> 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."
> 01: The Nicest Meanie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wallflower walked the halls of Canterlot High School, following her usual physical and mental routine. The students passed by her, and she passed by the students. Neither acknowledged the other. 

Because neither wanted to. 

She was used to it. It was her routine, and it was... comfortable. 

Not being some kind of social magnet allowed her to efficiently make her way between classes. The incoherent buzzing of the students around her always filtered into white noise. It allowed her to keep her mind clear, or fill it with things that were expressly herself, like flower arrangements in complementary colors, or reminiscing on the TV she'd watched last night.

The latest episode of Wyldmares was something she couldn't take her eyes off of until it was over. Which, in a way, made her even more of an anomaly than she was used to being already. The day after it'd shown up on Hoofflix out of nowhere, it'd blown up every ratings metric imaginable and become... well, infamous for several reasons at the design level.

Still, infamy counted as popularity. Everyone was watching it, everyone was talking about it, and fortunately for her, not being a social magnet meant she didn't have to talk about the same episode over and over with people until it got dull. 

Not to mention, she'd already seen some pretty crazy opinions about it during her late night online trawls that made her skin crawl. Opinions and speculations that seemed hell-bent on turning what was clearly a nostalgic show about colorful transforming robotic horses into... no longer that, and picking it apart besides. 

She felt a pang in her heart just thinking back to it, and felt herself gritting her teeth. She rolled her eyes and sighed. She was letting other people into her headspace again. People who weren't anything more than a nickname and a bunch of moronic thoughts.

Wallflower stopped in the hallway and closed her eyes. Flowers around her. Flowers and trees and meadows and grass.

Clear the mind. Plant its soil with positive things. Remove the weeds. Keep the flowers. Let them bloom... then let yourself bloom as well. Be one with the garden... then be a garden yourself.

It took a whole minute, but eventually she was back to her earlier peace. She made sure not to disturb that peace with the knowledge that she'd be late to class if she took too much longer. She took the last few steps to her locker and opened it, shuffling books between it and her backpack.

"Hi, Wallflower," a voice said from behind her locker door.

Wallflower stopped in the midst of her motions. Had she... heard a voice close by? Even stranger: had she actually heard a greeting in conjunction with her name? 

She closed her locker door, then looked over to her right, where the voice had come from. Orange skin, bright red hair, a black dress and vest filled her vision, along with... a smile? One of these things clearly didn't belong with the others. 

"How's it going?" Sunset Shimmer asked with the smile still on her seriously what was going on here— 

Wait.

Waaaaait a minute. 

Wallflower was, ironically, now beginning to remember. Yesterday had been... eventful. 

She looked up at Sunset in earnest—the girl she'd been spiteful towards for years, and had tried to get revenge on for days, with the help of a magical memory-erasing artifact. 

She looked up at Sunset—the girl who had, for reasons Wallflower still didn't quite understand, forgiven her, and offered to be her friend, even though she didn't deserve it in the slightest. 

Suddenly Wallflower felt far more aware of her surroundings than usual. She looked around herself, suddenly cognizant of just how many people were around her. How had she even managed to even walk through the school doors today? Her heart churned with apprehension. The milling of the students grew quieter, even though their numbers had barely thinned. 

She looked back in front of her. Sunset was still there, still smiling. Still waiting for an answer. They'd shared a close moment yesterday, true, but did it still hold? Could Sunset actually be... safe?

"Uh, hi," Wallflower replied, deciding to take a chance. "What brings you over to this neck of the lockers?"

"Being late," Sunset said, rolling her eyes with a chuckle. "Well, not late late—the bell hasn't rung yet. But I got to school today later than I normally do, and Twilight does not stand for not being able to make pre-first-period study hall. So I had to walk alone today."

"Twilight?" The name rang a bell, but she struggled to place it. Ugh, more irony. "She's the... super-nerdy one that transferred here not too long ago, right?"

"That's her," Sunset said, as Wallflower idly wondered why Sunset's blush was taking so long to disappear. "Trust me, she's, uh, hard to forget once she's scienced her way into your life." Sunset's cheeks finally turned to their original shade, and she leaned against the closed locker next to Wallflower. "But more than that, I just wanted to see if you were feeling okay. You know, after yesterday. I know from experience that coming in contact with magic can be... trying, on a person."

Wallflower allowed herself to flash back to every time she used the strange stone she'd found close to the school, not long after the Friendship Games. The tingly, bitter feeling that always happened whenever she asked it to perform its duty. The emptiness and relief she felt when she saw each awkward hello, each flubbed conversation, whisked away into nothingness as far as the other party was concerned.

The first time she had, through violent tears, commanded the Memory Stone to perform its greatest task. The first time she screamed as its power rang against her ears upon hearing such a large request... then granted it anyway.

Wallflower forced herself to come back to reality. Whenever the pain of remembering matched the pain of actually using the Stone, it was always her cue to stop. She looked away from Sunset. 

"So... the Memory Stone really was magic?" she asked. "Not some kind of weird science device that its inventor buried out of embarrassment, maybe? I mean, the scroll that came with kept saying as much, but I still didn't entirely believe it."

"It was definitely magic," Sunset said with a nod. "From a whole other world. And I'm so glad we were able to save you from it."

Wallflower's mind spun, and she turned back to face Sunset. "Why are you so happy for me? I'm the one who used it on you. In the worst way."

"Jury's still out on whether or not it was the worst, but yeah, it was up there." Sunset closed her eyes and chuckled. "But as Applejack would say, that was hardly my first rodeo. I've had far more unbelievable things happen to me with magic."

"You mean the parts where you tried to enslave the student body by turning into a winged she-demon, and then where you helped saved it three times afterward?" Wallflower asked, not missing a beat.

Sunset's cheeks flushed deep red again. "Wait. You were at Camp Everfree? Of course. I bet you were. Just..." she trailed off.

"Yeah, totally my fault, too," Wallflower said. "Just in case you needed any more proof that I don't deserve this conversation we're having." Wallflower clasped the straps of her backpack and walked with fast steps, intent on following her usual path to her classroom.

She felt Sunset grab her arm. "Wallflower, wait."

Wallflower stopped. She wasn't sure why she did, nor why she bothered to turn around to face Sunset as well. She sighed.

Why was Sunset still being so nice? Especially since, for so many years, she'd reveled in being the opposite? It was the one time in her life she'd been thankful for being barely noticeable and skilled at keeping to herself—the more a student had been on Original Recipe Sunset's radar, the worse they'd had it.

"Both of us remember how mean I was," Sunset said. "What if I told you that it was because... I was scared of people, too? And lonely? At the same time?"

"I'd say that none of what you just said makes any sense." Wallflower turned back around. "I remember how you acted. Towards everyone. Way worse than the zero attention you gave me." Wallflower started walking again.

Sunset followed alongside. "Yeah. Way worse. I really was a different, way worse person. And you know what? Being that awful person was a total rush. I got to live the fantasy of having people jump when I called their name, whether it was to run away from me, or to do what I told them to, before they ran away from me. The whole 'power' thing was awesome, and I was totally happy with it."

She took a deep breath. "Or at least I thought it was. Until I went to any of the student hangouts. Or until I went home. And the deafening silence told me, in my heart of hearts, how much I wished I had someone, anyone, to talk about my day with."

A pang hit Wallflower's heart. She overrode it with forced annoyance, and gritted her teeth again. "Is this where I'm supposed to feel sorry for the Queen B of Canterlot High?"

Sunset shook her head. "Absolutely not. But where I'm going with this is, the worst part of all that wasn't the loneliness. It was the fact that after a while, I just accepted it. I was sure it was something I couldn't change. I certainly didn't know a way. Before I knew it, I'd locked myself in to the state of things. Instead of running away to avoid everyone, I just made sure to drive everyone away. Just figured it was less work. So yeah. I'm the last person who would be mad at you. I'd have to read myself the riot act first."

Wallflower stopped again, and sighed again. "Well. Thanks for admitting all of that, at least. Fine. You've forgiven me, and I forgive you. Now what?"

"Well, now's up to you. You've told me how invisible you've felt all your time in school. All your life." Sunset held out her hand. "Do you want some help breaking that pattern?"

"I..." Wallflower closed her eyes. "If only it were that easy at this school."

"You might be surprised. Back when I was a loner, I know I was really angry at the world. A world which included a lot of people who didn't deserve it. Like the students here."

Wallflower thought back to those students. Back to the confusion, the anger, the inability to understand. Back to the giggles and incredulous sounds as she was covered in mud and dirt.

No, Wallflower. Clear the mind, plant the soil, clear the mind, plant the soil what do you do when you are the soil no I can't do it!

Wallflower shook her head. Her hand balled into a fist.

"Sorry, Sunset. You may have changed, and maybe I was wrong not to see it for so long." She looked into Sunset's eyes with wide ones of her own. "But you're the exception to the rule. I'm sorry for what I did to you. But what if I told you that I didn't feel at all sorry for the rest of this school? What if the student body wasn't as innocent as you think?"

Sunset took a step back. "What do you mean?"

Wallflower leaned against the lockers. "I mean, CHS is still pretty rotten on the whole," she said in a grumbling voice. "And I'll be glad when I graduate."

Sunset fell silent for a long time before leaning next to Wallflower on the lockers. "Wallflower," she said in a tender voice, "where is this coming from? We can talk here, or someplace private, if you want."

"No, I..." Wallflower sighed, relaxing. "I'm sorry. It's no big deal. I really could just use some happiness right now, though."

Sunset reached out and took Wallflower's hand. Wallflower didn't stop her, and quickly learned just how good of a decision that was. "I know just the thing."

Wallflower looked over. Sunset seemed so sure of herself. "You do?" 

"Uh-huh," Sunset replied. "The Wondercolts are playing the Fillydelphia Parasprites after school today." Sunset grinned. "We always kick their butts."

Wallflower blinked. "A... sports game?"

"It's a lot more fun than you might think. Especially with Rainbow Dash as our star forward. She always makes a show of things. The other girls and I always have a special section in the bleachers, near the front. You should join us. I promise, you'll have a good time. And Rainbow could always use another in the cheering seats." She fed Wallflower a sly smile. "You do know how to cheer, right?"

Wallflower thought about it. She'd be surrounded by people that... well, at least Sunset vouched for, in an area where she could shut out anyone else. 

Sort of. Either way, what did she have to lose?

Wallflower nodded as they stood up from the lockers. "I might know a few plants who can vouch for my encouragement abilities."

The first period bell rang, and both students made their way to class.
> 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.
> 03: Like Something Out of A Movie (Pt. 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...my gosh!" Wallflower heard in warbling tones as she slowly came to. "Photo, Sunny, help me help her up!"

She felt herself being raised to her feet. The world came into focus as it happened, though she found herself wobbly for a short time, barely able to balance herself. Groaning, she narrowly avoided falling down again. A pair of arms caught her.

"You really did a number on her," she heard another voice say. "Do you think we should call the hospital?"

"Wait!" she heard a third voice say, in a thick accent she recognized in the back of her mind. "She is coming around!"

After what seemed an excruciating eternity, Wallflower was able to balance herself, the arms holding her let go, and her eyes and ears worked well enough again. She looked in front of her to see three girls, looking back at her with scrunched, concerned expressions. Two of them looked vaguely familiar to her, as they stood to both sides of someone entirely unknown.

"Oh, thank goodness," the new girl in the center said. "Are you all right? Can you stand? Do you have any head throbs or anything?"

"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine," Wallflower groaned, fighting the ringing in her head, until she felt them go away, then felt them replaced with growls of annoyance. "You need to watch where you're going," she snapped, intentionally ignoring the snarky voice in the back of her head that just had to remind her that she really hadn't been watching either.

"You're right, I really need to! I am so sorry," the new girl said, her hand over her heart. "Seriously, I'm just glad you're okay. You really are okay, right?"

"Yeah," Wallflower said, putting her hands in her pockets. "It's fine," she added, feeling herself calming down. "I... might not have had my eyes on the sidewalk either."

"I do that all the time," the new girl said, turning to the other two. "Photo, Sunny, could you go ahead and order our shakes for us? I'll be right behind you. Also..." she hesitated, putting her fingers to her chin with a thoughtful moan before adding, "Yeah. Go ahead and make it four instead of three."

The girl with the large sunglasses—right, Photo Finish, Wallflower now recognized—saluted with a grin. "Right away, Miss Montage." She nodded slightly towards Wallflower. "Shall I ask for the extra booth as well?" 

Wallflower looked back and forth between Photo Finish, and the girl next to her, who was a slightly different shade of blue, wearing short-cut violet hair and another Crystal Prep uniform. Before she could make any further observations, the new girl "hmm"ed, then smiled from one corner of her mouth. "You know what, that might not be a bad idea. Do it. I'll see you inside."

Wallflower shrugged as she watched Photo Finish and "Sunny" dart inside of the building. A quick look up revealed that it was Sugarcube Corner. All the students hung out there—even Wallflower, every once in a blue moon. Saying "table for one" only stung for as long as it took for the great food to arrive. 

For a second she considered going in—some junk food would probably lift her spirits just enough for her to get through the rest of the day. Ultimately, she decided against it. Instead she shrugged, and turned to walk home, in the opposite direction of her impromptu assailant. Whoever she was.

"Wait!" the other girl said. "Hang on. Just for a second?"

Wallflower stopped. She had no clue why she stopped, but she did. "What is it?"

The girl darted back in front of Wallflower's field of vision, making it unavoidable for Wallflower to take her first real look at her. Now that the world wasn't swirling and fuzzy, it was easier, at least. 

She was light-skinned, much like Indigo Zap—were they related? No, that'd be silly. Or would it?—with green hair done up in twin ponytails, a violet blouse with glasses to match, and a black polka-dotted miniskirt. Wallflower had to admit, she was incredibly cute, in a 'nerd-chic-crossed-with-Applewood-glitz' sort of way. Wallflower wouldn't have been surprised if she turned out to secretly be some entertainer's agent. Even on the busy streets of Manehattan, she would have been easy to pick out of a crowd. 

In other words, she was the exact opposite of Wallflower herself. 

The girl fished a business card from her purse, and handed it to Wallflower, who did a double-take upon receiving it. Seriously, just how close had Wallflower's guess been?

"I'm Juniper Montage, director to the stars," Juniper said. "It's nice to meet you! I mean, again. For the first time?" 

Okay, so Wallflower's guess had been really, really close. A quick scan of the card showed a cute, smiling, super-deformed Juniper head giving a disembodied V-sign, along with a film reel, some juniper berries, a small description of her skills, and her contact information.

"I'm Wallflower Blush—wait. Director?" Wallflower blinked up at Juniper. "As in, like, a film director?"

"That's me!" Juniper said. "'You Want A Movie, I Wanna Make Movies, Let's Meet Halfway!'" A beat passed before she added, "Slogan's still a work in progress. Anyway, full disclosure: the reason I bumped into you was because I was actually rushing here to Sugarcube Corner to try out their new Lemon-Lime Smoothie." Juniper thumbed to the poster in front of the window, showing several lemons, limes, and a glass filled with green liquid. She sighed. "No excuse, of course, but we all have our weaknesses, am I right?"

"Actually, I can sort of understand," Wallflower said with a nod, twirling a few locks of her hair around her finger. "Green's my favorite color. And my favorite flavor of anything." 

Juniper hopped on her toes. "Oh my gosh, seriously? Mine too!" she said, her smile returning. 

It was a really pretty smile, Wallflower decided. What was left of her frustration was disappearing by the second just by looking at it. "SCC does makes killer shakes as well," she replied. "So, I guess I can see the timeline where I might have knocked you over? You know. If I'd known this was a thing."

Juniper giggled. "Glad to hear it. But like I said, that's still no excuse. I still feel awful about what I did. Sooooo, how about we both try it out? On me, of course."

"R-really?" Wallflower said, perking up on both the inside and outside for just a second, before shrinking back. "I-I mean, you don't have to do that."

"Yeah, I guess that's true?" Juniper said, meeting Wallflower's eyes head-on. "But I want to."

Wallflower blinked, then blushed. Not one moment later, Juniper's own cheeks pinked, her expression shuffling. "I-I mean, purely for evaluation reasons. Aesthetics? Flavor? I'm curious to see what the color green actually tastes like—" Juniper exhaled and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, this is why I wish life had multiple takes. For line-flubs just like this."

Wallflower smiled. "I've totally been there. Don't worry, though, I got what you meant." 

Juniper breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks. But yeah. How about it?"

The moment she heard Juniper's request, a million excuses popped up in Wallflower's mind. Excuses, reasons, easy ones, to let her turn Juniper down, go back home, go back to her normal, routine, familiar life. Late for an appointment? Hair to wash? Going back to the party she'd already just declined? Plants to water? 

Actually, strike that last one. She really had to stop trying to use her plants as an excuse for anything.

She thought back to the party she was missing out on. Not that she wanted to go back for partying's sake, but she did miss Sunset, Rainbow and Indigo. The girls who had actually decided to talk to her, even though she arguably wasn't worth talking to.

But here was another girl, in front of her, who was doing the same.

What if I said 'yes'?

It wouldn't be a huge gathering. It would be starting small, with one person, who was being just as nice as the others were. 

It wasn't what she'd expected to be doing today. Accepting an invitation out of the blue by someone who had almost run her over certainly wasn't part of her internal social handbook. A handbook that consisted of a couple of pages at most, but which existed nonetheless.

But... what if I said 'yes' anyway?

She made her decision. 

"Actually? Yeah. I'd like that," Wallflower finally said.

"Sweet!" Juniper said with a squeal. She opened the door for Wallflower in a flowing, grandiose gesture. "After you, then."

"Thanks," Wallflower said, walking towards the door, her heart beating in nervousness and excitement at the same time.

I sure hope I know what I'm doing.
> 04: Like Something Out of A Movie (Pt. 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, uh, where were you headed before we were so gracefully introduced to one another?" Juniper asked as the two walked into the diner. 

Sugarcube Corner was already full of patrons that Wallflower recognized from CHS and a few other schools, and almost all of them were sipping glasses of green liquid. None of them seemed to be recoiling from it, which Wallflower took as a good sign. 

She basked in the smells of pastries, burgers and fries, all of which she liked, and all of which relaxed her. Which was good, because she was actually still a little nervous from agreeing to stick around with this new girl instead of going home.

Wallflower looked back to Juniper. "Um... just home, really?" Before she could stop herself, she added, "Though I was planning to take the scenic route through Canterlot Suburban Park."

"Oh, cool!" Juniper replied, as the two of them sat at opposite sides of an empty four-seated booth. "I like that place. Nowhere near where I work, but it's not too far from where I live, so I hang out there a bunch. Sometimes with friends. What about you?"

"I hang out there with friends, too, sort of," Wallflower said. "Suburban Park has really... nice flower arrangements there that I appreciate." 

The moment Wallflower realized what she'd just said, she wanted to run back out the diner. Did she just call plants her friends? In public? What she wouldn't have given to have the Memory Stone back right now. The less anyone knew how utterly one-track weird she was, the better.

To Wallflower's shock, however, Juniper didn't laugh at her, or give her any strange looks. Instead she lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree. 

"Heck, yeah, it does! That's half the reason I love the place! It's one of my favorite filming spots when no one's around. You've got all sorts of flowers there: lilacs, roses, tulips, daisies, and a whole bunch of other obscure stuff a filthy gardening casual like me will never know the names of." Juniper giggled.

Wallflower stayed silent, her jaw agape, not knowing in the least how to reply. 

Fortunately for Wallflower, Juniper wasn't finished. "And then, all those flowers are just nice and relaxing to be around when filming's over, especially when no one else is. You can just sit on a bench close by, look at everything in front of you and—"

"And reflect on things?" Wallflower asked.

"Yeah!" Juniper nodded with a dreamy sigh. "Like, just watching them sway in the wind is just..."

"It's just so hypnotic." Wallflower beamed. "It's totally the best thing to get lost in! Except, fortunately, you're not going anywhere, so you're never actually lost."

"Eeeeeee!" Juniper squealed. You get it! You so get it!"

"I don't just get it," Wallflower said, clenching her fists on the table and barely able to hold in her excitement. "I major in it! I run Canterlot High School's Gardening Club. We specialize in exactly this."

"Whoa!" Juniper said "You know, Suburban Park isn't too far from CHS, either, and I've noticed... that place's garden is like, maintained all year round. Every time I expect it to wilt, it's just... always there, growing strong. She raised an eyebrow at Wallflower. "I always wondered why."

Wallflower's smile curled conspiratorially. "I might have had a hand in things there."

"That's... actually really amazing," Juniper said, her mouth open in surprise. "Seriously, I think you're kind of my hero right now."

"Really?" Wallflower tilted her head, giving Juniper an inquisitive stare. "Sorry about acting so surprised. It's just that most people find gardens kind of boring. I'm seriously doing my best not to scream in happiness right now."

"I guess they can come off a little slow for most people? Including me, a little bit. But I've also seen some killer gardens, so I can't not have respect. Like I said, they make prime filming spots for me. Like, if I see a really good one, it'll call to me, and just ask me to start prancing around in it and start spouting random, awesome dramatic lines."

Wallflower giggled. "That is awesome."

"Long as you don't get caught, yeah. Then you look like a crazy girl. But all that aside?" Juniper rested her elbows on the table and her head in her hands, looking straight at Wallflower. "I just think liking what you like is awesome. So feel free to fangirl as much as you want. Fangirling is my jam. The way I see it... it's just being yourself. And I'm not much for shunning people for being themselves." She angled her head up and to the side, speaking in a deep, dramatic lilt straight out of a Shakesmarean play. "We should welcome what is different, not fear it."

Wallflower lit up in half a second. She had never heard anyone quote that show out loud. She stared at Juniper. Dare she test her hunch? Dare she risk ultimate embarrassment?

Though Juniper had just said that fangirling was fine. All right then—it was leap-of-faith time."Tell my tale to those who ask..." she said in a faux-solemn voice.

And, wonder of wonders, Juniper lit up with Wallflower's exact same expression. She folded her hands, and replied, "Tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly."

"The rest," both finished, looking at each other with wide eyes, "is silence."

Two seconds later, both girls' squeals threatened to shatter every window in Sugarcube Corner. To say nothing of their rapid banging on the table, which managed to even vibrate a couple of others that were nearby.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, we have to calm down, calm down right now," Juniper said, not so much saying the words as breathing them. "Sorry!" she called out, waving to all of the other patrons currently giving the two of them annoyed looks. "Won't do that again, promise!" She looked at Wallflower. "You can uncurl now. I don't think they'll kill us. Anymore."

Wallflower slowly unwound from her shrunken state, sitting up straight in the booth again. "That episode was so good. Dinotrot was so goooooooooood," she hissed.

"I know, right? Like, when I go out, I want to go out like that! That was a seven-on-one debate! She never should have won, but she did and oh my gosh, oh my gosh—okay, I'm doing it again. Juniper. Breathe. You seriously need to breathe," Juniper said, taking several deep breaths.

"You and me both," Wallflower replied. "I can't believe I found someone who gave Wyldmares a chance! It's seriously the best show everyone seems to enjoy being mad at."

"A chance?" Juniper gasped. "Are you kidding? I love that show so freaking much!"

Wallflower sighed. "You and literally nobody else in Canterlot. Don't even get me started on the online response to it." 

"Ugh." Juniper rolled her eyes and her wrist. "Which I just do not understand, and never will. I mean, you watched Transformares, right?"

"Well, yeah." Wallflower shrugged. "Not that that makes me special. The world did."

"No, hear me out!" Juniper held up a hand. "This show is seriously the second coming of it. But without the overbearing merchandising, and with characters who have more than two dimensions to them."

"And more nuanced story beats," Wallflower added.

"And the best lessons ever at the end!" Juniper bounced in her seat. "I love the part where Pegatron actually learned from the Maximares that logic isn't the only way to reach someone!" 

Wallflower mini-squealed. "She was so mad when she had to admit it! Plus, I mean, most shows like this don't even bother giving the antagonists anything but lip service!"

"Yup," Juniper said. "Transformares was a show about making friends, proving points, and spreading knowledge. The people who make Wyldmares were big fans." Juniper held up her phone, showing multiple people on screen who Wallflower vaguely recognized from staff interviews about the show. "They always had nothing but love for Transformares, and wanted to bring its concept to something more fantastic, while keeping its spirit. From where I'm sitting, they've been doing an amazing job." 

Juniper looked at the picture again, her eyes lidding. She rested her cheek on her palm. "What I wouldn't do to be able to meet the production crew. Time was, I used to have the connections to make that happen."

Wallflower's eyebrows shot up. "Connections? Really?"

"It's a long story," Juniper said. "Look me up, the Internet will tell all. Well, most of it. Though quite honestly, I'd wipe the old life from every server I could if it didn't make good resume fodder." 

She perked back up. "But yeah, oh my gosh, this is great! Finally someone in real-space I can talk about this with. I've only got one other Transdork friend, and she's lukewarm on it at best." Juniper rolled her eyes. "She's annoyed at the 'lack of logic' in the discussions. I keep telling her this is a more emotional show now than a logical one, but..." She sighed. "Not her cuppa."

Wallflower nodded. "I've seen the response online, too. Just because they did some redesigns and added 20 percent more action, so many of the old fans are crying bloody murder. Without seeing the heart that goes into any given episode."

"No doubt." Juniper relaxed, leaning back in her seat. "Seriously, I am so happy I can finally talk with someone who actually likes the stuff I'm into," Juniper said. "I can't believe there are so many things you and I just get."

Wallflower grinned. "Maybe you should bulldoze innocent people on the sidewalk more often."

Juniper giggled. "Maybe I should. Except, no. My uncle's told me all about how frivolous lawsuits work. Gonna try to keep those to a minimum. I got lucky with you."

The waitress walked by and placed a single glass on the table, filled with green liquid. The glass was twice as wide as everyone else's. Two straws landed on the table before the waitress walked away. 

Both girls blinked at the table in silence for several moments. 

"What," Juniper finally said. She turned around and tried to flag the waitress down. "Hey, excuse me, miss?" she ventured, but the waitress was already at the other side of the diner. "Wow, they move so fast." 

Wallflower looked around, seeing all of the staff rushing around or carrying large, full tins as carefully as possible. "All of the others look busy, too," she said. "Really busy."

"New Flavor Day," Juniper said. "Always brings out the crazy." She continued to scan the restaurant, until her gaze fell towards another table. Wallflower followed Juniper's gaze to see Photo and Sunny, doing her best to maintain a casual look, but who were also visibly giggling with their hands over their mouths and stealing looks in their direction.

Instantly, Juniper's face scrunched, and she rolled her eyes. "I knew it! I swear to... oh, I'll remember this."

"Did you see something?" Wallflower asked.

Juniper chuckled. "No, but I did smell a couple of rats," she said. She turned back to Wallflower. "All righty, then. We've got exactly one smoothie here, and it's a biggie. The worst thing that could happen to either of us is that it gets warm."

Wallflower nodded. "We could order another one, but everyone's backed up as it is. Could take a while."

"Exactly. And I don't know about you, but I've been waiting weeks to try this," Juniper said, standing up on her side of the booth and placing her hands on the table. "Thus, I propose a bold solution... that I totally saw in a movie once." 

She paused, took a deep breath, and added, "Buuuuut, I'll only do it if you're all right with us sitting together? I mean, more together. We've already knocked noggins once today because of me, so, you know. Now I'm wary."

Wallflower didn't have to think about it. "Come on over," she said, giggling.

Juniper smiled wide. "Awesome." 

Wallflower moved over to give Juniper more room. Juniper got up and sat next to her. Both took up their straws, placed them into the glass, looked at each other with slanted smiles, and sipped.

It was the perfect blend of citrus and sugar, of energy and relaxation, carbonated just enough to tickle Wallflower's tongue, but far from overbearingly so. Simply put, it was the best smoothie she'd ever had. Sugarcube Corner had totally outdone themselves. She heard a small "eeeeee" next to her, suggesting Juniper felt the same way. Both girls sat back in in their seats with a satisfied sigh.

"Oh, yeah," Juniper whispered. "That's good smoothie."

"Yeah," Wallflower whispered back. "I could almost be okay with just that sip."

"Yeah?" Juniper said. "So, more for me?"

"Don't you dare."

Laughing, both girls darted back to the glass to take more sips. 

It was a race now, only it wasn't. As both girls became lost in enjoying the drink, Wallflower became all too conscious of their bodies shifting closer together as more of the smoothie disappeared. 

She did her best to ignore how flushed she was feeling—quite frankly, she was annoyed at it. She was just with a new friend. She didn't get many of those. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had one.

Except for Sunset, of course. But Sunset relaxed her. Sunset was a pillar, a port in a storm. Juniper, meanwhile was...

Wallflower looked at her again, out of the corner of her eye.

She's a party. Wallflower hoped her blush wasn't visible this close. The first party I don't mind attending.

Both girls pulled back again, looking at each other. The glass was half empty now. "Just so you know," Juniper said. "We've played right into their hands."

"Whose hands?" Wallflower asked, before seeing two figures moving in her peripheral vision. She looked in front of herself. 

Photo Finish and her companion now sat on the other side of the booth, staring at her and Juniper with sly, toothy grins.
> 05: Like Something Out of A Movie (Pt. 3)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Wallflower took another sip of her smoothie—and Juniper followed suit—the two girls sitting in front of them continued to look on, with shaking bodies and scrunched lips which showed that they were about to utterly burst with laughter.

Wallflower let go of her straw and looked up from her drink. "You're welcome to take a picture. Not only will it last longer," she said, looking right into Photo Finish's gaudy shades, "but isn't that also kind of your forte?"

"While that is true, there are times when Photo Finish absolutely adores just living in the moment!" Photo replied through giggles.

"And this moment is too adorable for words," the other girl said. "Might I suggest attending the sock hop at the gym later? You'll fit right in."

"You're lucky I'm enjoying both this shake and the creative significance of this scene," Juniper said, "otherwise I would wreck you both."

"Now, that is no way to treat your business associates, is it?" Photo said. 

Wallflower looked to Juniper. "Business associates?"

"Fortunately—though sometimes, in once-in-a-blue-moon cases like this, unfortunately," Juniper said with an overdramatic sigh. Gesturing to the two, she continued, "Wallflower, meet my associates, Photo Finish and Sunny Flare. A-kay-a, mah gurlz. They drive me crazy, but I love 'em. Also, we just made a killer movie together!"

"It's a short film about a once-powerful woman of privilege forced out of her media empire, and inching her way towards making a comeback to rebel against the establishment that rejected her in the first place, with the help of friends she made on the outside," Sunny said with a big smile. "I'm the star."

Wallflower saw Juniper blink and then wince. "W-wow," Juniper said. "I mean, when you put it like that..."

"Hey, I've said it before," Sunny said. "I couldn't have acted that movie half as well without your guidance. For multiple reasons."

"And Photo could not have filmed it without your cinematic sense, or Sunny's eye for melodrama!" Photo added. "Photo has not worked so much in the rain in her life." She patted her head with both hands. "Photo would like to do something more upbeat next time, though? Her hair was crying for mercy all through filming."

Juniper, Photo and Sunny laughed. "All of ours were," Juniper said. "But sure, you got it."

"How are the film festival submissions going?" Sunny asked.

"O-oh!" Juniper said, placing her hand behind her head with a nervous laugh. "Got a... couple of rejections, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the number of submissions I sent out. Totally normal." Clearing her throat and regaining her composure, she smiled. "Some folks just don't know greatness when they see it. But I'm not worried one bit, and you shouldn't be, either. We kicked all the butt!"

"Indeed we did! By the way," Photo said, shifting her gaze, "you said your name is Wallflower? Wallflower Blush? She furrowed her brow. "Photo Finish recognizes you, if only vaguely."

"You... you do?" Wallflower asked.

"Yes, but she has no idea from where! Hang on, hang on, Photo will check." Photo opened up her backpack, and took out what Wallflower recognized to be a work-in-progress copy of the CHS yearbook. 

Right. Of course the school's official photographer would have one, Wallflower reasoned. Which meant that things were probably going to get dicey, right about— 

"Mein Gott!"

There it was.

"'Not Pictured'?" Photo gasped at the page before her, turning the book round and round in her hands. "But that is simply not possible! Photo Finish had a checklist of everybody in the school to take her pictures of! And in the end, everybody was checked off!" 

Her mouth slackened, and she looked at Wallflower like a sad puppy. "I... I could not understand how I could have forgotten you."

A memory flashed in Wallflower's mind—the same memory she'd erased from Photo with the Stone over a month ago, when neither of them had been satisfied with how Wallflower's shoot had gone. "It's not your fault. I... tend to be pretty forgettable," Wallflower said, clutching her arm and looking away.

"Nonsense!" Photo slammed the yearbook on the table and pointed skyward. "No one is 'forgettable' in the eyes of Photo Finish! Everyone has a unique life, a unique story to tell. Everyone has hopes, dreams, wishes to connect with the rest of the world!" 

Photo raised her shades, meeting Wallflower's eyes. "I have no doubt in my heart that the same goes for you. Which means you matter just as much as the rest of the students in this school."

"Um. Wow." Wallflower softened, pushing down feelings of guilt. Once again, she'd heard the last sort of words she expected from a CHS student. "Thanks, Photo."

Photo let her shades fall back onto the bridge of her nose. "No thanks are needed. But Photo Finish would like to apologize profusely. Please, let Photo schedule a session so that she can make this right."

Wallflower thought about it. Now that she knew what Photo liked in her pictures—that being, candidness to a fault—perhaps Wallflower could actually deliver it. The first time, she'd just wanted to get in and out, which had had disastrous results for all involved. She nodded. "Okay. Sunset Shimmer and I are part of the yearbook committee, so we're already connected, in a way."

Photo blinked. "You are already on the committee?" She clutched her head. "Now Photo Finish knows she is having the mind problems."

"Don't blame yourself, Photo," Wallflower said, pushing aside another pang of guilt. "Like I said, I can be pretty elusive. It's not your fault."

"Wow, Photo," Sunny said. "I knew you were passionate about your art, but I've never seen this side of you."

Photo nodded. "Photography is about capturing everything about a subject one possibly can. I leave no stone unturned, no story untold, no life unrecorded! But I really would not have even remembered Wallflower's name if Sunset had not told me hours ago." 

Photo stared into space. "Now there is a personal story Photo wishes she had captured in pictures. Sunset used to be awful. But last year, after all of the magical shenanigans," she said, complete with jazz hands, "she threw herself into all of the social whathoosits while being almost impossibly nice!

"None of us wanted to believe her when she said she'd changed... but over time, it stuck. In the end, it turned out she had a lot to offer when she wasn't busy being so angry at the school. And she has been nothing but helpful to Photo, so Photo is always helpful back." She looked at Wallflower. "Talk to Sunset when you want to do your shoot, and Photo will come running, no matter where she is."

"Oh." Sunny leaned against the wall of the booth, looking at Photo with a sly grin. "You'll come running for Sunset, huh? I see how it is."

"N-Nein!" Instantly, Photo went flustered and red-faced. She waved her hands back and forth. "No, no, no, Sunny, Photo means only professionally when it comes to Sunset. For you—"

"I'm kidding, you photogenic goof," Sunny said, hugging Photo and looking at Wallflower. "Anyway, if it wasn't plainly obvious, we didn't order that big single glass to be mean about it. We just like giving Junie a hard time." She looked at Juniper with a wink Wallflower just barely managed to catch. "Especially when it's for her own good."

"I have the worst best-worst-best friends," Juniper said, rolling her eyes. "But seriously, thanks for the good time today. Like, all of today." She sighed. "I know now, I really needed it."

"Of course," Sunny said. "It's been too long since we've seen each other. Like, three whole weeks!"

Juniper did a double take. "Wow, it really has been since the wrap party, huh? I'm so sorry, you guys."

Photo nodded. "Photo and Sunny were getting worried. But we knew you were busy."

"Ahhh, between work, and editing this thing, and getting it submitted everywhere, I just haven't had time to stretch out like I wanna," Juniper said. "But, after I finish cutting the second teaser tonight, I'll be totally free. And hey, I've got some extra cash now that I'm no longer paying festival fees, so your smoothies are on me, along with Wallflower's. Never let it be said that I don't treat my friends right!"

Juniper, Photo and Sunny cheered. Wallflower simply smiled.

If there was one thing she'd learned today, it was that for her, just being part of a cheering group was enough.

---

Juniper stretched her arms as she and Wallflower walked out of the door. "Oh, gosh, that was seriously the most fun I've had all month." She turned to Wallflower. "How about you? Did you have a good time?"

"Definitely," Wallflower said. "Thanks for having me. Though normally I wouldn't meet people so... insistent on buying other people drinks just because of a street accident?"

Juniper shrugged. "Hey, in my business, you're supposed to network, and I try whenever I can, but I'm still sort of..." Juniper looked away. "Not great at it. Hence knocking people halfway unconscious."

"Honestly, I can relate," Wallflower said. "But today, I'd say it was worth it."

"Yeah." Juniper nodded. "I think so, too. You're really fun to talk to." She looked back at Wallflower. "I hope we can do it again."

Wallflower had never heard those words directed at her before in her life. She had to stop herself from floating away. "Maybe it's possible? Where do you go to school?"

"I'm... in-between scholastic pursuits," Juniper said. "Saving up for film school. Right now, I work at Canterlot Cinema most days. You should drop by! I'm always there during the weekend matinee." She hesitated, then added, "Did you say you knew Sunset Shimmer?"

"Yeah," Wallflower said. "Photo was right, she is pretty nice. Do you know her, too?"

"One might say I do, yeah," Juniper said, shifting back and forth from one leg to the other, before hesitating for several more moments. "Hey," she finally said. "Give me a second? I think I left something inside."

"Sure," Wallflower said, watching as Juniper darted back into Sugarcube Corner. Several seconds later, she walked back out, holding her purse. "Yep. Totally forgot the tip." She reached inside her purse, and handed another card to Wallflower. "Also, while I was in there, I realized I gave you the old version of my business card by mistake. You can toss that one out. Make sure to keep this one instead, okay?" she said, flashing the brightest smile Wallflower had seen on her all afternoon.

"Uh, sure."

"Great. Well, I've got to run. Movies wait for no one, and all that. You take care, all right? So long!" Juniper waved as she walked away, briskly.

"I will," Wallflower said in the other direction and giving a small wave of her own. "You take care, too."

Wallflower turned back around, resuming her well-worn path back to her house. As she approached the corner, she looked back... and saw Juniper looking back towards her as well. Both girls sagged with sheepish grins, gave a little wave to each other again, then turned and continued walking. 

Wallflower strode faster, then rounded the corner. Once she did, she leaned against the wall, and looked at the new business card. The cute little Juniper head—as cute as its creator—was still there, along with the same writing, description and all.

She turned the card around.

A phone number was written on the back in green ink.

Wallflower didn't actually melt, but sinking to the ground and hugging her knees with the world's most satisfied smile was close enough. 

Yes.
> 06: Rare Revelations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With lidded eyes and her head resting on her palm, Wallflower looked over to Juniper, who was sitting on the other side of the table from her— 

Wait. 

This wasn't right. 

Well, it was right, as in, she totally was okay with sitting at a table with Juniper, yes. But she specifically remembered the two of them leaving Sugarcube Corner. 

Which this place looked nothing like, she realized, as she looked around.

"Bistro Canterlot" was inscribed across the window beside her in golden cursive—a window that showed a streetlamp-lit city at night. She looked back to Juniper, who was wearing a pressed violet blouse, even dressier than the one she'd been wearing at Sugarcube Corner. "Juniper?" she asked. "What's going on?"

Juniper blinked. "Well, if memory serves, we're on Date Number..." Her face scrunched as she tried to think, until, with an eyeroll and a scoff, she finally consulted her phone. "Eleven? Wow, I really don't have a memory to speak of." 

Juniper looked back at Wallflower, and, with a smile, reached forward. Wallflower reached forward as well, putting forth her hands and allowing Juniper to hold them. 

"Still totally feels like the first, though," Juniper said, sending ripples of flattery throughout Wallflower's body. "Is everything okay?"

"Y-yeah," Wallflower said, still bewildered, but sinking into the moment. "Just... just fine." 

Before either of them could say anything else, an ivory-skinned waitress wearing a buttoned white blouse, black skirt, and purple hair tucked into an elegant bun arrived at their table. Wallflower thought she looked familiar, but couldn't place the face to a name no matter how much she tried. 

"Here you are, darlings," the waitress said in a posh drawl, almost as if she were in a period piece. She placed two large bowls in front of both girls, teeming with dark green leaves, fruit and nuts, and topped with garnish and an olive oil glaze. "Two strawberry spinach salads. Enjoy, and let us know if you need absolutely anything else."

"Thanks," Wallflower said, smiling up at the waitress.

"Indeed, thank you ever so much," Juniper said, handing the waitress a couple of bills with a dramatic flourish. "Here's something extra. Treat yourself on us."

Wallflower saw the waitress strain to keep from squealing. "A hundred thanks, Miss Montage," she said. "Your patronage is always appreciated." She strode off with a spring in her step.

Wallflower raised her fork, ready to dig in. "You didn't have to go with my entrée suggestion," she said.

"Well, duh, of course I didn't have to," Juniper replied. "But like most of your ideas, it sounded awesome from the moment you mentioned it. Besides, what's the worst that happens if I don't like it? End of the world? I think not." She giggled.

"Uh, right," Wallflower said, fighting anxiety tooth and nail. "O-of course not."

"It's settled, then. Here's to plants," Juniper said, raising her fork higher. "Turns out they're more than just good to look at. Their sacrifice this night will not be forgotten!"

Wallflower giggled. "It's not like spinach is planted for vanity gardens. Or even strawberries."

"Fine by me," Juniper said. "More for us."

Wallflower watched Juniper dig into her salad, and bring the fork up to her mouth, almost cripplingly apprehensive of what she would think. In just a few seconds, she would know— 

A massive wall flew in front of her eyes, and all was darkness.

Oh, no, not again. 

This happened way too often. 

---

Rainbow Dash pulled her hand away from Wallflower's eyes. "You guys? I'm, uh, starting to think she's not coming back."

"Wha..." Wallflower opened her eyes. The bistro wasn't there. Juniper wasn't there. Taking both of their places were the Canterlot High School cafeteria, and several of its students.

It took everything Wallflower had not to wail in anguish when it all clicked together: her restaurant date had merely been just another daydream, courtesy of Blush Productions, Ltd. On the bright side—if there even was one—she hadn't accidentally and painfully bumped into any walls this time. Or any people. 

She huffed, looking around. She was still at the lunchroom table that Sunset and her six friends normally sat at—and right now, they were all staring at her with concerned expressions.

Also, her hands were locked around Rarity's. Wallflower yelped, and pulled them away. "Oh my gosh!" she said, cringing. "I am so sorry!"

"Are you alright, dear?" Rarity asked, whereupon the thick voice, the hair and complexion, and the silky fabric Rarity often used for her clothes, allowed Wallflower to put together the rest of what she'd just experienced.

She groaned. This was what the Memory Stone had been made for. She would give anything, right now, to have it back. "I'm not sure anymore," Wallflower whispered.

"Normally I have no problem with people staring, or even a little hand-holding," Rarity said. "But you've been staring through me for the last five minutes." She chuckled. "I was debating whether or not to feel insulted. Surely I must be slightly more interesting than the cafeteria's back walls?"

Wallflower crumpled. "I'm really sorry, Rarity," she said.

Rarity's expression brightened. "Oh, absolutely no harm done." She leaned closer, lidding her eyes. "Especially since I now believe I know exactly what's going on here."

"You..." Wallflower squirmed in her seat. "Y-you do?"

"That look you wore when Rainbow snapped you out of things? I have seen that exact look, on a hundred girls at this school, all for the same reason," Rarity pressed. "If you'd be so kind as to oblige my curiosity—"

"Oh, hey, Wallflower," Sunset said, coming up behind her and grabbing her hand. "Got a few minutes? I've got a couple of yearbook questions I want to ask you." 

Wallflower looked behind her, to a grinning Sunset, who winked so quickly that she almost missed it. She got out of her seat.

Rarity gasped. "Oh, no you don't," she said, standing up as well.

"Sorry, can't wait," Sunset said, walking out of the cafeteria and pulling Wallflower along with her. "Total yearbook emergency, for serious." 

Wallflower followed behind Sunset—walking fast so as to not be dragged along the hallway floors by Sunset's pace—as the two made their way to the yearbook committee room. Once they were both inside, Sunset locked the door, and pulled the blind down over its window. 

"There we go," Sunset said, leaning against a table. "Thought you could use an escape before Rarity started her interrogation. Once she gets wind of even a seed of gossip, she won't stop until she's got the full tree, branches and all."

Wallflower exhaled, then laughed and leaned next to Sunset. "Thanks. For the save, and the plant metaphor."

"Do those plant metaphors say anything about tangled thorns?"

Wallflower froze upon hearing Rarity's voice. The two of them turned to see the door open again, and Rarity standing in front of it, holding up her own key. 

"Oh, how quickly they forget about the second-in-command," Rarity said, closing and re-locking the door behind her. She sauntered towards them. "The Yearbook Committee's Vice President certainly couldn't ignore a yearbook emergency, now, could she?" Rarity sat on a nearby stool, crossing her legs and staring straight at Sunset. "I invented the cut-and-run excuse, Sunset. Give me some credit."  

Sunset sighed. "Well, guess that didn't work."

"No, it didn't." Rarity crossed her arms. "And while I certainly understand Miss Blush's plight, I am now officially hurt. I may love gossip, but I don't spread it with wild abandon—I use such knowledge for my own purposes. That being, to understand people, and those around them." 

"To that end," Rarity continued, looking at Wallflower, "I merely wish to know what is ailing our newest friend." She smirked. "Usually it takes actually eating the school lunch to send someone into that deep of a trance."

"'Our newest friend'?'" Wallflower repeated. She understood Sunset, but why was Rarity of all people giving herself that label?

"Well, yes, of course. If you'll have me." Rarity got up from her stool and walked in front of Wallflower. "I truly apologize for being so forward," she said, placing her hand to her heart. "I champion fashion and expression, which means people are my passion, my profession, my life. So, sometimes I get... excited when a new one enters my field of vision. But the last thing I wanted to do was scare you."

Wallflower nodded. The story certainly checked out—she'd known Rarity to be one of CHS's top socialites. It was why Wallflower had consciously given her a wide berth for years, which had proven to be difficult when Rarity joined the yearbook committee. 

Suffice to say, the Memory Stone had seen lots of uses on Rarity—far more than Wallflower cared to admit to herself, much less out loud. She looked to Sunset, in a silent request for confirmation. 

"It's true," Sunset said, walking next to them both. "Rarity is a great friend. You can trust her as much as you can trust me, or Rainbow, or anyone else in our group." She fed Rarity a sheepish, slouched gaze. "Sorry, Rarity."

"You're forgiven as usual," Rarity said, shoo-ing the issue away with her fingers, then taking both Sunset's hands and Wallflower's. "Even after you told me the whole story about the Memory Stone, it still took me a while to process. But I believe I at last have the gist..." She sighed. "And understand the motivations. From what Sunset has told me, Wallflower, the social waters have been murky for you for years. Believe me, I have absolutely been there."

Suddenly, Wallflower felt as small as a shrub. "You... you have?"

Rarity laughed, let go of Wallflower and Sunset's hands, and paced around the room. "Of course! Mind you, most people have forgotten now, so if you tell anyone I'll deny it, but there was indeed a very long stretch of time where even Rarity was known to be decidedly un-fabulous." Her voice sobered. "That stretch of time being, my birth up until a scant few years ago." 

Rarity stopped, and stared at the door. She reached for her pendant, twirling it between her fingers. "So many days, so many years, I would wake up, but not even want to get out of bed, because I would fail to see the point. Because I knew that the moment I did, I could look forward to a day of being ignored at best, or ridiculed at worst. As far as I saw it, attending school was hardly worth the trouble—to say nothing of trying to share any of myself on a personal level. Honestly, that was what always got me into the worst trouble."

Wallflower gasped, flashing back to her Gardening Club presentation. "That's exactly how I've felt," Wallflower said softly, as Rarity walked back towards her. "For so long, now. It's not that I hate people, but..."

"But receiving scorn and stonewalling, for the simple crime of proclaiming that you are who you are, is insanity-inducing." Rarity took both of Wallflower's hands, and looked into her eyes.

Unable to form words, all Wallflower could do was nod in acknowledgment. Out of the corner of her vision, she saw Rarity and Sunset's pendants glow—the same pendants she now remembered having seen glowing around their necks when she fought Sunset the others with the Memory Stone. 

She felt Sunset gently clasp her arm—and all at once, visions flooded Wallflower's mind, of a younger Rarity being given smug looks of disdain by other younger girls she passed in the hallway. Being splashed by casually-tossed water cups in the girls' bathroom as she experimented with her makeup. Her assignments being tampered with in home ec class—with outfit-ruining results. 

Wallflower opened her eyes, and looked back into Rarity's. For the first time since she'd ever come to know Rarity as a schoolmate, she saw a piercing sadness within them. If not for the last five minutes, Wallflower knew she would have been shocked at the revelation. Instead, there was only understanding. 

"The social end of the scholastic experience is uniquely trying for any girl you care to name. And those for who aren't lucky enough to end up in the prestigious circles, or who are unable to claw their way into them through sheer dedication..." Rarity closed her eyes and sighed. "Contempt breeds. Whether you wish to or not, it so understandably breeds. What you did was wrong, Wallflower. But I understand why."

If Wallflower had been a shrub before, she was the tiniest of sprouts now. Rarity truly did understand. How many more, then, had Wallflower not even given the chance to do the same? How many more people's memories had she erased just because... just because she'd been so angry?

Wallflower exhaled, pushing her guilt down, down, as far down as it could go, as forcibly as she could. "How did you get past it?" she whispered. "The contempt, I mean."

"It's different for everyone, because everyone has to find their own way to do so," Rarity said. "No one can simply reach into your heart and make it so you can handle the pressures of trying to be socially visible. Making friends is hard, keeping them is harder, and you have to find out what works for you." 

Rarity picked up a copy of the yearbook from the nearby desk, opened it up, shuffled to a page, and handed it to Wallflower. Wallflower took it, and found herself looking at Trixie's full-page poster. 

"Some people love the spotlight, regardless of its risks," Rarity said. "Other people prefer to play it safe. Neither way is wrong at all. Though, if you're asking about me, specifically..." She stared off again. "One day I simply woke up and said, 'enough is enough'. I decided I would be who I wanted to be, to share that with others, and whoever didn't like it was worse off. I had to make that decision, if for no other reason than all signs pointed to my career dreams depending on it."

"But make that decision I did, and after much time putting it into practice—searching, again, over the course of years? I found friends willing to stand with me." Rarity squeezed Wallflower's hands, and looked to Sunset, who smiled. "As I see you have, if perhaps in the unlikeliest of ways."

Wallflower smiled back at Sunset, then to Rarity. "Looks like, yeah."

"You never plan for these things, darling, believe me," Rarity said. "But, as I said earlier: if you'll have me, I wish to stand with you, too."

Wallflower blushed with warmth. "At this point, I'll take all the help I can get."

"Excellent," Rarity said letting go of Wallflower's hands, walking away a few steps, then turning around and casting Wallflower a sly, slanted smile. "Because there's still the matter of the episode in the cafeteria. Unless you thought you were going to get out of here without spilling every single bean possible."

Wallflower gulped.
> 07: Wallflower's Butterflies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity chuckled as she paced around the yearbook club room's center counter. 

"Worry not, Wallflower. I'm always gentle with my interrogations. But I would like to start with the one word I heard during your cafeteria reverie, which stood out me ever so much." Rarity stopped, and looked straight at Wallflower. "Or, I should say, the one name."

"W-wait." Wallflower froze again. "I... I-I was talking?"

Rarity laughed. "Darling, you didn't merely talk, you were conversing! It was actually quite fascinating to watch. I only wish I'd been able to join in, but context is queen, and I had none to go on. Now, I know gardening is your passion, so the odds are against me. But when you said 'Juniper'," Rarity continued, stressing the word and causing Wallflower to slouch in embarrassment, "you could have been referring to the plant. Or you could have been referring to the berry. But what are the chances that you have might have been referring to the person?" She stepped closer to Wallflower, causing Wallflower to instinctively step back. "Please tell me you were? Please, for the love of everything, make this interesting for me—"

"Rarity," Sunset said.

"R-right, yes, of course," Rarity said, backing off and straightening her blouse. "Not pressing, not goading. Simply curious. And ever so willing to help, if my intuition is correct, which it always is. Because I know only one 'Juniper'—as does Sunset, and likely the rest of Canterlot City." She took out her phone, swiped her finger a few times across its screen, and showed it to Wallflower. "One 'Montage', of the cinematic persuasion?"

Displayed onscreen was indeed a photo of a smiling Juniper—except, instead of her hair done up in twin ponytails, she was wearing a single long braid. On reflex, Wallflower gasped at the sight—she officially wasn't sure which hairstyle she liked seeing Juniper better in. Quickly, Wallflower put her hand over her mouth—no need to give herself away completely. 

But judging by Rarity's expression, it was already too late. "Exactly the reaction I was hoping for," she said, sidling next to Wallflower, shoulder-to-shoulder. "My good Miss Blush," she said, softly, "are you looking to break into movies?"

"I-I..." Wallflower stammered.

"Don't worry," Sunset said. "Nothing you say leaves this room. Besides, I may already know a couple of these answers ahead of time."

Wallflower stepped back. "W-what do you mean?"

"Juniper... may have texted me a couple of days ago," Sunset said, taking out her own phone.

"She did?" Wallflower darted towards Sunset, making grabbing hands towards her phone, but a giggling Sunset kept it out of reach. "What'd she say about me? What'd she ask? "Did she think I was weird? I just know she thought I was weird."

"Well, that'd be more than I know, then," Sunset said. "She was really just keen on asking me how well I knew you. I told her that you and I more or less just met. Which seemed to... deflate her a bit. She seemed really curious to learn more about you, in general."

"Oh, my gosh..." Wallflower whispered, fingers against her lips. Juniper wanted to know more about her after meeting her? Wallflower was overcome with ripples of apprehension. She'd literally never been in this situation before. What was she supposed to do?

Sunset furrowed her brow. "She also said that she left something with you, and asked me if you got it. Did you? I don't even know what she was talking about."

With a loud gasp, Wallflower rushed back to her backpack, dug inside, and took out Juniper's business card, showing it to the two. She then turned it over to reveal the phone number. Sunset's eyebrows show up. Rarity gasped outright. 

"I take it back! Looks like she's trying to bring the movies to you," Rarity said with a grinning chuckle.

Wallflower sighed and leaned back against the counter. "This is just going to be teasing until lunch is over, isn't it?"

"Oh, far from teasing," Rarity said, leaning next to her. "On the contrary, I'm so happy for you that I just can't help but smile! You've got good taste—Juniper's actually a really nice girl. Well, she is now. There was a bit of an A-to-B road that needed to be traveled first, for certain," she said, shifting her fingers in opposite directions. "But she mellowed out rather nicely."

"How did you two even manage to meet?" Sunset asked, leaning on the counter to Wallflower's other side.

"We... literally bumped into each other on the sidewalk. She was rushing to try out the new smoothie flavor at Sugarcube Corner. After she apologized, she invited me in to have a smoothie on her—I-I mean, with her," Wallflower quickly corrected. "I mean, she paid for it." She swatted at Rarity as the latter giggled more loudly than before. "Oh my god, Rarity, just quit it," she said, stifling her own mirth and struggling to keep her face from burning.

"Oh, right, Lemon-Lime Smoothie Day," Sunset said. "Twilight and I went there that evening on our own—" Sunset paused, looked at Wallflower, then continued. "Anyway, now I wish we had gone earlier. We missed you by hours."

"Might have been too busy for you to get any words in edgewise," Wallflower said. "Photo Finish and... someone from Crystal Prep? They crashed our party."

"Oh, Photo Finish and Sunny Flare," Sunset said. "They're Juniper's friends. Twilight, too, though only the former two get to see her anywhere approaching 'often' because I think they were making a movie together?"

Wallflower nodded. "That's what they said. She mentioned that she was in the movie industry and everything. Well... was. I should have asked her about that."

Rarity and Sunset looked at each other. 

"You, uh, probably should," Rarity said. "Those details aren't ours to share. Still, it sounds like you two had a great time. And from what I saw in the cafeteria, it would appear you think she's nice enough to be around again."

Wallflower thought back to Juniper's chipper, optimistic voice and words. Back to sharing the smoothie, side-by-side. Back to their shared squeals as they connected over plants and TV shows. For the first time in her life, she found herself wishing for some kind of... reverse Memory Stone. One that could play back a single event, over and over, until she was satisfied. 

"She's... she's more than nice." Wallflower turned away, gripping the edge of the table, and closing her eyes with a serene smile. "She likes the colors I like. She loves the hobbies I like. She lives an amazing life—I mean, she's apparently got, like, crazy movie connections. Heck, she's a moviemaker herself." She turned to Sunset. "And she's beyond pretty, Sunset. Like, if you put all three of us together into a smoothie. And then added really hot pink glasses—I mean, hot pink glasses. Because they're pink and really bright."

"Of course," Sunset said, as she and Rarity shook with chuckles.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about her for the last few days. It's kind of driving me nuts. I've never... connected with anyone like that before. I keep dreaming about doing it again, because she..." Wallflower sighed. "She's the first person to maybe make me believe that I'm interesting enough to connect with."

Rarity and Sunset's giggles were gone by now, replaced with empathetic nods. Both of them held Wallflower's hands. 

"Is..." Wallflower whispered with wide eyes, "Is this what it's like to have a friend? Like, a real friend? Or even a..." 

A word came to her, a word she wasn't sure she should use, because even if things had felt that way at the smoothie shop, what right did she have to assume things? She'd had distance-crushes before—everyone did—but never had one almost literally sneak up on her like this. She shook her head. 

"I seriously have no idea. This is... I've never..." Wallflower trailed off, looking for words, before settling on, "I don't know what to do."

Rarity and Sunset looked at each other again. "I wholeheartedly feel that this is something you should follow up on," Rarity said. "Friendships are always best explored up close, rather than analyzed from afar."

"However, since we're talking about exploring connections," Sunset said, "here's the other thing that doesn't add up, at least for me. New Smoothie Day was Tuesday. Today is Friday. You have her number. But Juniper's still texting me about you." She gave Wallflower a concerned look. "Have you talked to her since then?"

Wallflower's look, in response, was like a trapped rabbit. "No," she said meekly.

"Well, that explains the impromptu stargazing," Rarity said. "Absence makes the heart grow more longing."

"Is it okay if I ask why not?" Sunset asked.

"It's... not like I don't want to," Wallflower said. "But every time I reach for my phone to try, something stops me." She sighed and looked away. "Usually me."

Wallflower raised her arm, and plopped it back on the counter. 

"I got as far as putting her number into my contacts, but every time I try and send her a text, I... I get stuck wondering if I even should." She spread her arms in exasperation. "How do you talk to someone that you've... you know. Thought about spending a bunch of alone time with?"

"In my experience," Sunset said, taking one of Wallflower's hands, "saying 'hi' gets you to a lot of places."

Wallflower scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You two know how to say 'hi'. I don't."

"Wallflower," Rarity said, taking her other hand, "finding someone you truly click with is a wonderful thing. And believe me, I know all too well how easy it is to let opportunities like this slip by because I didn't follow up on them."

"It's worse than that," Wallflower said. "Opportunities slip by me even when I try not to let them! No matter what happens, no matter how many times I was able to start over, I—" Wallflower pointed to Sunset's pendant. "You know what? Words won't work. I know what your gem does. Touch me again, and I'll show you."

Sunset tensed. "Are you sure?"

Wallflower nodded. "It's okay. Do it."

Sunset reached out, and touched Wallflower's arm. Wallflower looked up, saw Sunset's eyes glowing with magic, and closed her own. 

She meditated on the countless times where she tried to approach someone, anyone, and was either ignored for her trouble, given apathetic shrugs, told to buzz off, or—worst of all—acknowledged with a friendly smile, leaving her completely frozen and clueless as to what to do next. 

Before she found the Memory Stone, those situations simply resulted in her shuffling away—usually to a nice, safe, empty room, always with the lights turned off. She'd sit on the floor, against the wall, hugging her knees, controlling her breaths, doing her best to forget what she'd just done—the slow, long, hard way. Even after she'd adopted her "peaceful garden" technique, even after cultivating her own garden sanctuary, calming down was always a process.

Then the Memory Stone entered her life, and things became so much easier... or, at least, that was what she'd figured at the time. In reality, the more time passed, the more memories she'd taken away from all of those people who had never asked... the more she realized that she was still stuck with all of them. 

Stuck with so much pain, that she could never share with anyone else.

The guilt, the sadness, the rejection, the heartbreak, all came rushing back at once. Sunset pulled her hand away as a choked sob escaped Wallflower's lips. The two met eyes. Sunset stayed silent.

"Do you see now?" Wallflower said. "Nothing's worked, and it's because of me! I'm..." Wallflower clenched her fists. "I'm not good at people. Not for lack of trying, but I never have been. I had infinite tries with the Memory Stone, Sunset. Infinite. Tries. And now you know what happened to me with those infinite tries! 

"I tried saying hi to you," she said, pointing to Sunset, then Rarity. "I tried saying hi to you, to Trixie, to everyone in this school! And everyone in the schools I went to before it! I tried sharing myself!" Wallflower stepped away, her hand to her heart. "But in the end, every single time, I messed it up! Because I wasn't worth paying attention to! They were right! You were all! Right!"

Sunset stepped forward, gripping both of Wallflower's arms this time. "Wallflower, no—"

"Yes!" Wallflower yanked away, her voice cracking, her body tensing. "Just accept the facts! I did! And after I did, I..." Wallflower deflated just as quickly, her voice muting. "I got so mad when I saw you becoming popular so fast, after being mean for so long. But you earned it, Sunset. I watched you earn it. I watched you earn it years ago too, Rarity. I..." 

She sniffled. The lump in her throat grew larger. Her voice cracked even more. "I'm so sorry, you guys. I've been jealous, and awful, and angry at so many people and I don't know what to do about anything anymore, I—" 

More chokes. More whimpers. More tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. Less will to fight them. 

Until, finally, the will was gone completely.

Before Wallflower knew it, she was in Sunset's arms, burying her face in Sunset's chest, letting out all of the guilt and sadness she didn't have the energy to keep in anymore in a barrage of sniffles and quiet, staccato sobs. 

She only barely felt Sunset's arms wrap around her, or Rarity embrace her from behind as well, as she shut her eyes tight, and welcomed the darkness. 

The same darkness that always embraced the frightened little girl who always ended up running away, to the closest empty room, and locking the door behind herself.

The little girl who always wondered why she could never get it right.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Wallflower couldn't stop saying the words, over and over again. "I don't know what to do. I never did—"

"Shhh," Sunset said, running her fingers through Wallflower's hair. "No more apologizing. No more hating yourself. That's not—" Wallflower felt Sunset's breath hitch. "That's never how we get through this."

"But it's true," Wallflower managed. "I haven't earned this. I haven't earned any of you being so nice to me."

Rarity sighed. "Oh, the number of times I've heard those words since last year."

"You will," Sunset said. "Because you're as special as anybody else."

Wallflower pulled back, wiped her eyes, and looked into Sunset's. "Why do you believe in me so much?"

"Because we remember when we used to ask that question, when other people decided to be our friends," Sunset replied. "So, like I said: no more apologies. You're here to learn. We all are."

"And the first lesson is that there are no perfect first impressions," Rarity said. "No perfect hellos, no perfect conversations. To think otherwise, to plan for otherwise, is folly."

"I don't know about that. Juniper's first impression was pretty perfect," Wallflower said.

Rarity's grin slanted. "Before or after the part where she nearly gave you a concussion?"

Wallflower froze, then chuckled through her sniffles. "Okay, I guess you have a point. I know I wouldn't have been the one to ask her to a smoothie if I'd bumped into her." 

"To be quite honest," Rarity said, "Sunset and I remember a time when that would have applied just as much to Juniper as well."

"What do you mean?" Wallflower asked.

"She doesn't have many friends besides us," Sunset said. "Partly because she doesn't go to CHS, and... partly because of other reasons," Sunset said, fingering her geode. 

Wallflower saw Sunset doing so. She tilted her head. "What kind of reasons?"

"Ones she's moved past," Sunset said. "But which still haunt her. Similar to you and me, actually."

Wallflower's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, no."

"Since she doesn't go to any of the local schools," Rarity said, "it's been harder for her to keep up a group of friends than it is for us. Meaning that, to not be lonely, she has to fight for it, for lack of a better term. You took a big chance by accepting her invitation, and that is to be commended—but believe me, she took just as big a chance by just asking you to join her."

Wallfllower picked up the business card from the counter, looking at it again. Sunset and Rarity looked on with her. "I guess she was happy with the results of her chance-taking after all," Wallflower said.

Rarity nodded. "Now, imagine you put yourself out there for someone... and then they ignored you afterwards. I presume you won't have to imagine very hard, however."

"I—" Wallflower gasped. "Oh no. I've been awful."

"Ah-ah, remember what I said," Sunset said. "You're not awful. And I'm sure Juniper won't think so when you talk to her, either. "

"Yeah," Wallflower said. "Tonight. I'm not letting friendship opportunities slip by. Not anymore."

"Excellent. Do let us know how it goes. I know you have Sunset's number. Here's mine as well," Rarity said, showing Wallflower her phone.

Wallflower smiled up at her new friends. "Thank you. Both of you."

"Of course," Sunset said. "Sharing the love is how we keep it alive."
> 08: Supportive Texts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wearing a fuzzy green bathrobe, Wallflower Blush walked into her bedroom, and sighed. 

A shower should have been exactly what she needed. Usually, as the warm water washed over her body, she did everything she could to allow relaxation to wash over her emotions. To center herself. To imagine herself in a quiet, lonely spring rain in the middle of an endless garden, one with nature and its tranquility. 

Normally that was something she could do, and after doing so, she always felt better and ready to handle the rest of the night, or the next day. 

But she couldn't tonight. 

Today's lunch hour, and its consequences, had hovered over the rest of her thoughts for the rest of the school day, and still did so now. In the end, all she'd had to show for her time under the water was cleanliness and damp hair. Any girl could do that. She huffed in frustration, blowing a few stray strands away from her face. 

Can I really do this? Wallflower asked herself yet again as she got dressed, slipping on a t-shirt and comfortable flower-patterned pajama pants. Sunset and Rarity really believe in me. Heck, it's only been a week and so many people seem to want to be my friend now. 

She sat at her desk, resting her chin in her hands, and staring out the window into the Canterlot City evening skyline. Dusk had just passed, so there weren't any stars out yet for her to wish on. But there would be soon.

Not that she cared. Wishing on stars was childish. She certainly hadn't ever wished on stars for the ability to get someone to notice her. Or to make even a single friend. Certainly not every night since elementary school started.

Maybe the stars were taking their time. Maybe all of her wishes had come in at once. Maybe that was why she now slowly getting all of the friends. It was weird, either way.

It would of course, be so easy to just dismiss it all as "pity friendship" in the wake of the whole Memory Stone affair. Even so, Wallflower considered it a moot point. Pity friends were better than no friends. She'd been there and done the latter all her life. 

But even given all that, Sunset and Rarity still... sound like they believe in me. Like, they really like me. Rainbow and Indigo seemed nice, too. Photo, and Sunny...

And Juniper...

Wallflower bit her lip with a lazy smile. She couldn't remember having as much fun as she'd had talking with Juniper. Mainly because such a time just didn't exist. She had to force herself to not get herself lost in that diner conversation yet again... or how close they'd been during it.

Instead, she turned her head, and eyed her computer monitor, with her lock screen set to a screenshot of her Canterlot High School garden. She rolled her chair to her keyboard, unlocked the computer, and opened her web browser.

Who are you, exactly?

The World Online Movie Database was a few keystrokes away—as was Juniper's profile. The credits weren't glamorous—they all read "Production Assistant" as far as the eye could see—but they were long, starting several years back and coming up to this year's Daring Do movie, where she was curiously listed as simply "Thanks", and nothing else. Still, Wallflower could barely believe what she was seeing. 

Oh gosh. She wasn't lying. Juniper had consistently worked alongside world famous movie director Canter Zoom, for a whole bunch of his productions. How amazing was that?  

Now what do I do? I really did just share a smoothie with an Applewood star. And now I'm supposed to just ring her up like it's nothing?

She got up from her chair, walking around her room—a room dotted with potted plants, and walls painted sky blue for tranquility. They barely helped at the moment.

Okay, Wallflower. Calm down. Just talk to her. Just like Sunset said: all you have to do is say 'hi.' I know saying 'hi' has failed for you a whole bunch of times in the past, but... she's already said she wants to be your friend. 

She glanced over at the potted violets next to her. After looking for several seconds, she turned to face the pot, and glared, hands on hips. 

"What are you looking at? Seriously, why do you look at me like that whenever I pace?"

Silence.

"Yeah, well. You're just jealous you don't have legs."

Wallflower walked over to her bed, picking up her phone from her nightstand, and Juniper's business card. She unlocked her phone, staring at Juniper's number in her contacts. 

After some time, she tilted her head, tensing up. "Oh my god, you guys, give it a rest! I know I'm procrastinating," she said, walking to her full-length closet mirror. "Just... give me a minute. I'm not used to doing this."

She looked in the mirror, suddenly very conscious of her slouched, ground-gazing stance—the same one she always had when walking around school, and even around town. 

I must have looked awful to her. To everyone. Just like every day. No wonder I'm so easy to ignore. She looked at the card in her other hand. Maybe she really did just pity me for how we, uh, technically met.

She raised her phone, ready to send a text... then froze yet again. "Argh!" she said, clutching her head. "Why aren't I better at this?" she said to the empty room. "Why is this so easy for everyone but me?"

Because I've been burned way too many times before. But this time, someone came to me. This is what I wanted, right? I can't throw it away.

Balling her fists, she strode to her bed, sat down, and raised the phone one last time. She pressed the Text button.

No more going in circles. No more hating myself. Juniper took a chance on me. For that alone, I'll step up to meet her. It's... it's how I'd want people to treat me.

She slowly exhaled, and once she was calm again, opened her eyes and brought up her phone's onscreen keyboard. "Hi, Juniper?" she tapped into the phone. "This is Wallflower. We met at the Sweet Shoppe a few days ago?"

She shut her eyes, and hit "Send". There. It was done. Now to wait. But, for how long? What if Juniper was asleep? Or busy? With better friends? Already, Wallflower regretted even trying to send— 

Her phone dinged, three times, in quick succession, snapping her to attention. An "O", an "M", and a "G" were texted, rapid-fire, one after the other. Wallflower couldn't help but giggle. 

"Wallflower!" came the next text, with a red heart beside her name. "How are you?" 

"I'm doing well." Wallflower wrote, doing her best to avoid reading into Juniper's choice of emoji too much. "How about you?"

"Better, now that you're here. Glad you found the number! Been a few days—was wondering if I'd been too subtle about it, lol."

"Nah." Wallflower grinned as she typed. "Just the right amount of subtle." 

A smiley face showed up on her screen. Wallflower furrowed her brow in thought, then texted, "Better? Is everything all right?"

The next text took longer to receive. "Got some more film festival rejections today, that's all." Another right after. "But I've still got half of them out there! I'm not worried."

"Don't be!" Wallflower typed. "From what little I know, film is super competitive. I'm sure one will bite."

No answer. Wallflower decided to take another chance, and type another text.

"I mean... I looked you up. You worked on a bunch of Canter Zoom stuff. You've got the knowledge and experience. If anyone can follow in his footsteps, it's totally you."

More waiting. Finally, she received an answer.

"Legends surrounding the Montage are greatly exaggerated online. In truth, I was a gofer. I got coffees, and smoothies, and handled props and scripts. Until I... didn't anymore."

Wallflower considered asking more about that last part, before Juniper added, "But thank you. I needed to hear that. And don't worry. No way am I giving up. In fact..." 

The next thing Wallflower knew, a HoofTube link showed up in her texts log. "The Other Side: Trailer", it was titled. 

"What's this?" Wallflower asked.

"Watch it." Juniper replied, with a grinning emoji as punctuation.

Wallflower clicked the link, and spent the next few minutes with her mouth agape as she watched several edited scenes of the movie that had been described at Sugarcube Corner. 

It was definitely a drama, especially given Sunny Flare's emphatic performance, shouting to nobody in the rain, while holding nothing but a handbag. She'd heard that Crystal Prep talent were the best at everything, and she was starting to believe it. That said, only Photo Finish knew camera angles like that. They were everywhere, and always moving. Apparently Photo really liked tracking shots. 

She didn't know how to express just how impressed she was in a mere text message when it was all over, but she did her best anyway. "This. Is. Awesome! The girls did so great! Juniper, you directed this? It's seriously amazing! Exaggerated, my butt."

She blushed in embarrassment exactly one second after she sent the message, but it was too late to take it back now.

"Really?" Juniper wrote back after a long pause.

"Really!" Wallflower replied. "That trailer totally did its job. When's the premiere? I wanna go." she said with her own smiling emoji.

Five big hearts showed up in response. "Really wish I could hug you thru this phone."

Before Wallflower realized it, she'd sent: "We can do that in person. Wanna hang out tomorrow?" 

And then came the barrage, all at once.

"!"
"Wow"
"I mean, YES"
"I have work tomorrow"
"But only in the morning"
"Was just going to watch movies on my own but hanging with you sounds WAY better"
"...I mean, uh, sure"

An embarrassed sweatdrop emoji was the last thing sent.

By this time, Wallflower's grin was a big as her bedroom. She kicked her feet up and down, scooted backwards on the bed to lean against the headboard, and hugged her phone close, squealing. 

So this was what it was like.

The phone dinged again. "You remember where I work?"

"Canterlot Cinema, right? Wait, that's the mall." Wallflower tilted her head in realization. "Haven't been to the mall in years, actually. Wow."

Another barrage showed up.

"WHAT" 
"omg"
"we're doin it"
"Junie and Wall's Excellent Mall Adventure"
"no wait"
"MALLFLOWERS"

Wallflower spittake-laughed. Loudly. She fell sideways, lying on the mattress.

"1pm work?" Juniper asked.

"Definitely." Wallflower replied.

"Great!" Another smiley, sandwiched in between two hearts this time. "See you then."

"Yep! G'night."

"Night!"

Wallflower exhaled, affording herself another tiny squeal afterwards. Did I seriously just do what I think I did?

She got off her bed, still in a daze, and walked back to the potted violets on her desk. 

"Guess what? Pretty sure I just asked Juniper out." She planted her palm on the desk, and leered at the violets with a triumphant smile, straight into their pistils. "What do you think of that?"

Silence. 

After several moments, Wallflower's expression soured. She crossed her arms. "Just so you know, I still have several options for replacement plants that don't give me this much lip."

Wallflower sat at her desk. Juniper's movie database profile was still open. Her smiling photo stared at Wallflower. Wallflower stared back, dreamily, her chin in her hand.

"Yeah," she replied to the violets. "It felt... nice."
> 09: Mallflowers (Pt. 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wallflower had always been of two minds about malls.

On the one hand, they were bustling areas of concession. Almost any desire she had in her life could be granted so long as she had a little bit of spending cash, which she fortunately always did. From a tasty meal to a new dress, to gardening supplies and seeds, if Wallflower wanted it, she knew she would find it in a mall, and she appreciated them for that.

On the other hand... well, they were bustling areas of concession. There were people everywhere, usually talking and laughing together, or playing games, or talking about their chosen shopping subjects, or lining up for the cinema. In other words, they were constant reminders of what Wallflower knew she would never have, and entering any mall meant that they would surround her until she left. 

So she'd simply stopped visiting them. She actually couldn't remember the last time she'd bothered setting foot in one.

Neither of those two main aspects had changed, and Wallflower knew it the second she walked into Canterlot Mall. There were still people, and there were still shops aplenty, and she still almost walked right back out before talking herself back in. 

Once she'd gotten ten feet inside, however, she couldn't stop staring. 

Canterlot Mall itself certainly had changed since she'd been here last. It was glitzier, it was noisier, it had more stores, brand new escalators and walkways, there were more people than she was ever used to, though that might have just been because it was officially the weekend, and— 

Oh gosh.

Was that a Cinnamon Paradise she was seeing?

Wallflower's palms flew to her cheeks despite herself as she gazed at the blue and-white snack stand. She'd only ever had a Paradise Bun once, on a family trip to Vanhoover, but had been convinced that that chain would never come to Canterlot. And yet, there it was! The unmistakable sweet scent wafted past her nostrils, making her drool on contact.

But, no. Not yet. 

Wallflower forced herself to not indulge. To stay on mission. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she had someone to meet in one of these places, and she wasn't going to let that someone down. After consulting the mall directory, she made her way to the cinema.

She'd made sure to arrive at the mall half an hour early, just in case she got lost looking for the theater, but it looked like that wasn't going to be a problem—a simple right turn at the center of the first floor revealed red and pink walls lined with bulb lights, and a box office. 

She stood in front of it, marveling for the second time in fifteen minutes. This was where Juniper worked? It made sense, she just hadn't expected so much... flash. Given Juniper, however, maybe she should have. 

She took a deep breath, then walked inside, putting on a smile. It took effort on her part, but at least, for once, it was genuine.

Upon entering the cinema proper, she looked around for Juniper. It wasn't a hard task—there were only a few customers here and there. Which made sense. 1:00pm was technically still matinee territory. 

Her gaze settled on the concession stand, where she saw telltale green bangs swishing behind the counter. She made her way towards it, and stood at the back of the line. There were two people in front of her, but they were served quickly enough. 

"All right, here's your Nacho Surprise, Candy Mountain, and, uh, diet colas," she heard Juniper say to the couple of girls in front of her—one aqua-skinned, and one ivory-skinned, wearing punk and pop hairstyles and clothes, respectively. Wallflower recognized them vaguely as Canterlot High students. "Enjoy the show." 

Juniper's voice strained to sound enthusiastic, as if she would just as soon throw all of the food she'd just given the two girls. She turned around to fiddle with the fountain drink dispenser as they left, sighing seconds later. 

Wallflower checked—there was nobody behind her. Good. They were alone. She walked to the front of the counter, standing until Juniper turned back around. When Juniper did, Wallflower smiled and waved. 

"Hi, Welcome to Canterlot Cinema, how can I help—" was as far as Juniper got before she saw who was in front of her. She stared for a few moments, then gasped, loud enough to cause the boy playing the catcher machine at the other end of the hall to turn his head in notice. 

With wild eyes and a contorted face, Juniper stretched out her palms in front of Wallflower. "Don't look at me! Don't look at meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" she cried in a shaky voice.

Wallflower almost jumped back—this was not the reaction she'd expected. "W-wait, what? Why not?"

"What are you talking about? I'm hideous! Hideous beyond all recognition!" Juniper kept up the melodrama, turning to the side and placing the back of her hand across her forehead. "Oh, if only you hadn't seen me at my worst! If only I had been able to keep up my farcical image of a beautiful, jet-setting director for a few more days! But now you know the truth—and lo, as consequence, we must part, forevermore."

Wallflower blinked, doing her best not to laugh. "You're kidding, right?"

Juniper turned back around, relaxed, and grinned. "Only by half. I mean, I did invite you here. I signed up for this." She gestured around herself. "Welcome... to the Day Job." She rolled her eyes, and tugged at her red and yellow striped apron. "That said, I really do hate this uniform. It's... it's all tacky and dumb and clashes with every color I actually like."

"Really?" Wallflower said, casting her gaze to the hat atop Juniper's head, which bore a red-and-yellow design of film reels overlapping each other. "Because I think that hat is awfully cute." 

Juniper blinked, fingering the hat. "Are you serious? I mean, 'Functional,' I'll believe, 'not as bad as the apron', I'll believe harder... but 'cute'?"

"Totally serious." Wallflower nodded. "Not only is it just a cute design, it really does go with your hair." She took out her phone, and showed Juniper a picture of red and yellow tulip arrangements surrounded by grass. "Just saying: if you were a garden, you'd look kind of perfect." 

Wallflower looked up at Juniper with a smile and a shared blush. "Not that you already don't. And I'm glad you're not a garden. I can rarely get my plants to talk back." She winked at Juniper, while making sure not to show how mystified she was at herself. Seriously, just where were these words and actions coming from? Had they been in her all this time?

Juniper took off her hat, holding it in her hands as she looked it over. "Wow. Um. Actually never looked it at that way." She smiled back at Wallflower, slouching and blushing deeper. "Well, thanks. I'll, uh, just think of flowers whenever I change for shifts from now on, I guess?" 

Wallflower giggled. "Hey, always works for me. As for the apron, it goes pretty well with the popcorn popper, at least." She pointed towards said popper behind and to the side of Juniper, which was also red-and-yellow-striped... and currently also overflowing, for some reason. "By the way, is it supposed to do that?"

"Ack!" Juniper said, this time with real panic. She rushed to turn off the machine, then scrambled to contain the overflow in large concession buckets. Finally, she fetched a broom and dustpan to pick up what was on the floor. 

"Ugh, I hate popcorn," Juniper said, rolling her eyes. "I never did until I started working here. But now? Worst. Snack. Ever."

Wallflower winced. "Sorry about that. I guess I really did show up here a little too early, huh?"

"What? Nononononono, no, there's nothing to apologize about!" Juniper smiled again. "If anything, it makes me really happy to know someone's actually anxious to see me. Especially when it's for something other than complaining why their nachos are cold." 

Juniper walked around the counter, placed the contents of the dustpan in the trash, then placed her other hand on Wallflower's shoulder. "I've still got ten minutes left on my shift, but I'll ask if I can get off a little early. Wait here until I get changed back into my good clothes, then it's just you and me. Okay?"

Wallflower nodded. "Okay."

She locked her hands behind herself, finding it impossible to shake the light feeling in her heart as she watched Juniper walk to the back rooms.

She could already tell: today was going to be a good day.
> 10: Mallflowers (Pt. 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Wallflower told Juniper about her not having been to Canterlot Mall in years, along with her surprise upon seeing how things had changed, Juniper offered to give Wallflower the grand tour. Wallflower had accepted without a second thought.

And without knowing that when Juniper said "grand tour," she'd seriously meant grand tour. An hour and a half later, they were still inside. It turned out Canterlot Mall was larger than Wallflower ever would have guessed. Tons of stores and restaurants, with every comfort of life a Canterlot resident could ask for, lay within reach of the both of them, their goods and services ready for the purchasing with whatever money both girls could spare. Which wasn't much at the moment, so the time-honored tradition of window-shopping would have to do.

As the two took the escalator back down to the first floor, Juniper sighed wistfully. "It's kind of retro, isn't it? I mean, this whole 'hanging out at the mall' thing we're doing. I see a few people our age here, but nowhere near as many teenagers as I used to see growing up."

"I... wouldn't know," Wallflower said. "The mall was never a choice hangout spot for me. I didn't even really use it for shopping, either." 

"Which still throws me for a total loop," Juniper said. "I mean, where do you get your clothes?"

Wallflower shrugged. "Not the mall?" She looked down at her basic jeans and striped earth-toned shirt. "I don't exactly tend to dress very flashy." She looked up at Juniper with an apologetic smile. 

Juniper smiled back, and nodded. "Hey, you won't find any judgment from me. Being an indie director kind of dictates you live the frugal life. Especially when film festival fees enter the picture. Ask me about living off of leftovers and ramen cups. The Montage life is one of intense culinary struggle," she said, once more putting her hand to her head and using her best melodramatic voice.

Wallflower giggled. "Maybe I can help fix that. I learned to make a whole bunch of awesome dishes just from growing my own fruits and veggies in my backyard. Making my own recipes is how I've been able to save my sanity."

"Whoa, I never even thought about that," Juniper said. "Seriously?"

Wallflower nodded. "Seriously. You haven't lived until you've had my Garden Stew. Which you're welcome to, if-slash-when we ever end up at one of each other's houses."

Wallflower could see Juniper's eyes actually light up. "That would be amazing! My mouth's watering already. Sheesh, we pretty much just met, and you're already too good to me."

With a blush, Wallflower gestured at her surroundings. "It's the least I can do for you indulging me like you have this whole time."

"What, are you kidding? I'm glad to help you make up for lost time! Besides, I can't believe you didn't know where the Multi-Tron was," Juniper said, pointing to a nearby rack of televisions set up to play a single image collectively on their screens. "Heck, I'm surprised you found the theater." She pulled the wrist of her blouse, sniffing. "Still kind of regretting the decision to meet there. I don't smell too much like popcorn, do I?" 

Wallflower shrugged. "I like popcorn."

Juniper laughed. "That doesn't help me! But yeah, totally happy to oblige. Besides, it helps that I know this place like the back of my..." Juniper trailed off, her jubilant look gradually sobering.

Wallflower noticed. "Everything all right?"

"Y-yeah," Juniper said with a faraway stare. "Totally just had a flashback for a second there. Not a great one, either."

Wallflower mustered up all of her courage to look at Juniper and ask, "Do you want to talk about it? I'm... no stranger to having memories I wouldn't like going back to."

Wallflower felt a hand clasp her own, sending heated ripples coursing through her, from top to bottom. It was all she could do to not show it outwardly. She looked at Juniper with wide eyes. 

Juniper looked back. "Not right now," she said, her smile having returned. "Having too much fun."

"Heeeeeey, Junieeee!" an energetic voice called out to them as they got off the escalator.

"Huh?" Juniper said, as the two located the voice—a pink girl with long green hair, wearing a blue jacket and jeans, as well as over-ear headphones, waving at them from one of the shop outlets. "Whoa! Speaking of fun: heeeeey, Zestyyyyyyy!" Waving back, Juniper walked over to the girl. Wallflower followed, still holding Juniper's hand.

"Lemon Zest, this is Wallflower Blush," Juniper said as they walked up to the former. "Wallflower Blush, Lemon Zest. She's one of Sunny Flare's friends. I have never met a harder rocker."

"And ya never will!" Lemon said, headbanging for a couple of seconds before launching herself into hugging Wallflower. "Oh wow, it's so cool to meet you! When Junie told me she actually made a new friend completely on her own, I was like, 'get outta this city and never come back.'" Lemon Zest let go of Wallflower, and stepped back. "Then Sunny told me it was totally by accident, and the world made sense again," she finished, laughing.

"Oh, sure, laugh it up," Juniper said, as she and Wallflower looked around the outlet they were standing in front of. "Now I remember this place. Wasn't this the old karaoke center? What's going on here now?" She looked up at the sign above the outlet. "'Make My Video?'"

"Heck yeah," Lemon said, pumping a fist. "Totally brand new business venture! Some people took the old karaoke place that got closed down—y'know, 'cause the ones in Manehattan are way more popular—installed some green screens, and now you can make your own music video!" Lemon spread her arms wide. It's photo booths, but, like, welcome to the next level photo booths! So yeah, we work here now."

Wallflower gaped. That didn't sound entirely awful. As she tried to imagine just what such a booth would be like, she heard Juniper groan.

"Zesty, honey, I love you," Juniper said, "but I keep telling you, you gotta temper your expectations with some of these jobs you take. You can't be sure that this'll catch on. Especially in Current Year." She held up her phone, displaying online store listings on its screen. "There are apps now that can practically do the same thing."

"Yeah, but phone camera apps are fuzzy on their best days. Boring, too," said another girl, walking out of the door behind Lemon. Wallflower recognized her instantly—her wild blue hair, and striking white-and-magenta ensemble, complete with shades flamboyant enough to rival Photo Finish's, had always been the talk of the school. 

There was a point where Wallflower had briefly considered dressing like her, just for attention, before she thought better of it. Vinyl Scratch was the school DJ, and a trendsetter besides. Wallflower would have just been seen as copying.

"Besides, we do all the hard setup work for you," Vinyl went on. "You don't so much 'make your video' so much as you choose some settings out here, then get inside, and belt your voice out. Then you come back out and, boom." She pointed at Juniper with both index fingers. "You're show business."

"I think I'm offended," Juniper said, with a wink. "But seriously, I wish you all the best. I'm just wary. I..." Juniper took a deep breath. "I know how easy it is for people to dismiss otherwise good or fun ideas on a whim, you know?"

"Yeah, we might." Lemon huffed. "Pon-3 and I are still hurting from Music Pizza." She and Vinyl sucked in their breaths, and exhaled. "The world will never know what they lost," Lemon continued, in a faraway voice.

Vinyl stepped up to the others. "But that doesn't mean Team Harmonix is giving up," she said, grinning at Lemon, and meeting her with a fistbump. "Music is everywhere. Whether it's one person or a thousand, anyone we can help to feel it like we do is a victory."

"So, you wanna give this a try?" Lemon asked Juniper. "I mean, you're already an actress-y, director-y-type person!"

"Yeah, about that." Juniper cringed. "Director. Actress. That's where my resume ends. I don't sing. Not on my worst days. Which, when I'm singing, are my best days. Besides, whoever heard of a film director touching a music video, or vice versa?" Juniper chuckled. "Just sounds like a recipe for a bad final product either way."

"Awwww," Wallflower said, giving Juniper a teasing look. "I'd love to hear you sing."

"Nnnnope." Juniper giggled. "Not happening. I know my limits. Juniper Montage has already gone viral once for a travesty in this very mall, and that's never happening again. We'll totally spread the word about your booth, though."

"Cool deal," Vinyl said, adjusting her shades. "We prefer willing customers, anyway."

"Of course," Juniper said, taking a few steps away from the store. "Anyway, I've got someone who I'm still showing a good time, soooo..." She took a few more steps. "You coming, Wallflower?"

It took Wallflower until exactly that moment to realize that she was still fixed on the spot. Still staring at the store. 

A memory came to her. One that, under different circumstances, she knew she would have enjoyed even more than she had in the original moment. At least, she'd thought so for the last two weeks. Now she was inspired to find out. "Hey, Vinyl," she said, "how many people can actually see these screens you've got set up?"

"Can be everyone." Vinyl shrugged. "Can be no one. You choose. There's only one master screen inside." She pointed to the televisions lining the windows. "We can turn off all the monitors that broadcast out here, for people who prefer to be a little more private." She flashed a wide smile. "Or intimate."

Juniper came back. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I... I think I want to try this." Wallflower reached into her backpack, and gave a thumb drive to Lemon. "Use the track on here, and definitely turn the outside screens off." She glanced at Juniper before adding, "This is for an audience of one."

"Whoa," Lemon said, her voice communicating surprise. "You can sing?"

Vinyl looked just as surprised. "You can sing?"

Juniper looked the most surprised of all. "You can sing?"

"I can talk," Wallflower said, looking at the other girls as if they'd turned into space aliens. The tiniest bit of her was already starting to wonder if this was a bad idea. "Singing is just talking with different vibrational manipulation and timing. Anyone can do it. Just takes practice to do it well."

"Right, yeah! Sorry about the impromptu interrogation," Juniper said. "I mean, I think you being able to sing is awesome! I just didn't see this coming." She walked back to Wallflower, and looked at her with a smirk. "You're just full of surprises, ain't you?"

Wallflower smiled back. "Only because most people don't look in my direction."

Juniper took Wallflower's hand again. "You won't have to worry about that with me." 

Fighting a heated blush, Wallflower followed Vinyl and Lemon into the shop. It looked like walking into a video store from decades ago, with retro-futuristic multi-colored lines lining dark fabric walls. The four made their way to a large control panel near the rear eastern wall, full of buttons lining the walls, and a display screen on top. 

"All righty!" Lemon said. "Now, the first step is to pick your motif. You know. What you want the video to look like while you're singing. Where you wanna be." She pressed buttons, one after the other, causing various loops of stock footage to play on the screen above. "You've got laserscape, cityscape, country and western, nature garden, high school, Neighponese high school—"

Wallflower hit a particular button without a second thought.

"You have selected: 'Nature'," Lemon said in a mock phone menu voice. She pressed a red button to the right, and gestured to the wall on the other side of the store. It slid inward and to the side, revealing an opening with steam coming out of it. "Hee. Like the smoke machine? It was my idea."

Juniper gave a thumbs-up. "I'm always down for special effects. All right, hon, the rest is up to you. 'Knock 'em dead' is what I would say if you had an audience, but since you turned 'em off..." Juniper nodded. "Yeah. Just go have fun."

Wallflower nodded back. "Thanks. I will." 

She stepped into the opening, through the smoke, and found herself in a bare room painted a rich green, not unlike the ones she'd seen in various movie special features. 

Then she looked up at the television above her, and her heart jumped at the sight of her headless self. "What the..." she gasped, stepping back. Her clothes moved as well, showing that she had no hands, either. She turned away from the screen, covering her eyes. "What's going on?"

Wallflower heard Juniper's voice through the booth's PA system. "Oh my god, you didn't. You did not make the noobest mistake imaginable. Oh my god, I didn't catch the noobest mistake imaginable, either!"

"You sent her to your room, Pon-3!" Lemon said.

"Heh. Yep, I did that. My bad," Vinyl said. "Hang on, we planned for this the moment we found out Zest couldn't use the thing we built this place for." A part of the green in front of Wallflower wall slid to one side. "Go through there. Sorry about no smoke effects this time." 

Making sure to not look back at the television, Wallflower went through the opening, and found herself in a room painted a cool blue. Slowly, she looked up at the screen with squinted eyes, sighing in relief when she saw all of herself visible against a forest backdrop.

"There we go," Lemon said. "Now you're in my house." After a beat of realization, Lemon wailed, "I can't use either room today! Vinyl! Why didn't you warn me?" 

"I didn't dress you this morning before you left the house, dude! Why are you blaming me?"

"Can we argue about music video fashion later?" Juniper said. "She's ready!"

Uh, sure. "Ready" is a word, I guess. Wallflower looked around the empty, silent, somewhat dimmed blue room, intimidation sinking with in every second. She was alone again. Alone again like always. But for some reason this loneliness was... smothering. It was harder to take breaths. 

It didn't take her long to realize why: the room wasn't only empty, it was bare. It was nothing. 

It was lifeless. Devoid of any connection Wallflower could possibly make—not even a single plant.

She inhaled deeply, taking a couple of steps back, wondering if she'd look strange if she asked Juniper to just... just talk to her. 

I should like this. Why do I feel so cold? Why do I feel so— 

The room darkened, even though looking up to confirmed to Wallflower that the lights hadn't changed one bit. 

Her mind's eye flashed back to the little girl, locked in the room, by her lonesome, simultaneously escaping from the world and hating the fact that she constantly ran from it. She stepped back towards to the wall, wanting to do nothing more than to lean against it, and curl in on herself.

Her hands hit the wall. Halfway there. It didn't help.

This was a mistake. This was the worst mistake. Even if it's just three people, why did I ask to indulge myself? Why did I ask to do something I wanted to do?

She froze, paralyzed by a memory that no one shared, of herself on the school stage, met by dozens of disapproving looks from her so-called "fellow" students.

All I'm going to do is make a fool of myself, all over again! It's going to be me, crying in a corner, just like always, and everyone will know, Juniper will know— 

Her phone dinged, cutting through her fears. She took it out of her pocket, and read Juniper's text. "Hey. Are you okay in there?"

Wallflower typed a frantic reply, her heart still pounding. "I think I might have just bitten off more than I can chew here. I'm so sorry. I always do this."

Several moments passed before Juniper's next reply—one which threw Wallflower for a loop.

"Why are you apologizing for being yourself? I saw you outside. This place was calling to you hardcore. You came in here to embrace it, right?"

Wallflower nodded as she typed. "But, whenever I do... no one ever cares but me."

The trill of instruments wafted through the room. High, melodic, slightly technological notes, flowing with reassurance and purpose, called out to her. Soon after, Juniper's voice joined them, as soft as she could muster through a public address system.

"There are only three people watching you right now, Wallflower," Juniper said. "Two of them are just as passionate about music as you clearly are, and the third... just thinks you're amazing. All three of us can't wait to hear what you've got. And if what that is means something special to you, too, then all the better.

"Director Montage has your back," Juniper finished. "We all do. So smile for the camera."   

Wallflower smiled, put her phone back in her pocket, and looked ahead of her. A spark of newfound determination pulsed within her, and she grasped onto it for all she was worth.

Thanks, Juniper.

She closed her eyes.

Clear the mind. Plant its soil with positive things. 

Wallflower opened her eyes, and stepped forward. She spied a microphone resting on a hook under the television. She walked further towards it, as if it were a lighthouse in a storm.

Remove the weeds. Keep the flowers. 

The notes were the preamble of the track she'd given Vinyl, which meant that it was almost time. In less than half a minute, she would have to do this, no matter what.

Let them bloom... then let yourself bloom as well. 

Wallflower's heart slowed to normal. She straightened up, reached up, and took the microphone off of its hook, raising it to her lips.

Be one with the garden... then be a garden yourself.

It was time.

She let her voice go.

"You don't see me fitting in, I'm sitting here alone,
Right beside my shadow, always on my own..."

She continued the song, looking back up to the display. The forest shifted to a meadow as she sang, then later shifted again to a garden full of flowers. The backdrops were perfectly serviceable, Wallflower thought, and the blue-screen illusion was such as she looked as if she were actually singing on location. Whenever silly panning tricks weren't going on, anyway.

They were all perfectly fine. And she knew she could do worlds better.

Wallflower closed her eyes. 

Within moments, she was walking in the midst of a perfectly-cut grass meadow, the breeze blowing in her face and through her hair. She sang her sadness, her grievances, her lamentations, her lot in life, with a strength utterly betraying the mood that her lyrics about lifetime loneliness conveyed.

And as the song's chorus approached in a crescendo, she became one with the lyrics, the notes, the song.

Her song.

"I'm invisible! Invisible! A droplet in the mist!
Invisible! Invisible! It's like I don't exist!"

Force. Clarity. Anger in the face of cornered reservation. She spun her heels, stood with her feet slightly apart, raised her head and held the microphone like her life depended on it, no longer caring who was there. 

She sang in her room. She sang in the halls of Canterlot High School. She sang on top of one of Sugarcube Corner's booth tables, with screaming fans below her. She looked down at the crowd—recognizing a twin-ponytailed girl with pink glasses, looking at her with shining eyes. 

She reached her hand down. Juniper reached up and clasped it, allowing Wallflower to pull her up and join her in a duet for the song's final verses, its final movements, its final stomp on the ground, resulting in fireworks.

The music finished, and she snapped awake, panting and the slightest bit and sweaty, as the lights brightened back to life. 

And she welcomed silence back into her world.





After several recuperative seconds, Wallflower saw a piece of the wall behind her open, with Juniper standing in the doorway. "Oh, good," she said, more to herself than Juniper. "I was wondering how we were going to get out of here."

Juniper didn't reply. Her lips were open and static as she stared at Wallflower, without moving a muscle. 

"Juniper? A-are you okay?" Wallflower asked, taking small steps towards her. "Did... did I do something wrong?"

Wordlessly, Juniper walked up to Wallflower. When she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around Wallflower in an outright cradle, resting her head on Wallflower's shoulder.

"You just sang so much of my life," she heard Juniper whisper in her ear. "I didn't know it was yours too."

"Y-yeah," Wallflower said, hugging back. This close, Juniper still smelled like popcorn. Wallflower still liked it. "I think, in a way," she said, not knowing where the words were coming from, "we might always be."

Juniper stepped away, slowly, revealing tiny telltale smudges under her eyes. "Yeah," she said. "That's the secret. Everyone feels alone. It's just that... some people are better at acting like they're not."

Wallflower nodded, wiping her eyes. "Mm-hmm."

"Sorry." Juniper squeezed Wallflower's hands, her eyes wide and appreciative as she looked into her friend's. "Pretty sure I took things to a weird place just now. Lemme make up for it?"

"There's nothing to apologize for," Wallflower said. "But sure. Let's get out of here."
> 11: Mallflowers (Pt. 3)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Juniper, Lemon, Vinyl and Wallflower stood in front of Make My Video's lobby screen, watching Wallflower's completed music video. It was just the same as Wallflower had seen inside the booth, with her moving dramatically against several shifting backdrops of natural greenery. 

"This is the cheesiest, hokiest, most retro thing ever," Juniper said, with a huge smile on her face. "I kind of love it."

Wallflower considered sinking through the floor in embarrassment. "I kind of hate it."

Juniper wrapped her arm around Wallflower. "Of course you do! Every actress hates how they look in front of the camera once the take's over. But trust me, no one else ever notices. She nodded to her left. "Some people might like it a little too much."

Wallflower followed Juniper's gaze towards Vinyl and Lemon. They two stared, entranced, at the music video while holding studio headphones to their ears. They bobbed their heads to the music, while looking... really into it. Wallflower dared not ask.

The video finished, with Wallflower jumping and stomping in place. After weathering one more impulse to sink through the floor, she looked over at Vinyl and Lemon again. They'd stopped bobbing, but were still staring into space.

"That... was... killer," Lemon said, her voice just as spaced out as her gaze. 

"Yeah," Vinyl added. "What she said."

Wallflower did a double-take. "You're being serious?"

Vinyl nodded. "We've got kind of an ulterior motive going on with this place. People come in here, karaoke their brains out, and we don't have to pay to host a multinational TV reality show with snarky judges. Put another way, this place is how we find out who in Pedestria's got talent." Vinyl put her headphones down on the counter, and walked to Wallflower. "And you have totally got talent."

"You're kind of the only one we've found who does," Lemon chimed in. "Your singing voice is awesome—and, dude, that track? That was, like, liquid lemonade going into my ears! With all the sugar!"

"Lemonade is liquid, hon," Vinyl said. 

Lemon blinked. "Oh, right. Yeah. Well, doesn't change anything."

Vinyl held up a finger, then let it down with an exhale. "Yeah, guess not." She turned back to Wallflower. "So, spill. You a ringer in disguise? Some pro secretly visiting our booth to get back to their amateur roots?"

Wallflower shook her head. "I just like singing. And I composed that track in my spare time," she said.

"Wouldja check out this chick?" Juniper said with a cackle. "Humble bragging all over the place."

"S-shut up!" Wallflower's face flushed red, and she elbowed Juniper, who kept laughing. "I'm totally not!" 

"Either way," Vinyl said, reaching grabbing Wallflower's flash drive from off the counter and giving to back to her, "I know a good sound when I see it. You could seriously get big with stuff like this in your arsenal." Vinyl tilted down her shades, just enough for Wallflower to see magenta eyes staring into hers. "If you wanted."

For the briefest of moments, Wallflower flashed back to her fantasy of singing live in front of a massive Sugarcube Corner audience. She closed her eyes, allowing her to relax into it for just a few more precious seconds. It was a very nice fantasy, one that she'd never thought she'd been capable of—and as far as fantasies were concerned, she was capable of a lot.

But a fantasy was all it was. As much as she wanted to believe Vinyl's words, real life presented overwhelming evidence to the contrary. She held the drive back out to Vinyl. 

"If it helps? Since you seem to like the song so much, go ahead and have it. It's the least I can do for..." 

Wallflower trailed off, realizing just in time that "repeatedly wiping your memory so you kept playing the songs I actually liked at what few gatherings I attended" might have ruined the moment just a little bit. With an inward sigh, she forced a smile, and righted her conversational ship. "From one musician to another. Just remember when Team Harmonix makes it big, to remember the little people you met on the way, and we'll call it even."

Vinyl grinned back, and took the drive. In return, she grabbed a business card from the counter and gave it to Wallflower. "Heh. No way we're waiting that long. Whenever you want samples from us, or even a score, just shine the signal. You can use the info on that card, or just ring up Sunset. Either one works."

"It's the same offer we give your girlfriend for her movies," Lemon said, also grinning, "but I get the feeling we'd have a lot more fun with you."

"Oh my goodness, favoritism all over the place," Juniper said, grabbing Wallflower's arm with both of her hands. "Are you ready to go? I'm ready to go."

"I guess we're going," Wallflower said, waving as Juniper tugged her out of the store. "It was nice meeting the both of you."

"Stay melodic, you guys!" Lemon said waving back before turning to Vinyl. "Oh my gosh, we could totally use that as a slogan!"

Vinyl didn't look very impressed. "Meh. I feel like it's only halfway there."

"Whaddaya mean, 'halfway there'?" Lemon flailed her arms. "It's literally everything we stand for!"

"Exactly." Vinyl leant back against the store's counter. "It means more to us than it will to anyone coming off the street."

"Oh yeah? You wanna put it to the test? Wait here, 'cause I'm gonna go find someone off the street right..." Lemon's voice trailed off as Wallflower walked out of earshot.





It mercifully only took a couple of minutes before Wallflower could think again. 

"That... was an experience," Wallflower said. "I'll probably never do it again, but I'm glad I gave it a shot. Vinyl and Lemon are really nice, too." She turned to Juniper. "Even if they seem to be able to wear you down."

"Whaaaat?" Juniper waved her hand dismissively. "Nah. I mean, Lemon's loud, and Vinyl's almost too Zen, but I wouldn't give either of those things up for the world. That's just who they are, and who they are makes 'em great." Juniper chuckled. "I just make sure to give them as much heck as they give me. Like with Photo and Sunny, we've got a really cool working relationship. Just helps that I like 'em as people, too."

Wallflower nodded. "I'm starting to think that's part of your secret to living life."

"Pretty much." Juniper sighed. "Beats the old way, lemme tell ya. But yeah, that whole music video thing was totally, seriously, amazing! Way better than I was expecting. Not to mention, the more I'm around you, the more I find out that there's way more to you than meets the eye." She fed Wallflower a slanted grin. "Not that what meets the eye is any slouch."

Another minute, another blush. Wallflower was beginning to wonder if her parents had simply suffered an overwhelming bout of serendipity when they named her.

"But seriously, though, you've got one fantastic set of pipes. To the point where I'm pretty sure you've got Vinyl and Lemon wanting to be your bodyguard," Juniper said. "Were you ever in glee club at CHS? I feel like Sunset or Photo would have told me if you were, but it never came up."

"I tried out," Wallflower said. "Once. Just to see how I'd do."

"Yeah?" Juniper said. "So how did you do?"

Wallflower shrugged. "It was freshman year, so I was awful. Fortunately, I'm a pretty forgettable girl, so it's not like anyone noticed for long. I was just another drop in the pond. Besides, Photo and Sunset, though, even back then, always had their own..." 

Wallflower thought of her past run-ins with both girls during freshman year at Canterlot High. Sunset, of course, was still an unholy terror back then, and would be utterly committed to that role for a few years yet. Meanwhile, Photo had even less self-control back then, constantly getting in peoples' faces to capture the right frame, as well as running late to our outright missing classes to take photos of scenery and birds. 

"They kept busy with their own things," Wallflower finished. "But yeah, after that, I practiced a bunch. Even though I flubbed tryouts, I still realized that music was one of my loves. By the time I got good at singing, though, I didn't really feel..."

Wallflower trailed off upon noticing that she was alone. She looked back to see Juniper behind her, wearing a pensive, thoughtful expression. "What's going on?" she asked, walking back.

"You keep using that word," Juniper said, staring half at Wallflower, and half through her.

Wallflower tilted her head. "What word?"

"'Forgettable'. It keeps coming up whenever I see you." Juniper stepped closer. "I don't think it means what you think it means. If you don't mind my saying so."

Wallflower bristled, grasping her arm and looking away. "I actually kind of do."

Juniper shook her head. "Hey, I'm not about to drop some massive lecture on you. But I am worried. 'Cause I've done that dance. It caused me to make some really bad life choices. 

"Back in the video booth, that look you had? I know that look, because I've had that look. I've even sang your song. When nobody was looking, of course. But it was years before I made any friends who would tell me that it was worth it to be myself."

Wallflower hesitated for several moments before saying, "It's been a lot of years for me, too."

Juniper sighed, and took Wallflower's hands. Wallflower didn't pull back. Their eyes connected, and Wallflower saw nothing but concern and caring in Juniper's. Wallflower could also tell that Juniper was doing everything in her power to make sure those eyes stayed dry.

Which was, at the moment, yet another thing Wallflower saw that they had in common. 

"Look, all I'm trying to say is... granted, I've only known you for a week, but still," Juniper said. "You may say you're 'forgettable', but I have yet to see a single thing about you that proves it. Meanwhile, I've loved hanging out with you today, I loved hanging out with you last week, and... I'd really like to do it again. I-if it's okay with you, I mean."

Wallflower nodded. She sniffled and wiped her eyes with one sleeve. "Yeah. I'd really like that, too."

An extra-joyful smile spread across Juniper's face. "Sweet. It's official, then. And if you ever want to talk about this stuff—or anything, really—you've got my number."

Wallflower nodded again. "And you've got mine. For the same reasons."

"Which makes me so happy to know." Juniper sighed overdramatically, and looked away. "Gonna be honest, this is where I'd hug you, but I just know I still smell like processed buttered popcorn, and I don't wanna inflict that on—"

Wallflower darted forward, wrapping her arms around Juniper as tightly as she could. 

"Thanks for being there for me," she whispered, resting her head on Juniper's shoulder.

"Y-you too," Juniper managed, slowly embracing Wallflower in return. They stayed there for several moments, the noise of the mall crowds completely muted as they basked in each others' warmth. 

This is exactly what I've wanted. The words echoed through Wallflower's mind. This is all I've ever wanted. Please don't let it end.

The two broke away, and Juniper stretched. "Anyway! Wow, this has been one killer afternoon, as Lemon would say. I sure could use a piping hot totally-bad-for-my-diet cinnamon bun to cap it all off. What do you think?"

"Wait, what?" Wallflower said, before doing a double take as her mind suddenly made a connection. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Juniper's sly grin was back. "I saw you making googly eyes at the Cinnamon Paradise when we passed by the far end of the lobby. Have you ever been there?"

Wallflower did her best to hold back drool. "Only once ever. It was kind of one of those transcendent, life-changing experiences. I was only half our age back then, and I still remember it now, in bits and pieces."

"Oh gosh, then, are you in for a treat," Juniper said. "The first time I had a Paradise Surprise during an on-location shoot in Vanhoover was the last day of my life I could live without them." She leaned into Wallflower's ear. "I petitioned for them to open up here," she whispered with a giggle. 

Wallflower stared at Juniper, mouth hanging open. "Seriously?"

"All of the serious. It didn't take much, honestly. Some badgering of my uncle, a presentation of box office numbers sent to a couple corporate offices. You'd be shocked just how many people love getting an ooey, gooey dessert right after a movie."

Wallflower laughed. "I probably wouldn't."

"Yeah, good point. Anyway, when I started actually working here, it ended up being a doubly good investment. An escape from the drudgery of seat ushering and snack cleanup."

"Oh my gosh." Wallflower's eyes sparkled. "I think you're my hero right now."

"Wow, no kidding?" Juniper looked up towards the upper levels, and sighed again, this time in earnest. "If I'm your hero now, you should've seen me when my name actually meant something."

"Huh?" Wallflower asked.

"Nothing." Juniper took Wallflower's hand again, causing Wallflower's face to overheat. She looked up at Juniper, and saw that her face had done the same. "Let's go get some. My treat."

The two walked, hand in hand, towards the other side of the lobby.
> 12: Pulled In Two Directions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wallflower walked the streets of Canterlot with wide, curious eyes, while also humming the theme song to Wyldmares. She'd always found it catchy, but this was the first time she'd ever ventured into the territory of voicing that fact anywhere outside the recesses of her mind. 

She kept track of her surroundings as she walked. She passed by people, people passed by her, and as both happened, she did her best to meet their eyes.

After some time, she finally realized what she was doing—as in, everything she was doing.

This is... wow, okay, this is different. And I... like it.

It'd only been a week since her date with Juniper at the mall. The school week had flown by in a blink, except for, ironically, evenings with her homework. Not that the homework had been particularly challenging, but it had been a lot tougher to concentrate on while constantly slipping into daydreams about her and Juniper's date at the mall, and the smiles and embraces that had come with it. 

Smiles and embraces that were all for her. None were accidental, none were out of pity, and none were unwelcome in the least.

Wallflower was still getting used to that fact. They happened. They'd actually happened. So many years of just screwing up the slightest attempt at putting herself out there—who knew that the secret lay in someone screwing up first? Even if it worked out in her favor, she couldn't help but giggle at the irony.

During their Cinnamon Paradise dessert, the two arranged—over massive cinnamon buns drenched in sweet, dense, creamy frosting—to have a more traditional "hangout" today: specifically, dinner and a movie. Except since both of those things played to their strengths, they wouldn't have to go out to do it. 

The plan was already set: Wallflower would come over to Juniper's house with a load of fresh-grown fruits and veggies from her backyard garden, along with a bunch of spices, and she'd get her Awesome Garden Stew(tm) going. She'd never cooked it for anyone else before, much less shared the recipe, but this certainly seemed like the best time to finally give said recipe its first field test.

And after dinner, they would go watch movies on Juniper's home theater. Except, Juniper had told her, it was a real cinema auditorium in her basement. With the real seats, and a film projector, and everything! How amazing was that? She wouldn't even care what they watched—the experience would be enough.

And in the middle of all of those activities, or before, or after? Who knew what they'd get up to? Wallflower's grin slackened, and she stared off into space, as her daydreams persisted. Slowly, her detailed plans transformed into fluid fantasies of Juniper cuddling up to her while she cooked up her stew in her favorite apron, then the two of them snuggling together in a shared theater seat— 

A horn blared as its car screeched to a halt next to Wallflower. She jumped back, realizing that she'd taken a couple of steps too many past the curb during a red light. Waves of shock coursed through her as she caught her breath.

Okay. No more daydreaming, Wallflower chastised herself. No matter how... constructive.

She looked down at her phone to make sure her GPS application was taking her in the right direction. Fortunately, she hadn't wandered completely off course—she was only a block away from her destination. She continued along her way, still no longer looking at the ground, still meeting peoples' eyes and flashing greeting smiles to whomever she could. Some of them smiled back. Not all did. It was fine either way. 

Before she knew it, she arrived. 

Carousel Boutique was an ornate lavender-and-white building which stood proudly atop its foundations, outshining the two drab green and brown buildings beside it with a confident, attractive air of style. Not bad for something that was technically an inanimate object. 

Wallflower looked inside the windows to see two mannequins—one wearing a bold blue denim ensemble featuring a rhinestone-lined vest and form-fitting jeans; the one in the other window wearing a professional white blouse and black skirt, with ruffles on the former. Again, confident and fancy, respectively. Wallflower approved, while at the same time deciding to play it as safe as possible when it came to professionalism. She walked up to the front door and rang the bell beside it. 

The door opened, and Wallflower found herself face-to-face with a lemon-hued, freckled redhead, wearing blue jeans, a red-and-white striped t-shirt, and a nonplussed expression. "Uh, hi," she said, raising a hand in greeting. "I'm here to see Rarity? My name's Wallflower Blush. She asked me to come here today."

The redhead's face instantly brightened. 

"Oh, Wallflower, sweetie, hi! Come on in, Rarity's absolutely been expecting you! I'm Sour Sweet. It's so nice to meet you," she said, holding out her hand.

Wallflower shook it. "It's nice to meet you, too." She smiled, glad to be able to make yet another new friend, just like that, with no catches whatsoever.

As they shook hands, Sour Sweet turned her head. "Hey, Rarity!" she called into the boutique, with a gruffer voice than she'd sported only moments ago. "Your emo classmate finally showed up! And holy crap, the legends were true!" Sour laughed. "She totally looks like a walking, talking plant!"

Wallflower's hands flew to her mouth as she flushed from head to toe. Before she could reply, however, Rarity joined Sour at the door. "Sour, dear," she said in a stern voice, "what have I told you about manners?"

"They... maketh... something?" Sour shrugged. "Hey, I'm working on 'em."

Rarity rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Not fast enough if I can't even have you greet customers safely. Honestly, if I wanted someone to scare off patrons at the drop of a hat with their personal quirks, I would have asked Rainbow Dash to be my protege."

"Meh." Sour leaned against the door, gesturing for Wallflower to walk inside. "I'm hotter."

"You're frecklier," Rarity countered.

"Yup, like I said. Hotter. Everyone falls for the freckles." Sour looked at Wallflower with a sly grin. "Back me up?"

Wallflower blushed, coloring her own freckles in kind. "Until two weeks ago, I probably would have disagreed," she said. "But, you know, new evidence."

"I suppose." Rarity rolled her eyes again, this time with a chuckle. "Sour Sweet part-times with me here at Carousel Boutique. We discovered a shared love for fashion a few months back, so I recommended her for a position here." She cast Sour a sideways glance. "Now we work together to get on the same page regarding decorum.

"Anyway," she continued, leading the other girls back into the boutique proper, "it is so good to see you again, Wallflower! I love working with dresses, especially now with Sour's... colorful commentary to keep things lively, but the minutae of measuring and trimming is such drudgery sometimes. You came just in time to bring some fun back to my day! It's time for hairdressiiiiiiiiiiing!~" she trilled, fluffing up Wallflower's locks with both hands.

"Isn't that just drudgery of a different kind?" Sour said, rolling her wrist. "Smear, wash, dry, roll, fluff..."

"When you get settled far enough into your occupational roles," Rarity said, "you take your fun where you can get it." She turned to Wallflower. "Any special requests for your special night tonight?"

"Nothing too different from how my hair usually is? If you can manage it," Wallflower said.

"I believe I can, yes. All right, then." Rarity gestured to a nearby seat in front of a hairdresser's sink. "Please, step into my parlor..." Rarity's eyes glinted. "And tell me all about last week."

Sour raised her eyebrows. "Ohhhhh. That's where your fun is."

Rarity winked back at her. "At last, you're catching on."





"Oh, my absolute goodness," Rarity said as she combed her fingers through Wallflower's damp, newly-shampooed hair. "A music video creation booth? In this day and age? Are there not phone apps that do such things nowadays?"

"Pretty much," Wallflower said. "Trust me, I didn't believe it either when I saw it."

"Pfft. I believe it completely," a nearby Sour Sweet said as she walked through hanging garments, and made checks on a clipboarded inventory list. "Leave it to Zesty to come up with all the crazy ideas. Though I guess this is the first one I actually almost like."

"So, what did you and Juniper do there?" Rarity asked. "Did you actually... 'make your video'?"

Wallflower shrugged as best she could just before Rarity ran water over her hair again. "I tried it just to try it. I, uh..." Wallflower decided to hold back the full details of the event, including her and Juniper's bonding moment. "I did a nature concert. Vinyl says I sing really well."

"Yes, Sunset told me the same," Rarity said with a knowing grin. "She says your singing voice can be very... distracting."

Wallflower exhaled through pursed lips. "More like I'm distracted whenever I sing. But it was fun. And yeah, having someone really like my voice, much less when I sing, was something I never would have seen coming."

"Oh come now, darling." Rarity nudged Wallflower's head out of the sink and wrapped it with a fresh towel, dabbing where she could. "Ever since being introduced to your dulcet tones over this last half-month, I've been pondering the best way to leverage them. One always needs an edge in this world, and I've already noticed a couple that you possess."

"You know, the more you and I talk," Wallflower said, "the more scared I am that I'm going to wake up one morning on a fashion runway, without a clue as to how I got there."

Sour Sweet chuckled. "Yeah, you should probably listen to those instincts."

Rarity giggled, smiling into Wallflower's eyes as she continued drying. "Well, never say never, darling. But, pray tell, what happened after your little video escapade?"

"Oh, right," Wallflower said. "Well, after that, Juniper treated me to these massive cinnamon buns at this place in the mall called Cinnamon Paradise, which were amazing, and—" 

Both Rarity and Sour gasped and jumped back. Wallflower blinked. "What? Did... d-did I say something wrong?"

"S-Sour and I have a... pact," Rarity said in a solemn voice. "That being, we never, ever mention that place within earshot of each other."

"Oh. I-I'm sorry," Wallflower said, sinking in her seat. "I-I didn't know it was something you didn't like."

"Are you kidding?" Sour Sweet exclaimed, with shaking, clawed hands. "It's the opposite! Just thinking of that place is instant craving!"

"Pinkie Pie and I once gave..." Rarity looked at Sour, who nodded somberly, before continuing. "Cinnamon Paradise a test drive. It was everything I ever hoped for and wanted in a confection—nay, in life—and as such, I instantly vowed never to go there again." She ran her hands down her figure. "Love it as I may, I'm sorry, but I have dresses to fit into."

"Yeah, and I have to keep Sugarcoat away from that place using rabid dogs," Sour said. "Well, not really, but that's pretty much what it takes. And she always makes me go with her! Heck, I think she does it out of spite. She eats and eats and eats and never gains a stupid pound!" She huffed through pursed lips. "Sure, she also never eats more than a third of a cinnamon bun, and also vaccums broccoli and organic stuff like there's no tomorrow," she muttered, "but that's beside the point."

"Oh-kay," Wallflower said with a nervous giggle. "Well, sorry about bringing up bad memories. Good memories? I think I'm lost."

"Oh, no worries at all," Rarity said. "If anything, it's our fault for not preparing you. It's just that, unless Pinkie visits the shop, we rarely get to hear about that establishment anymore. The others have seen our reactions already."

"And when Pinkie plans to show up here, we make sure she warns us," Sour said. "So we can be ready for her dessert rants."

"Indeed," Rarity said. "But yes, you're a recent inductee into the circle. Completely understandable, and we apologize for scaring you."

"This time," Sour said.

Why don't I feel any better about this? Wallflower thought as she looked back and forth between Sour Sweet and Rarity. "It doesn't matter much anyway. Still, while we were eating, we decided to get together again today. Which is where you came in. You know, the bit where you practically dragged me here through the phone?"

"For purely altruistic reasons, of course. Speaking of which," Rarity said, taking off Wallflower's towel, and fetching a blow dryer to finish the rest of her remaining damp hair areas. After some minutes of drying, and several spritzes of hairspray, Rarity stepped back. 

"There, all done." Rarity took handed Wallflower a mirror. "Meet the new Wallflower, same as the old Wallflower—except ready to knock even a movie star off of her feet," she said with a giggle.

Wallflower took a look. Just as requested, her hair looked much the same as when she'd come in—except it was now a little shinier, and a lot bouncier. Wallflower flipped her hair back and forth with a few snaps of her head, and couldn't help but giggle at the sight herself. "It's perfect! Thanks, Rarity."

"Absolutely," Rarity replied, as Wallflower got up out of her chair and stretched. "And before I say anything else: good on you for allowing things to progress this far. Even dipping a toe into the waters of relationships requires courage and love in your heart, both for yourself and for who you're stepping into those waters with."

Wallflower blinked. "Wow. You sound super-serious about this."

"I'm always serious about matters of the heart," Rarity said, placing her hands on Wallflower's shoulders. "But, allow me to ask: how do you feel? About where you are now, that is? You've been through quite a bit since only two weeks ago, yet I've noticed you smiling more already at school. As has Sunset, and others we've asked. We've seen the progress, but it's only truly progress if you're not putting forth some kind of outward facade." She tilted her head. "I honestly hope you're not."

Wallflower sighed, thinking back over the last two weeks. Walking with her head held high. The smiles. The ability to greet certain people in the hallway at school, and have them genuinely greet her back, even if it was just a half dozen—and on the street, even if it was just three or four. 

The only downside was that she was talking to her plants less, but even that was because she'd been texting her human friends more. Which was leading her to feel sorry for the plants. But she'd deal with that at some point.

She shook her head. "It's not a facade. I've definitely had to deal with new feelings, but they're better, happier ones. I'm glad this is all going so well." She looked away. "But."

"Buuuut?" Rarity led her on.

"But I'm also really confused. All my life I told myself, if I could have just one friend, I'd be happy. But I had none for years. Now after just two weeks, I've made a whole bunch, and believe me, I'm not dumb—no matter how we word it, I'm fully aware that I'm about to go on my third real date." Wallflower flopped back in the salon chair. "Rarity, what changed? What did I do differently? What did I do this time to get people to finally..." Her voice grew quiet. "...not hate me?"

"Meh," Sour Sweet's voice cut in at that exact moment. "Who cares?" she said with a scoff and a dismissive wave of her hand.

"What?" Wallflower didn't expect her head to turn quite as sharply in Sour's direction as it did, nor for her teeth to clench, but both of those things happened, very quickly.

"Seriously, who cares?" Sour repeated. "That's what you should really be asking yourself. I don't know everything, but Rarity's told me you've had it tough. And I bet you did." Sour sauntered over, standing in front of Wallflower. "You said you never had friends, right? So why are you looking gift horses in the mouth?"

"I-I just want to know what I did differently this time, from all those other years," Wallflower said.

Sour shook her head. "Nah. That's dumb."

Wallflower gripped the chair's armrests, holding herself back, looking up at Sour with defiant, narrowed eyes. "It isn't dumb to me. Or I wouldn't have said it."

"Yeah, I've got ears," Sour said with a cocksure grin and hands on hips, leaning down and getting into Wallflower's face. "And you know what I hear? Dumb stuff with no good reason behind it!" 

Wallflower shot up out of her seat. "Because I don't want those friends to go away again at the drop of a hat, like all the other times! Is that enough reason for you? Or is that still too 'stupid'?"

The two stared at each other silently, with unwavering expressions for several moments... until Sour's grin returned. "Finally, some honesty." 

"What?" Wallflower said, doing a double-take. "You're not making any sense."

"You think you're the only one with friend problems?" Sour scoffed again. "You've already seen my winning personality. But I managed to make friends, too. Four of 'em, in an entire school of hundreds, before Rarity here years later. I'm one of the lucky ones, though—Crystal Prep's got a million sob stories just like you."

Wallflower's eyes widened. "Wait. You are Crystal Prep, aren't you? You were at the Friendship Games! Though I didn't recognize you without the uniform."

Sour sneered. "I was surprised when Rarity told me you weren't one of us! But after meeting you, now I get it. Everyone at your goody-good high school is allllll about the friends. But CPA isn't so lucky."  

Sour walked to the nearby dresser, placed her hands on it, and closed her eyes with a sigh. When she spoke again, she did so towards Wallflower's reflection. 

"Crystals are taught to be the best, and shine brightest. And we've always done that by focusing on ourselves. Hilariously, it's the only thing we're all ever on the same page about. Then we saw Twilight Sparkle, the smartest girl in our school, and one of the best examples of what a Crystal could be, turn into a monster in front of us, because of us."

Sour wrung a nearby towel as she spoke. 

"Which scared the heck out of all of us. After that, it got us thinking that, you know. Maybe we were doing it wrong. That maybe we should lean on each other. But we didn't know how. Everything we tried in the name of us sticking together only drove us apart even more." Sour turned her head back to look at Rarity. "Until some crazy girl pointed us in the right direction."

Rarity shrugged. "I simply did what anyone would."

"Anyone from your school, maybe." Sour walked back to Wallflower and Rarity, the latter of whom draped her hand on Sour's shoulder. "You know what we found out? That it's way easier when you're not doing the tryhard thing all the time. Putting yourself out there is one thing, but after that, you just... pick up on people who find you cool, too, and let stuff go from there.

"And sheesh, you don't sulk about 'em coming into your life. That's what me, and Indigo, and Sunny, and even Lemon did for the longest, and all it did for us was waste time. Time we could have spent being happy. There's no way to make 'making friends' easy. But once you learn to tell yourself you're able to do it, just like anyone else, and believe it... it just is."

Wallflower slowly nodded as she contemplated Sour's words in the ensuing silence—which lasted exactly as long as until Rarity asked, "Wait, what about Sugarcoat?"

Sour rolled her eyes. "She's stubborn. But she'll come around. She likes you as much as the rest of us do, but if you thought I had problems with words..." 

Sour Sweet held out her hand. After much hesitation, Wallflower took it. Sour then took Wallflower's other hand was well... and lavender eyes gazed into brown.

"Sorry about earlier. But you sounded like me for a second there, and I hate the sound of my own voice." Sour said, rolling her eyes. "I know what it's like to have given up on people because people weren't into... you know, me. So now, if I ever feel myself clicking with someone? I go ahead and click. And it just seems insulting to ask someone why they want you around, right?"

Wallflower nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry, too. I... I just wish all this friendship stuff was easier to figure out."

"I know so many who do," Rarity said, stepping to the side of both girls. "But people are messy and flawed, as a rule. That includes you, me, Sour..." Rarity put a hand on Wallflower's cheek. "And all the rest of this world's artistic creations."

Wallflower clasped Rarity's hand, then let go of hers and Sour's, and stepped back, exhaling. "All of that makes sense. Thanks a lot, you two. What you said makes more sense than where I was originally going with things."

"Don't thank me," Rarity said, turning to Sour Sweet. "Thank Sour here. Though I must say, darling, that was a shockingly heartfelt display, to a degree that I've never seen you even approach before." 

"Oh, you don't say?" Sour looked straight at Rarity, with a cutesy smile and fluttering eyes. "You know what else is high in degrees, darling?" Sour said in a syrupy voice and clasped hands. "A hair crimper on your tongue if you don't bite it right now."

Rarity giggled. "Oh, Sour, never change. Except in front of the clientele, of course."

"I don't plan to." Sour turned to Wallflower. "What are you waiting for? Go on your date already."

Wallflower giggled as well. "Yes, ma'am."





They're right. They're blunt—especially Sour, wow—but they're right.

Wallflower sat in the backseat of her Hoofer taxi, on its way to Juniper's house, with an assortment of vegetables and spices in a bag next to her. She took her pocket mirror out of her purse and took one more look at her self—her hair was still clean, still a little bouncier than normal, and she was wearing a striped green-and-white shirt with her blue jeans instead of the usual brown. 

For some reason, she was still self-conscious. Had she gone too far? She knew she was still in casual wear, but she'd never... put this much thought and preparation into meeting someone. Usually because meeting people wasn't a thing she did often, no matter how much she'd dreamed of doing so. No matter if it counted as a 'date' or not. 

Just what was a date, anyway? Why did people give that word so much weight?

Calming herself down, she took out her phone, and brought up Juniper's text message window, idly deciding to start with her soup recipe tonight—her full-on Garden Stew would have to wait for a another day since it required slow cooking. "Hey, I'm on the way to you," she typed. "With my ingredients and everything. Totally ready for tonight. How about you?"

Juniper's answer wasn't immediate. Wallflower didn't mind. Juniper was often busy. Usually their conversations started quickly, but every once in a while, they didn't, because Juniper was on shift, on a shoot, or decompressing from either. 

Wallflower scrolled up to the conversation they'd had on Thursday, skimming across the memories. They'd talked about Wyldmares some more, the latest Daring Do book, and Wallflower had even given her some sewing tips. She was no Rarity, but the symbol on her backpack—a wilted potted flower—was of her own design. 

The way her life was going, she might have to get a new bag soon.

After the last bit of skimming, Wallflower arrived at the end of the conversation, where, after Juniper took a few minutes to check her mail, she'd come back and typed: 

"...I'm really happy you're here to talk to me."

The sentence made Wallflower feel as warm now as when she'd received it two days ago—and also as curious. "The feeling's mutual," she'd typed. "Everything all right?"

A few more minutes had passed in the timeline before getting her answer. 

"I think everyone needs someone in their life who's good at reminding them that they're just fine, the way they are. Especially when the world brings you reminders every day, that that someone's hard to find."

Wallflower sighed. Juniper really loved being dramatically cryptic sometimes. 

She looked outside. The skies had been gray and overcast for the last hour. Wallflower did not like this fact, especially after she'd just gotten her hair dressed along with the rest of her—but soon she'd be inside, and not have to worry about her hair, or anything else.

Wallflower's eyes furrowed upon realizing that Juniper still hadn't answered her last text. She took a look at the Hoofer's GPS—Juniper's house was only a minute away. Soon, it'd be a moot point, but still she did her best not to worry. 

Just like Rarity and Sour said.

All we have to do is make it to seeing each other. Then it'll be fine. No matter what the world throws at us.
> 13: The Storm (Pt. 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The one thing Juniper had failed to warn Wallflower about regarding Cinnamon Paradise was its wait time. 

All of its pastries were custom made to order on-site, which sounded great for most situations, except for the one where you were already salivating, and just wanted to eat something already, darn it all.

Making small talk with Juniper about recent movies, and hearing her flex her knowledge about box office market trends, certainly helped to distract Wallflower from the feel—and noise—of her stomach growling, but not enough. Not over the smell of thirty-one different flavors of frosting. 

Just as she braced herself for yet another gastric rumbling, however, Juniper finally managed to snatch all of Wallflower's attention at once, by reaching across the table and clasping Wallflower's hands.

They were soft. Of course they were soft. Wallflower supposed it was a little surprising, given the menial labor involved in Juniper's usher job. Maybe that was why her grip was so strong. But still gentle. It was a little odd... but still very welcome. 

Juniper in a nutshell, really.

"Hey," Juniper said, squeezing Wallflower's hands more firmly. "So, um. Maybe it's a little early to ask this, but... you wanna do something again next weekend? You know, something a little more... traditional?"

"Traditional?" Wallflower echoed. She had an idea of where this was going, but in the time she'd known Juniper, she'd quickly learned never to assume anything. 

"Yeah. You know. The whole 'dinner and a movie' spiel. Like in the movies." Juniper smiled wide. "Except also not, because while I do like movies, I also like meta. And I know how to make the most of my cliches."

Juniper was definitely right about the meta. Wallflower had quickly learned that she was rarely able to keep up with it. She tilted her head, her mind swimming. "You had me until you didn't anymore."

Juniper put her hand behind her head and laughed. "Right, sorry, talking in circles. I do that sometimes. What I mean is, hey, let's hang out at my place! You said you cook, right? I totally want to sample."

"Oh. Oh!" Wallflower said, realizing in the back of her mind that she'd never been to anyone else's house before. "Um... sure? I can definitely cook us up something. Wouldn't that be a little unwieldy for your standard dinner-and-a-movie deal, though?" She counted on her fingers. "I mean, a home-cooked meal takes time, and prep, and probably a different style of outfit than going out to the movies..."

"Heh. Got that covered too." Juniper took out her phone, made a show of flipping through a few photos, and showed Wallflower its screen. Wallflower was greeted with the image of a sit-down theater auditorium. 

"It looks like the same cinema I picked you up from," Wallflower said.

Juniper preened. "I'm flattered. Especially since this is a shot of my basement."

Wallflower's jaw dropped. Why didn't she see this coming? She seriously should have, given just how nuts about movies this girl was but... just wow.

"Hah! I love it when they stare in stunned silence!" Juniper put her phone away, taking hold of Wallflower's hands again. "Look. We both know who we are, we both know what we want, and we both know that a student's income doesn't go very far." She squeezed Wallflower's hands again, meeting her with wide, jubilant eyes. "But what we both do have? Are two very particular sets of skills. Skills that we've cultivated over our entire lives. Skills, that when put together, could make a total dream date. So: you handle the dinner with your green thumb. Pick out the most amazing recipe you can. Meanwhile, I'll be sure to give us a cinematic experience you'll never forget. What do you say?"

Wallflower understood those references. It was all she could do not to fall down laughing. "I say, 'absolutely,'" she managed through several giggles.

"Excellent," Juniper said as a waitress walked to their table with piping hot cinnamon rolls at the ready. "Now that that's settled, let's put ourselves into sweetness shock."





The memory faded as Wallflower approached Juniper's suburban house. Holding a cooler full of vegetables, spices and other stew ingredients in one hand, she checked her phone one last time. After confirming that, yes, she did have the right house—turquoise-green with blue shingles, which she instantly approved of—Wallflower walked up the front steps, and rang the doorbell.

Two minutes passed. No answer. Three more rings over the course of five minutes yielded the same results. With a huff, Wallflower placed the container on the ground, and walked around the house, backyard and all. All of the lights were out. 

Where could she have gone? she wondered, just before feeling a drop of water on her head. She checked the weather report. Rain would be falling within the hour. Her worry rising, she opened her texts.

"Juniper? I'm here. Ready to cook stew to stuff our faces with, and watch a killer movie!" She added a smiling emoji to keep the mood up.

After a short time, the "typing" indicator popped up. She was there! At last! What had she been doing this whole time? 

The indicator blinked on and off, further fueling Wallflower's curiosity, until two words popped up:

"no movie"

That was it. No more words, typing indicator, or anything. Groaning, Wallflower typed again.

"Juniper, are you home? I think it's starting to rain."

Another slow, to-the-point response.

"in the park"

Wallflower felt her breaths deepening in frustration. "Juniper. Are you okay?" Thinking back to some conversations she'd had with Sunset, she added, "It's fine if you're not. I'll understand, I promise. I've been there, remember? But please, let me know. Otherwise, I can't help."

The indicator started flashing again, erratically, on and off, with no discernible pattern. Whatever Juniper was typing, she was struggling to do it.

Finally, a response manifested: a frowning-face emoji, beside a broken heart.

Wallflower's eyes widened as she gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth.

"Stay there. I'm coming to you."

Wallflower broke into a sprint, her cooler forgotten on the porch.





It didn't take long for Wallflower to get to Canterlot Suburban Park, or pass by its familiar landmarks in the shape of flowers that she'd arranged herself. Maybe in a different situation, she'd be able to show them to Juniper—but that would be later. Juniper came first. 

She ran to the rear of the park, where multiple benches were arranged, overlooking a rainbow-hued floral centerpiece, and saw a familiar set of twin green ponytails over a bench in front of her. Juniper had her back to Wallflower, and hadn't noticed her yet.

The rain was a light but firm drizzle now. Wallflower had prudently opened her umbrella around the time she'd entered the park proper, but it seemed that Juniper had no such luxury. Her hair would get wet if neither of them did anything about it.

And yet, Juniper still sat still. As if she didn't care. Wallflower walked up, and held her umbrella over them both. "Juniper?" she asked.

Juniper turned her head around to face who had just spoken her. "W-Wallflower?"

"Juniper!" Wallflower said, sitting beside her would-be date. The bench was a little wet, but she soon found out that she cared about this fact as much as Juniper clearly did. Which was not at all. Again, not now. Later. "Are you okay?" she asked, repeating her question from their text conversation.

Juniper stared into Wallflower's eyes for several seconds before closing her eyes and shaking her head. 

"I... I understand. What's wrong?" Wallflower asked, still a little surprised at herself that she was able to muster up so much concern for... any other human being, really. After so many parties alone, so many club meetings where she went unnoticed, she'd been sure that the concept of connections between her and the rest of the world was a long-lost cause. 

Yet, the past month had plenty to say in disagreement. And even beyond that... this was different. Wallflower didn't care how she looked right now. She didn't care what anyone thought of her. All that mattered was that someone she really, really cared about—wow, that was new, too—was not having a good day. "Please, Juniper. Tell me. I don't know if I can help directly. But I can listen."

After much hesitation, Juniper handed Wallflower her phone. Wallflower saw that it was already open to an app's screen. After a bit of studying it, Wallflower was able to figure out that it was an app that allowed Juniper to track submissions of her movie to film festivals. She looked over to the results column.

Red text. Rejections. All the way down. There had to have been almost twenty. She clicked on a few entries. Mostly form letters, but a few had actually bothered to harp on "amateurish acting," "headache-inducing camerawork," "inconsistent tone." There were a couple other responses which encouraged Juniper to resubmit after following a few friendlier-phrased suggestions, but looking at Juniper, the damage had already been done, several times over.

She knew that Juniper had poured herself into the movie she'd been working on, and absolutely loved the result. But if the result after that was this... to have opened every single one of these with hope in her heart, and receive nothing but negativity for her efforts... 

Wallflower got it. It was why, until recently, she herself had decided to embrace a life of isolation, save for the hobbies she loved. 

Once more, the world was cold and uncaring. 

"Oh, Junie," Wallflower sighed, looking over at Juniper, and placing a hand on her knee. Juniper, for her part, looked understandably distraught as she stared into space, and about to crack any second, in a way that Wallflower was also all too familiar with. 

"Juniper, I'm so sorry," Wallflower whispered, moving her hand up to Juniper's shoulder and squeezing. "They don't know what they're talking about. You know that, right?"

After a short silence, Juniper replied. "You... you should go," she said, her voice quiet and reserved.

"What? Why would I do that?" Wallflower asked. Thunder rolled in the distance—whether it was on cue or not, was something Wallflower was sure she would wonder about much later.

Juniper's voice was as cold and firm as the rain as she looked right at Wallflower, the tiniest hints of tears threatening from the corners of her eyes.

"Because I lied to you."
> 14: The Storm (Pt. 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wallflower simply stared at Juniper, trying as hard as she could to fully comprehend what she'd just heard. 

However, the possibilities behind Juniper's words were just too numerous for her to process by herself. Eventually she settled on the one question going through her mind above all others. "What do you mean, you lied?" she asked, her voice as soft as the rain.

She saw Juniper choke up just before replying. 

"I mean, I'm not who you think I am. I'm not some amazing hotshot movie director. I'm a wannabe! I always have been." Juniper folded her hands, looking down at her legs. "The Juniper Montage you became friends with is a lie. I clearly can't make good movies. I'm not an actress like I want to be. Mainly because I can't act, on either side of the camera. All the smiling and happiness you've seen out of me? It's..." She squeezed her fists, choking up again. "Hard. It's actually really hard. In reality, I can barely hold myself together when the slightest thing doesn't go the way I want or plan it, and it wrecks me." She gestured around herself. "It wrecks me like this."

"The worst part?" Juniper hiccuped. "I-I lied to you, just like I've been—" At this she pointed to her phone screen, back to the string of rejection mails. "—lying to myself this whole time! The whole time you I fooled you into thinking I was some amazing movie guru, I was also able to fool myself into thinking I liked who I was, for once! I liked being Juniper Montage!" She looked at Wallflower, tears—raindrops?—streaming down her face. "But... but when it comes down to it, I'm just some chick who watched a bunch of movies being made, thought I could be part of it, somehow, just from raw talent... and now I'm just getting my reality check." She paused before adding, "Again."

Juniper navigated from the app to her photo archives, pulling up a home video: this time of herself, Sunny Flare and Photo Finish during a shooting session. Photo's face was often hidden behind a studio camera, with Juniper gesturing stage directions with her arms, and Sunny acting accordingly while Photo moved around Sunny. 

During takes and between takes, there was fun. There was laughter. There was Juniper, looking the happiest Wallflower had ever seen her—to say nothing of the most in her element Wallflower had ever seen her.

The video finished, and Juniper put the phone back in her purse. "Photo and Sunny put everything they had into making this movie with me. They believed in me. I've let them down. Just like I've been letting you down from day one. You just didn't know it yet."

Juniper got up from the bench.

"But that's the reality," she said with a sigh. "Letting people down is what I do. And I'll do it to you, too. So please. Just go, and forget about me, before that happens. Because you don't deserve some girl who's going nowhere in life. And I definitely don't deserve you." 

Juniper turned, walking away from the bench. Wallflower got up to follow. "Juniper, wait!" she called out... just before something, something nagging at the back of her heart, stopped her.

Is... is Juniper right?

As Wallflower puzzled over Juniper's dilemma, trying to figure out what she, of all people, could possibly do to ease the pain she'd seen on display, memories pushed themselves to the forefront of her mind. Memories that she ironically had sole possession of, because she'd erased so many of them, from so many people.

Her needlessly long grudge and magical battle with Sunset Shimmer. The Gardening Club presentation. More school dances and events than she could hold in short-term recollection. Fundraisers where people greeted her with a shrug and blank looks. Science fairs where gardening projects were passed over for flashing lights, bells and whistles straight out of science fiction shows.

Every single one of those memories came part and parcel with another one. The same one, over and over. A lonely girl, crying, with the world refusing to hear her. Crying in the darkness, first crying alone in darkened rooms... 

...and then, in dim, lonely, friendless gardens. Much like the one she was standing in right now. 

It used to be that she could reconcile that by hiding from people until they forgot her, and then hiding the memories forever, so no one else could hurt her. 

But the Memory Stone was gone now. All Wallflower had was herself. 

I'm not enough. 

Wallflower buried her face in her hands. 

I can't be enough. I've done too much. I'm not someone to look up to, either, I...

She looked behind herself to see Juniper, still shuffling away, wiping her eyes as she barely held a single traveling direction. She was also halfway across the park by now. 

A single desire washed over Wallflower Blush, intense and heartfelt—and she acted on it.

But I want to be. She was, for me!

For the second time that night, Wallflower broke into a sprint. For the second time that night, she barely felt a thing as she tore across the park at speeds she never knew she was capable of, almost slipping a couple of times but not caring. She wondered if Rainbow or Indigo would be able to train her, to help her hone her obvious natural talent.

I have to be enough! There's no one else here but me. And she likes me enough to try and 'save' me from being hurt... but it's already way too late for that, and none of it was ever her fault!

"Juniper!" Wallflower called out, catching up to her, and grabbing her hand from behind.

And then, finally, Juniper's voice cracked. "Huh? Why are you still..." she trailed off, looking at Wallflower, and there was no longer any mistaking the rain for Juniper's encroaching tears. Not that Wallflower immediately noticed, given how much her world was spinning.

What... what am I doing? Her mind screamed as she looked up at Juniper. I'm actually approaching someone instead of going the other way. Instead of just going off by myself!

Another memory came to her, unbidden but still welcome—of Juniper consoling her in the video booth. And this time, the memory clicked. Back then, she'd looked into Juniper's eyes then and seen the same ones she saw now. So lonely, and so close to her own.

I'm still here.

She reached out with one hand, placing it on Juniper's cheek, meeting Juniper's eyes the same way Juniper had met hers back then.

I'm still here, because I've failed so many times. Cried by myself so many times. I’ve hated myself and thought I was the worst, for so many reasons. And it looks like you have, too.

No words. Only comfort. If Juniper wanted it.

Wallflower embraced Juniper as tightly as she could. She had no clue just how much of a fool she was making of herself right now, and she didn't care. 

I know what happens when no one's around to see you cry. Hopefully I can be enough... just by being here.

She felt Juniper choke in Wallflower's arms, then felt Juniper's arms embrace Wallflower in return, before she heard Juniper's resolve finally evaporate into sobs.

As it did, the rain fell in earnest.

Eventually, Wallflower would realize that she'd forgotten her umbrella. 

And she would then decide that was the last thing that mattered.





Juniper's sobs died down nearly in tandem with the rain, which slowed to a light drizzle. Seriously, Wallflower was beginning to wonder if that was a magical power of Juniper's, and if so, where she could get her own version. She'd use the magic more responsibly this time. No, really. 

Juniper reached into her purse, took out a small package of tissues, and used them to wipe her eyes and her glasses. She put her glasses back on and looked at Wallflower with several blinks. Finally, she uttered, "You're... still here." 

"Of course," Wallflower asked matter-of-factly. 

Juniper opened her mouth to reply, but the moment she did, Wallflower's finger found its way to Juniper's lips. It was, again, another action Wallflower never would have expected out of herself, and even in the moment, she didn't quite believe it was happening. 

Nor did she fully believe the rush of power she felt. Not over Juniper, just over... life. Over sadness. Was this the "confidence" that Rarity and Sunset sometimes talked about? Was this what it allowed for? 

Even to one person, she could matter. Even to one person, she could make a difference... maybe. She still wasn't completely sure. But for Juniper, she absolutely wanted to try. Especially since she had full confidence in what she was going to say next.

"You're the best thing that's happened to me in years," Wallflower softly said. "And it was never because you were the 'Movie Girl'. I'm sure the 'Montage' part of you is interesting, and I'd love to get to know it." She removed her finger from Juniper's lips with a huge smile. "But I fell in love with Juniper."

The two stood together silently, with only the light rain for ambience, until Juniper's smile finally returned as well, and she burst into uncontrollable giggles. "Oh, my gosh. You're still full of surprises, aren't you?"

Wallflower winked. "Only because most people don't look in my direction."

Juniper stepped in even closer, placing her hand on Wallflower's cheek, and held Wallflower's free hand with her other. She brought Wallflower's hand up, kissing the back of it, before looking at Wallflower with completely fogged lenses. 

"You'll never have to worry about that with me," Juniper breathed.

Amidst twin blushes in the middle of a rainy park, the two embraced one more, in the warmest hug Wallflower had ever experienced. 





Several minutes later, even after the rain had stopped completely, they still hadn't let go of each other.

"Hey," Wallflower said, finally breaking the quiet moment. "Still have an appetite?" 

Juniper giggled. 

"You have no idea."
> 15: Blush's Kitchen Daydreams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For Wallflower, the walk back to Juniper's house—hand in hand with its primary resident—was quiet and euphoric.

Quiet was, of course, Wallflower's element.

Euphoria, however, was absolutely not.

Every so often as they walked back through the park, then down concrete suburban streets, they'd take the way with the most trees, or the most grass or shrubbery, letting Wallflower enjoy the view of rain droplets falling off of fresh leaves, to go with the soothing noise of drops falling on them, and everywhere else.

Juniper held her umbrella above them, making sure their hair suffered no more damage, thank you. In fact, it was almost a little too effective in that—Wallflower felt more heated than she ever had during any rainstorm, but Juniper had assured Wallflower that no, it wasn't just hormones—Twilight Sparkle had made some sort of invention that both warded off rain and had built in location-specific climate controls, and that Juniper was one of her field testers.

So Wallflower walked, holding the hand of one of her most favorite people in her life right now, and meanwhile still feeling the effects of friendship, of being accepted, of being treated, instead of like some invisible misfit… like she was just another girl.

In that context, 'euphoria' was an understatement. She couldn't even start a conversation under her own power, it took so much energy to contain her joy, even in the face of being still worried about Juniper given what had happened back on the park bench. She wanted to ask if Juniper was all right, to ask if she needed anything, if she wanted to talk some more, but she didn't want to dredge anything up—she was still very new to this "being a comforting friend" thing… to say nothing of…

Could she be? She… she might be.

Wallflower looked up at Juniper, and she swore she could feel her heart beating in her chest in time with the rain.

Juniper noticed Wallflower's gaze, looked back with the warmest smile, and brushed her shoulder against Wallflower's. Wallflower did the same back, as best she could. Height difference was a thing she was used to.

The joyful walk continued until, finally, three quarters of the way back to the house (according to their phones' GPSes), Juniper stopped. "Hey," she said.

"What's wrong?" Wallflower asked.

"Oh, nothing's wrong. it's just, I was thinking: we're about to have a nice fun time for who knows how long at my place." Juniper grinned wide. "Right?"

Wallflower resisted the urge to melt into a pile of giggling. "I think that's the plan, yes."

"Yep, sure is. But…" Juniper's expression sobered, and she took a deep breath, and Wallflower noticed Juniper slightly rocking back and forth.

Seeing Juniper's hesitation—and taking a small amount of pride in being able to better read Juniper's emotions the more time she spent around her around someone, anyone, period, so this was what it was like—Wallflower again decided to help. She took Juniper's free hand, staring up into Juniper's eyes.

"It's okay," Wallflower said softly. "You can tell me these things. You can tell me anything. As long as you're comfortable with it. I'll listen, and help if I can."

Juniper slowly calmed, down to Wallflower feeling her pulse relax, and Wallflower smiled inwardly.

"Thanks, Wall. So, since you said you're okay with me being… well, me, then… there are things I want you to know about me. Things that are better off you know now, instead of way too far into this thing we've got going."

Wallflower raised her eyebrows. Where was Juniper going with this? A tiny thought surfaced in the recesses of her imagination, related to something Sunset had said weeks ago, but she dared not entertain it.

Even though it was a miniscule reaction on Wallflower's part, Juniper still caught it. "D-don't worry, it's not anything creepy, I'm not some sort of ex-con or anything," she said with a nervous giggle. "But…"

A deep breath from Juniper. A long pause, the longest pause, where the rain was the only thing that could be heard around them, for seemingly miles.

And then, finally, speech.

"My life's been a bit of a journey recently. One might even say a… magical one?"

If Wallflower's eyebrows had raised before, this time they shot off into space… and then quickly returned to earth as she relaxed again with a growing smile of her own.

Juniper noticed that, too. "You, uh, don't look that surprised."

Wallflower shrugged. "Back when we first met, when you mentioned you knew Sunset Shimmer…"

Juniper gasped, her mouth taking up most of her face for several moments… then she slapped her forehead. "Of course! You both go to the same school! Okay, then, you, uh, might have a bit of an idea of what I might have meant just now, huh?"

"A little more than 'might'". Wallflower smiled. "My life's also been a journey pretty recently. One that some might also call 'magical'." She squeezed Juniper's hand again. "I'd love to talk about it. If you also want to, I mean."

"…first, food," Juniper said, after a beat. "Then, Getting to Know Each Other, Take Two."

Wallflower's eyes sparkled. "Who says we can't do both at once?"





One hour later, after taking turns drying each other's hair, both girls were in Juniper's kitchen, doing their best not to explode with laughter.

As was often the case, said laughter was Juniper's fault.

"You want me to what?" Juniper was exclaiming, in a shrill, mock-outraged voice that was impossible for Wallflower to take seriously.

(At least, that was the impression Wallflower was getting. She hoped that that was the case, otherwise this was going to be a very short night.)

"Um…" Wallflower said amidst incessant giggles. "I need you to prep the ingredients for the stew? You know, chopping, peeling, some light seasoning…"

"These hands were made for the camera, not menial labor!" Juniper said in her best maudlin voice, holding clawed hands in front of her. "Juniper Montage does not chop vegetables! Or peel vegetables, or skin, or wash—oh no, you expect me to wash these too, don't you? Have these been in the dirt?" Juniper grabbed a trio of carrots from Wallflower's cooler, holding them at arm's length and recoiling at the bits of soil on them. "Oh my gosh. These have been in the dirt."

Wallflower continued laughing. "They were fresh picked today! The dirt was what gave them life!"

"Them, yes! All dirt gives me is nausea! Nope." She dropped the carrots back in the cooler, crossed her arms and turned her back to Wallflower. "Sorry, can't do it. You ask too much. I'm afraid this dream date is done."

"Awwwwww," Wallflower cooed, walking up behind Juniper, "and I had so much planned for us." She clasped Juniper's hand with both of hers, stepping even closer. "I mean, I'd already found your living room, and since you said your parents were away on business, I was thinking thinking a nice quiet dinner with just the two of us on the couch, with the best, most perfectly flavored and spiced veggie cuisine you've ever eaten, and a girl who hangs on your every word… I mean, I know that sounds like my idea of fun."

Wallflower walked in front of Juniper, consciously ignoring the screaming in the back of her mind that demanded just where this entire performance was coming from right now.

Just like back in the park.

Instead, she put on her best, most pleading, wide-eyed innocent pout—and, upon seeing Juniper slowly crumple, she stood up on tiptoes, sealing the deal with the quickest and lightest of kisses, square on Juniper's left cheek.

"…okaydatesbackon," a tomato-faced Juniper said, all resistance utterly destroyed.

"Happy to hear it," Wallflower giggled. Seriously, what was it about this night, about Juniper, that made Wallflower so much like the people she used to look at from a distance during parties? "Nice acting, by the way."

"Who was acting?" Juniper asked, before answering her own question: "Oh, right, me. Ahhh, Gloria Trotson, one of the classic greats. In acting, anyway—shame about the rest of her." Juniper drew herself up to full height. "Okay, then! If we're gonna cook, then we're gonna do it right."

"You mean, with a recipe, organization, and coordinated teamwork?" Wallflower asked.

"No—I mean, yes, but I also mean in style! Montage style." Juniper held up an index finger. I know the perfect way to get us into the swing of things, and make this even more fun than it already would have been besides! Follow me."

Wallflower obeyed, following Juniper up some stairs to a new hallway. Three doors down and one left turn later, they stopped at a tall, brown, wooden locked door. Juniper took out some keys from her mini-purse, unlocked the door, then stepped to the side. "Feel free to do the honors, bestie."

Wallflower turned the knob and pushed—and her jaw dropped as an entire mall's worth of outfits and costumes greeted her in the room beyond. They hung from the ceiling, they draped across the bed, they bulged from the closet, a rainbow of garments representing every culture of the world she could think of, every profession she could think of, complete with accessories to boot lying both scattered and meticulously put away on multiple stands and drawers.

Instantly, Wallflower knew Rarity would have a field day with this room alone, for weeks—after the prerequisite fainting at the sight, of course. Wallflower almost didn't want to tell her, and keep it all to herself.

"My dear Wallflower Blush," Juniper said, placing a hand on Wallflower's shoulder and grinning at her awed reaction, "welcome to Wardrobe."





The other doors before the left turn, it turned out, could serve as changing rooms if needed. Thus, after taking time together to settle on Wallflower's garment of choice (with Juniper acting as advisor and faux-salesgirl), Wallflower randomly chose the center room, and was just now nearly done with getting redressed. She pressed her uniform against her body, smoothing them out with care, making sure there were no strings sticking out.

It was mostly formality; Juniper had told Wallflower that these outfits were from old movie projects, so it didn't matter too much what happened to them. When any studio Canter Zoom was affiliated with decided they didn't need a garment anymore, it went to a museum if it had been part of a famous production, or worn by a famous actor or actress. Juniper had gotten the pick of anything that didn't fit that bill, and the rest were donated to the needy. This had been going on since she was a child, which accounted for the massive collection, to say nothing of why there were so many outfits in both Juniper's and Wallflower's sizes.

Since she was about to do some major cooking, Wallflower originally had a basic cook's apron in mind—until she'd seen something else with an apron catch her eye, and cause a mischievous idea to form in the back of her mind, which had long since given up on questioning anything.

And then Juniper dug into the back of one of the closets and found an even better version.

Wallflower looked at herself in the mirror, decked out in full white chef's regalia: double-breasted jacket bearing two rows of white buttons, solid black pants, and a dark green apron which complemented the rest of her skin and hair nicely. It was loose-fitting, yet firm, giving her stature as she stood up straight, wielding an imaginary ladle in one hand.

I look… wow. I look like I'm in charge.

A surge of confidence washed over her, of pride; real, true, unironic pride towards the young lady Wallflower saw looking back at her.

Like I'm in control of something for the first time in my life.

Wallflower smiled at herself.

Her reflection smiled back.





Wallflower walked out of the changing room to see that the other two doors were still open. Did that mean Juniper was already finished changing, and waiting for her?

Only one way to find out. She made her way to the steps, descended them, and followed the now somewhat familiar layout of Juniper's house back towards the kitchen.

But Juniper was nowhere to be found. Wallflower looked around. "Juniper? Are you here?"

"Right here," Wallflower heard an eager voice say, a short distance behind her.

Wallflower turned around to see Juniper… Juniper, wearing a pink maid uniform, straight out of history books, complete with white apron and frills. The color easily complemented the rest of her, and went perfectly with her glasses, which Juniper tipped as she approached.

"Like it?" Juniper asked, noticing Wallflower's stunned reaction. "It was imported for a time travel movie. As far as the culinary arts are concerned, I'm in your hands tonight, Miss Blush," Juniper said, doing a little twirl, and then leaning against the wall, looking at Wallflower with an overly inviting gaze. "If you'll have me."

It was all Wallflower could do to not fall down laughing—or bite her lip, for that matter. "It's so… so… extra." Wallflower paused, then added, "Which makes it exactly you. But aside from that…" Wallflower walked up, doing her best to keep her temperature level. "It's very pretty. I will gladly take you on as my understudy." She walked back to the kitchen doorway, and held out her hand, gesturing for Juniper to take it and follow her inside… when she saw Juniper's arm leaving her eyes. It was quick. Wallflower had almost missed it. "Are… are you okay?"

"Yeah, I sure am," Juniper squeaked, then sniffled. Once. Twice. "Crap."

Wallflower rushed over. "Are you crying? What's wrong?"

"No, no I… sorry," she said, wiping her eyes again with a small smile. "I was just thinking of happier times again. Years ago, for a long time, my big cousin used to play pretend with me using these outfits, whenever she came to Canterlot to visit. Until she didn't, anymore." Juniper gestured to their outfits. "I tried to enjoy myself with these in her absence, but you'd be surprised just how hard that is, when all you have to bounce off of is your reflection."

Temperature be damned, Wallflower could feel her heart crying. "Actually? Less surprised than you'd think. I'd be honored to be your entremetier, Juniper. Not just tonight, but whenever you want." She held out her hand again, with wide, reassuring eyes and a cheerful expression, letting Juniper know that everything was going to be okay. "Will you be my KP?"

"Among other things," Juniper said, gesturing towards an imaginary audience with a winning smile. "Welcome, all and sun-dried tomatoes, to Blush's Kitchen Daydreams, where nothing but the best crosses her distinguished palette!"

Juniper turned back to Wallflower, wrapping her arms across the other girl's shoulders in the warmest of embraces—so close that Wallflower could practically feel herself, at last, melting.

"And where everything you say, goes," Juniper whispered. "You're my star tonight. Thanks so much for being here."

Scratch that. Melting process skipped. It was straight on to evaporation from here on out.

Once more, the back of Wallflower's mind questioned just where all this had come from, and how she had gotten herself here. And at long last, Wallflower told the voices in the back of her head to shut it.

After all, if there really was a side to herself that she never knew existed… didn't she owe it to herself to explore it?

However things turned out, Juniper was beside her, and she was happy just for that.

"Thank you for inviting me," Wallflower said, giddiness building in her chest. "Let's go make a meal."
> 16: All the Right Ingredients
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Right! Yes! Meals! Cooking! Okay, okay, I'm calm now, I promise, I swear." Juniper broke their hug, fanned herself a bit, bringing back her usual composure and showiness. "Okay, then. I know that neither of us are very good socially, but the good news is, we don't have to be. The key to good show business is to realize that your audience only knows what you show them." She turned Wallflower towards the doorway. "Lie to them. Lie like crazy. But also put yourself into the performance."

"That," Wallflower said, "sounds a little conflicting?"

"Only because this is your first time trying it. Act confident, or, at least, what you think confidence looks like—then tell our viewers at home what's on the menu tonight."

Wallflower imagined that audience. An audience full of people in an auditorium, formless shadows at first, but soon enough, shapes and skin tones and colors washed over them, morphing them quickly into an amassed group of people which looked strikingly like the same audience from that fateful day back in Canterlot High School…

The day of the garden club presentation.

The day when she'd given everything she had into presenting herself, and her greatest love, to the world—and had been punished soundly for her trouble.

The fear from back then, the burning, the mild nausea, came rushing up from her stomach, to her chest, to her throat.

Until she looked out over the audience again. Canterlot High students meant a lot of people who ignored her, sure.

But it also meant people like…

Like Sunset. And Rarity. And Rainbow, and Vinyl, and Photo Finish—and even people who don't even go there, like Sour, and Indigo, and Sunny…

She could see them in the audience now, able to make them out through lights shining on them from above. They were smiling at Wallflower, eyes wide, hanging on Wallflower's every word and action, waiting for her to go on!

People who…

She looked to her side, to Juniper, who had the same expectant expression.

…people who actually want me here.

The painful burning turned to a much softer, energizing warmth. Wallflower straightened, standing tall—which was still almost a full head shorter than Juniper, and the latter loved teasing her about it—and looked out at the new audience, which did still have some people who could have cared less about her presence or emotions, but also contained just enough support to convince her to take another shot.

It also helped that a quick glance in one of the kitchen's mirrors, allowing her to see herself in a head chef's uniform, to see herself in charge, was still doing its job at making her feel revered. Important. Noticed.

(Wallflower made a mental note to tell Rarity and Sour Sweet about the experience—perhaps they could come up with some more garment ideas along such lines. Once Rarity was done crowing about how she was right all along, of course.)

"Tonight," Wallflower addressed the world with conviction (from inside a closed house where only one person could see and hear her, which admittedly also helped), "we're making chunky vegetable stew. No meat, all spices, all taste! At least, if things go well."

"Eeeeee!" Juniper squealed, throwing her arms around Wallflower from behind. "I cannot wait!"

Without even thinking about it, Wallflower laughed, and said, "Then help me out, silly!" She walked over to the cooler of vegetables, and started laying ingredients out on the kitchen counter.

"You got it! For cuisine, and for friendship, even this actress shall dirty her hands!" Juniper fetched a large plastic knife and cutting board, then washed each of the vegetables from the cooler in the sink, and set them down on the same counter she'd place the cutting board.

"Joke's on you, Wallflower," she said, brandishing the plastic knife with a faux-malevolent grin. "While you were cavorting with plants, I studied the salad slicer. Wa-cha!" At high speed, Juniper began chopping carrots and celery stalks.

All Wallflower could do was laugh again at the sight, with an extra warning of, "Be careful, please!"

From there, the two worked in sync, with Juniper preparing the vegetables to Wallflower's specifications, and Wallflower preparing the pot, the broth, and the seasoning, using Juniper's ample spice cabinet. Juniper mentioned that every spice in her kitchen had the privilege of being imported due to her uncle doing lots of international location shoots. (Wallflower wasn't quite sure if Himaneighan pink salt, Prench thyme or Spaintish paprika would work out any better than the usual stuff from the supermarket, but it surely couldn't hurt, right?)

Before long, all of the vegetables in the cooler were in small pieces courtesy of Juniper, and both girls used large spoons and bowls to take to the pot: carrots, celery, potatoes, tomato sauce, beans, and mushrooms.

Wallflower mixed them all in, relishing Juniper's amazed expression as they all jumbled together, raising the stew's broth level to a height that had even surprised Wallflower the first time she'd tried this recipe.

"Whoa. I've, uh, got a kitchen sink next to me if you need that too," Juniper said.

Wallflower smiled. "Maybe next time."

"If I make it to next time without going into a food coma. Seriously, this smells amazing and we haven't even started cooking yet! What were you doing over here while I was chopping veggies?"

"My duty as our head chef," Wallflower said. "In this case, getting the broth flavor-ready so that the veggies have some good stuff to absorb," Wallflower said. "A little pepper, salt, oregano, basil, paprika, rosemary…" Wallflower snapped her fingers. "Oh! But I almost forgot the most important thing!" She turned to Juniper. "Do you have a citrus squeezer?"

"Sure. What for?" Juniper said, grabbing one from the cabinet. "Also, totally unrelated question: was I supposed to do anything with the lemons in the cooler? They were the only thing left, but it didn't seem right to chop them up along with everything else." Juniper's face twisted. "Fruit peels in stew… didn't feel right to me."

Wallflower giggled. "Your intuition was spot on," she said, juicing one of the lemons and pouring the resulting liquid into the pot, then stirring. After nearly a full minute of cooking, then stirring again, she fetched two clean spoons, scooped out a little of the stew-in-progress, tasted it with her spoon. Perfect. She offered Juniper her own spoonful to taste.

Wallflower squealed inwardly as she watched Juniper accept, slurp the stew, and her eyebrows shoot up. "Oh my utter goodness. It's a flavor party in my mouth and I'm making a million new friends all at once! Wally, you're a kitchen wizard."

Wallflower blushed. "I just have a lot of practice. Especially with this recipe."

"I believe it," Juniper said, sidling close to Wallflower. "Can I just drink this stuff? We don't even need the veggies."

"No, no you can't," Wallflower said, laughing and bumping Juniper back. She watched the stew softly bubble, feeling light on her feet and in her chest as she sampled its savory aroma. "Always, always veggies. Especially now that I've decided… that life's worth living, to the fullest. So I'm gonna make sure I live forever." She smiled up at Juniper. "And I want you to, also."

It was Juniper's turn to blush, far more deeply given her complexion. "Found the screenwriter. Don't be surprised if I tap you for a script."

"Hmmmm," Wallflower said. "I do enjoy writing."

"I mean, all the quiet ones do."

Wallflower stirred the ingredients in the pot one last time, placed a lit on top, and set the stove to simmer. "All right, this'll take about an hour to cook. Just enough time for a sharing session like we promised?" Wallflower asked as they left the kitchen.

"Now you're speaking my language!" Juniper said, closing her eyes and placing the back of her hand on her forehead. "I'll go first, fighting through my ravenous hunger to reveal my sordid past!" she proclaimed.

Wallflower snapped her fingers. "Actually, hang on. You won't need to go that far." She darted back into the kitchen, opened up a hidden compartment to the vegetable cooler, grabbed a sandwich bag containing two carrots within, then returned. "I always keep a little extra snack handy, since I get hungry during cooking too. Nutrients while we wait!" She did a small excited hop as she offered one carrot to Juniper.

Juniper examined the carrot, turning it around in her hand as if it were evidence in a crime scene, then shrugged. "Well, at least I know it's good for me." She took a bite, munching along with Wallflower. "So, okay, this is gonna sound silly, but there's this really old kid's show about a couple of cute, happy rabbits, that I suddenly feel we just are right now—"

She was cut off by a gasp from Wallflower, who put two index fingers beside her ears, and grinned… then after a moment, broke into song:

"We are the bunnies who know way too much for our own good!"

Juniper lit up in shock. Elated shock, but shock nonetheless. Still, she recovered just in time to continue the medley:

"But we know to share all our knowledge, like good little bunnies totally should!"

And just like in the diner, both girls squealed in unison, amidst laughter. "How in the heck do you know Four-Ears Academy?" Juniper exclaimed. "No one knows Four-Ears Academy!"

"Really?" Wallflower said. I always caught people singing the theme song growing up. Even back in Canterlot Elementary."

"Huh. Mom was right. I always was bad at being aware of my surroundings," Juniper muttered.

Wallflower smiled. "Join the club."

Juniper smiled back at Wallflower as she neared the stairs . "Think I will. Though, if you're looking for a real nostalgia session… come on. Follow me."

"More fashion?" Wallflower asked.

Juniper shook her head. "Nah. That was coming attractions. Now," she said, a glint in her eye, "it's feature time."