//------------------------------// // The Next Day // Story: Wallflower's Bud // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// The sun streaked down onto Wallflower's bedroom the next morning, creeping through the windows and onto her face, stirring her from her seemingly impenetrable slumber. Beneath her bed, Smolder was sleeping curled up on a fuzzy, white fibre dog bed with a paw-print pattern running across the edges. The both of them flailed around in their beds before lightly opening their eyes to the blinding light of the sun. In its' intense rays, Wallflower could only blush as she sat up and threw the covers off of her body, yawning loudly as her arms twisted and stretched outward. She got out of bed, the creases in her chartreuse flower-pattern pyjamas and droopy wrinkles under her eyes showing themselves as she trudged over towards the window, opening it outward. She was greeted with a blast of cool wind that drifted through her room and across Smolder's fur. She woke up once the airwaves tickled her nose and she trudged over to Wallflower's legs. "Oh. Good morning, Smoldy." Wallflower squatted down and gave Smolder a few strokes of her fur, watching as she gave a smile, wriggling around on the spot before barking giddily. "Had a good sleep?" She didn't receive any other answer than panting, although she didn't really need one. She could just tell by the energy Smolder had as she dashed to the door of her room. "Okay, okay. Just give me a sec. I gotta brush my teeth first." She just chuckled before going into the bathroom to do her deeds. After a good few minutes of brushing, followed by a gargle and a spit, Wallflower came out of the bathroom, looking much more clean and awake than when she had walked in. Wallflower went to the door and opened it, letting Smolder gallop off downstairs. Wallflower's house didn't have many things that made it stand out from the others. Standard kitchen and living room with cream-coloured walls and soft carpets, pictures and ornaments decorating every single nook and cranny that could be found, and the odd couches and chairs surrounding TVs and tables. What it lacked in special features, though, it made up for in flowers. There were flowers aplenty in Wallflower's house. Poppies, fuchsias, begonias, even a sunflower bloomed by the front door. Many people would have called it a gardener's paradise. Wallflower called it home. She went into the kitchen where a figure was already sitting at the table. She had a bowl of cereal by the edge and was reading a newspaper idly. She briefly lowered it when she heard Wallflower enter the room, revealing her magenta skin and dark pink hair. She wore a dress that looked like a combination between a dancing dress and a wizard's outfit, with a gold trim around her waist and shoulders and a single sapphire gem holding the shoulder-pieces together. "Morning, sis." The girl called, giving Wallflower a grin. "Did ya sleep well?" "Yeah, Fuchsia. I slept like a log," Wallflower replied as she went to the cupboards to get herself some breakfast of her own. She pulled out a white, ceramic bowl and poured a load of cereal into it, almost filling it to the brim. "Honestly, I haven't slept like that in a long time." "That good?" Fuchsia asked, lifting a brow slightly. "Mm-hmm." Wallflower gave a gentle nod. Smolder then came into the room and dashed under the chair, straight onto Fuchsia's legs. The sudden jump caused Fuchsia to yelp, as well as jerk her arm out. The sudden reaction almost sent the newspaper tumbling to the ground in the process. Some pages had begun to dangle, but she was quickly able to slid them back into place and put the paper down safely before getting a look at Smolder. "Oh. Hey, little guy. What are you doing here?" She asked, tousling the fur on Smolder's head. "That's Smolder. She's my new pet." Wallflower came over to the table, laid her bowl down and watched as Smolder dashed back to her side. "Sunset and the others got her for me so I wouldn't have to feel alone. So far, I'd say that it's going pretty great. Isn't that right, Smoldy?" Wallflower picked her up and let her lick her face, causing a chuckle to tumble out. "Seems like she's really taken a shine to you, Wallflower. Good for you." Fuchsia laid the papers down and kept her eyes solely focused on her and the dog. "Still, you think that you're ready to have another dog after what happened to... well y'know?" "Fuchsia! Not in front of Smoldy like that!" Wallflower groaned and slapped Smolder's ears shut. "I thought we weren't going to bring up Buddy or Fluffy or whatever the heck his name was!" "Whoa, hey! Chill, chill, girl. You know I didn't mean it like that." Fuchsia hastily raised her hands and pushed them outward. "I didn't mean to offend you or your new friend like that. Really, I didn't!" Wallflower just pouted and turned Smolder away from Fuchsia, cuddling her close to her chest. "Y'know, I know you think that being with Trixie and Lavender's made you feel more confident and all, but you've really gotta learn that there are some lines to cross. And bringing up a dead pet to a new pet isn't the best answer now, is it?" "Sorry. I was a complete jerk. I shouldn't have said that." Fuchsia stood up, slid her chair back underneath the table and trudged over to Wallflower's seat. She laid a hand on Wallflower's shoulder and let out a sigh before kneeling down to her height. "Hey, c'mon. You know I mean the best, right?" Wallflower just let Smolder down and watched as she dashed off towards the back door, which now had a bowl of water and one that had yet to be filled sitting beneath it. "I know you mean the best, sis. But there are times where you can let your... less than kind side out." "We all have a bad side to ourselves, Wallflower. But we learn to look beyond that and think about the moment; not about the past." Fuchsia patted Wallflower's back. "You know that saying, 'it's good to be bad'?" "It's one of the reasons why that new video game did so well recently, isn't it?" Wallflower tipped her hand out. "Because you got to play as a bad guy if you wanted?" "Yep. It's good to be good, but it's not always good to be nothing but good. No matter how hard we try, there's always two different sides to the same coin; a good side and a bad side. You can't have one without the other." Fuchsia closed and opened her hand, causing a coin to appear on it, before showing both sides to Wallflower. "Remember when we were in Kindergarten together? I had that cavalier queen bee attitude and you had to always reign me in?" "Oh yeah. I remember. You were always being a jerk and I was the only thing stopping you from scaring the kids into submission." Wallflower nodded. "It's funny. You always said that you could do anything, no matter how old you are. And you'd go to any lengths to get it. Need I remind you of the Battle of the Bands nonsense?" "Funny how you didn't take part in it, Wallflower. I don't remember anything else other than it was a total blast. You, me, and Lavender would've made an awesome trio of singers, don't ya think?" She grinned. "Not really. Plus, I had much better things to do with my time than pay attention to a load of people trying to kill themselves over music. Seriously, all that bad tension and drive to win just went to your heads." Wallflower just splayed her fingers out and wobbled them. "That, and you know the Rainbooms. Those girls literally do everything with their rainbow lasers, wings, and hair extensions. They're like characters from a cheesy cartoon that's too afraid to do sad endings. It was obvious that they'd win, so the excitement just died off for me." Her eyes turned to Fuchsia's and she lowered her brows. "That, and well, I don't think I enjoy the idea of trapping people underneath the stage and not letting them out." "You... saw that?" Fuchsia recoiled. Now the memories were beginning to flood back. "Wallflower, I can explain about tha—" "Don't, sis. It's clear that you've got a certain level of hate for the Rainbooms." Wallflower just pushed her hand into Fuchsia's face. An inch further and it would've been considered a slap. "Well, I don't hate them now! It's just that... I mean I really wanted to, see the thing is that..." She tried to dig up an excuse, but she couldn't find one. Defeated, she just hung her head in shame and limped like a ragdoll. "You're right. I was angry. I didn't want to just lose like that." "Trust me, Wallflower. I know. I can relate. I know what it's like to be the bad guy." Wallflower stood up and held Fuchsia's hand, rubbing the back of it with her fingers. "We've both taken potshots at Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms, we've both made mistakes that we did out of pure hate, we both feel terrible about it. That's what it's like, right?" "Well, N..." She was about to say something, however a look into Wallflower's eyes changed that. "Yes. Yes it is. We've both vented off the bad sides. Just another thing that we have as sisters, isn't it?" "Yeah. Just another thing we have as sisters." Wallflower nodded. "C'mon. Super Sister Hugsies? We always used to do it when we were kids." "Mmm. Sure. It always cheered us up." A smile came back onto her face. The two sisters wrapped their arms around each other and brought themselves into a hug, squeezing themselves as tight as could be, before simultaneously saying "When you're feeling super down and you don't know what to do, just find your Super Sister and bring 'em close to you. Hug yourselves together, then the smile you'll see. A Super Sister Hugsy is good for you and me! Super Sister Hugsies!" The two of them giggled like little girls and broke off shortly after. "Man, I haven't done something like that in years!" Fuchsia grinned from ear to ear. "Glad to know that it still holds up, even when we're a couple of teens in high school." "Totally," Wallflower added. As the two of them began to calm down, Smolder began yipping as loud as she could, pawing the empty bowl by her feet. Her stomach let out a little rumble, and that was all of the evidence that the two Blushes needed to know that she was hungry. Smolder just sat on her haunches and watched as Wallflower got out a bag of dog food and laid some out into the bowl, along with a small chunk of leftover chicken from the fridge. As soon as her meal was laid out for her, Smolder just burrowed her head into the bowl and started to munch away. "Still, what are you gonna do about her?" Fuchsia pointed towards Smolder. "We've both gotta get to Canterlot High, and you know how tough they are about pets, right?" "Oh yeah..." The smile on Wallflower's face began to fall ever so slightly. She hadn't thought about that glaring issue staring her in the face until then. "Well, couldn't we just do what that Fluttershy girl does and just smuggle her in my backpack? I'm sure that she won't mind." "Well, it's possible, but then what are you gonna do about feeding her? Unless you can take those bowls around with you all day, I don't see how you're going to be able to handle Smolder's needs." Fuchsia twisted her wrist in a circular motion. "Not to mention there's the whole issue about dogs... needing to do their business." "Hmm... Wallflower put a hand to her chin and scratched it, looking as Smolder moved from the food bowl to the water bowl, drinking her fill carefree. Once she was finished, Smolder turned to face Wallflower with her tail wagging and eyes wide. "This is a toughie. How are we gonna get past this?"