Blooming

by Bookish Delight

Prologue: Literally Any Public Speaking

Wallflower Blush stood behind the stage of Canterlot High School's auditorium as she waited for the Young Magicians Club to finish their presentation. She could hear loud proclamations from the stage, and shouts of awe from the audience, alternating between each other.

As far as she was concerned, she was fine with everyone taking as much time as they wanted. Holding an Open Mic Day for all of the school clubs might have been a good idea on Principal Celestia's part, but it had taken all of Wallflower's courage to sign up for the event.

However, she had reasoned, there was just too much good to be done here for her to not put her name on the list. If Wallflower could just get through a single round of public speaking, it could mean so many great things for the school, for her club, and for herself.

And if she messed up... well, she had a failsafe, at least. A failsafe she didn't much want to fall back on if she could help it, because it could possibly lessen her chances of getting another crack at something like this again. But it was a failsafe nonetheless.

The din of a restless audience cut through Wallflower's thoughts. The presentation must have just ended. She could hear them coming her way. A blue-skinned, platinum blonde girl in a large coned hat cut through the curtain and strode past her, head held high.

"Trixie?" Wallflower asked, recognizing her instantly.

"Ugh. What do you want?" Trixie whirled around, looked Wallflower from head to toe, stepped forward, and peered closer. "Were you waiting behind this curtain the entire time for your turn to make fun of The Great And Powerful Trixie?"

"Uh, no." Wallflower pointed to the device in Trixie's hand. "I need the remote control for my presentation."

Trixie relaxed. "Oh, right. Sorry." She handed the small device to Wallflower. "Trixie was unaware you were part of the proceedings."

"No worries." Wallflower sighed as she took the remote. "I'm used to it."

She fiddled with the nearby console to set up the stage's slide projector. After a short time, she realized she could still see Trixie, slouched against a wall and looking down at the floor. Not that she cared for the girl who'd been so good at ignoring her for years on end, but it wasn't an expression Wallflower was used to seeing from Trixie, and it left her more curious than anything. She walked over to Trixie. "Are you okay?"

Trixie perked back up. "Trixie is never okay," she said, pointing to the ceiling. "Trixie is, and always will be, fantastic!" After some hesitation, she added, "Even if her audience may not always agree." With a huff and a "hmph", she crossed her arms and looked away.

Wallflower considered asking Trixie if she wanted to talk about it—which was more of a courtesy than Trixie had ever given Wallflower, going all the way back to their elementary school classes—but it was still the right thing to do.

Wasn't it? She wasn't sure.

Fighting all of the fear in her heart, she brought her hand up, intent on placing it on Trixie's shoulder.

"Thanks to the Young Magicians Club for their performance," she heard Vice Principal Luna say through the microphone. "And now we have a presentation from Canterlot High School's Gardening Club, by its founder, Wallflower Blush."

Wallflower jumped. She couldn't be late! She finalized her presentation, clicked "Save", and headed towards the curtain, where she could see Vice Principal Luna on stage. She picked up the potted plant she'd left beside the curtain, which contained a bouquet of yellow tulips in bloom.

She allowed herself a small smile. "All right, today's a new day," she whispered to the tulips, and to herself. "Today is our first step to making Canterlot High beautiful. And once we do... everybody will be glad to see us."

She stepped through the curtain, and approached the podium to token applause. Two taps of the microphone to make sure it was on, one deep breath, and she was ready as she'd ever be. She cleared her throat.

"Um, hello, everybody. My name is Wallflower Blush, and as Vice Principal Luna just said, I'm the founder of the Canterlot High School Gardening Club. It's nice to see everyone today."

She heard whispers and murmurs of confusion, and she was sure the words, "We have a Gardening Club?" wafted past her ears. She made a concerted effort to chuckle. Today was about cheer and progress, and she was determined to keep it that way. "I'm not that surprised you haven't heard of us," she replied. "I am the only member, and I haven't been doing much in the way of advertising."

She looked to the back, to Principal Celestia, who gave an encouraging nod. At least she was always nice. If only that niceness would ever spread to the students. She looked back over the audience. "Part of that is because I've been looking for just the right way to advertise. You might say today's the day we finally bloom," she said with a giggle.

No one giggled back. Of course not. Even she knew it was an awful line, whether it put her heart at ease or not. "Anyway. The Gardening Club exists to... well, it's probably best if I just show you."

She clicked the remote, and slowly flipped through several slides, containing pictures that she'd found online of various professional gardens—the Vanhoover Meadows, the centerpiece of Canterlot Central Park, and, of course, the world-famous Bronclyn Botanic Garden. All of them featured acres of various types of flowers, arranged in all sorts of colorful formations and themes. Some of the flowers even formed symbols and images of their own when arranged properly.

Wallflower never got tired of looking at them in the club room, or in her bedroom by her lonesome. Not that she blamed herself—they were so easy to get lost in. She hoped to visit the gardens beyond Canterlot someday, just to... frolic. Yes, that word would do for now. Just herself, frolicking amidst all of the colors, and all of the plants.

None of which would object to her being around them one bit.

She pulled herself out of her fantasy, and scanned the audience. Several girls and even some of the boys looked impressed, even enraptured. She could hear whispers of awe amongst the crowd.

In other words, shock of shocks, pleasant surprises of pleasant surprises... it was working. It was actually working.

Wallflower could barely contain herself. She was actually doing this, and it was actually working, and she was still standing and able to watch it happen. It was something she was, up to now, only able dream about. It was something she had dreamed about, on multiple occasions. Finally, she'd found something that allowed her to be appreciated. Something people might actually want to approach her and talk to her about!

She resisted the urge to squeal then and there. Instead she forced herself to focus, and put on a wide smile.

"Wow, it looks like all of you are pretty into this," Wallflower said. "Well, that's great, because I've got good news: If you want what you just saw up here at our alma mater, it's totally something we can pull off! I've made some mockups," she said, flashing rendered photo edits of a large flower bed surrounding the pillar that used to be Canterlot High's horse statue, then of flowers lining the parking lot, and around the sports stadium.

She fingered the tulips she had sat atop the podium, resisting the urge to hug the pot in full view of everyone. "With support of the faculty, and some more actual members, the Gardening Club can make this school as beautiful as we want. And all we'd have to sacrifice would just a tiny bit of space here and there." She beamed. "What do you all think?"

Wallflower basked in the rousing applause and standing ovation. Still beaming, she stepped to the side, trying to decide just how to receive it. Bow, or curtsy? She was wearing jeans, after all.

But, also, more pressing and important question: was that actually applause she was hearing?

It certainly didn't hold the usual cadence of an applause. There were no cheers, either. But there was certainly noise. Just... not in any way Wallflower could call "appreciative."

She scanned the crowd. Why did they look so... so frustrated?

Finally, one student raised her hand. Without waiting for Vice Principal Luna to give her the microphone, she spoke in a raised voice, "What about parking?" she asked. "Will this affect our ability to do that? Wouldn't our exhaust pipes, like screw the flowers up, make them die, or something?"

"Or even worse," a boy spoke up, "would the flowers get inside my car somehow?"

"We'd probably just end up walking all over them," another boy said. "Not 'cause we want to, but, like, they'd just be in the way, you know?"

"I'm all for this, but I don't know," she heard another girl say. "Like, I feel if we actually put these up, it'd just be another place for Crystal Prep to deface."

"No way! They wouldn't do that again, would they?"

"They said they wouldn't do that to us anymore, but I trust them about as far as I can throw them."

"I think I'd be allergic to half the plants in those pictures," said a meek voice in the front row that Wallflower barely heard.

"Is this going to take any space away from the sports field?" said another boisterous boy in the center area. "Because we totally need that space. Like, even the area just around it is way useful for practice!"

Wallflower did her best to mentally cut through the din, and avoid hyperventilating. It didn't go very well. "B-but think about what you'd be getting in return! Think of the benefits! Think of how... how beautiful and soothing just the sight of all these colorful plants would be, every day we came to school!" Desperate for some kind of relatable analogy, she added, "We'll be visiting Camp Everfree in a month! You wouldn't ask to take away the greenery from that place, would you?"

"Camp Everfree's different!" Sports Boy shouted. "People do stuff there! All the green makes sense there because we camp out in it!" He pointed to the picture behind Wallflower. "All this is is planting a bunch of flowers for looks! I don't think that's bad, but if the school's gonna give up a chunk of space to plants, then the other clubs should get some, too. Space we'd be able to put to real use!"

Wallflower backed away from the podium as the students devolved into arguments over which clubs should get which space where. Of course the Fashion Club wanted a dedicated runway. Of course the Home Economics Club wanted a dedicated area for bake sales. Of course every sports club wanted everything imaginable.

Once more she tried to cut through the noise, and once more she failed miserably. She tried to speak through the microphone, tried to re-establish order. Nothing. She slammed the podium with one hand, being careful of the tulips. "Stop it," she shouted. "This isn't going to get us anywhere!"

But even through the loudness of the microphone, nobody paid attention. Nobody cared. As usual. What was worse, she felt herself starting to head in that direction as well.

What had been the point of her coming up here, again?

I can't believe this is happening! All I wanted to do is finally put my best foot forward on something! I'm not even allowed to do that?

She saw Vice Principal Luna walk up to the stage, and stand next to her. They both looked out at the crowd. "Vice Principal Luna," she said, "I never meant for this to happen."

"Most people don't," Luna said. "You certainly have a nice idea here, Wallflower, but you should have talked to me and Principal Celestia about it first. We would have been able to tell you what our options were, as a school."

Wallflower took the potted plant in her arm, stroking the tulips poking out of it. "I thought... honestly, I thought this presentation would count towards that. I thought I could make a good impression here, and then talk to you."

Luna shook her head. "That, unfortunately, is not how it works." She took the microphone. "Settle down, students, and allow Wallflower to finish her presentation." The students quieted down instantly—no one ever wanted to be on the wrong side of Vice Principal Luna's wishes, Wallflower included.

Luna gave the microphone back to Wallflower, who looked at it like some sort of alien apparatus. She had no idea what to do with it anymore.

Honestly, what's the point now? Vice Principal Luna's right, I should have asked the higher-ups first. I should just get things over with here.

She raised the microphone to her lips. "I-I guess I still have some research to do before Canterlot High's ready f-for this," she said. "B-but that's okay, I can... I'll talk to the faculty, we'll draw up a plan, we'll make this work for..."

She looked out at the audience's expressionless faces.

Would they even be interested at all if she did things the right way and came back? She'd already seen their true colors, heard their true desires, firsthand. They had their own agendas, just as she, admittedly, had hers.

"For everyone," she finished, taking her potted tulips and stepping back. "I-I messed all of this up," she stammered, stepping away, and to the side, back towards the curtain. "And I'm sor—"

She was interrupted by the world upending itself around her as she tripped over her own feet mid-step. She fell to the ground, barely realizing what had just happened before the contents of the pot, which had been sent flying, fell back on top of her, leaving her covered in dirt.

The tulips plopped into her lap. The pot clattered onto the stage, echoing through the auditorium.

And then, the entire world was silence.

---

Wallflower sat in that silence until she'd had her fill.

What she did next was less "standing" and more "wandering to her feet". She continued to wander even so, barely avoiding bumping into Vice Principal Luna as she went backstage.

Her vision swirled with spots and colors. Her feet shuffled on autopilot, guided by the back of her mind towards the exit to the auditorium, and further on, to the back exit of the school.

She opened the door, muscle memory turning her head towards sanctuary. She took the first step towards it, and was only somewhat surprised to feel a drop on her right cheek. Another step revealed one on her left.

More drops fell from her eyes, fell down her cheek, fell from her chin, as she strode to the tall shrubbery along the side of the school.

She touched its leaves, ran her fingers across them, their texture and softness familiar and welcoming.

The exact opposite of the school behind her.

Her eyes burned. Closing them didn't help. She knew what was coming.

I should never have left you.

The dam broke.

She darted through the green border, into the forest, and ran—ran as fast as she could, ran towards the one place where she knew things would go her way, where the world couldn't touch her.

Through brush, through vines, through whimpering tears, she barely managed to make it to the three stone pillars which proudly marked her sanctuary before collapsing against one of them, and finally indulging in choked sobs, for as long as she wanted.

This really was all a mistake. All these years. I can't believe I ever thought I could try to fit in. To be appreciated. Why did I ever try?

As if in reply, her backpack glowed.

Wallflower reached over, opened it, and took out the glow's source—an egg-shaped stone engraved with ancient writing and that she had found a couple of months ago.

The Memory Stone, the accompanying parchment had said when she found both, had the power to erase any memory, or piece of a memory, its user wished, from anybody they wished. An oddly and eerily specific power, Wallflower had originally thought, but the Stone soon proved to live up to the scroll's claim through several field tests.

Opportunities had presented themselves in abundance—Wallflower had never been very good at introducing herself, or holding a conversation in crowds, and having infinite do-overs to practice her social skills was a boon.

But try as she might, no matter how many times she erased imperfect attempt after imperfect attempt at popularity... she could never get things just right.

So she'd decided to go bigger. And now she was regretting that decision more than any she'd ever made.

I promised to never use you again, but if this is where it leads... I may as well live up to my name.

She clutched the Memory Stone in her hands, more tightly than she ever had before. Teardrops fell on it. It glowed brighter.

Erase it all. Take that whole horrible presentation away, from the minds of everyone who saw it!

The Memory Stone's glow intensified to blinding. Wallflower hugged it close, and shut her eyes.

Let me go invisible.

---

A sullen Wallflower Blush pushed open the front doors of Canterlot High School. The halls were empty—normal class was back in session. She walked through the halls with quick steps. Hopefully she could get back inside her classroom with nobody the wiser.

"Wallflower Blush?" she heard Vice Principal Luna say behind her.

Or not. Wallflower took a turned around to face her. "I-I can explain, Vice Principal Luna. Y-You see—"

"You never showed up for your presentation," Luna said.

"Oh." Wallflower blinked, before remembering, then realizing, then understanding. "I know," she said, doing everything she could to maintain a straight face.

Luna stepped closer. "Is it okay if I ask why? When you signed up for it in my office, you seemed rather excited about it."

"Yes, ma'am." Wallflower nodded. "But I realized at the last minute that... what I had in mind wouldn't have made for a good presentation."

Luna sighed. "The next Open Mic won't be until next semester. And I rarely see any advertising for your club as it is. It'll be a lot harder to round up members—most of the other students are set in their extracurricular activities.

"While the Gardening Club is recognized at CHS, you may be a club of one for who knows how long." Vice Principal Luna peered into Wallflower's eyes. "Are you alright with that?"

Wallflower looked back into Vice Principal Luna's eyes with a stiff expression, and nodded.

"It's okay," she said. "I'm learning to accept what I can't change."

Comments

[forbloodysummer]

I liked Wallflower here

[CapNTilfy]

I'm just glad the students didn't laugh at her when she tripped over herself on stage.

[Ri2]

Ouch. Poor Wallflower.

[Dan]

So this is during or just before Forgotten Friendship?

[Nali]

Not sure when I've last seen something that felt so much like a dream sequence that then wasn't. Magic hax messing with my pattern recognition.

[Blue_Paladin42]

[Texus]

Luna shook her head. "That, unfortunately, is not how it works." She took the microphone. "Settle down, students, and allow Wallflower to finish her presentation." The students quieted down instantly—no one ever wanted to be on the wrong side of Vice Principal Luna's wishes, Wallflower included.

This looks like she is just stubborn again. I mean the only reason for telling Luna this before the presentation probably would be to get some ideas on how to win over the crowd, but Luna makes it sound as if this was only about them allowing it or not.

I think it it was only about Luna and Celestia allowing it then after the presentation is as good as before it.

Did she erased her own memories or something`?

[CoyoteXray]

Missed the episode that introduced this character. This is an interesting introduction.

[redandready45]

Yeesh. It is no wonder Wallflower fell in love with the memory stone. It saved her from embarrassment.