Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. On and on that sound went, and Wallflower's eyes watched each and every single movement of the hands of the clock at the end of the room. She had been here a while now, all alone, save for Mr Cranky, who was quietly reading his book. Occasionally, he'd glance up at the lone occupant of the detention room, seeing that green-haired girl sitting there, never saying a word, before glancing back down to his pages. Sitting right in the middle of this empty classroom, Wallflower let out a sigh. This was by no means her first stint staying after school, and it was certainly not going to be her last, not after what she'd done. The memory of her actions repeated themselves in her mind, causing a grimace on her face almost every other minute. However, she had resigned to being here to make up for it, so that was what she was going to do. But then, to her surprise, the silence of the moment was interrupted by the loud creaking of the door. Looking up, Wallflower saw none other than Vice-Principal Luna, and behind her, Flash Sentry. Why that boy was here, Wallflower couldn't say, but she watched as the blue-haired woman approached Cranky.
"Mr Cranky?"
At that, the old man looked to her, before setting his book down and getting up from his chair.
"Ah, Vice-Principal Luna. I assume you're here because...?"
He didn't finish, instead gesturing to Flash, after which, Luna gave a nod.
"Yes. As the new student President, I thought it would be best for Flash to be given some position of responsibility. I think watching over one lone detention student is a fair place to start."
Cranky nodded, then picked up his book and started to head off, giving Flash a quick pat on the shoulder as he left. As for the boy himself, he seemed eager to get involved in his duty for the afternoon, walking over to the now-empty seat behind the teacher's desk. But, that enthusiasm seemed to disappear from his face when he finally laid his eyes upon the lone student he was watching over. Wallflower, for her part, looked on as Flash's expression changed, becoming shocked at first, and then, to her confusion, somewhat steely. As for the Vice-Principal, she had followed Cranky out, but had paused at the doorway, before looking back to Flash.
"Be sure to call me if there are any issues."
Shaking himself out of his slightly stunned state, Flash looked back to her, forcing a smile and nodding.
"Sure thing."
Luna gave him one final nod, then headed out, closing the door behind her. Now, it was just the two students, and Flash sat down upon the chair in earnest, giving Wallflower one final look before casting his eyes downwards. Like Cranky, he too had brought a book with him, and so he promptly began to read it. As for Wallflower, she turned away from her new warden, looking out at the window, to the direction she knew her garden to be. Once more her thoughts drifted to the days that had gone by, and as she did this, she absent-mindedly began to place her thumb and forefinger upon the tiny stone that served as the "jewellery" of her little string necklace. After a while, Flash looked upwards, seeing her do this, and as his eyes focused on that stone, his gaze narrowed.
"Is that...the memory stone?"
Though surprised to hear him speak to her, Wallflower nevertheless gave a nod.
"Um...yeah."
Flash, though his expression was hard to read, looked her in the eye shortly afterwards.
"You kept it?"
Looking down to the stone, Wallflower nodded yet again.
"Yeah, um...it doesn't have its magic anymore...but I thought it'd be good to keep what remained."
Her expression saddened slightly.
"I figured...it'd be good to remind myself of what I did."
While her focus was on the broken stone, Flash narrowed his eyes, and as he once more looked back to the book, he grumbled under his breath.
"...Good."
But Wallflower had heard that, and so she looked up to him.
"Um...I'm sorry?"
Flash sighed.
"Just...never mind."
However, Wallflower knew at this point that something was bothering the boy, and while every instinct in her was telling her to just leave things be, sadly, her curiosity was not so willing. So, after more than a few false starts, she spoke up, her tone more than a little meek.
"Um...are you...okay?"
Flash said nothing, and in fact, it seemed as though he was trying his best not to have heard her. Wallflower, realising this, decided to press the matter.
"Look, I...if I did something to upset you...you can tell me."
Slowly, Flash's eyes drifted back to her.
"Yes...you did do something to upset me."
The way he'd said that suddenly made Wallflower realise what was going on, and so she turned, looking out of the window once more to avoid looking at him. It took a moment, but eventually, she managed to get some words out.
"I...I know what I did was wrong. Changing the memories of you and everyone else in the school. Trying to turn you against Sunset."
She looked back to him.
"I did something terrible. I realise that."
Again, Flash's eyes narrowed.
"...More than you think."
To that, Wallflower looked to him with confusion. In her mind, she thought back to the events from before, to what could have happened to make him seem this angry with her. She knew there were plenty who were upset with her right now, that much she could understand. But this? This was something else entirely. He wasn't one of those whom she'd altered permanently with the memory stone, he was just one of the regular students who'd forgotten Sunset for a few days. His memories were back, just like they were for Twilight and the others. So what was going on? And while she never said any of this, Flash could tell, just from looking at her, that this confusion was what was going on in her head right now. So, after letting out a particularly long sigh, he began to explain.
"That evening...when Sunset confronted you. When she chased after you...I saw her. I was starting to drive home after the school day had ended, and I saw her running past. I stopped my car and watched her go."
As before, he looked her right in the eye.
"And do you know what I thought to myself as she went past me?"
Wallflower shook her head, prompting Flash to continue.
"I thought...oh, there goes Sunset Shimmer. I wonder what mischief she's up to today?"
Putting his book down, his grip on the thing tensed up somewhat.
"Do you understand, Wallflower? You didn't just make me forget that she was a good person. You didn't just make me forget that she was a friend. You..."
The words were almost painful to him, but he got them out all the same.
"...you...made me...forget...that I love her."
And just like that, Wallflower understood. She looked away, shame as clear as day upon her face, and completely at a loss on what to do. As for Flash, she kept on speaking.
"Every tender moment we'd shared...every good feeling...every memory of looking into those beautiful eyes...gone...like they'd never been there...because of you."
Again, the girl said nothing, even in spite of the obvious discomfort she was feeling. And, as before, Flash kept talking.
"When your stone broke, and our memories came back...it wasn't long before we all found out what had happened. And as I thought more and more on it..."
He too turned, gazing out of the window.
"...Do you have any idea what it felt like to find out about that? To know that those feelings I have for her...to know that everything she meant to me...could just be...taken? That I could have that love ripped from me...and never even know it had happened?"
Looking back to her, he frowned.
"And that wasn't just me you did that too. Twilight, Rainbow, the others...they all love her too...and you took it from all of them. Sunset is a better person than she's ever been before. Maybe even better than any of us. And because of you...we all looked to her like she was...like she was nothing."
Wallflower didn't want to hear any more, and she certainly didn't want to look upon the anger that must have been on Flash's face as he'd said all of that. But, in the end, she knew she'd have to, and so, gradually, she turned. But the face she now saw was not one of anger or hate, but, surprisingly, sadness. Flash was despondent, as though ashamed of himself for allowing those memories to have been taken. Perhaps he felt as though he too should be blamed, for giving those memories up without a fight? But whatever the reason, Wallflower nevertheless began to ask the question that had been on her mind during this.
"Does...does Sunset know? That you feel that way?"
At the mention of his lover, Flash's face softened, but only a little.
"She does. At first, I said nothing. I knew she was trying to make things good between the two of you, so I kept it to myself. But, after a few days, she...began to notice that...I wasn't exactly cheerful whenever she brought up your name."
He sighed.
"So she asked...and I told her the truth. How I felt about you, what you'd done...all of it."
Wallflower was almost afraid to ask her next question, but she did so anyway.
"And...what did she say?"
Flash took a few moments to put his thoughts together before answering.
"She...understood. I'll be honest, I was half-expecting her to ask me to approach you the same way she had, but...she didn’t."
It took a while, but Flash gazed back to Wallflower.
"She told me that I had every right to feel that way, and that she wasn't going to force me to try and be friends with you."
Wallflower nodded, then looked away, still looking ashamed of herself.
"I...I told her the same thing once. That I did something terrible...and that I didn't deserve either her friendship...or her forgiveness. If...if you don't want to be around me...I'll understand."
Flash looked to her carefully, and while it was obvious that he wanted to be angry with her, he instead let out the longest sigh yet, speaking in as calm a voice as he was capable of giving.
"Sunset...has forgiven you. Twilight...has forgiven you. Rainbow, Fluttershy...they've all forgiven you."
Wallflower looked to him, but stayed silent as he continued.
"For their sake...I'm prepared to do the same."
The green-haired girl opened her mouth to speak, only to stop when Flash raised a hand, halting her.
"But not today. Not tomorrow. Not...not for a very...very long time, Wallflower."
He frowned again, but not to the same degree he'd done before.
"What you did...to me... and especially to Sunset...it was poisonous. And some part of me will probably always feel that way about you. So...this will take...time."
Wallflower slowly nodded, speaking in a soft tone.
"I...I still don't think I deserve to have anyone be good to me right now, but...if you think you can forgive me...I'll do what I can to make things right."
Flash considered that, then looked around the rest of the detention room.
"Serve your time here...and we'll see how things go from there."
Again, Wallflower nodded, offering only the barest of smiles.
"Th...thank you, Flash."
But the boy shook his head.
"Don't thank me...thank her."
The girl didn't need to be told who he was talking about, and so, as she once more looked to that slow-moving clock on the wall, she whispered to herself.
"...I will."
