Wallflower's Bud

by Shadowmane PX-41

At The End of the Day

The Rainbooms, Wallflower, and Smolder approached Canterlot High. The sun was just about to set, bathing the area in a golden glow, with faint slivers poking out from the roofs of buildings and bushy trees. Armed with building materials, paint, and other such stuff, they stared at the school with intent.

"So. We've gotta come up with this little wing by tomorrow, the sun's about to set, and Celestia's entrusted Wallflower with a big task." Rainbow Dash folded her arms, surveying the area. "Yep. Sounds just like another day in the life, eh? Nothing too big for us to handle."

"And that's saying a lot, considering that we've had to fight evil magic, monsters from another world, and a whole bunch of other stuff between." Fluttershy rubbed the back of her neck, blushing slightly as she turned to the other Rainbooms."

"Don't worry about a thing. We've got this." Sunset gave the girls a nod as her grip on her paint bucket tightened. "Just remember that this is for Wallflower and Smolder's benefit, as well as everyone else's. We do this, then everyone gets another class to learn at CHS, and these two can come together without any kind of major consequence."

"Yeah." Wallflower's smile was light as she nodded in response. "Plus, with your girls' superpowers, we're gonna be able to finish this kind of job in record time, right?"

"Yep. You know it!" Rainbow pushed her thumb against her chest. "Just leave all of the heavy lifting to us, the Rainbooms. You and Smolder just take it easy and help wherever you can; you kinda need a lightened load after everything that's happened today."

"Thanks, Rainbow, but I still think I need to contribute something to this little construction job. I can't just pawn off all of my work to you when Principal Celestia told me and me exclusively to do this." Wallflower started to walk over with some beams of wood. "You have to really consider the fact that this is my proverbial bed I made, so I've gotta lie in it."

"Suit yourself, then." Rainbow shrugged.

"Well, I think this is gonna be a super-duper fun job! We're finally gonna have a place where Gummy, Opal, Angel, Winona, and all of our other pets can go to, without having to smuggle them into CHS like a bunch of shady crooks!" Pinkie threw her arms out, unintentionally tossing away everything she had been carrying in the process. She was about to catch them, when they were all ensnared in a magneta aura generated by Twilight. "Oops... Sorry about that." Pinkie slunk backwards, taking everything she had tossed back into her own hands.

"It's alright, Pinkie. Just... try to control yourself." Sunset tried to give Pinkie a pat on the back, but it felt more like knuckles with her paint buckets.

"Same goes for all of you." Twilight pushed her glasses closer to her face. "The last thing that we want is for this job to become sloppy because Rainbow's going too fast, Pinkie's getting too distracted, or Applejack and Rarity bicker about how the place should look."

"Trust me, Twilight. I can absolutely guarantee you that there will be absolutely no quarrelling between me and Applejack." Rarity put her hands by her hips. "Not everything has to be absolutely glamourous, especially given the origin story behind it."

"Wow, Rarity. Can't believe you're actually makin' a lick of sense for once." Applejack grinned widely. "If that's the case, this should be finished faster than a beaver dam on a hot day."

"Now, let's get started, shall we?" Sunset walked on towards the school just as the sun started to creep lower and lower behind the buildings and trees. The nearby streetlights began to turn on in response, and the houses nearby started to show lights turning on in the windows.

With the girls and their dogs in tow, the group approached CHS, letting nothing but the ever-approaching twilight evening blanket them as they got to work. Woodwork was laid down, concrete was mixed, and the paint cans were cracked open. The start of a long and arduous task to come was their first contributions, being that of the groundwork needed for the new wing.

As time went on, each of the girls found themselves in a role designated by Twilight. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were set to working with the paint, while Applejack and Twilight did most of the construction work. Rarity and Wallflower focused on how the interior would look, while Sunset and Fluttershy oversaw each individual part and offered their helping hands wherever necessary. Which, in Sunset's case was a lot of the time, given how huge a task was and how staggering the margin of error was. Everything had to fit perfectly, or the project would be a disaster.

Wallflower had some time to think inbetween the choices for how the place would look. Would everyone really have benefitted from this place, or was it just her little treat? Were the Rainbooms taking pity on her for everything that she had done in the past? Or was it something more than that? Was the idea of everyone having a free and open place to keep their pets at CHS a dream that only she saw? Or would it be possible that everyone else would benefit from her problem? Regardless of the outcome, she couldn't think about it in greater depth. After all, she and the Rainbooms were already deep into the work now and there was no time for them to stop and take it all back; especially not after everything that had been said and done involving her and Smolder.

Smolder watched the building work go on and on, imagining already what the wing would look like and all of the pets that she would be seeing in the future if everything went well for them. In the midst of her little visions, she turned her attention to Wallflower and exactly how much she had done to her to have caused the rift in the first place. For all that it was worth, it was a blessing and a curse at the same time. A small sigh escaped Smolder's mouth as she found herself torn between pleasure and guilt.

The work went on for minutes upon minutes on end, until Wallflower finally decided to take a break. And just at the same time the sky began to darken as well. If not for the lights around them, it would have been spent in complete darkness. Just as she propped her back up against a nearby streetlight, she watched as Smolder came up to her legs and pawed at them.

"Hey, Smolder. What's up?" Wallflower asked, slinking down into a squatting stand as she brushed Smolder's fur.

"Eh, not much. Just... doing some thinking." Smolder rolled her eyes. "About this whole pet wing you and the girls are working on."

"Yeah. It's gonna be great, isn't it?" Wallflower couldn't help but smile, picking Smolder up and bringing her to her chest. "You're finally gonna have a place to be where you and the other pets the students can be together while everyone else learns how to care for you. It's like everyone's your owner now."

"See... that's the thing about it. I... I didn't want any of this to happen in the first place." Smolder burrowed her head into Wallflower's belly. "All of this, this whole project. It's just... I wanted it to be a treat when I heard about it, but after what's been said today and how you snapped at me, I can't help but think about other pets who would do the same to their owners like this. This is all just gonna be a big reminder that I nearly tore up my friendship with you, Wallflower."

"Oh, Smolder..." Wallflower just gave her another hug, squishing her tenderly against her chest. "You don't ever have to think like that. Especially after the way you bore your heart and soul to us about the whole Dragon Town story. It's not your fault that you're like this. And I should have been more patient with you. I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's not your fault. It's all mine." Smolder shook her head, her fur lashing Wallflower's jumper with each shake. "I should have behaved better in class instead of getting you into trouble like that. We're still... friends, right?"

"Y-yeah. We are friends, Smolder. No matter what, we're made for each other. Sure, there's gonna be some bumps along the way, but what kind of friendship doesn't have them?" She asked, holding Smolder's head up so that their eyes were locked with each other. "Heck, I'm sure that the other girls have had their fair share of ups and downs along the way but they're still going, right?" Wallflower looked back at the Rainbooms and saw the progress that they were making—or tried to see through the ever thickening nighttime veil of shadows.

"Still... is our friendship gonna last long?" Smolder picked her head out of Wallflower's chest and looked deep into her eyes. "I mean, given what's been going on today, I can't help but notice that I'm gonna have to put in some work to make our friendship strong again."

"Well, we can only really be friends if you want us to be friends. I can't make that decision for you and you can't make it for me." Wallflower gave Smolder some more strokes. This time, she did it on Smolder's head. "Thing is, dogs and owners make themselves friends by choice, not by some laws or fate. "If you don't want us to be friends anymore, then I'm not gonna stop you. But at the same time, we can't really be friends unless you choose that you want to be friends with me. So, I ask you, Smolder. What's your choice?" Wallflower grew another one of her smiles.

"I want to be friends. I don't wanna go back to that shelter. I want to have a real owner that loves me and wants to keep me forever." Smolder leapt up to Wallflower's face with a grin and rested on her head. "And, girl. I think that you're just that kind of owner. In other words, yes."

"Then that settles that, Smolder. We're friends now. Friends until the end of time." Wallflower chuckled and plucked Smolder off of her head, carrying her in both hands back towards the site. "Now, let's do this little job with the girls together, as a sign of our newly rekindled friendship!"

"Testify, girl!" Smolder paw-pumped as she rode Wallflower back to the wing.

---

It was now late at night, the moon was hanging high in the air with the odd star accompanying it. The girls had gathered some torches and other such lighting apparatus to work the later shift, but from what they had done, it was well worth it. They had made a lot of progress on building the new wing, to the point where the exterior of the building was nearly complete, with only a couple more rooms and materials to put into place. What would have taken a couple of days was almost done thanks to the girls and their Equestrian magic geodes.

Wallflower and Smolder made some contributions to their work as well, with both of them working in harmony with each other to fetch certain tools for the other or to give the others a hand whenever it was needed. When their gazes crossed each time, there was finally a smile, without a sense of doubt or unease to follow afterwards. It was as if the largest shackles conceivable to man—and dog—had been broken and they were finally free to express themselves without any tension.

When all of their work came to an end and the wing was finally complete, all of the Rainbooms took a few steps back, wiped the sweat off of their heads, and stared at their creation, along with Wallflower and Smolder. Though it was concealed in the nighttime dusk, there was indeed a new addition to CHS standing there for them all to see; one that would be unveiled tomorrow.

"Well, I've gotta say, I'm really impressed with you all." Sunset Shimmer was the first to break the silence, by walking up in front of the Rainbooms and Wallflower. "We've managed to pull through with this wing in record time thanks to all of your skills and I can't thank you all enough." She turned her attention to Wallflower and Smolder. "I hope this goes well with you and Principal Celestia, Wallflower."

"I'm sure that it will, Sunset." Wallflower gave Sunset another warm smile. "Thank you. All of you. For helping me finish this job and taking a whole load off of my mind. I'm sure now that all of the students are gonna love this new pet wing."

"I must admit, doing all of this work was no easy task. But we're always willing to lend a hand to people that need it; no matter the kind of troubles they face." Rarity gave Wallflower a pat on the back.

"Hear hear, Rarity. I hope that, with this new wing and their little quarrel resolved, both Wallflower and Smolder can move on from this and be happier with each other for it." Fluttershy nodded as Smolder leapt up into Wallflower's arms.

"Yeah. But now, I think we all need to get some sleep." Wallflower pulled out her phone and took a look at the screen. The time read 22:30. "Holy... is that the time? We've gotta get some sleep, or we're gonna be completely exhausted for tomorrow!"

"Well, what do you know? It is rather late. Much later than I usually go to sleep." Rarity started to walk away from the school. "It has been a pleasure working with you, girls. But I think it's time that we all retire for the night. It would be dreadful to wake up and realise that we've got no energy to use."

"Same here. Reckon ah'll tuck in as well. Have a good night, ya'll." Applejack waved the other girls goodnight as she too went off to her own house.

One by one, the other Rainbooms said their goodbyes and headed off for their own homes, leaving Wallflower with Smolder. The two of them decided to walk together, rather than Wallflower giving Smolder a ride in her backpack. With their feet and paws rapping on the ground with each step they took, Wallflower and Smolder walked down their proverbial road to recovery back to their own house. With their bond mended and all of their problems gone, a good night's sleep would do them both wonders...

Comments

[The Bricklayer]

And so a new day dawns for the two...

[SpikeSmolder fan]

Awesome way to resolve the friendship between Wallflower & Smolder, hope they keep going strong! 😀💖

[DavisSentoV5]

I can't wait to see how much love and passion went into that new pet sanctuary