Rainbow Wallflowers

by Sunsets and Storms

1. A Chance & A Bargain

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1

A Chance & A Bargain

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“You need help gardening?” Rainbow Dash pushed to the front of the group and crossed her arms. Ignoring the six dismayed glances thrown at her by her friends, she smirked at Wallflower and rolled her eyes. This whole thing was a joke.

Wallflower winced and shied away from Rainbow. “No! I mean, not exactly. I just need help climb--” she stopped short as she caught the full brunt of Rainbow’s frown.

“Boring!” Rainbow was fast running out of patience for Wallflower’s presence. Couldn’t she tell she wasn’t welcome? “Don’t you have a whole club of nerds just for that? Why bother us?” she asked.

Before she could say any more, Sunset and the girls grabbed Rainbow’s shoulders and dragged her back into their midst. She struggled, but Applejack hugged Rainbow’s arms to her side and rendered her struggles mostly moot. “R.D., be nice!” she whispered, and squeezed Rainbow a little tighter for good measure.

“Aw, c’mon!” Rainbow complained, wriggling in Applejack’s grasp. She might as well have been wrapped in stone. Why is she so strong?

Applejack waited for her to be still, then let her go.

Sunset moved to the front and gave Wallflower a big and apologetic smile. “What Rainbow Dash means to say is that none of us are exactly accomplished gardeners. How do you think we could help?” Sunset asked, motioning for Wallflower to go on.

Rainbow kept Wallflower fixed with a cold stare. I wish you would just buzz off, already! Get on with your life! Rainbow had hoped she’d make a few friends stick with them. Instead, the flower girl lingered at the edge of their circle of friends like an unshakable stench.

Great. She’s talking again. Determined not to give Wallflower the satisfaction of her attention, Rainbow lolled her head back to stare at the sky. She imagined the moment that the girls had summoned their powers and obliterated the memory stone, and replayed it in her mind. Wallflower’s face when the memory stone exploded was just so soothing.

Her daydream shattered at a light touch on her shoulder. Rainbow looked up to see that the girls had parted, leaving an opening between Rainbow and Wallflower. “What do you think, Dash?” Sunset asked. “You’re our best climber.”

“Huh?” Completely lost, Rainbow just blinked at Sunset.

“Will you help Wallflower?” Sunset asked. Wallflower looked on, leaning forward with the hem of her sweater balled up in her hands.

Rainbow scowled. She didn’t know what Sunset was asking, but she had a feeling she knew what the right answer was. “Pass.” Keeping her gaze fixed on a point just above Wallflower’s shoulder, she shrugged. “I’ve got things to do.”

The girls--having swelled with friendly encouragement--deflated.

Wallflower sighed and slumped. She flattened the hem of her sweater against her legs and nodded. “That’s fine, I’ll give it a go on my own. Thanks, anyway!”

Rainbow watched her go, enjoying the rich taste of victory as the girl slinked away. Begone, witch. Whatever plots Wallflower had in store today were foiled, all thanks to Rainbow Dash.

She glanced around at her friends, smiling, and was met by six frustrated stares. Rainbow stared back. “What?” she asked after a moment of silence. “I’m not into gardening,” she said, a little sheepishly.

Sunset and Applejack’s stares hardened to the point of being withering glares, and Rarity let out an audible “Hmph!”. But before either of them could say anything, Sunset Shimmer ushered them both onward.

“We’ll meet up in one of the band rooms, girls,” she told them. Rainbow started to go, too, but Sunset threw out an arm to block her path. “Got a sec’, Rainbow?” she asked. Her face was neutral, but her tone was sharp and her shoulders were stiff.

Great. Now I get to hear about how I’m not nice enough to the memory thief. Rainbow huffed and stopped short of Sunset’s outstretched arm. She blew a lock of hair out of her eyes. “What’s up, Shimmer?” she asked, all wide-eyed innocence.

“You know what’s up, Rainbow,” Sunset said. She crossed her arms and gave Rainbow a worried frown. “Every time Wallflower’s within eyesight of us, you clam up and get all distant.”

Rainbow blinked. She’d talked the whole time Wallflower had been there.“I’m not distant--”

“If we’re lucky, that is. Sometimes--like just now--you’re downright rude. Mean, even.” Sunset reached a hand out to rest on Rainbow’s shoulder. “We’ve all forgiven Wallflower, Rainbow. We’re all trying to be her friend. All of us but you.” Sunset squeezed Rainbow’s shoulder lightly. “So, what gives? Why can’t you give Wallflower a break? Be honest with me, I won’t tell anyone else.”

Ugh. Here we go. Rainbow sighed and shrugged Sunset’s hand off of her shoulder. She did not want to have this conversation, but she knew it was only friendly respect that had kept Sunset from reading her mind about it. Better from my lips than from my brain.

She inhaled sharply. “She messed with our heads. She made us forget you. She made me not like you anymore. I didn’t just lose a friend--I was mean to you. How could I forgive that?” she asked.

She could feel her face growing hot, and her fists were clenched at her sides. “It’s not about what she did to us, it’s what she made us do to you. She’s a witch!” she spat. Her eyes widened and she pressed her hands to her lips, surprised at herself.

Sunset took a step back, wide-eyed at Rainbow’s sudden vehemence. She recovered quickly. “Hey, hey,” she spoke soothingly and settled back in closer. She nodded sympathetically as Rainbow’s rant carried on. When Rainbow paused for breath, she snagged Rainbow’s hand and held it.

Recoiling, Rainbow tried to brush her off. “What? No, no sappy stuff, c’mon--” Sunset held firm, smirking at her friend’s squeamishness.

“Thank you, Rainbow. It means a lot that you’re this upset about what happened,” she said. Rainbow tried to yank her hand free, but Sunset held on and cut her off. “But Wallflower’s not a bad person. She was just alone, angry, and a little jealous. She needed--she needs--friends. The same way I did.”

Rainbow looked away. “Yeah, but you didn’t--”

“I drove you apart from your friends, and I did that”--Sunset pointed to the large patch of off-color bricks that made up the school’s rebuilt entryway--”and I even tried to blow you all up with a fireball,” she pointed out. “You forgave me.”

Pausing for breath, she then spun Rainbow to face the plinth that had once held the Wondercolt statue. “Twilight did that, and almost blew up the world. You forgave both of us. What’s the difference?”

Squirming under the weight of Sunset’s arguments, Rainbow folded in on herself. Fine. The truth. “She got in my head, Sunset. I didn’t even know it. It feels so wrong. What if she took stuff and we never got it back?” She shivered, unnerved even to say it aloud. “It’s not like that night was the first time she ever used the stone,” she pointed out.

“We don’t know, Rainbow. We can’t really know. I asked her and she said she only used it on any of us the one time, but all we have is her word on that,” Sunset explained. “Because I want to help her--and because I did wrong once or twice--I want to take her word for it and give her a chance.”

Silence reigned, and Rainbow looked at the ground. She didn’t have a good answer, but she was loath to admit it. She frowned and opened her mouth to say something, but Sunset raised a finger to cut her off.

“If nothing else, consider this: the winner of three consecutive “Biggest Meanie” awards is telling you that you really should be nicer. Think about that,” she ordered.

Crap. Rainbow scoffed and rested her head in her hand. Sunset had good points. A really annoying number of good points. Worse, Sunset had maneuvered her to where she couldn’t keep arguing and not be the mean one.

“Fine! Fine. You’re. . . you’ve got a good point,” she finally admitted. “I’ll try to be nicer.”

Sunset smiled, clearly relieved, and gave Rainbow’s hand a squeeze before she let it go. “Attagirl! That’s more like it,” she said. Gesturing with her thumb, she glanced over her shoulder toward where Wallflower had gone. “So, I still think you should offer to help Wallflower,” she said, not missing a beat.

Immediately shaking her head, Rainbow groaned and waved her off. That’s a big leap! Jeez. “Look, I’ll be nicer, but I meant it when I said I’m not into gardening. That really is boring!”

The last thing Rainbow wanted to do was waste a perfectly pretty day digging around in the dirt and planting flowers. Her eyes settled on the guitar case over Sunset’s shoulder, and she pointed at it. “Besides, we have band practice!” She added. There! That’s concrete! She won’t ask me to bail on friends for this nonsense.

“Do you ever listen?” Sunset asked, seriously, an eyebrow quirked over her left eye.

Caught off guard, Rainbow shrugged, held out her hand flat and tilted it from side-to-side. “Ehh. Sometimes,” she admitted. “Conversation takes too long. People are so slow! Hard for me to stay interested. Plus, I didn’t really want to listen to Wallflower,” she said. She brushed her fingernails off on her hoodie and avoided eye contact with Sunset.

With a roll of her eyes, Sunset patted Rainbow on the shoulder. “At least you’re honest,” she said. Then, she crossed her arms and raised one finger. “Well, while you were zonked out earlier, Wallflower explained that she doesn’t need help gardening, she needs help getting a flower for her garden.”

“What’s the difference?” Rainbow asked. “That doesn’t sound much more exciting to me. Besides, If the Rainbooms are going to get better, we have to practice. I can’t skip to pick flowers for the--” Rainbow stopped herself. She had been about to call Wallflower ‘the Witch’, and she doubted Sunset would find it funny. “--for Wallflower.”

“She also explained that the flowers she wants are out in the Everfree Forest, and that she wanted someone to go out there with her this weekend, not today.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “The Everfree Forest isn’t that scary. What does she need someone to walk her through the woods for? And why me?” She huffed and brushed her hair back out of her eyes. “That’s like an hour drive, and then we walk and pick some flowers. That’s so boring!” she whined.

Wincing at the sound, Sunset narrowed her eyes at Rainbow. “Can you not do that?” she asked. At Rainbow’s apologetic nod, she continued. “The flowers she wants are climbing vines. They grow up a cliff face, deep in the forest,” she said, and then dropped her voice into a dramatic undertone. “We suggested you, because you’re our best climber.”

“Well, that is true. I’m a pretty solid climber,” Rainbow preened. She couldn’t resist a direct stoking of her ego. She maintained an air of indifference and turned away from Sunset. “This whole thing still sounds pretty lame, though. . .”

Sunset had Rainbow nibbling on the bait. Now she just had to sink the hook. She dropped her tone a little lower and wrapped an arm around Rainbow’s shoulders. “Think about it, Rainbow: You can guide Wallflower through the depths of the forest, watching her back against the dangers of the Everfree. Then, you pull off a treacherous climb to collect rare flowers that only a few people even know about. After all that, you get her safely back out with the rare prize. You’d be just like--”

“Daring Do!” Rainbow interrupted, suddenly enthused. She grinned as she imagined herself scaling the cliff, triumphantly securing the flower while Wallflower looked on in helpless admiration. She was sold.

She started to nod, but paused and gave Sunset an odd look. Then, her face soured and she shook her head. “I hate how I know you’re playing me, and yet I’m still going for it,” she complained.

Sunset laughed and gave Rainbow a friendly shove. “Come on, you know it sounds cool.”

“It actually does. How do you do that?” Rainbow puzzled.

Sunset’s grin faded by a few teeth and she plucked at the collar of her jacket. “Uh. Well, convincing people to do stuff for me was kind of my schtick for a while,” she finally said.

“Uh. Yeah.” Rainbow glanced away. Momentarily uncomfortable, she seized back on the topic at hand. “Alright, I’ll do it,” she said. Sunset grinned and moved to hug her, but Rainbow held up a finger. “If, and only if, Wallflower brings a camera to take some sweet pictures of me climbing the cliff,” she said.

Sunset laughed and shook her head. “Well, that’s between you and Wallflower.” She turned and started to walk toward the school’s front doors. “Go work it out. We’ll get warmed up while we wait for you.”

“You’re not coming with me?” Rainbow called after her. I have to go now?

“So you can lean on me to make the deal for you while you give Wallflower grumpy looks? No, Rainbow, I can’t ‘be nicer’ for you. You kind of gotta do that yourself,” Sunset called back. She paused at the top of the stairs to give Rainbow an encouraging smile. “I really think you and Wallflower could be good friends, if you give her an honest chance. She’s fun and she‘s actually pretty cool, too.”

And with that she went inside, leaving Rainbow alone in the courtyard.

“Fun?” Rainbow asked the empty courtyard. “She’s all Equestrian witchcraft and bad attitude! How could that be fun?” She shook her head, disgusted, and stalked around the school toward the faculty lot.

As soon as she rounded the corner of the building, she could see the freshly laid stones that lined the garden path. They had been put in place just the week before by Wallflower and some of her club’s new recruits, and they still gleamed in the afternoon sun.

“She had help for that. None of those people can climb?” Rainbow grumbled. She kicked a crumpled tin can across the lot as she stepped down onto the asphalt.

The sun was high, and the heat radiating off of the pavement was enough to toast the bottom of her feet through her sneakers and make her eyes water. In spite of the heat, a few CHS students lingered outside and relaxed in the shade at the edge of the woods.

Rainbow paused near a handful of students--sitting in the shadow of an oak at the mouth of the path--and pointed at Micro Chips. “Hey, Chips. Did Wallflower head this way?”

Micro Chips jumped and glanced around--wide-eyed at being called on by Rainbow Dash--and then gave her a blank look. “Who?”

“Pfft! Exactly,” Rainbow rolled her eyes and kept walking. “Thanks anyway, Chips.”

Two months had passed since Wallflower’s incident (as Rarity preferred to call it), and very little had changed. As far as Rainbow could tell, Wallflower was still a nobody. She still kept to herself, and the only people she spoke to were Rainbow’s friends and anyone she could coax out into her garden.

If she was so lonely, why hasn’t she done anything to change that?

Rainbow followed the round stones as they weaved through the trees, leaving the chatter of the students in the lot behind along with the heat. It was cool beneath the boughs, and the breeze that rustled the leaves carried the scent of flowers from further along the path. Fanning her shirt, Rainbow lingered in the open areas of the path, eager to enjoy the breeze while it lasted.

The sound of soft conversation, barely louder than the whisper of the breeze that carried it, met Rainbow’s ears. She let go of her shirt and shook her head. Great. She’s talking to herself. Rainbow steeled herself for crazy and came around the last curve in the trail.

To Rainbow’s surprise, Wallflower wasn’t alone: She was kneeling beside Derpy, and they were scooping a small mound of dirt up around the base of a young rosebush. They both looked up at the sound of Rainbow entering the glade, and their conversation dwindled.

Wallflower leaned over and murmured something to Derpy, and Derpy stood up and brushed dirt off of her jeans. She smiled and waved at Rainbow, then walked past her to head back toward the school.

Still securing the rosebush, Wallflower glanced up as Rainbow approached. “Hi, Rainbow Dash,” she said. Her tone was light, but there was a touch of apprehension in the subtle raise of her eyebrows. She steadied the bush, then closed her arms over herself. “You’ve never come to my--”she stopped herself and started again--”to our garden before.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow stepped closer. “Like I said before, not really into gardening,” she said. She didn’t really know what else to say, so she rocked back on one heel and looked down at Wallflower.

“Right, I got that,” Wallflower said. She stood up, her arms still clasped like a shield. “Well. . . why are you here now?” she asked, and looked down at the rosebush at her feet.

There was a beat, then she frowned. “I mean-- you’re welcome here anytime, of course,” she hurried to correct herself. Her eyes flicked upward to keep an eye on Rainbow, but she kept her chin tucked.

The feeling is mutual, weirdo. Rainbow shrugged. “I came about the thing,” she said. At Wallflower’s blank look, she gave an aggravated sigh and gestured at Wallflower. “The flower. The one you want help getting? I came to help get it.”

“Uh. You said you weren’t interested, like, ten minutes ago?” Wallflower’s mild apprehension shifted into outright suspicion, and she eyed Rainbow like she would a coiled snake.

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, I know what I said. I changed my mind.”She scratched the back of her head and looked at the sky, unwilling to explain any further. No need to clue Wallflower in on the chance she was being given. She might fake being nice, if she knew.

Wallflower lowered her arms and stuck her hands in her pockets. This was new. Rainbow Dash hadn’t been this civil since before she knew who Wallflower was. She dug lightly at the ground with one of her toes. “Can I ask why?” she asked. She wasn’t willing to be optimistic just yet.

Ugh. Hasn’t anyone ever told you about gift horses, witch? “I like to climb,” Rainbow answered, truthfully. Just not completely. “Aaand I want you to take some radical pictures of me climbing that rock face for the yearbook,” she planted her hands on her hips.“That’s the deal. What do ya say?”

Wallflower’s eyebrows went up, but she hurried to nod. “Oh! Well, that makes sense,” she said. “Yeah, I can do that. Deal,” she said. She held out her hand, noticed that it was still covered in dirt, dusted it off on her jeans, and then held it out again.

“That was easy,” Rainbow said. She took Wallflower’s hand and gave it a crisp shake. “You really want those flowers, huh?” Expecting a sweaty and delicate handshake like Fluttershy’s, Rainbow was surprised to find that Wallflower’s grip was firm and steady. Weird.

“I do! They’re something special!” Wallflower confirmed.

Rainbow tilted her head. “What’s so special about them?”

The large grin that spread over Wallflower’s face said that there was a lot special about them. “Oh! W-well, that’s just it: I don’t know! A hiker my dad knows described them to me. I’ve never heard of anything like them! They’re rare, or unique, or something!” she gushed.

She started to say more, but caught herself and stopped. Her cheeks tinged red, and she glanced down and picked at her sweater. “I, uh, I know lots of flowers. The fact that I’ve never heard of these is special, really.”

“What did he tell you about them?” Rainbow asked. She was curious in spite of herself. Daring Do wouldn’t go after an artifact without knowing what it was, anyway. Gotta do my research!

Wallflower clasped her hands in front of her and bounced on the balls of her feet. “They’re climbers. They grow on vines, up a cliff face out in the Everfree. They’re sort of like Morning Glories”--she gestured toward the blue-and-violet climbers that were clambering up a nearby arbor--”but apparently they’re bigger, and come in more colors!” She grinned toothily, apparently very enthused at that prospect.

She leaned in and her voice grew hushed. “He also said that they react strangely to storms, too: Apparently, they change colors and sometimes spark? I’m not sure I believe him, but I have to see. I want some for my garden!” Still smiling, she leaned away to wait for Rainbow’s reaction.

Well, if Rainbow had thought this was some kind of plot before, she didn’t now.

Wallflower’s enthusiasm was definitely real, so there was something out there she wanted. She was even getting Rainbow kind of excited; these flowers sounded exceptionally cool. Who ever heard of a plant that sparked?

“Yeah, I guess that’s kind of special,” she said, feigning indifference. She brushed at her shoulder, dislodging imaginary dust. “When do you want to go?”

The question hung in the air for a moment while Wallflower pulled her phone from her back pocket. She checked something on it, then looked up. “Well, early in the day on Saturday seems best. It’s supposed to storm in the afternoon, but if we leave around six or seven we should be done and back before then.”

Rainbow stopped listening after saturday and nodded. “Saturday morning works for me. Should I pick you up, or. . .?”

Wallflower grabbed her own left arm and shuffled in place, digging at the dirt with her toe. “I can drive us, if you want. It’s a bit of a drive, but my car does pretty good on gas, and. . . Well, we might get a bit muddy. It’s been raining out at Everfree most of this week.”

While not exactly a clean freak, Rainbow was none too fond of the idea of two muddy girls climbing into her little coupe. Not when someone else’s car could take the hit. She nodded with a little more enthusiasm than was necessary. “Yeah!” She blinked, dialed back her enthusiasm, and tried again: “I mean, yeah, good point. You can drive.”

“Where should I pick you up?”

“I’m going to get breakfast, first. You know the Sweet Shoppe?”

Wallflower raised an eyebrow, blinked slowly, then nodded. “Um, yeah.”

Ignoring the sass, Rainbow nodded back. “How about there, at a little after six. That sound good?”

“That sounds great! I’ll see you there, then?” Wallflower asked, taking a half-step back toward the rosebush. It wasn’t quite a dismissal, but her intent was clear. She was ready for Rainbow to go.

Rainbow was all too happy to oblige. This garden still gave her the heebie jeebies. She turned on her heel and followed the trail back out of the clearing. “Yeah. Bye, Wallflower.”

“Goodnight, Rainbow Dash!” Wallflower called after her in a too-late attempt to part on friendlier terms.

Rainbow’s puffed up bravado deflated as soon as she rounded the corner out of view. She had half hoped that Wallflower would refuse, so that she could be justified in bailing on this little mission. With no such luck, Rainbow was now condemned to spend most of a perfectly good saturday with Wallflower frickin’ Blush.

Yay, me.

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Back in the garden, Wallflower knelt down next to the rosebush and scooped a little more dirt in place on the stem’s side, where it had begun to lean a little.

She packed the dirt in place, grabbed her watering can, and thoroughly wet the area around it. She patted the wet dirt firmly into place. There, all settled in. I’ll check on you tomorrow, little guy! Content, she straightened up and emptied the last of her watering can on the surrounding plants.

With the can empty, Wallflower glanced at the path where Rainbow had disappeared. She had seemed. . . well, not earnest, but at least honest.

Wallflower walked over to the garden shed, stored the watering can, and clicked the padlock into place. Turning, she leaned against the shed’s door, and looked at the garden. Her garden.

It was that beautiful time of day again. The late afternoon sunlight streamed in between the tree trunks and caught the garden’s various blooms, lighting the garden up like so many colored lights. Motes of dust and pollen swirled and danced in the air, illuminated by the glare.

Wallflower smiled. This was why she always stayed so late in the garden. She spent a long time just looking at the garden, enjoying the peace and quiet, occasionally making mental notes on things that needed trimmed or straightened up.

Her eyes fell on an empty arbor--the prospective home for the strange climbing flowers from the Everfree--and her thoughts again turned to Rainbow Dash.

What was that all about? Nothing but the cold shoulder for weeks, and now this? Wallflower dug at the ground with the toe of her shoe, staring intensely at the arbor. She was worried.

She wasn’t displeased--she was thrilled--but she wished she knew why. Rainbow’s attitude had turned in minutes. In Wallflower’s experience, that was usually a bad sign. She almost wanted to call it off.

The urge took her so strongly that she fumbled at her pocket for her phone, only to remember that she didn’t have Rainbow Dash’s phone number. She couldn’t call it off if she tried. Stifling a frustrating groan with her palm, she straightened up from the shed and kicked at a stick.

It sailed through the air and tumbled end-over-end through the dirt next to a stand of zinnias that Sunset Shimmer had helped Wallflower plant. Wallflower watched the pretty batch of flowers dance in the breeze.

Sunset Shimmer gave you a chance. Maybe Rainbow decided to, too? Wallflower tucked her chin and balled the hem of her sweater up in her hands. That was a nice thought. She would go with that.

For better or for worse, she would find out on Saturday.