• Published 23rd Sep 2020
  • 1,069 Views, 23 Comments

Holidays Unearthed - Bookish Delight



Wallflower and Juniper have regrets. They also have each other, so it's not as bad as it could be.

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3: The Gift (Pt. 1)

Wallflower expertly navigated trees and pushed aside bushes as she led Juniper through the thickness of Canterlot Suburban Park’s forest area. She waited after each bush, each hedge, each branch, holding them out when needed so that Juniper could follow in her footsteps with as little trouble as possible.

This meant that Wallflower was progressing at a much slower pace than she usually did when following this particular path, but it was okay. She was quite used to, and enjoyed, sifting through and being one with so much foliage. But while she knew Juniper also liked greenery, being this up close and personal with it, Wallflower had learned over time, was a trait unique to herself—and perhaps a few others in the #GardenersForLife Snapgab group.

As if to back up Wallflower’s reasoning, Juniper spoke just then. “Not that I mind all these plants—okay, my jacket does a little—but I never got why the rest of this area hasn’t been blown wide open yet. I mean, there’s definitely a trail here, but all this foliage is still in the way! No one’s tried to take a weed whacker to this place?”

“Oh, it’s been tried a few times.” Wallflower snuck an impish look back at Juniper while pushing aside another bush. “But it’s the oddest thing: all these bushes and trees keep growing back as fast as people can get rid of them. Right during the most popular tourist months, too. No one can explain it.”

“Oh. Huh.” Wallflower’s expression wasn’t lost on Juniper in the slightest. With a chuckling eyeroll, the latter grinned back. “Darn those mischievous plants!” she said, shaking a fist. “We’ll get 'em yet.”

Wallflower giggled. “You’re welcome to try. But for now…”

A single tall hedge stood between Wallflower and what she wanted to show Juniper. Wallflower approached it, stood her ground in front of it, as if it were a stout opponent.

In some ways it was. Today, in a very real way, it had the power of the Unknown on its side, and the Unknown was always Wallflower’s weakness—especially when it came to what other people thought of her.

But today, Wallflower decided, she would stand up to that weakness, take that fear head on, and push it aside.

The hedge gave way, lightly prickling her fingers, and Wallflower gestured for Juniper to head through. She closed her eyes, waiting for the reaction which would inevitably come.

When she heard the gasp, Wallflower knew it was time. She opened her eyes, her heart shaking as she looked at Juniper…

…who didn’t look bored, or unhappy. Her eyes were wide, her hand was to her mouth, but Wallflower had known Juniper long enough by now to tell the crinkles of Juniper’s lips and cheeks, what they meant, and whether they were positive, or otherwise.

This was definitely positive.

Not giving herself the chance to convince herself otherwise, nor giving Juniper a chance to talk, Wallflower blurted out her explanation. “Okay, so, after the whole Memory Stone thing, I opened up my garden at Canterlot High School to the student body, but after a while I realized it left me without my own place to retreat when I needed alone time, which I also realized that even though I have friends sometimes I still need, so I set a new one up here!” She inhaled deeply several times to catch her breath, her heart still shaking as she awaited Juniper’s answer.

Which Juniper gave in short order, her eyes still sparkling in awe. “That makes total sense, but… winter.” She gestured her arm around the clearing in the midst of an otherwise dense forest, which looked as pristine as any garden would in spring—filled with grass, flowers of all sorts of breeds and colors arranged in patterns, and even leaves and flowers dripping with snow, to make the perfect picturesque miniature winterscape.

“Garden in winter,” Juniper reiterated, running back and forth through the place, while being visibly careful not to step on any flowers. “Garden in winter garden in winter heck greenery on the way here while half the trees around them were bare how?” she exclaimed, darting back to Wallflower and waving her arms.

Wallflower smiled. She’d wondered how long it would take for Juniper to catch on to the trail’s unique properties, if she did at all. “Not all plants go away just because it’s winter. Some thrive in this climate. Others less so, but can still be made to hang in there given the right conditions and care. I made it a personal project to see if I could make a winter garden, since I never had before. I did some research, planted some seeds…” Wallflower counted on her hands. “Pansies, aconites, daffodils, a few others. Then I calculated bloom periods as best I could. Do…” Wallflower took a deep breath, glancing away. “Do you think it looks all right?”

“All right? Wallflower, this is beautiful,” Juniper said—and instantly, Wallflower felt invisible sunbeams shining warmly all over herself. After a pause, Juniper put thoughtful fingers to her chin and added, “I mean, this would be beautiful even if it somehow weren’t just a garden. The shapes and colors, the atmosphere…” She made a rectangle with both thumbs and index fingers, peering through with one open eye while pacing back and forth. “I feel like I’m standing in a forest made of pure inspiration right now. There’s so much here that any director could do with this—even me, as green as I am. Pardon the expression.”

Juniper walked in front of Wallflower, centering the latter within her finger-screen—then, with a nod and a lick of her lips, she took out her phone, activated its camera mode, and pointed it at Wallflower. “Do me a favor and strike a pose? I want to try something.”

Wallflower gave a small smile and a wave for Juniper’s camera.

“Awesome!” Juniper gave a small squeal of excitement. “Okay, slight upgrade. Could you go ahead and act like you’re tending to this place? Just for a short bit.”

Wallflower smiled. “I don’t have to act, there’s always something here I can do.” She walked around the garden, kneeling sometimes to smooth out some of the flowers, wipe snow off branches, brush stalks and petals for bugs—though in winter that wasn’t much of a task—all while Juniper filmed her.

After the promised short bit, Juniper nodded. “Okay, that’s perfect.” She pressed a few more buttons on her phone, stared at it for a while, then said, “Eeeeee! Wally, come take a look!”

Wallflower rushed over, and Juniper showed her phone’s screen. Wallflower had never actually watched herself tending to her own plants before. It was… interesting, for bare starters. The movements, with the constant stops and starts, was mundane, to be sure, yet oddly captivating.

“I know that to you, this just looks like a bangin’ garden,” Juniper said, “and it is. But the design that went into it—the colors, the lining, the strategic symmetry? The second I saw this place, I saw the perfect movie set. And I do mean perfect. This is, like, seriously on par with the best designers in Applewood.”

"Really? Wallflower asked, glancing back at the footage again… and noticing herself smiling. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d smiled while doing gardening work. At least, not consciously.

Really really,” Juniper said. “And even this stuff right here? Feels way more real than the Applewood stuff. They’re always trying for glitz and glamour. This is earnest. It’s real.”

Beaming at Wallflower, Juniper added, “I won’t tell anyone about this place, but I have to come here with a better camera and shoot something. This deserves it. I’m thinking you might be a design prodigy. Whatever you’ve got inside you… keep it. Definitely make more of this stuff. Even if it's just for fun. Heck, especially if it's fun.”

Without replying with words, Wallflower looked around the garden one more time, marveling at what was present, in the context of everything Juniper had said. There was color theory in her flower arrangements. There was symmetry, there was visual setup and payoff. Quite a bit of it had been on purpose, but none of it had been at the front of her mind during planting. A lot of it had just been her applying what she’d known for years, then just adding plants and sights she personally liked on top of it.

But now, taking a step back…

I did make this, didn’t I? And… Juniper really thinks it’s…

Wallflower blinked—and found herself reliving the moments of creation of so many other gardens before this one, of so many planting sessions before this one…

…of retreating to so many gardens before this one. Lonely, and crying, usually in the dark due to trees covering her, keeping her shut away from the world, safe from the rest of the world—

She choked on the lump in her throat and blinked again, taking herself back to reality… and back to the footage of herself smiling for the first time in as far back as she could remember while tending to one of her creations.

She looked over at Juniper, who smiled back at her. She wanted to smile as well, and she tried—but her lips felt too heavy to do so.

Instead, the next thing Wallflower knew, she was sniffling, and hugging Juniper as tightly as she could.