Wallflower pulled her phone out and checked the message once again. Sunset was going to help out at the Animal Rescue Shelter with Fluttershy, and since Cozy was allergic, it was just going to be them, so of course she could go.
It was going to be nice, she told herself. Just a little time with Sunset.
And then she saw someone wearing a dark hoodie pulled down low and a mask, spray-painting a brick wall, in front of a decrepit van parked with its lights on.
Wallflower stopped. Vandals!
The painter looked at her and did a double-take.
Oh, now she was noticed! She turned around and started walking quickly away, hoping to avoid any confrontation, but she could hear the van behind her getting closer.
Abandoning any pretext of subtlety, she started to run. Up ahead there was an alley, she would be able to duck inside!
But before she made it, a strong hand grabbed her sweater and pulled her into the van, dropping her unceremoniously inside. The painter slammed the door shut and turned to the front. “Drive! Drive!” came the call, and the engine sped up.
Wallflower lay on the ground in shock. She’d just been kidnapped! Definitely not how she expected this day to go.
Hey, look, you’re wanted for once
But that intrusive thought vanished as terror quickly set in. Kidnapped! Movies she’d watched flicked through her mind. No one would pay her ransom--most people probably wouldn’t even notice she was gone. And no ransom meant-
And then the painter pulled her mask and hood off, revealing cyan eyes and letting scarlet-and-gold hair tumble out.
“Sunset Shimmer?” Wallflower asked, stunned.
“Hey, Wallflower,” Sunset said cheerfully. “Didn’t expect to run into you out here.”
“Yeah,” Wallflower said, mostly because she wasn’t sure what else to say. At least her kidneys were safe now? “What’s going on?”
“Oh, you know, just a little art project,” Sunset said lightly.
“You’re vandalizing buildings and calling it an art project?” Wallflower asked.
Still nothing but a bad girl
“Technically,” the driver interjected, revealing herself as Fluttershy, “it’s only vandalizing if the owner doesn’t want it. And a real Flanksy is a good draw for any business.”
“Yeah,” Sunset agreed. “Most cops are cool about it, but there’s at least one who apparently hates art. Hence the whole mask song and dance.”
Wallflower put two and two together. “Wait. You’re Flanksy?!”
Sunset shrugged modestly. “Ehh,” she said airily.
“What do you mean ‘ehh’?” Wallflower demanded. “Flanksy- art- even I’ve heard of you!”
“Well, it’s not like I’m doing it for the recognition,” Sunset defended herself. “I just really like art.”
“And she’s good at it,” Fluttershy added.
Wallflower paused to process this. She was creating art for the sheer joy of it—and for the challenge.
That was actually really hot.
Maybe you’d be appreciated if your hobbies weren’t lame
She shook her head to clear it. Her Gardening Club wouldn’t have happened if her hobby wasn’t appreciated.
And besides, Sunset had helped with that, too.
“So,” she said, looking around. “This is the Man Van?”
“More like the Lazy Bum Van,” Fluttershy corrected darkly, glowering over the steering wheel.
It was probably a combination of kind Fluttershy saying that, along with feeling like she was actually part of an inside joke, but Wallflower couldn’t help but giggle. It was a good feeling.
“Yeah,” Wallflower mused as she scraped out yet another litter box, “good feeling gone.”