Monday morning dawned bright and early. Sunset walked inside the school, meeting up with her friends. They talked about safe things, like schoolwork and their weekend. Sunset was pretty sure she'd make it at least until lunch before having to say it.
And then it happened.
“Where’s Wallflower?” Rainbow asked, looking around as if expecting to see her hiding behind someone else. “I haven’t seen her in, like, forever.”
Sunset sighed. Might as well come out with it. “We broke up.”
“What?” Fluttershy asked.
“Darling,” Rarity gasped.
Sunset shrugged, trying to downplay it. “It wasn’t that bad,” she said. “You know, high school relationship, these things happen.”
“I must disagree,” Rarity said breathlessly. “I thought you were perfect for each other.”
“We… were,” Sunset admitted. “I just… don’t know what went wrong. She quit responding to my texts and everything.”
“Ghosted,” Pinkie Pie whispered sympathetically, stretching the word out and spreading her arms wide. She turned back towards Sunset, a look of concern on her face. “Does she even want to be friends with us anymore?”
“I don’t know,” Sunset confessed. “She seemed really torn up, and I don't even know why.”
“But really,” Rarity said, trying to sound fair. “A shy, mousy girl like that, she probably thinks you’re out of her league.”
Sunset looked around, half-expecting Wallflower to appear with some snarky comment, but was disappointed. “Well, however she feels, it’s like she’s cutting off all contact with her.”
“Maybe she’s just embarrassed, but she’ll get over it. It’s not like you ‘did it’ and had an awful experience and given her nightmares forever and flashbacks every time she sees you.” Pinkie gasped and leaned over, putting her face way into Sunset’s personal space. “Did you ‘do it’ and have an awful experience that would give her nightmares forever and flashbacks every time she saw you?” she asked eagerly.
Sunset exhaled through her nose. Pinkie Pie had no real concept of personal boundaries, and a pretty keen interest in her friends’ intimate lives despite her own orientation. She gently pushed Pinkie’s face away with two fingers. “No, Pinkie, we did not ‘do it’. We were taking it slow.” She paused. “Maybe too slow,” she wondered aloud. She turned, half-expecting to see Wallflower standing there ready to comment, but she was not.
“Eh, give it a little time,” Rainbow said dismissively. “Check out her garden or whatever, she’s probably there. Go see her on her terms.”
“Actually, that’s a pretty good idea,” Sunset said thoughtfully.
Sunset Shimmer sat on the bench in the garden, looking around. It was pretty peaceful here. Every time she came, she thought she knew a little better why Wallflower loved it here.
“Sunset,” a voice said.
Sunset looked over her shoulder to see her ex-girlfriend, wearing gardening gloves, hands on her hips and looking blankly at her. “Hey, Wallflower,” she said, turning around to face her.
“What are you doing here?” Wallflower asked.
Sunset decided to be honest. “I guess I’m trying to get inside your head, figure out what it is you’re thinking. I mean, I did like you, and I really wasn’t expecting a break-up. So I guess I’m just wondering why.”
“Did,” Wallflower repeated flatly.
Sunset winced. Out of all those words, she picked that to comment on? “Not… that’s not what I meant. I do like you, really.”
“You’re saying a lot of things you don’t mean,” Wallflower said.
If Wallflower was going to nitpick at all her words, she was probably still hurting. Maybe she should come back another time, later, when she’d had some time to cool off. “Look, this was a bad idea,” Sunset said, standing up. “I’ll just-”
“No, no, stay,” Wallflower said, holding up her hands and stepping backwards. “I’d hate to take you away from, uh, me, and your thoughts, and-”
But what she was going to say, Sunset never knew; Wallflower stepped on the blade of a shovel and her foot slipped out from under her. She fell down hard on her tailbone and cried out in pain.
Sunset swung her legs over the bench and reached down to help, but Wallflower pushed herself up, ignoring Sunset’s hand. “I wish I still had the memory stone,” she hissed under her breath.
“You don’t mean that,” Sunset said.
Wallflower turned and walked away. “Yes, I do.”
Sunset sadly watched her go. She was hurting—they both were—but she had no idea how to help.
It was late in the afternoon, and the hallway was deserted as Rarity returned to her locker. She twisted the dial, opened the door, bent down and retrieved her books, then shut the door.
“Rarity?”
Rarity jumped. “Wah!” She turned to see Wallflower Blush, who had apparently materialized behind her locker door in the two seconds it had been open. She rested a hand on her chest over her rapidly beating heart. “Oh, Wallflower, darling, I didn't see you there.” She winced, realizing after she’d said it that Wallflower didn’t really like that phrase (much like how Sunset wasn’t a fan of reminders of her time as a raging she-demon).
It was a testament to Wallflower’s determination that she didn't comment on this. “I want revenge on Sunset Shimmer,” she said bluntly.
Memories of the last time she’d tried to take revenge on Sunset ran through her mind. Rarity clutched her books tightly to her chest and squeaked. “R- revenge is not always the best option,” she protested.
“Not like that,” Wallflower interrupted, shaking her head. “I want to go to the Spring Fling this Friday. Without her. But I want to make her wish she could have gone with me.”
Rarity paused. She thought she knew where this was going. “So you want to go, dressed in a way that says, ‘I don’t need you’, but makes her want you anyway?” she prompted.
Wallflower was a little surprised that Rarity knew exactly what she wanted, but decided to roll with it. “Yes. Just like that.”
Rarity understood instantly. “I see. It's a ploy! You want to make her jealous.”
“Exactly. But… I need your help.” She glanced down and picked at her sweater. “This is the second nicest sweater I own, and even my first nicest isn’t really something you would wear to a dance.”
A wide smile spread across Rarity’s face. She could already see how this would play out. Rarity would get them both dressed to the nines (well, relatively speaking, as this was a semi-formal dance), they’d each come alone, Wallflower would try to make Sunset jealous, Sunset would fall for her, and with a little luck (and perhaps a nudge or two in the right direction from a helpful friend named Rarity), they’d be back together again by the end of the night! How could she not be a part of this? Rarity tittered. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Wallflower. I’ll help.” She held up a fist enthusiastically. “You shall be the belle of the ball!”
“But you can’t say anything to Sunset,” Wallflower pleaded.
“Not a single word,” Rarity swore.
Wallflower looked around the room. This one room had more clothes than she’d ever seen in her life. She felt oddly outnumbered, which was strange because these were inanimate objects. Just cloth.
She briefly wondered if her sweater would get jealous of some of these other clothes when the door opened, and Rarity entered, carrying a bolt of cloth. She stopped and blinked. “Wallflower. I didn’t expect you for another half hour or so.”
Wallflower shrugged. “Didn’t have much else going on.”
Rarity set the bolt down and began with an eagerness that reminded Wallflower of the time she’d first discovered the garden. Rarity clearly had a passion for projects, and, to be honest, Wallflower felt the slightest bit unnerved. “Alright, let’s begin. I have an idea or two sketched out, but first, do you know your measurements?”
“I’m… a medium in the Barnyard Bargains brand of pants?” Wallflower offered, fairly certain that that’s not what she meant.
Rarity tsked. “Alright. Measurements first, then.” She held up a tape measure. “How much are you comfortable taking off?”
Wallflower blushed. “Um… nothing?” she whimpered.
Rarity gave her a comforting smile. “I assure you, I’m very professional. Besides, you’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before.”
Wallflower grimaced and shook her head. Revenge came at a price, but stripping for Rarity was not a price she was willing to pay.
Rarity exhaled through pursed lips. “Alright, over the clothes it is, but it’ll have to be tight,” she warned.
Wallflower stood as still as she could as Rarity pulled the tape measure tight enough around various parts of her body that she was forcibly reminded of a blood pressure reading.
That reminded her. Her last doctor’s visit had been a nightmare. She’d gone in, gotten her vitals taken (which included a finger stick), then waited another half an hour in the room only for the nurse to come in with another patient, having forgotten that she was there. Then she’d gotten her vitals taken again, complete with second finger stick. The only good thing was the receptionist didn’t recognize her and she walked right out without even being asked for her co-pay. It was probably the one time her invisibility had come in handy.
But she definitely didn’t feel invisible as Rarity pulled the tape tightly around her chest. She just felt a bit suffocated. And maybe a bit violated.
“Hm, you’re a bit more endowed than I’d thought,” Rarity murmured under her breath, making a few more notes on her paper.
Wallflower bit her lower lip. That had been a compliment, right? She was never sure.
Rarity continued sketching and then sat up. “Alright, so here’s my first design. Ta-daa!” She held up the paper. “What do you think?”
It was very pretty, Wallflower had to admit, but one thing stood out right away. “That’s… cut pretty low,” she said uncertainly.
“Is it?” Rarity asked, her voice a high squeak. She tittered in a half-nervous, half-innocent way. “Psh. I hadn’t noticed.”
Wallflower crossed her arms and gave her a flat look.
Rarity shrugged, her voice still higher than usual. “All I’m saying, darling, is if you’ve got it, ah, flaunt it. It would certainly help you get Sunset’s attention?” she offered.
Wallflower blinked, keeping her expression deadpan.
Rarity sighed in defeat and redrew the line a little higher.
Wallflower raised an eyebrow.
Rarity let out the tiniest of frustrated whimpers, but redrew the line even higher.
Mollified, Wallflower put her arms down. “Ok, so, now what?”
“Well, first I have to make it, and then you’ll have to come back for the fitting to make sure everything, er, fits—and that one you will have to undress for.”
Wallflower gulped.
It was Rarity’s term to give her a flat look. “In a dressing room, darling. Gone are the days when a lady would need an army of handmaidens to dress up. But on the day of, do you have someone to do your hair and makeup?”
Wallflower shook her head. She hadn’t even thought of that.
Rarity pulled out her phone and tapped on her scheduling app. “Alright. Rainbow Dash is coming with the limousine-” she paused to look up and mumble a silent thanks that Rainbow would not be the one to actually drive it, “-at approximately 5:15, which means I’ll have to start getting myself ready an hour before, so could you come by at around 3:30? It’ll be something light, really. Shouldn’t take more than twenty, forty minutes.”
“You want me to come by?”
Rarity gave her a look. “Darling, it’s part of the package. You want this dress, you’re getting a makeover to go with it.”
Wallflower gulped again, but the thought of revenge pushed her forward. “Alright.”