The next day brought with it no back pain or cramps like last time, but the alarm clock was just as obnoxious as it was the day before. I did what I usually do and tried to ignore it after fumbling around for the snooze button. And it would’ve stayed that way too, if I didn’t feel a gentle shake on my shoulder. “Sunset, we’ve gotta get up.”
“It’s too early to be awake around this time. How do people even live like this?”
I heard a dainty giggle coming from the same source of the shaking. “With breakfast maybe? I could make you some if you get up quickly enough. How do eggs in a nest sound?”
That got my attention. I quickly sat up from my bed and looked towards Wallflower. She was already dressed in her usual jeans and beige sweater, staring at her hands and glancing back up at me from behind her curtain of hair. “Really?” I asked.
She nodded slowly, lifting her head up to slightly meet my gaze. “It’s the least I could do for what you’ve done for me these past few days.”
I sat there, rubbing my hands together as I looked to the side. “You don’t have to. It’s nothing.”
She reached out and held my hands with her own, her eyes met mine as her lips came to a pout. “Sunset, in one day you’ve helped me face complete strangers and make new friends. Let me have this.”
I cracked a smile. She acted like a foal sometimes. Whether or not it was because of the memory loss didn’t matter. She was earnest, and she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
I chuckled. “Alright, fine. I’ll go get dressed. Besides, there’s something I wanted to go over anyway.” Her pout melted into a saccharine grin, and if my heart hadn’t been melting before, it was now.
After a quick change and a simple but heartwarming meal, we were on our way to the cafe by bike. The clock on the wall made it clear that we still had plenty of time to sit down and talk for a while.
Two coffees later, we sat outside in one of the two-person tables. We both paused to take a look at the various people going about their day. The slight lull gave me a chance to truly take in Wallflower as she stared out at the traffic.
She had a relaxed air about her, the shining morning sun shone a light on her features. A small button nose complimented the surrounding freckles that contrasted with her complexion, while her chocolate brown eyes provided a sweet finish along with her serene smile. Her hair, once a tangled mess the first night she stayed with me, was now somewhat kept neatly, and flowed down to the small of her back like water.
It was times like these when I wished we didn’t have to worry about amnesia, magic, and loneliness, and simply enjoyed the moment we had, just watching the cars and people go by. But as it stood, we had business to take care of, as Wallflower soon turned. “You said you wanted to talk to me about something? Is it about my amnesia?”
I nodded. “Somewhat. We already had a picture of what you were like at school before, right?” She nodded in reply. “It just doesn’t seem to add up, you know? Given how I found you and everything.”
“I see what you mean. Sure, it felt lonely when you weren’t there with me, but was that really the reason why I had…” She looked down to her sleeves.
My gaze dropped down the table as well, and I found myself clutching my own sleeve as I tried to approach the sensitive subject. “No, I don’t think so… not alone at least. There has to be more to this, and I feel we might get some answers if we go to your place.”
Wallflower paused as she was moving to sip on her cup of coffee. She set it down, and looked at me with dread. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
She shook her head and defensively raised her hand. “N-Nothing, it’s nothing. Where do we start anyway? I still don’t remember where I live.”
“Remember that picture we pulled out of your bag when we first met?”
She nodded. “Mhm, what about it?”
“There was a house in the background, I was thinking maybe today we can go around and find it.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “Isn’t Canterlot large? How long would it take?”
“A couple of hours at most.” I glanced around to be sure that we weren’t being eavesdropped, then leaned in close and whispered, “I was thinking maybe we should cut lunch and start searching.”
Her skin paled at the idea. “Sunset... Wouldn’t we get in trouble?”
“Only if we get caught. With any luck, we might be able to get back by the time fifth period is over.”
She sighed, and gripped her left arm with her right hand. “I don’t know…”
I reached out to her hand. “Wallflower, do you trust me?” She nodded. “I’ve done this many times. If anything happens, we’ll rush straight back to school.” I rose and picked up my cup. “We’ll leave at lunch, that should give you some time to think this over, sounds good?” She nodded as she finished her coffee.
The first two periods went smoothly as usual. At brunch Wallflower and I spent the time hanging out with the rest of my friends. They were growing on her, and I couldn’t help but watch her smile and laugh as I went over what was going to happen to Applejack just in case.
Soon brunch was over, and third period came and went. And so, I walked with trepidation into the yearbook office. Wallflower was there, legs crossed and lost in thought as she leaned against her chair. “Hey Wallflower,” I called. She startled back into reality, but quickly smiled as she saw me and waved. “Have you decided what you want to do yet?”
She nodded, firmly albeit reluctantly. “I think we should do it.”
I smiled. “Alright, let’s go.”
As the lunch bell rang, we made our break. After doing it so many times, sneaking out of school was a breeze. We stopped at a nearby diner to get a quick bite to eat. While we were eating, I turned to Wallflower. “Do you still have the photo, Wallflower?” She nodded, dug it out of her bag, and handed it to me.
As I remembered, the house was grey with a porch, windows, garage, and a white door. That was a good start. I flipped the photo over to see if there was anything we were missing. The back was pretty plain as expected. Another dead end. “So we’ve got a picture of a house, but no address… Well, it’s a better start than any.” I looked up at Wallflower. “Ready to go?”
She nodded back with a determined look. And so the search for our mystery house began.
Hour by hour, block by block, Wallflower and I scanned up and down the streets looking for her home. It was tedious, and wasn’t all that fruitful. Just when I was about to lose hope, Wallflower tugged at my jacket.
I pulled over to a stop. “Something the matter, Wallflower?”
She looked around, down the street and the surrounding houses. “This feels… awfully familiar… I don’t remember being here, but it feels like I have, several times.”
I looked down the street she was staring at. “Down that street?” She nodded. I shrugged, it’s something. The way I saw it, while Wallflower’s memories were gone, her emotions towards those missing memories were still there. This might be a lead.
We rode slowly down the road. Houses and lawns passed us by, but still no sign of the place we were looking for. I was almost preparing to turn around when suddenly Wallflower pulled tight on my jacket. By reflex, I hit the brake and skidded us to a halt. I turned around to find Wallflower contorting her face as if in pain.
“Wallflower?” I asked. “What’s…”
It was then that I saw it in the corner of my eyes. Just down the street on our right we had just barely passed by, the house in the picture. Porch, door, and all.
A minute later, the engine of the bike gave a final sputter, letting us off on the sidewalk next to the small fence.
“Okay, we’re here. Let’s check it out,” I said as I stowed away our helmets. Looking over at Wallflower, I saw she was still standing on the sidewalk staring at the ground, hands behind her back and feet shuffling around. “Getting cold feet about this?”
She looked back up at me. “I-It’s just, I have this bad feeling, being here. I don’t remember anything about this place, but something still feels wrong. It feels like… I don’t belong here.”
I paused. It sounded a lot like her memories were being repressed and not completely erased. Or it was something really bad, if her immediate instinct here was to turn tail and run. I reached out and held her shoulder. “Wallflower, it’s okay if you don’t want to do this. We’re not sure what kind of memories you had of your family, but if they were as bad as I think they we—”
“No.” She looked up, took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “We need to do this. I need to do this. We need answers.”
I nodded. “Alright, but the minute you want us to leave, we’ll leave.”
We walked to the house. True to the photo, it was still grey, albeit a bit faded from age. There was still a porch, a window behind said porch, and a white door off to the side and a garage next to that, a well kept garden with a fountain and several beds of flowers and plants decorated the front yard.
I rang the doorbell. The minutes dragged on after that. I could feel Wallflower tensing up next to me as we waited. I reached out and held her hand. Without looking, I felt her taking and squeezing my hand in hers.
The door suddenly opened to reveal the indigo woman from the picture, now aged a few years since the photo, with crow’s feet bordering her eyes, and streaks of grey hair piercing the sea of navy blue. Her squinted eyes matched with her irritated frown. She was dressed in a white blazer and business skirt with matching heels, and had keys in her hand. “Yeah?”
“Mrs. Blush?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s me.” she said gruffly.
“My name’s Sunset Shimmer.” I gestured over to Wallflower, who was looking down at her feet, trying to hide behind the curtain that was her hair. “Your daughter got hurt a day or two ago, I’ve been taking care of her since. I would’ve contacted you sooner, but we had a hard time finding you.” Wasn’t too much of a lie. I just hoped she wouldn’t be too mad at us.
As I was nervously waiting for what to come, she looked at Wallflower, who shrunk at her gaze, and back to me. Then she pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers and let out an exaggerated sigh. "What have you done this time, Wallflower? I told you to keep to yourself. Go to school, do your work, stay in the background, and don't bother anyone. Can't you even do that? Can't you pull your own weight even once?"
Her response completely floored me. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Wallflower shrink even further under the subtle yet scathing remarks. Warning bells were ringing in my head. None of this screamed ‘caring mother’. Her daughter was badly injured and absent from home for two whole days, yet her first reaction was annoyance?
“Now you even have to ask others to bring you home in the middle of the day. What an embarrassment. Are you waiting for others to spoon-feed you now?” Her voice was getting louder and louder, as Wallflower shrunk further away besides me.
It took all my willpower not to dig my nails into my palms, or clench my jaw. I wasn’t naive, with the torn photo we found in her bag, it was as clear as Celestia’s dawn that Wallflower’s home life wasn’t any better than her school life. I had prepared for a strict and overbearing mother. Never had I expected one who saw her child as a nuisance she couldn’t wait to get rid of, who hurled insults and belittlement at her injured daughter instead of giving concern.
The more forgiving part of me wanted to say that I’ve only met Wallflower’s mother for a few minutes, maybe she got up on the wrong side of the bed or something. But the visceral reminders of my parent’s lack of empathy matched with Mrs. Blush’s color commentary like a hoof to a sock. It struck a chord in me and yelled at me to get Wallflower out of there, to protect her at all costs. Her mother was just as bad as the Sirens, deserving the fate of a lifetime in Tartarus. I can’t ignore my gut feeling that I was leading Wallflower back to the lion’s den.
I had to find a way to buy time, make sure Wallflower would be in safe hands.
“Actually Mrs. Blush, she wasn’t much of a burden,” I said, trying not to raise my voice. “In fact, she was sweet, kind, and helpful.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wallflower quickly turn to look at me, but I wasn’t able to make out her face before her eyes quickly averted back down her feet. “Though like I said, she got hurt. Would it be alright if I stayed with her for a bit? Make sure she’ll be alright?”
I felt Wallflower squeeze my hand harder.
Wallflower’s mother glared at me, and primly shook her head. “No, that won’t be necessary. I’m sure my daughter’s been keeping you from school long enough. I can take care of things from here.”
The chill of anxiety ran up my back and burrowed into my chest. This was it. I was done. Wallflower was with her mother now. She said it herself, she could take care of her from here. That still didn’t ease my fears. I couldn’t leave Wallflower here. I didn’t want to.
“Would it be fine if I said goodbye to her before I go?”
She nodded stiffly. “Make it quick.”
I led Wallflower away from her mother, turned her towards me face to face, and held both of her hands as I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I’m not going to leave you, Wallflower. I’m going to stick around until your mother leaves. Just sit tight, alright? And stay strong.”
Wallflower shakily nodded. She was still frozen and tense. I wrapped my arms around her in a hug and held her close and tight. She relaxed into my arms and wrapped hers around me. We stood there in each other's arms for what felt like an eternity. As we moved apart, I felt a cold emptiness take a hold of my heart.
Hesitantly, Wallflower turned and walked back to her house. Her mother’s gaze followed me scrutinizingly as she waited for me to go. And so I went. I quickly turned back and walked my bike around the corner, trying to ignore the sinking in my heart at what I was doing. Even though I was faking my leave, I was still leaving Wallflower to fend for herself, even if it was for only a few minutes.
I stood at the corner, waiting to make sure her mother wouldn’t catch me returning, then made my way back to her house. With lightened steps, I crouched down, and slowly snuck across the yard. It wasn’t long before I heard yelling coming from inside.
Quickly, I found the source: an open window to the living room. I slunk towards it, and knelt under the sill as I listened to her mother’s tirade.
"I am wrecking myself trying to keep this house afloat! All I ask of you is to carry your own weight, or whatever remains of it after all I've done for you! And you can't even do that! I am late, late to meet my client and you just pop back home and expect me to take care of your mess!? You're so useless! Such a deadbeat good-for-nothing, just like your father! At least he knew to get his ass out of this house! What can you even do!? If you can't even do the most simple of things, anyone, much less your future husband, would see you as nothing more than a worthless weed! What's the point of your existence!?”
My blood boiled as I heard barb after barb spill out of her mother’s mouth. As I continued to listen, I looked up towards the window. It was so simple. I could climb through it, rush in there, and take Wallflower away.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t. Rushing in and grabbing her while her mother was still there could make her mother call the police. I’d be in deeper trouble than I already was if they found out I was an alien, in more ways than one. I felt the tense pain on my palms, teeth clenched in frustration. For now, I couldn’t do anything.
I didn’t have time to mull over the options as I heard some rustling and then the clacking of heels heading towards the door. I quickly rushed into the bushes to hide as Mrs Blush opened the door then slammed it, stormed to her car, and drove off. That was it, she was gone.
It was then when I started to hear sobs break through the thickened silence. My heart sank and I rushed from the bushes, through the door, barely noticing that Mrs. Blush failed to even lock it, probably expecting her daughter to do it. Before I knew it, I was by Wallflower’s side, giving her a hug as she cried into my shoulder. “Was I...?” she whimpered, still struggling to collect herself. “Was I really that useless? What happened?” She turned to look at me, her face melted in despair. “Was I really a burden to everyone? Even you?”
I quickly held her even tighter to push the notion as far away as possible, softly rubbing her back as I sat us down on the couch. “Wallflower, don’t you ever, ever think that you’re nothing but dead weight, to me, or to anyone else. I still don’t know exactly what you were like before all of this, but you are who you are now.”
I let her go to look at her, her eyes were red from crying, her hair was all tangled in a mess, down to the tendril resting against her cheek. Gently, I stroked the lock of hair away and tucked it to the back of her ear. “Right now, I see a beautiful, smart, and caring girl who goes out of her way to make everyone happy. We’ll find out what happened one way or another, I promise. Everything will be alright.”
The questions I had were quickly shoved to the back of my mind. Wallflower was hurt. Seeing her like this, I felt a burning agony in my chest, an agony not too different from the agony I felt as I was blasted by friendship magic during the fall formal, coupled by a sense of helplessness I hadn’t felt since all my friends turned on me during the whole Anon-a-Miss mess.
I knew I had only been gone for a short time, I knew I had come back quickly. Still, for a moment, just for a moment, I failed to protect Wallflower, and she was paying the price. For now, I had to take things one step at a time. Handing her some tissues, I quietly whispered, “Wallflower, I don’t think you should stay here. Having a quiet school life without any friends is one thing but what just…” I paused, leaving the bugbear in the room unsaid. “I’ve been through this before, having to live up to expectations and being berated for what I was, and what I wasn’t… It… It gets to you eventually...”
“But, where do I have to go?” she asked through the sniffles. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“You have me,” I replied instantly without hesitation. “You have my place. It’ll be a bit cramped, but it’s better than here…”
“Sunset, my mother’s right. All this time, I’ve been nothing but a burden to you. You’re taking time and money just to take care of a girl you barely know.” She said as she slumped, “There’s no way I can pay you back for any of this.”
I shook my head, frowning as I hugged her again, tighter. “What did I say about seeing yourself as dead weight? In the time we had together, you’ve made my flat a lot less lonely, you’ve brightened my day, and you just… I don’t know…” The last thing I wanted to say was indescribable. It was true, the flat was less quiet, more homey in the time she stayed with me, and it was nice to have her company.
But there was something more there, something more than just me wanting to protect her from the wrongs of the world, about the way we grew closer these past few days, and the way I didn’t want to let any of that go. “You bring out something in me that I don’t want to lose.” I held her hand in mine. “Anywhere’s better than here, Wallflower, and I wouldn’t mind if you want to stay with me and leave all of this behind.”
She looked down at her feet again, then at our hands, taking a few minutes to think before she looked back up and hugged me back, her arms wrapped around me snugly. “Thank you, Sunset. For everything.”
“Don’t mention it.” I nodded towards the hallway. “Let's go and see if we can get anything before we leave.”
We soon made our way to her room. As I entered the room, I noticed how tidy and bare it was. If it hadn’t been for the picture of a wilting flower in a cracked pot painted on the door, I would’ve thought this was just a guest room. It was a simple light green room with a dark green floor and a simple, single bed in the top right corner of the room with a stuffed animal and a doll or two. Sheets were folded neatly and pillows were placed in their proper places. There was a desk right next to the bed as well, just as bare as the rest of the room.
Next to that was a bookshelf that held the few books Wallflower owned. There was hardly a souvenir to be seen, only a handful of books, most of them were on gardening, and some photos of Wallflower with someone who looked to be her dad. What little clothes there were had been hung on a hanger to the left, or folded in a wardrobe to the right against the wall, across from the bed. We picked out some clothes for her, in addition to some pictures and belongings she felt would bring comfort to her.
Out of curiosity, I looked through the various books on Wallflower’s shelf. A sliver of leather caught my eye in the line of paperback and hardcover books. I pulled it off of the shelf. The same image that marked her room’s door was embroidered into the cover. I held it out to Wallflower. “Found something here, looks like your diary. Mind if I hold onto this? It might give us some more ideas on what happened.” She nodded numbly, and so we continued our search.
Nothing else came up after that, and so we focused on gathering the last of whatever items Wallflower wanted to take back with her, and her necessities. We packed them in a duffel bag we found laying around, and made our way out of the house after she left a note for her mother.
As we walked out of the front yard, I felt Wallflower nudge me. I turned to look at her. She was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was mussed up, her duffel bag dangling in her right hand. The glow she had in her eyes this morning was gone. It was hard to believe she was so happy just hours ago.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something: Wallflower was reaching her hand out towards me.
Without any thought, I wrapped the small, trembling hand in mine. It was second nature at this point, and after what happened minutes ago, it was the only thing anchoring me to reality, for her as well.
Something was different this time. I felt her fingers lace with mine. As she did so, I gently squeezed them as we walked back to the bike.
We went straight home after that. School was nearly over by then, and given what we had just been through, I thought it was better if we also put off looking through the garden for another time. Wallflower kept closer to me than usual, hooking her arm to mine as we walked to my bike, then wrapping herself around me as we quietly rode back. Given what happened, I was more than willing to offer any comfort I could. As soon as we reached the door, she turned to hug me tightly, nuzzling into my chest. Startled, I awkwardly paused before wrapping my arms around her.
“Thanks, Sunset. For everything,” she whispered.
I smiled, and rubbed her back. “It’s nothing.” I gestured to her duffel bag. “Let’s get sorted out, then we’ll figure out what we can do tomorrow.”
She nodded, and so for the rest of the night, we spent the time arranging and rearranging where she could put her things, then got ready for bed. I laid the diary out on the desk under the bed. Just like with the garden, I felt it would be best to look over what we had in hoof when we didn’t have this cloud hanging over us.
As we laid on the bed, Wallflower rolled over to face me. “U-Umm, Sunset?”
“What is it, Wallflower?”
She bit her lower lip and averted her eyes. After a few beats of silence, she turned to look at me. “W-Would it be okay if I... Well… you know…?” she said, her face reddening.
I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think I do…”
She looked down, carefully fiddling with her fingers before she took a deep breath and looked back up. “Can you hold me when we sleep?”
I felt heat rush to my cheeks. It was one thing to ask a friend to sleep with you in the same bed, but this… this was much more. A few seconds of silence passed by as she slowly looked more anxious for the answer. It should’ve been a simple answer, friends just didn’t usually sleep like that… But the thought of denying Wallflower, it didn’t sit well with me, especially when she was like this.
Besides, with all that we were already doing, was this any different?
I smiled warmly, and nodded. “Sure, Wallflower, if it makes you feel better.” Her face lit up, and she returned my smile with her own. It wasn’t as genuine as this morning. Her mouth was quivering, her eyes glimmered with emotions barely held back. Still, it was certainly a step up from this afternoon, and at that moment, I’d welcome any ray of hope in those eyes.
And so, she snuggled close to me as I laid behind her, with my arms wrapping around her. As I slowly fell into darkness, I couldn’t help but take in the warmth and the smell of wildflowers that flooded my senses.