Tales

by geopol

14

Tales

by

George Pollock, Jr.

XIV. Photo Finish: The Flower Vendor of Ponyville Square

I told my friends about Spike that night, after I finally could get out of bed.

And none of them believed me. Seriously. Not one. It took Celestia's official announcement of Pyra's new king the next day to convince them.

Two of them had opposite reactions after that: Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Dash was still alive then, and she said, "Spike? NO WAY! He's just a kid!" I said I had mentioned that at the time, but I decided not to go into details about it with her. I was tired of trying to make anypony care about that anymore, anyway.

I visited Rarity in private in her shop after the announcement. And I told her about Spike's crush on her. I figured she knew already, but I had promised Spike I'd tell her. And she said she did know.

But then she was quiet, and her eyes seemed to go far away. When they returned, she seemed to be putting on the brave face I'd seen before. She said, "Well! A prince among us! A KING!" She said that had she known, she'd have made more ensembles for him. She thought it was such a missed opportunity.

But I could see in her eyes – even after they returned – that she was sad. I don't think she was sad because she missed a chance to be involved with royalty. In fact, she was very realistic about it. She said Spike was "a charming, delightful boy" – but a child, after all. She said, "His crush was very sweet, darling, but that's all."

But I think she was sad to see Spike leave. When that reality set in, a lot of ponies I knew were.

By the way, many years later, Celestia's nephew, the prince, married a noblepony. I thought Rarity would be crushed, but when I finally talked to her about it, she just smiled. She said marrying him was just a silly dream from when she was younger. But I saw the brave face again.

She said, "Anyway, he's a mere prince, my dear." But then her eyes lit up like she was telling a joke we both knew. And her smile got bigger. "I had already caught the eye of a king."

And we both laughed at that.

Spike finally did come back. For the Celestia's coronation as queen a few generations later. And by dragon reckoning, he was a young adult. A full dragon. And the First Fire of Pyra.

He'd grown up, of course. He was of age, so he was king in his own right now. And my fears about his mother turned out to be unfounded. I was glad.

He was very tall, very strong-looking, and his wings had sprouted and grown. Add to that the fact he was this huge light-purple beast, and you tended to notice him.

I was the royal librarian by then, and I first got to talk to him in the reception line after Celestia's coronation. I curtseyed, and he chuckled. I carefully asked him why – and, yes, I had learned to be tactful by then – and he said he remembered the first time I curtseyed to him, on the Forever Plain. He smirked and said, "You looked so confused."

Actually, he was right. And like I said before, we unicorns can blush. Which I then did.

He made an official visit to Ponyville later. But it was a private trip, too. It was a big deal there, but I guess a visit by a king is, regardless. The mare who was mayor at the time welcomed him in Ponyville Square. Which he half filled by himself. So all the ponies who came to see him had to fill the streets leading to the square.

And even though the streets were packed, there didn't seem to be as many ponies as you might have expected. At least, I thought so. It was like something kept them home that day.

I don't know … might have been the two wardracs standing guard nearby. Looking like they were hungry for something to nibble on. But I could be wrong about that.

Anyway, Spike later told me he was amazed how much Ponyville had grown up, so I told him about A.J.'s legacy at Sweetapple Acres. And I told him about Pinkie Pie and Big Macintosh – and how prolific that line had been over the generations.

And Spike said, "Huh. I wondered why so many ponies here looked so familiar ..."

Now, before the private events of his trip started, we were going to publicly purchase four bunches of flowers in the square. There's a reason. I'll tell you about it in a bit. But we went to a flower cart run by a young pony who was just starting her business. The mayor thought it would be nice if Spike bought some flowers from her to give her venture some publicity. That's not why we were going to buy the flowers, by the way.

But Spike didn't buy the flowers. Not that he didn't want to. He did. But you see, if the merchant gives you the flowers for free, you've haven't technically bought them. But the pony hadn't planned on giving them away, though. It just ended up that way.

Here's how: Spike and I went to the cart. I asked for the four bunches on his behalf. Now, he was then supposed to ask me to pay her on his behalf, too. By the way, did you know royalty never carries money or actually pays for something? Personal attendants do that for them. I was Spike's attendant for that day. I enjoyed it, actually.

Anyway, that was the plan. It was a good plan. Until the pony went into vapor lock. Stage fright. All she did was gape up at the huge shadow covering her, me, her cart, half the square.

It was Spike, blocking out the sun.

The pony kept gaping up at Spike, and finally, she just picked up four bunches of flowers by touch, then held them out. I took them and asked how much.

She just kept gaping up at Spike, and finally, she whispered, "Free …"

And I thought, "Wait. That's not the plan."

Now, Spike also knew the plan, and he knew the pony had frozen up. So there was this awkward silence. And what happened next showed me how he had learned to think fast on his feet – and be gracious, like a king should be. He nodded politely at the pony and said, "That's very kind, Miss. Thank you."

The pony kept gaping up at Spike, and finally, she whispered, "Uh-huh …"

Then he said, "Would you give a donation from me to a charity of your choice?"

And I thought, "Wait. That's not the plan."

The pony kept gaping up at Spike, and finally, she whispered, "Uh-huh …"

Then he told me, "Give her the donation, please." He sounded very collected, like he had intended to do that from the start.

I gave her the money. And Spike told her, "Thank you again. Best of luck in your new business."

The pony kept gaping up at Spike, and finally, she whispered, "Thanks …"

We left her like that. The last I heard, her business was doing very well.