s all anypony would ever ask for,” she says, with a gentle shrug.
The whispers about the Starlight Rose are strange in their own right. So few have ever admitted to buying it, yet a legend has grown. If you think of the one you want the most when you first touch the flower, and if you sleep alone, the whispers say you might have dreams. Wonderful dreams.
“Maybe you’re looking for something . . . truly unique?”
Rumor has it, that if you can find the Starlight Rose, the pony you most truly desire the most will visit you in your dreams the night you purchase it. And while you may wake up a little more tired, as if you hadn’t slept at all . . . what dreams you will have!
That’s what they say, anyway.
So if you are lucky enough to be the pony in the right place at the right time, Roseluck will smile at you with a grin that raises more questions than answers. She’ll look into your eyes as you take the rose, and wear the look of a mare that knows more than she’s letting on. A mare.that has become comfortable with secrets.
She might even wish you sweet dreams.