Limestone walked along the country road into Canterlot, the midmorning weather less than ideal. Grey clouds, practically the same color as her hair, blanketed the sky above. From them fell countless raindrops in an ordinary shower, less than a storm, more than a drizzle. To Limestone, though, it might as well have been a drizzle, and she could barely feel them against her skin. Still, she couldn't afford to pay too much attention to what was on or above her when everything important, and easily breakable, was below. Cars driven by gaping onlookers, fences and farmhouses, everything need to be avoided carefully lest Limestone crush something vital underfoot as she sojourned into the metropolis for the second time since her ascension heavenward.

Earlier, Gloriosa had relayed a voicemail message to her from one of her friends, a woman named First Folio. As Limestone couldn't use a phone, this would likely come to be par for the course. Apparently, upon going to work at the Canterlot Museum of History, she'd received confirmation that an item in the museum's collection she'd asked about prior was now free for Limestone to use. She didn't say what the item was, though, leaving it as a surprise, and that it would be easier for Limestone to stop by and pick it up herself. Curious, she'd opted to go immediately, hence her trip in the rain.

The good news was the rain cleared up fairly quickly, and Limestone could actually see a large distance again. From her vantage point, the huge city seemed even larger, somehow, with the sheer density of people walking, driving, biking, and working. Of course, many of those people stopped whatever they were doing to stare at her massive, naked body, which was still fit and shapely. Limestone smiled slightly at the thought of charging for the privilege, since she was going to be doing that now, but discarded the idea. Limestone wasn't showing them anything special at the moment; she was just walking.

However, as Limestone stopped and stood, pausing to plot her course while looming over a parking lot, realization sunk in. She'd forgotten to ask Gloriosa for directions to the museum before she left. Limestone groaned, her smile dying on her face. The satisfaction of commanding attention was one thing, but talking to a stranger to ask for directions? Ugh. Still, she had to bite the bullet now, time was wasting.

Unable to hear the sound of conversation filtering through the air over all the obnoxious honking, engine noise, and humming A/C units atop the buildings, Limestone crouched down. Resting her chest between her knees and balancing on the balls of her feet, she shrunk to the height of a three-story house, and began scanning the passing pedestrians for someone who looked local. For their part, most of them scanned her right back, a few even tripping over trash cans or benches when they weren't watching where they were going. Limestone rolled her eyes.

Then, Limestone spied a mustached man walking towards the shoddy fried chicken dive restaurant to which the parking lot was attached. Good enough. "Excuse me?"

He, of course, had been looking at her, but had not expected her to speak. "Yes?" he eventually said.

"Hi. I was wondering, do you know how to get to the museum from here?" Limestone asked.

The man did not reply immediately. Limestone waited. Five seconds became ten, became twenty. He wasn't even focusing on her face, but somewhere far lower, instead.

Limestone sighed. "Eyes up here, buddy," she deadpanned, snapping her fingers beside her eyes.

He flinched, looking further up. God, Limestone thought, this asshole sure does have tact to spare. Not. Everybody at camp at least has the courtesy to not ogle me when we're talking, and I turn them on like crazy.

"Do you. Know. Where. The museum is?" Limestone repeated, slowly, to make her annoyance clear.

He blinked, shaking his head. "Oh! Uh, yeah, big lady." Then, he pointed at a slight diagonal from the street she'd been taking. "Keep that way, until you get to the high school, then go a bit more. Lots of pillars, can't miss it."

"Thanks," she intoned, with as little enthusiasm as she could muster. Rising once more to her full height, Limestone got back to walking at her measured, safe-for-the-normal-people pace in the direction indicated. Hopefully, whatever this surprise artifact was, it would fix her mood back up into something less reminiscent of her old funks.

However, as she neared CHS, something was amiss. It wasn't very clear at first, but the small oddities added up. For one thing, the Canterlot folks were now starting to stare at their phones instead of Limestone. What really made her begin to worry, though, were the sirens. Not the nefarious sea creatures turned teen idols Pinkie regaled her about, but the high-pitched wailing of fire trucks and ambulances careening down the next street over, passing Limestone. Their strobing blue and red lights formed a procession that drew Limestone's further along. There, in the distance, was a large green shape, too big to be a tree, but like no building she could remember.

Hmm, what is that? Limestone squinted. It almost looks like a— no. No, it couldn't be.

Her mild frustration overturned by fresh shock, Limestone approached the anomaly on the heels of the emergency vehicles, which did a superb job of clearing her path. As she got closer, her suspicions were confirmed. It was a person, only many times larger than normal. Another giant like her, presumably enlarged by magic. Limestone's eyes widened with every long step, and in her haste to reach them, she nearly toppled multiple light poles. She wasn't sure exactly what she could do, but she was here, and if she was needed and able to help, Limestone would.

She arrived to find pandemonium, the trucks and ambulances screeching to a stop around great crowds of people packed together on the grass. As fate would have it, Limestone's fresh peer had been smack dab in the middle of Canterlot High. As in: she was literally sitting partially inside and partially on top of a section of the school, bits of the roof and wall still stuck to her body. For it was indeed another girl, her long and unkempt forest green hair a dead giveaway, taken along with the tone of her sobbing. Which she was also doing, while holding her legs to her face, as if in a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to avoid being seen. Even if she hadn't been equally nude, that was a fool's errand.

Limestone gathered her wits as paramedics dashed toward any wounded students who were evacuated to safety by their classmates and teachers. This was obviously very bad, since that meant the school was full of people when this girl exploded in size. Hopefully nobody had been hurt too badly. Priority one was getting anyone still left inside the building to safety, which the firemen already seemed to be doing, far more effectively and with less chance of additional colleterial damage or bodily harm than if Limestone tried.

Something she could do, though, was to try and calm down the trembling giantess. So, Limestone pushed a familiar soft smile onto her face. Kneeling down in the athletic field next to the poor thing, Limestone gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey."

The green-skinned girl flinched, her head whipping to the side to face Limestone. Her eyes were wide with panic and shimmered with tears. "W-What?"

"Just breathe. In and out." Limestone provided an example, inhaling once slowly before letting the air out. "Everything's going to be fine."

After zoning out for a moment in disbelief, the girl complied, shutting her eyes and taking a few deep breaths as Limestone gently rubbed her back in a circle. Now that Limestone could see her youthful face, it was clear she was a student, with freckled cheeks and a bit of acne. When she reopened her eyes to face her again, it was with a healthy amount of trepidation. "You're that enormous woman from the news. Limestone Pie?"

"Yep," she said.

"I'm Wallflower," she replied, once she'd mustered enough courage. "Wallflower Blush." While she clearly wasn't happy, Wallflower was definitely put at ease having someone come down to her level, metaphorically speaking. "You're... actually pretty good at that. Being calming, not being on the news." She laughed awkwardly.

Limestone shrugged. "My sister is so timid that she almost never speaks. I've had practice."

Wallflower hummed at that, more stress bleeding out of her. At least, until she glanced down at the ruined classrooms beneath her and seized up.

"Why don't we take a few steps back," Limestone suggested, before things could get any worse. She got to her feet and extended her hand.

Wallflower tentatively took it, and Limestone carefully pulled her up so as not to demolish any more of CHS before they both immediately vacated into the field. Standing, Wallflower was a smidge shorter than Limestone, though that wasn't saying much. She must have been like ninety feet tall, at minimum.

Opposite her, Wallflower didn't know what to do with herself, clearly uncomfortable with her body on being display and tried in vain to cover up with her arms. Down in front of the school, plenty of corralled kids with nothing better to do were aiming their phones up at them. True to her name, Wallflower blushed.

"Yeah, it was a bit much at first," Limestone said. "All the attention."

At that, Wallflower nodded multiple times. "Nobody even seemed to notice me before today. And now everyone is. It's... overwhelming." She sighed. "One minute I'm just minding my own business, silently taking notes in the back of the class as always, when some glowing magic flew through the window and hit me. Next thing I know, I'm inching upwards towards the ceiling and my clothes are ripping apart. Ms. Cheerilee noticed and sounded the alarm at about the same time I see everyone watching and..."

Limestone filled in the blanks. "You broke down into hysterics. I don't blame you."

"At least this'll be over soon," Wallflower said. Her expression then transitioned into something Limestone couldn't quite place before she continued. Bittersweet, or maybe a mix of gratitude and skepticism? "Sunset Shimmer and her friends will fix me, and then I'll be able to forget about this whole mess. I hope."

"Speaking of, we've been waiting!"

The third, familiar voice came from an unexpected place: right next to their heads, in midair. Limestone's brows rose, dumbfounded, when she spied Rainbow Dash, hovering on a pair of wings. It was one thing to hear about magic (embiggening variety notwithstanding) secondhand, and another thing entirely actually seeing it.

Wallflower, however, was nonplussed. "Hello, Rainbow Dash."

"Hey... big girl," Rainbow replied.

"It's Wallflower. We've been in the same math class for three years."

"Really? Are you sure?" Rainbow asked, head tilted and visibly puzzled.

Typical Rainbow, Limestone mused. I still have no clue what Pinkie sees in this clueless, inconsiderate jerk. I'd say she reminds her of me, but I'm only a jerk when necessary. Hmm, then again, Wallflower did say she was constantly ignored. Maybe it's not just Dash, for once.

Anyway, Limestone pushed the conversation back on track. She looked down, and sure enough, a group of familiar, concerned faces stood nearby. Pinkie jumped repeatedly, waving. Limestone coughed politely. "Sorry. With all this commotion, we didn't notice you there."

"Totally understandable," Twilight said. "Keeping track of all the variables in a crisis situation isn't easy."

Applejack tipped her hat back to get a better view. "An' no need to apologize. We just thought it would be better to reach out to, er, Wallflower soon as we could, assumin' she doesn't also want to stay huge."

"We should be able to make it work without a song if we try hard enough," added Rarity.

"YES," Wallflower confirmed, desperate. "Wait, I mean no. I mean, please change me back.

Pinkie's smile turned smug at her insistence. "Somebody's eager to get the fixer-upper light show started."

Fluttershy nodded deeply in understanding before craning her head at the still-distressed Wallflower. "I couldn't even imagine being in your place. Why, I'd probably faint from sheer embarrassment."

Sunset looked like she was about to say something, but thought better of it, and shifted gears. "Then let's not keep her waiting any longer. Girls?"

"Right!"

With that collective response, the seven best friends formed a line, joining hands, and shutting their eyes. Limestone supposed they were concentrating, or thinking friendly thoughts, maybe. Limestone didn't really know, nor did she know what she was supposed to do, if anything, but she took a step back just to be safe. Back at her eye level, Wallflower was looking relieved already. Might've been nice, having someone my own size again, Limestone thought. But this is what Wallflower wants, and I don't especially miss hugs, or whatever.

Then, bright auras of light flared up around Pinkie, Sunset, and the others, each a different color. As they opened their eyes, looking skyward at Wallflower, the lights merged into a rainbow that launched up her, beginning to swirl around Wallflower's body. Limestone watched, genuinely awed, albeit mildly, as the rainbow grew into a tornado of color, stretching into the clouds. Until, moments later, it dissipated into glittering fireworks...

Revealing a Wallflower just as humongous as when it started.

Gasps rent the air as seven partially ponified people separated and stared in bafflement. Wallflower, too, had eyes wide with shock.

"It didn't work!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "But, our magic always works!"

"I take it this hasn't happened before?" Limestone asked.

But before any of them could reply, Wallflower growled in irritation, her anxiety turning to anger. "I knew it. I knew you're weren't actually going to help me, Sunset Shimmer. You were horrible for years, and under that act, you still are. I bet inside that cruel head of yours, you're laughing it up at my expense." She crossed her arms and stomped once, shaking the ground enough to topple the four less athletic high schoolers in the group.

As Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight picked themselves back up, Sunset recoiled in disbelief. "What? How could you think that? Didn't you see us try just now?" Sunset appeared thoroughly apologetic to Limestone, but Wallflower wasn't buying it.

"Sunset worked really, really hard to become a better person," said Fluttershy, emboldened and clinging to Sunset protectively. "She bullied me a lot, and I forgave her a long time ago."

Twilight fixed her glasses, her mouth in a contemplative line. "Sunset even stopped me from making the same mistakes she did. Were you not there at the Games to see that?"

Wallflower turned away, biting her lip. "No, but..."

Sunset sighed. "It's fine. If you don't want to like me, that's your choice. But either way, that still leaves the issue of, well…" She trailed off, gesturing to all of Wallflower. "There's some other reason the Magic of Friendship didn't put you back to normal."

"Maybe she's too strong?" posed Applejack.

"No, strength is irrelevant, as is the quantity of magic," said Twilight. "My hypothesis is that Wallflower Blush's current state isn't disharmonious." Here, she pursed her lips. "Either way, Sunset and I are going to have to add another chapter to our dissertation on magic for the government because of this."

"Darling, this isn't about us," said Rarity. "Think about what she's going to have to go through," she added, pointing upwards.

It was then that the reality of the situation hit Wallflower like a ton of bricks, her fear returning in full force as the color drained from her face. "Wait, so... I'm going to stuck at this colossal size forever?"

"Maybe not FOR-EV-ER forever," clarified Pinkie. "We can knead out the kinks, get our funky magic groooove-thang back later, and try again!"

However, Pinkie's trademark humor and optimism weren't very effective at soothing Wallflower, who was on the verge of another nervous breakdown.

Limestone had been quiet during the whole post-failure argument, barely knowing Sunset at all, but she could be supportive in her own way now. She rested her hand on Wallflower's back again. Once she twisted to look at her again, Limestone spoke. "It's actually not that bad once you get used to it. You might take longer to adjust than I did, maybe a lot longer. So, I'll walk you through it. And I'm no expert in the workings of the supernatural, but since those rainbows left you big, I have a hunch this'll turn out for the best, eventually. Not to mention all the other new friends I've made who I'm sure will support you." Hopefully in a platonic capacity, Limestone finished internally.

Wallflower's brow furrowed, and she looked over at the front of the school, where students and news crews alike were now snapping pictures, before taking Limestone's hand. "Thanks for the offer, really," she managed. "But I am still in no way prepared for this. I have barely any experience socializing as an ordinary girl, let alone as a giant, constantly exposed one."

"Well, assuming her offer is still on the table, Rarity can help with the clothes problem," Limestone said. "Right, Rarity?"

At this, the fashionista flipped her hair and posed. "Of course!"

"Really?" Wallflower asked.

Rarity waved off her concerns. "All I need from you, darling, are your measurements. The fabric store is another story."

"And knowing her, it's on the house," added Sunset with a smile.

Wallflower hummed in consideration, though her most of her reservations obviously remained.

Limestone studied Wallflower, weighing her options. In her mind, now was the time to dig to the root of the problem from another angle. She wasn't a doctor, or even as smart as half the people here, probably. But someone had to address the source of Wallflower's hangups, and it might as well be her. "Okay, so, why does this bug you so much? Is it because you prefer being alone?"

"Not really? I actually like company. If I didn't like people, I wouldn't be on the yearbook committee," Wallflower explained. "It's just that I don't really have any friends."

"Have you ever tried making any? Talking to other students?" Fluttershy carefully asked, an instant before Limestone could.

"Uh, no," Wallflower said. "I get worried I'll mess up somehow and make things worse, so I always end up keeping to myself."

"Taken in conjunction with your expressed discontent regarding the current state of affairs, that strikes me as being a supremely hypocritical set of lifestyle choices," Twilight noted.

Limestone stared. "What?"

"Wallflower's being stupid," translated Sunset.

"Ah," Limestone uttered. That made sense. Twilight's vocabulary was something else.

Applejack adopted her best lecturing tone before she gave it to Wallflower straight. "You can't expect friendship to just be handed to you on a silver platter, ya gotta work for it."

It took a few moments for that to sink in. For her part, Wallflower took this news better than Limestone would have, unmoving, her face bunched up in thought. When it began to look like it would take a while longer for her to make a decision, others chimed in with their two cents.

"Being the main attraction is awesome," said Rainbow Dash. "Once guys start just approaching you out of excitement, you won't even be able to remember how boring life was before."

"Just go for it! You can never have too many friends!" Pinkie declared. "For every grumpy-pants who doesn't like you, there'll be a hundred more peeps who do!"

Limestone smiled at that, adding "Heck, I was a loner too, and I made dozens on literally my second day being huge."

Slowly, a matching grin crept its way onto Wallflower's face. "Alright. I suppose I can give this a try."

Multiple cheers of support rang out. Limestone just wrapped her arm around Wallflower's shoulders. Everything had worked out fine for her, and the same would happen for Wallflower; she was sure of it.

After tying up the remaining loose ends with Rarity, the authorities, the school, and Wallflower's expectedly flabbergasted parents over the course of the afternoon, Limestone guided Wallflower out of Canterlot and back to Camp Everfree, where she'd agreed to stay with Limestone and her friend group. Almost everyone was already waiting by the entrance, all other priorities cast aside to return and give the second giant resident of the property a warm welcome.

So as not to overwhelm Wallflower as she had been, Limestone insisted they take things slow, and introduce themselves in smaller batches in between her familiarizing Wallflower with the infrastructure and procedures in place. This had been the right call, as Wallflower uttered a huge sigh of relief when Limestone had stopped her enthusiastic companions from inundating her all at once.

"Also, no pressuring her into anything sex related," Limestone insisted, speaking loudly enough for the whole camp, not just the first batch of people, to hear. She was channeling her protective streak something fierce. "In fact, don't even discuss that sort of thing unless Wallflower decides to ask, got it?"

As they all made clear their understanding, Wallflower balked and turned to Limestone. "Wait, you have sex with them? Like, all of them?"

Limestone didn't know whether to be proud or offended, so she settled on neither. "Not the staff," Limestone said, pointing to Gloriosa and Timber. "But yeah, that's about right."

Wallflower's reaction confirmed that Limestone's instincts about her had been correct. Though she was eighteen as of two weeks ago, which her parents had explained, odds were high Wallflower possessed zero experience with intimate relationships.

"You don't even have to watch if you don't want to," Limestone said, only a tiny bit coy. "There's plenty of room out here."

She began the tour from there, showing Wallflower to the lake, where she slept, where the parchment/toilet paper was, and which trees could be eaten. Surprisingly, Wallflower was actually already aware of that last one, her knowledge of botany being a point of pride. Wallflower seemed to know as much about plants as she did about rocks, Limestone observed.

However, Wallflower's unease returned in force when Limestone got to the part about personal hygiene, and how necessity dictated it be, well, public. Walking farther away to do her business, sure. Wanting an oversized toothbrush instead of a helper in her mouth? It wouldn't be as easy as having one the right size, but Wallflower could just get a push broom or something. But showering, well...

"No way, no way. Definitely not," Wallflower protested, wrapping her arms around herself. "I am not letting a bunch of people I barely know run their hands all over me every day, end of story. I don't care how dirty I get; dirt is natural, but that is terrifying."

"So you just aren't doing to shower, ever? That'd be really gross," Limestone said, bluntly. "Besides, in case you've forgotten, you've been flashing your goods constantly."

Thus reminded, Wallflower fidgeted, blushing, but continued making her case nonetheless. "I can bathe in the lake! Put some soap on a, uh... shag carpet as a washcloth!"

Limestones' eyebrow rose. "And get more dirt and chemicals in our drinking water?"

At this, Wallflower's vehemence sputtered and died. "T-That's true."

There was a lull in the hour's pattern of continued speaking then, Limestone reading Wallflower's expression. Because she'd been so patient with Wallflower up until this point, or perhaps because it seemed to be a necessity at this stage, Limestone felt the need to let her devious side out to play again. "How about this: why don't we finish meeting the rest of my little pals, and then we can start getting you properly acclimated to your new normal with some... exposure therapy."

Wallflower let out this cute, quiet little meep as Limestone leaned in and smiled devilishly. "Can it wait until tomorrow?" Wallflower pleaded. "I need to prepare myself. Mentally, physically, emotionally. All the '-allys'."

Limestone chuckled, straightening. "That's fine. It's been a hectic day for you, I'm sure. How about we grab a bite and head to sleep after, instead?"

Wallflower let out a long breath. "Yes."

So they had planned, so it was. Lickety, Norman, Terramar, and more were all on their best behavior in order to make sure Wallflower felt welcome. She had some trouble getting to sleep without blankets or a cushioned mattress, and kept Limestone up with the sounds of her tossing and turning on the other side of the clearing. But she'd get used to that too, in time. Pinkie and company's magic rainbow deemed this good for Wallflower, in the long run. And Limestone trusted it would be.

Author's Note

Wallflower joins the party! Hooray! In case it wasn't clear, we're now in AU territory, since Wallflower's growth spurt happened in leiu of her finding the Memory Stone.