Blooming

by Bookish Delight

02: A Dash of Appreciation

Wallflower walked the streets of Canterlot, traveling her usual path back to her house. People passed her, and she passed those people, just like always.

Since she knew her neighborhood as well as she did the school's halls, she was able to keep those people at mental and physical arm's length, which was always just fine with her. It allowed her to go on autopilot—and, once more, retreat into her own reminiscence.

Which would have been easier to do today, if her thoughts weren't fixated on exactly one thing.

She had to admit: the game had been fantastic.

Everything Sunset had promised had happened. They'd sat in the front bleachers, right in front of the action. Wallflower had no idea that any sport could feel so intense when one was directly line-of-sight with the field. At some points, she was even able to imagine being on that field herself—without, of course, any of the stress or sweat.

Sitting with her had been Sunset, along with the group of friends who always traveled with her. Unexpectedly with them was also Trixie, who, even more unexpectedly, had managed to be just as fun to be around as the others the whole time. Sure, there had been the usual trilled proclamation of who she simultaneously was and wasn't when they'd first all met up, but once the cheering had started, she'd joined right in.

And cheer they all did, as Rainbow Dash and her teammates utterly trounced the Parasprites, three goals to one—once again, as promised. Sunset herself was helpful and approachable, pointing out plays, explaining the rules, and not scowling once as Wallflower struggled to make sure she'd had everything straight.

And when the clock ran out and CHS officially won the game, Sunset and the other girls had been sure to pull Wallflower into the group hug. It only lasted a minute, but she could have stayed in its feeling of warmth and belonging forever. For once, it was a memory she didn't want to force anyone to forget—least of all herself. Heck, none of them had brought up the Memory Stone the whole time, and she certainly wasn't about to do so.

The whole thing felt almost as if Sunset was making up for lost time. Perhaps she was. Either way, it was everything Wallflower had imagined having friends was like.

If only she knew how to make such a thing happen for herself.

---

After the game had come had come the post-game celebration—another tradition completely unknown to Wallflower until this very moment.

"So, what'd you think of the game?" Rainbow Dash asked her as the group headed towards the edge of the school grounds. "I heard this is the first one you attended. Thanks for coming out!"

Wallflower still couldn't believe she was walking in the same group as Rainbow, her friends, and the entire school soccer team. She kept wondering if she even belonged here. Should she leave and get out of their hair? Should she stay?

Everyone was talking to, well, everyone else. It was beginning to remind Wallflower of the parties which she had been terminally awful at—except that here, on the streets, there weren't any nearby walls to escape to and allow her to regret her decision to attend in silence.

Besides, she certainly hadn't regretted taking Sunset up on her offer to attend the game today. Also, even with the huge crowd around, Rainbow was actually talking to her.

Right! Rainbow was talking to her! She'd almost forgotten, that quickly. After berating herself, Wallflower replied. "I had a great time," she said to Rainbow. "Thanks for having me."

"Hey, the games are open to everyone. And it sure sounded like you were having fun," Rainbow said. "I heard you cheering over all the other voices sometimes! They do say the quiet ones are always the loudest when they wanna be. Except Fluttershy. She really is always that quiet."

Wallflower blushed. "Well, being up front really helped. I felt like I was really in the game with you, and I think that helped me to have as much fun as I had, and cheer as much as I could."

Rainbow grinned, catching a soccer ball that was tossed to her from the crowd, twirling it on her index finger, then throwing it back. "Well, either way, I really appreciate it. The team does, too."

Wallflower did a double-take. "You... you do? But we're just... when it comes down to it, we're just yelling, aren't we?"

"Sure, and it hypes us up! When we get a big crowd in our corner, we can do anything! Because we know our school's depending on us. And our school's full of people who are our friends."

Wallflower winced. Why did everyone love CHS so much? She brushed it aside. No sense in bringing her grievances to such a happy moment. It certainly wasn't Rainbow's fault that Wallflower had so much trouble dealing with the same people Rainbow enjoyed being around.

Was it?

"That's just how we Wondercolts work," Rainbow continued. "Not that I'm not wicked awesome on my own, but it's nothing compared to what me and my girls can do when we've got everyone's support behind us! Your support." She looked over the crowd, consisting of Sunset's troupe and the rest of the CHS girls' soccer team. "Right, girls?"

A deafening cheer erupted from the crowd.

"Yeah, it's all true," said a light-skinned girl walking on Rainbow's other side. She wore a plaid private school uniform, goggles on her forehead, and a cocksure smile. "Seriously, I hate playing away games here. I've been on the business end of your school spirit screams for a couple years now and I'm sure it's finally cutting into my ability to hear important stuff."

Wallflower gasped as she recognized the uniform's pattern. The Friendship Games had been a while ago, and she preferred not to remember them if at all possible, but she remembered enough. "Wait a minute," she said to the girl. "You're from Crystal Prep!"

"Yep, sure am," the girl said, directing her smile to Wallflower. "Name's Indigo Zap. Also known as Rainbow Dash's eternal rival," she said with a cackle.

"By default, maybe," Rainbow said, elbowing Indigo from the side. "And that's only because Applejack won't join the team."

"Hah! You keep telling yourself that," Indigo said. "One day we'll both believe it. You really were awesome today, though."

"I know," Rainbow said, smiling towards Indigo. "I was surprised you came to cheer, though!" She leaned over to Indigo. "Especially after last month."

"Oh for—" Indigo sputtered, looked away, and rolled her eyes. "Are you still on about that?"

"I will always be on about that," Rainbow said, taking out her phone. "Hey, Wallflower, check this out."

Wallflower looked at Rainbow's phone as Rainbow cued up footage of a soccer game taking place at Crystal Prep's stadium. She watched intently as Rainbow and Indigo were close in frame, clashing against each other, with Rainbow managing to avoid Indigo's every attempt at stealing the ball. Wallflower could easily see the both of them, completely in the zone, completely consumed by their objective, and by each other.

At one point Indigo actually managed to knock the ball loose from Rainbow's possession, but with a last-second burst of speed, Rainbow beat Indigo back to the ball by ere milliseconds. With a wild, desperate kick, she passed it to another CHS teammate, who scored a goal shot from a side angle.

The stadium erupted, and Rainbow closed the video. Wallflower looked at the two athletes with reverence. "Wow, you're both really good. I'm actually starting to buy the whole 'rivals' thing."

"Meh," Rainbow said, her grin slowly starting to match Indigo's. "She's not awful. When she's going all out. Which you need to do against me."

"Your friend's right, though," Indigo said. "You beat us by one goal in double overtime last month. So don't get too sure of yourselves. I'm coming at you double full force next game."

"That's what I wanna hear," Rainbow said, fist bumping Indigo before turning back to Wallflower. "So, you're Gardening Club, right? Sunset told me. How come you don't have more members? Heck, how come we haven't heard anything out of you? This school could definitely use some prettying up."

Wallflower winced again, but forced herself to remain chipper, and twist her expression to match. "I've... tried to raise membership a few times? But things never went well whenever I did. So in the end, I decided to just keep it a 'me' thing."

"Yeah, that's cool," Rainbow said. "I create my own clubs a bunch, just to keep myself moving. Stop myself from burning out on one thing, you know? But we can only have so many teams at CHS, so that's just what those clubs end up being after a while—personal." She shrugged. "Never a bad thing, though."

Indigo nodded. "Same non-problem here, same non-solution. But gardening? That's, like, totally a real school-benefiting skill in its own way! Especially since Crystal Prep prides itself on its image, inside and out."

"Yeah, seriously," Rainbow said. "When Sunset told me what you do, my first thought was, 'having cool-looking flowers lining the field would be so awesome!' It'd be, like, we'll kick your butt, but we're not afraid to be styling while we do it!" She slapped her palm against her fist.

Wallflower could barely believe what she was hearing, but she wasn't about to look a gift opportunity in the mouth. "I can get behind that message," she said. "Though I have to say, this is the first time I remember hearing this out of you. Or... out of anyone," she said, meaning every word.

"Eh, I believe you," Rainbow said. "For some reason I guess people wanna confine beauty to fashion talk?" She shrugged again. "But I'm totally up for beauty being everywhere. Just ‘cause I do the sports thing doesn't mean I don't also like stuff lookin' good."

Rainbow paused, then added, "Just... don't tell Rarity. She'll start trying to put gunk on my face." She stuck on her tongue, and all three girls giggled. "But yeah, think about it! 'Cause I can totally get the school's support behind some school decorations."

Wallflower gasped and perked up. Now she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Seriously?"

"Seriously seriously. You've seen my rallies. I can make anything happen. Uh, at least, I'm guessing you've seen them? For some reason I don't really remember seeing you at any of my events until today."

Third wince of the conversation. It was finally starting to become tiresome. "I probably was," Wallflower said. "There are so many events, though, and they all blur."

"Yep, I am a rave master," Rainbow said. "Speaking of, we're all about to have a victory party at the diner Pinkie works at. You're welcome to come with!"

Wallflower shook her head. "I really appreciate it, but I've never been one for the really big mingling events. I never know what to do with myself."

"Suit yourself," Rainbow said. "But if you ever wanna try, I'll show you the ropes."

"I'll remember that," she said, as she parted away from the crowd at the intersection they'd just come up to. "Thanks." She smiled and waved to Rainbow, Indigo and the others.

"And hey, if you ever want to come to the Crystal side, we could totally use another landscaper!" Indigo called out.

Wallflower giggled, then looked back to see Rainbow and Indigo laughing as the former tackle-hugged the latter from behind.

---

The crowd was several minutes and at least a half mile back by now. Wallflower's smile, however, had lasted since she'd left the school stadium.

She briefly wondered if she should have gone with the others, to try attending a party yet again. It didn't take her long to shake her head and dismiss the notion. She'd been telling the absolute truth when she'd said she never really knew what to do with them. Usually all the people who attended were already friends with each other, already knew how friendship worked, got into their own special circles, and... well, she would end up living up to her name. It was a process she could set her phone's timer to at this point.

And once she was on the wall, she was always stuck there to stay. She rarely could manage to say "hi," or find out any shared interests. Not that she figured anyone shared her interests, if her hobbies, or the gardening club's membership roster, was any indication. What else was she going to talk about? The same television everyone always watched? The riveting lives of plants? Seriously, how was it possible for her, of all people, to stand out?

Everyone else seemed to.

"Everyone matters, Wallflower. No matter how invisible or insignificant they feel."

Sunset's words from yesterday played back in her mind. She sighed. She wished she could believe them. She wanted to, more than anything.

It's just a shame that only interesting people get to be visible. I can't believe I was angry at Sunset. Good, evil, she got it right, every time. I should have been angry at myself.

As Wallflower shuffled along the sidewalk, kicking any pebbles she found, her joyful feelings, her jubilant heart, descended in the other direction. She'd had a good time, sure, but did any of it matter in the grand scheme of things? Already, it was time to settle back into the solitary life she knew all too well—only now, with no magical bauble to erase her mistakes.

On the one hand, that last part was for the best. Probably. But on the other—

The world became pain as a high-speed wall slammed into Wallflower, knocking her vision into an unintelligible swirl of colors.

Comments

[Eroraf86]

Do I smell shipping? Because that looks like shipping. What would you call this ship? Rainbow Zap? Indibow? Either way, I like it.

[Rose Quill]

9020921
Cute. You call it cute.

[CapNTilfy]

All the ships, eh, Bookish?

[Flint-Lock]

How long until Indigo and Rainbow start kissing? I want to see kissing.

[The Crazed Werewolf]

9020921
Rainbow Zap sounds like an OC.

[Blue_Paladin42]

I wonder just how much of Wallflower's anger might have been admiration-turned-resentment for Sunset's confidence and seemingly unbreakable ability to command attention.

[raven618]

9022165 So do most MLP shippings.
Sunlight (Sunset x Twilight), Apple Pie (Applejack x Pinkie), and others.

[BenRG]

Wallflower shouldn't feel too bad. I don't think anyone who suffers from introversion would do well whilst in the presence of powerful personalities like Rainbow, Indigo, Rarity or Pinkie.

[Texus]

They do say the quiet ones are always the loudest when they wanna be. Except Fluttershy. She really is always that quiet."

I hate that saying, it is only like that because they are not used to those people acting like that.

Rainbow paused, then added, "Just... don't tell Rarity. She'll start trying to put gunk on my face." She stuck on her tongue, and all three girls giggled. "But yeah, think about it! 'Cause I can totally get the school's support behind some school decorations."

When did the others dissapear exactly?

9026664

introversion

meh that is not the worst thing to happen, but I feel like she maybe really got a bad chase