Blooming Fabulous

by Appletastic

Prologue - We Do Not Sell Those Here

A quaint little shop stands proudly on the main street of Ponyville. Ponyville Flowers, it says on the sign in looping cursive. Outside the storefront are displays blooming with beautiful flowers of every hue and aroma. If you were to enter the shop, the lovely smell would become almost irresistible, and you would be very tempted to buy something, anything. But it is unfortunate for you if your favourite type of flower is a water flower. For if you were to ask for that at the counter, the clerk, a pretty pink pony with a blonde mane, would narrow her eyes and state bluntly:

"We do not sell those here."

No amount of begging or protest by anypony or everypony could persuade the three ponies who ran the shop to offer them for sale. As it turns out, though, the favourite flower of many ponies is a type of water flower. When you're a small business in a small town, losing one customer is losing a considerable percentage of the clientele.

This business is in trouble.

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If you work your way far enough through the town, you will find a rather extravagant building standing tall. The sign of this one reads Perfection Spa in similar lettering. But upon entering this building, you would be greeted not with a beautiful aroma but with an ugly sound. The sound of squabbling would emerge from a back room, and you would be tempted to cover your ears with your hooves. Finally, two ponies would come out from the back, and welcome you. But if you were to ask for a lavender scrub, the blue pony with a pink mane would narrow her eyes and state bluntly,

"We do not offer those here."

This is of little consequence, though. Most ponies simply shrug it off and choose another treatment. Even if a few were to leave, it would not leave a dent in the clientele. This is an upscale spa, after all.

Though it may not look it, this business is in trouble, too.