Love is in the air {le greta}

[moli2]

It was a fine morning. A perfect morning to find romance, or to help it spark, which was the aim of a red earth stallion on this particular morning.

Amor Match was more than ready to begin his day of matchmaking. He sighed gleefully as he pondered and pushed his caravan out into the open market. The love, the romance, the renewal of new life - yes, the beginning of spring was just perfect for matchmaking. It was very fortunate that his special talent was indeed finding and creating this love.

He kicked at the mechanism in the back of the caravan that released the awning, the silky red canopy (for privacy), and opened up the caravan so that he had a counter to lean across, as well as little silly things said to improve chances of finding love. Some of them, he was sure, had an effect, whereas others... well, they could be worn fashionably, certainly.

He pulled part of the canopy back and hung the turned his open and closed sign so it read "Open - love awaits!" Then Amor Match took a deep breath and let it out happily. There weren't many other ponies about, so he trotted off to the bakery a short distance off. Once he had breakfast, he would be ready to officially start his day.

((Ready when you are, Greta~))

[♦ rarity ♦]

Rarity, too, was on her breakfast break and had left her shop closed and locked up with a sign. She had already been to the Dandelion Cafe, however, and was now just on her way to see if she could find some nice buttons. She trotted along, saddlebags slung over her back, giving each cart a cursory glance as she went.

There wasn't much in the way of decorations today, and Rarity was a bit saddened by this. She would have to go gem hunting later, she supposed, to make sure that she had enough decorations in case she got any large surprise orders. That would require Spike, however, so that she wouldn't have to dirty her own hooves and Spike was usually needed by Twilight at this time of morning, so Rarity sighed and turned to start the way back to the boutique.

She hadn't gone far when a red caravan caught her eye. She didn't recognize it, which both perplexed and intrigued her, and so she wandered toward it. Had the proprietor been there, she might have kept her distance, especially once she saw the sign, but there could be no harm in curiosity if nopony could see it. She didn't really understand what the sign really meant and so she wandered closer, eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"What is this?" she whispered to herself, reading the sign. Was he selling himself? That was quite a bit too racy for Rarity's tastes.

[moli2]

"Fantastico, el pan. Mmm!" Amor Match licked his lips clean as he trotted back toward his caravan. He did love fresh pan - bread - in the morning. It kept him full for longer, and was quite plainly delicious. As he drew closer, he saw a lovely young mare in front of his caravan. He smiled, tossed his thick hair back so it would not be in his face, and came up behind her.

"Buenos dias, senorita! Are you seeking the matchmaking services of Amor Match? For I am he." The red stallion bowed graciously and, upon rising, leaned to kiss both of the unicorn mare's cheeks, a custom of his home country, Espona. He felt it added a nice touch to his business, and caught the ladies off guard. That always made him smile, and mares were always so cute when they were embarrassed or flustered.

((Susie will be joining us with Fluttershy, too. :D))

[fluttershy]

If there was something that Fluttershy wasn’t it was outgoing. Because of that she was reluctant to meet new ponies. Girl ponies were relatively all right it was boy ponies that frightened her. The majority of ponies that picked on her when she was a little filly had been boy ponies and she had a slight aversion to them before that anyway as she was such a shy little thing. She didn’t think that all colts and stallions were mean spirited like her bullies and that some could be nice. However, she couldn’t quite get over her inability to speak to the more masculine sex unless they were picking on one of her friends or it was absolutely necessary. Teddy was all right though but that was only because of his cutsie wootsie little manticore.

In all honesty Fluttershy wasn’t too terribly interested in finding a special somepony she was much too shy for one thing and her animals needed her constant care and attention. How was she supposed to take care of them if somepony else was taking up her time?

She was currently out shopping for said animals, she had gotten some fresh seeds for her birds and she had her goods in her saddlebags. Fluttershy was on her way back home when she saw Rarity and she smiled about to trot up to her friend when she noticed a caravan. She’d never seen it before and while she was curious she kept a safe distance away. She was about to draw closer when a stallion popped out of nowhere and kissed her best friend!

Cyan eyes widened. Who was that! When did Rarity get a coltfriend? She stumbled back before she called out, "R-Rarity!"

[♦ rarity ♦]

In Rarity's defense, she was quite alarmed to be suddenly kissed by some flowy-maned foreign stallion and, despite the fact that it was unladylike, found herself gaping, eyes wide like dinner plates. She would have stepped back, but she was a bit too flabbergasted and her hooves were rooted to the spot. Nopony, male or female, had ever done anything like that.

"Ehm--ahah--I--well--Oh my." She chuckled in her most ladylike and dainty manner, trying to regain some semblence of control on the situation. He said that he sold "matchmaking" services, but it didn't seem as though they really spoke the same language, so she wasn't sure that he entirely knew what "matchmaking" was. When she had collected herself enough, she cleared her throat and straightened up, tossing her mane. "I'm sorry, but what are the matchmaking services you sell, dear?"

It was then that she heard her name being called and turned around to see her best friend. Thankful to have somepony else to take the attention off of her [for once], Rarity brightened up. "Oh, Fluttershy! Dear, why don't you come over here?"

[moli2]

Amor Match laughed, a deep, rich sound, at the young mare's expression. Clearly she had never met a pony from Espona before.

"Lo siento, mi paloma. The kisses are the custom in Espona. It is how we greet others. But I understand it is not the custom in all places." He bowed curteously, giving her a winning smile.

When she asked about his services, he smiled more broadly. "Ah, so you are interested! Wonderful. I am Amor Match, as I said, and my talent is matchmaking - finding two ponies who were meant to be together and giving them the opportunity to discover their, how you say, compatibility. I also do other things related to this service, if you have need of them."

Amor looked up as another pony's voice reached his ears, and the ears of the young mare. She called to her friend, Fluttershy, to come over. Amor bowed once again. "Yet another beautiful thing I have seen this morning. Que suerte!" He leaned in to also kiss the cheeks of the young mare as she approached. He might just do excellent business today.

((Feel free to ask me to clarify any Spanish. xD))

[fluttershy]

Her cyan eyes were wide and she took one or two steps back as her ears flattened. Why wouldn’t Rarity tell her that she was dating somepony? The pegasus pony stared at Rarity and Amor as she tried to gather her thoughts. It didn’t make any sense. However, through Rarity’s actions she realized that this wasn’t her new coltfriend. It was somepony that she didn’t know. Why was somepony Rarity didn’t know kissing her?

The pegasus eavesdropped a little. Oh, Espona! That was what was up with that. The pegasus looked around. Oh, matchmaking. Quite honestly Fluttershy wasn’t especially interested with finding her match. The young mare felt her ears go up a little and she shook her head when the stallion beckoned her over.

However, Rarity called her over and she scuffed her hoof on the ground as she slowly meandered forward, "O-okay." Her head was hung and she shyly moved forward until she saw Amor lean in for a kiss. Her eyes shot open and she immediately pushed herself off the ground and flapped her wings.

[♦ rarity ♦]

Rarity would have blushed, but that was not necessarily ladylike [unless a pony were Fluttershy] so instead, she let out an infectious giggle-titter and fluttered her eyelashes. "Oh, nonono, you misunderstand me, darling." She turned to look at his caravan, still confused about how this was something a pony could possibly sell. She had already set up her own match--and then decided it was a terrible idea. How could she trust someone else with something so delicate?

"I'm just curious as to how you're going about all of this." She looked around again, this time at the road. None of the ponies there seemed at all possible to be her special somepony and she wasn't really sure how, other than picking somepony off the street, an earth pony with no magical ability was going to be able to find somepony who was compatible with someone as elegant, refined, and--let's be honest--awesome as Rarity.

At Fluttershy's reaction, however, Rarity snapped her head back and laughed again, covering her mouth with her hoof to hold back any of her more raucous giggles. "Oh, Fluttershy dear, come down. He's just being friendly." This being obviously all of the introduction Rarity could ever need, she turned to Amor Match and smiled. "I'm Rarity. I run a boutique. Perhaps you've heard of it--Carousel?"

[moli2]

The red stallion regarded the unicorn with respect and interest in his eyes. It did seem odd for him to be wandering offering these services to anypony, but he knew what he was doing. This was what he was meant to do. He did his best to explain. "The results are never immediate, senorita. First I must know the town, and the ponies within it. And I ask questions of the pony who comes to me. Are you sure you would not like to see? For you, I can offer a reduced price. I promise I am already reasonable."

He flicked his short black tail toward the inside of his caravan, but did not expect an answer. He heard her laugh - no doubt she was still considering if he was serious at all. He could wait.

The cute yellow pegasus fluttered away from his kisses, and Amor straightened himself as her friend chided her. He smiled and laughed, not in an unfriendly way. "I apologize, parajita. I did not mean to frighten you." He bowed gallantly, trying to save face a little. He felt a bit ridiculous having kissed only air, but it was a risk he took when he took part in his childhood culture.

He returned his orange gaze to the unicorn - Rarity, she said her name was. He mulled over the name of her boutique, and it did ring a faint bell. "The same Carousel that Hoity Toity was praising? I made a match for him once, and it was, ah, difficult to get him to talk of something other than his work. Much like myself, in some respects, for love is one of my favorite topics of discussion." He winked and smiled knowingly.

Amor Match loved his job. He got to talk about love and speak with charming fillies and mares all day. Many stallions would love his job. That's why it was his.

[fluttershy]

She would be lying if she were to say she wasn’t interested in this new stallion and what exactly he was doing. She eyed his cutie mark and she couldn’t help but wonder if there were other ponies that had a knack for finding special someponies. Princess Cadence had a talent for spreading love wherever she went and she wondered if this stallion did as well. The princess used a love spell she realized but he was an earth pony and she wondered how he could do so without magic. She was never especially interested in finding anybody for herself she was very busy with her animals.

The shy mare didn’t know how that stallion managed to make matches but other ponies talents were sort of fascinating. Maybe he spoke to everypony just like Pinkie Pie and decided who would be best for who. He was a tad too friendly for her tastes though.

“F-fr-fri-friendly?” Fluttershy questioned. The young mare frowned momentarily when Rarity tried not to giggle at her. It wasn’t all right when other ponies laughed but she realized when her friends laughed at her it was usually because they were giggling about something cute she’d done. Fluttershy blushed and her cheeks became very red. She looked away from her friend and the stallion feeling rather embarrassed. Fluttershy was all right if he were to kiss other mares but if it was her it was an entirely different story. She quietly landed and brought herself back to the ground. Scuffing her hoof on the ground the pegasus listened when he spoke to her.

It was just that he was from somewhere else. If he were from Ponyville that wouldn’t have been a normal greeting. She swiftly moved behind Rarity and her ears flattened against her head as she lowered her head and half hid behind her best friend like a frightened filly on her first day of school. “It-it’s okay,” she murmured. He laughed and she hid behind her mane.

Fluttershy asked softly, “Um, just uh. What do you…um…How do you know if you’ve found somepony else’s special somepony?”

[Flim Flim-Flam]

Alrighty then, he had everything he needed. Flowers bought and floating beside him with magic, hat securely on head, vest pressed and clean, and teeth as white and shiny as ever. Flim was ready to go to try and track down the Miss Rarity to hopefully apologize for being too forceful in their first encounter and hopefully establish a friendlier business relationship between the two of them. Or well, at least from her side at least; he really had no interest in being friends with her at the moment. He simply wanted her to like him just enough to at least tolerate listening to him and possibly buy stuff from him. Other than that, he didn’t care if she wanted to be friends or anything like that. All he had to do was find her and…oh, there she was.

Without even noticing the other ponies around Rarity, Flim made his way into the conversation by abruptly interrupting whatever was going on at the moment. He just wanted to get this over and done with so he could either sell something to either her or someone else.

”Hello there Miss Rarity, surprised to run into you this fine morning. You’re just the pony I wanted to speak to. You see I thought I came across as rude the other day and wanted to apologize by giving you…these…flowers…”

Upon realizing the other ponies that were present to the situation, Flim’s voiced trailed off. Oh he had hoped to have done this without any witnesses, especially since replaying what he just said made his intentions sound very much NOT what he wanted. Furthermore, one of the other ponies was the Fluttershy he had been delivering goods to on an almost daily basis. Oh crap, what if she mentioned that arrangement to Rarity, since from the appearance of the two suggested some level of friendship between them. Looking rather uncomfortable at this point, Flim began to back off.

”Oh, uhm, sorry to interrupt. I guess I’ll just talk to you later then Miss Rarity…..”

[♦ rarity ♦]

At the mention of Hoity-Toity, Rarity tossed her mane and lowered her head demurely. "Oh, Hoity-Toity? Yes, we're old friends. It's so darling of him to praise my little boutique." Even though he was appealing to her ego, she still didn't want him to help her find her special sompony. She had enough suitors if she chose to decide to want one and she was still holding out for finding a prince that wasn't an idiot.

"Oh, thank you for the offer, but I really cannot accept." She smiled and then turned to Fluttershy, at which point she saw a familiar stallion coming up the street. Flim must have been looking for his own special somepony--he was carrying a bouquet of flowers. Rarity made a mental note to ask him about her next time he came into the stop and to convince him to buy something nice for her.

She was surprised when he headed toward the group, but quickly changed her assessment. He must have been coming to the matchmaker and that's what the flowers were for. She was most definitely not expecting him to walk over and deliver them to her and her eyes widened as soon as he did. She quickly schooled her face into a more gracious expression, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Oh, good morning, Mister Flim! For me?" She accepted the roses, ducking her head. "Thank you ever so much--but you needn't apologize for anything--oh but they're so lovely!" The roses floated in front of her, suspended at eye level, and she admired them from every angle. They were lovely and she found herself close to blushing, especially considering their proximity to the matchmaking cart.

[moli2]

The red stallion laughed, a deep and kindly chuckle at the yellow pegasus' shyness. What a darling young filly - muy linda. But he could accept that he was a little too outgoing at times, and he bowed his head to her apologetically. He answered her question after a moment's thought.

"That is why it is my special talent, parejita. I am able to empathize with other ponies - once I get a sense of who they are, then I know who they match with. It is as though I have many, many friends, and some of these many are meant to be. Would you be interested in trying a match? I see your pretty friend here has warded me away on this matter."

He winked at Rarity. Amor was disappointed that the pretty young filly would not be taking his offer, but he would accept that. Sometimes it made other ponies nervous to be matched. As a long legged stallion approached with flowers, Amor smiled slightly. Perhaps this was why she was unwilling to be matched.

"Why, senorita, had I know you were already matched, my efforts would have been more subdued." He laughed, though he eyed Flim curiously. Was this what the young mare wanted from a stallion?

Not bad, he supposed. But she could do better.