Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed. "Isn't that kind of mean, how Sunset keeps pretending like she doesn't even know you're there, and she turns off the lights and locks you in the Yearbook Office?"
Wallflower balled up her hands and thrust them into her sweater's empty, oversized pockets. She sometimes did that when she was nervous or embarrassed, which was a lot of the time.
"Um...yeah," Wallflower said. "'Pretending.'"
It wasn't just Sunset Shimmer, Wallflower thought. It was a LOT of people. And Wallflower didn't think they were just pretending, either. They honestly didn't seem to know Wallflower existed.
Wallflower sighed. She was used to it.
She turned to tell Rainbow what she thought. But Rainbow Dash seemed to have forgotten all about her.
***
On the other side of the lunchroom, two girls gossiped and chatted.
"Well, sure," one of them said, "Sunset Shimmer's hot. But you know who's really CUTE? I mean, ADORABLE?"
"Who?" the second girl asked.
"That girl over there. She's just...wow." The first gossiper pointed out the green-haired girl across the room. Wallflower dodged an oblivious boy, who was carrying a full lunch tray directly at her. The green-haired girl narrowly avoided getting her sweater covered with eight bean chili and milk.
"Oh..." the second girl marveled. "How could I have never noticed her before? She is totally adorable."
"Yes, she is."
"I mean...she is so adorable I can hardly even handle it. Total cuteness overload!"
"I know what you mean."
"If she was any cuter, I think I would just--"
Full of angst about her invisibility problem, Wallflower gently bit her own lower lip.
The first girl said, "What were we talking about? I feel like my brain just crashed and rebooted itself. Can brains even do that?"
"I don't even know! Oh well, if it was important we probably wouldn't have forgotten about it."
***
"Welcome to Canterlot Unexplained on EweToob! Today we're investigating the Canterlot Fender Bending Energy Vortex. Sometimes people are driving along the road, and suddenly...WHAM! Part of their car just gets bent out of shape. No one knows for sure what causes it. Some people think it's magnetic fields from deep inside the hollow earth. Other people think it's psychic energy gone out of control, like how the famous psychic Uri Gallop can bend spoons using only the power of his mind. Applejack, I understand you might have something to say about that."
"Howdy, folks. Ah haven't seen it for mahself, but mah grandma, Granny Smith, still remembers workin' in the lunchroom back when Uri Gallop was a student at Canterlot High."
"Really! So Granny Smith knew Uri Gallop way back when."
"Mostly she remembers the lunch ladies gettin' really annoyed when they found all the spoons tied in knots."
"Wow! So Uri Gallop really DOES have amazing psychic powers!"
"One day Granny noticed the cafeteria supply room window was open, and she peeked inside. Uri was in there twistin' spoons with his hands. Ah guess by practicin' a lot he'd gotten really good at it, and he could do fifteen or twenty spoons a minute--"
"Oops! We seem to have run out of time. Thank you for watching Canterlot Unexplained, Special Video Edition! Next time, we'll look for clues to the mysteries of the Pullover Devil...a lengendary item of clothing that floats through the air and walks around on its own!"
***
Vice Principal Luna grabbed Wallflower's shoulder. "Young lady, I'm worried about you."
"Great," Wallflower said. "That makes two of us."
"I'm not joking!" Luna looked at the latest gash on Wallflower's wrist, where a bandage was coming undone because tying a bandage around your own arm is tough to do well when you can only reach that part of your arm with one hand. "Wallflower, don't you know that slitting your wrist is a permanent non-solution for a temporary problem?"
"I'm hoping it'll heal up in a few weeks."
Luna pointed at the wound. "You have to stop trying to commit suicide."
Wallflower exploded. "I wasn't trying to commit suicide! I was just in the road, and a car came along and the driver didn't stop in time." Wallflower muttered, "It was like the driver didn't even TRY."
"Wally! Standing out in the road in front of a moving car is either suicide or at least serious self-harm! It's not a good thing to do!"
"I wasn't trying to commit suicide! It's just...I have as much right to use a crosswalk as anyone else does!" Wallflower's eyes flashed and she clenched her fists adorably, as she spoke up for what she knew was right.
Luna blinked. "Excuse me?"
Wallflower shouted, "Excuse me WHAT?"
"Wasn't I just talking to a student?" Luna looked around. "Where did she go?"
Wallflower Blush sighed. Why did people keep failing to see her?
***
In the Rainbooms' practice room, Twilight told Sunset Shimmer, "I have a new project."
"Ok," Sunset said. "Should I be concerned?"
"Yes! You SHOULD feel concerned, because Wallflower Blush is in danger!"
"Oh. Who is she again? And why is she in danger?"
"People keep having trouble seeing her."
"Huh. Maybe she should wear day-glow colors? Reflective belts? Flashing lights?"
"Here. Put this on...no, I'll put it on your head for you." Twilight put a strange helmet on Sunset's head, with lots of flashing lights and strange antennas.
"This is safe, right?"
Twilight turned on a display screen. "Look!"
"Is that my head? Those different colors...is that my brain activity?"
"It is! I'm glad you understand."
"How is this going to help--"
Twilight held a photograph in front of Sunset's face. "Do you see this?"
"It's like a photograph...but it isn't OF anything. I can kind of see a grayish blur, I guess?"
"That's a photograph of Wallflower Blush. So even when it's just a photograph, you still have trouble seeing her?"
"Seeing who? There's no one there."
Twilight sighed. "It's like the girl is some kind of ninja." Twilight looked at the display screen again. "This is just like the last two people I showed this photo to. Their brain's feature detectors for cuteness and adorability lit up like fireworks on the Fourth of July!"
"Great. So is that a clue?"
"I wish. Why would invisibility light up your cuteness detection center? It just doesn't make any sense...UNLESS!"
"Unless what?"
"All three of you must have very 'special' feelings about ninjas! Yes, that's the only explanation!"
"Wow." Sunset Shimmer looked at the photograph again, and blushed.
Twilight sighed. "But why would all three of you have a ninja fetish? Is it just a coincidence, or...this needs more research."
Sunset Shimmer stared at the photograph, her eyes shining brightly.
***
"I've been doing more research," Twilight told Sunset Shimmer. The two of them were sitting in Twilight's personal research lab at home.
"Do you still have that photograph you showed me before? I'd really like to see it again."
"I can try to find it later. But right now, I have an important research update!"
"Ok. What's your update?"
"I had trouble getting everyone in Canterlot High to put on my brain scan helmet. I guess untested science frightens them. So I took another approach. First I trained an artifical intelligence to recognize cuteness and adorability. As you know, the Internet standard for cuteness is cat pictures, so standard data sets are already available."
Twilight brought an collection of cat pictures up on her main computer screen to show Sunset.
"Yup," Sunset said. "Look at that kitten there. It sure is cute."
"That still left me with the problem of training an AI on ninja...characteristics, for comparison. Fortunately, I was also able to obtain a standard data set showing experts who can sneak around silently and strike without warning. (They mostly use their skills to catch birds and mice.)"
The screen showed a second grid of pictures, beside the first grid.
"Twilight. Those are the exact same pictures."
Twilight sighed. "It's really hard to get human ninjas to pose for photos. This is one of the main problems in the AI research community: people reusing the same limited data sets more than they should, and not being careful to include enough diversity. I already told you about the problem with AIs and skin color, right?"
Sunset sighed. "I was at the City Council meeting with you last month. You complained to everyone that the Council shouldn't approve testing of computer-driven vehicles on the public roads, because a lot of AIs aren't good at recognizing purple people."
"Well, they AREN'T! The corporations say their training data includes red people and blue people, and purple is a combination of red and blue so they think that should be good enough. But they're wrong!"
"I think you really made a big impression when you told the whole Council if they approve computer driven vehicles, you would have to carry a rocket-propelled grenade launcher everywhere you go."
"Well, I WILL! Just for self-defense! If those vehicles try to kill me, I should get to kill them back first!"
Sunset sighed. "So anyway...about the problem with this girl who people can't see?"
Twilight straightened her lab coat. "Yes. Our current research project."
Sunset said, "Could you find that picture of her that you showed me before? I'd really like to see it again."
"You like it that much?"
"I do." Sunset sighed. "She's just...so amazing."
"Hmm. Maybe I've been approaching this whole problem the wrong way."
"I'll say!" Spike said from the floor. "I have some suggestions. Like, why only cat pictures? Dogs can be cute too."
"That's true," Twilight said. "And a lot of dogs aren't afraid to wear weird helmets."
Sunset interrupted, "Hey, what about the photo I wanted?"
Twilight grinned in an only slightly terrifying way. "If my latest hypothesis is correct, I can get you something BETTER than that photo. Now shoo, I have important science to do."
Sunset didn't even have a chance to get up. Twilight pushed Sunset AND her chair out the door.
Outside, still sitting in the chair that had little wheels on the bottom, Sunset said to herself, "I sure hope this works. I don't know if I can live without ever getting to see that girl's face again. Even if all we have is a photograph."
***
At the girls' usual table in the lunchroom, Twilight told Sunset Shimmer, "I've been doing more research."
"Do you still have that photograph you showed me before? I'd really like to see it again."
"I can try to find it later. But right now, I have an important research update!"
"Ok. What's your update?"
"It's about Wallflower."
Sunset perked up. "Is there a connection?"
"Yes, there is." Twilight held out two pills, one in each palm. "If you take the red pill...you'll be able to see the world as it really is, at least until the pill wears off."
Sunset grimaced. "I've heard some bad things about counterfeit red pills. Will it turn me into a fedora-wearing misogynistic creep? Because I don't think I could stand to be someone like that. I would have to hate myself. And if I was someone like that and I DIDN'T hate myself for it, I would have to hate myself even more, for NOT hating myself enough for being someone like that."
"It doesn't do anything like that," Twilight replied. "If anything, you should be able to respect women even better than you do now."
Applejack nudged Rarity with an elbow. "Imagine that. You've probably noticed how Sunset already feels about women."
Rarity smiled. "Yes. She tries to 'act cool' and hide it, but...it's just so endearing."
Sunset waved Rarity's attention away. "Twilight, do I need to know anything else about these pills? What happens if I take the blue pill?"
"Oh, the blue pill doesn't do anything. It's just a placebo...a sugar pill. It's just traditional to offer two different pills. For proper science, one of the pills should always be a placebo."
Pinkie Pie squealed, "Oooh, sugar!" She grabbed the blue pill and ate it. "Sweet."
Sunset said, "But the red pill will let me see reality as it really is?"
"Yes. But there's a risk."
Sunset sighed. "There's always a risk."
"If your brain overloads by seeing so much intense cuteness that you feel it might drive you nuts, you won't be able to just shut it out to help you keep your sanity. Instead, you'll still see reality in all of its cuteness and adorableness."
"Huh. So is there a downside?"
"Except for the maybe losing your sanity thing? No, that's it. I TRIED to include extra sanity protection in the pill, but I'm not sure if that will really work a hundred percent for everyone."
"What about the cute girl in that photo you showed me? The photo I couldn't really see at first? Will I get to see HER someday?"
Twilight glanced out the corner of her eye at a green-haired girl sitting by the edge of the group. "I can practically guarantee you'll get to see her."
"Sounds great!" Sunset grabbed the pill and gulped it down.
A minute later, Sunset looked at the same place Twilight had looked a minute ago. "You!" Sunset said. "You are SO ADORABLE. I can't believe I never noticed you before."
Wallflower said, "You did notice me. But you shut me out. I mean, your mind literally shut out all memories of ever having seen me. Now that Twilight explained it to me, I don't feel so hurt by it as I used to."
"How long have I known you? I mean, how long have I been trying to know you, but failing again and again?"
"Since the beginning of freshman year. Did you know we're on the yearbook committee together?"
"I can't believe I would forget something like that. I mean, Twilight explained it, but I still find it hard to believe."
"I know," Wallflower said. "I'd been going around for years wondering what was wrong with me that people couldn't see me."
Sunset scooted over to sit closer to Wallflower. "May I join you?" Sunset asked.
"Sunset, I've had a crush on your hotness for the longest time. I suppressed it because you were nasty and evil. But now that you're NOT nasty and evil..." Wallflower kissed Sunset right on the lips. "You risked your sanity just to meet me. I think that's very romantic."
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash muttered. "In a crazy kind of way."
"Hush, Dash." Rarity replied. "It really is very romantic...wait, what were we talking about?"
"Ah reckon Ah don't know either," Applejack replied.
Twilight started to hyperventilate. "Oh no! (gasp) The two of you together (gasp) are at least TWICE as cute (gasp) as either one of you (gasp) apart! Maybe (gasp) THREE times." Twilight pulled her emergency stash of paper bags out of her backpack. She breathed in and out of a bag.
Sunset started to cry. "So for us to be together...no one will be able to see EITHER of us? Wallflower! I didn't mean to make you invisible again! On the same day when Twilight had finally discovered a cure. Oh, I'm so sorry!"
Wallflower blew a raspberry in disgust. "What is WITH you people? Twilight BARELY EVEN discovered a cure. Unless she can get everyone who drives a car to take the red pill, I'm STILL going to get hit by a car every time I try to use a crosswalk."
"Oh," Sunset said. She remembered a dent on her motorcycle fender that had just mysteriously appeared one day. "Wallflower, I'm so sorry!"
Wallflower stroked Sunset's hair. "Sunny, it's ok. You didn't know. You couldn't know."
"But if we're even cuter together than you are by yourself--"
"You really are," Twilight said. "I took the pill too. And believe me, seeing the two of you together makes it MORE than worth it."
"Like I was saying," Wallflower interrupted, "If the problem is that no one can see us because we're too cute for their brains to handle? The solution is obvious." She grabbed two paper bags from Twilight's stash. "For them to see MORE of us, they have to see LESS of us."
"I don't get it," Sunset said. "But of course, my brain IS overloaded by cuteness right now. Good thing I practiced by looking at Twilight's collection of ninja cat pictures yesterday, or I probably wouldn't even be able to talk."
Wallflower carefully tore a pair of holes in each bag. She put the bag on her head. Her beautiful brown eyes peered out through the holes.
"Hey!" Pinkie squealed. "I can kind of see you! And you're still pretty cute playing paper bag peek-a-boo. But not so cute that I can't see where you are. Is this what scientific progress looks like?"
Sunset put the other bag on her own head. She looked at Wallflower through the holes.
"Wow!" Rainbow Dash said. "You two look ridiculous. But I can SEE that you look ridiculous. So I guess it's worth it."
***
Three weeks later, Wallflower Blush and Sunset Shimmer walked along a sidewalk, hand in hand. Wallflower Blush pushed the walk button on a crosswalk signal. When the signal turned green, the two girls crossed, still holding hands. Not even one car hit them.
Today's bags had cartoon faces that Pinkie had drawn for them in crayon, "to make sure no one gets confused about who's who." It seemed to work well enough. The drawings were cute, but not cute enough to endanger the girls' lives.
"It's so romantic!" Rarity cooed as the lovers walked past. "The things two people in love will do to be together. I'm even starting to see a trend. Other people are starting to wear bags on their heads too, to show support."
Pinkie walked up, wearing a bag with a cartoon monster face drawn in several colors of crayon. "Arrarrargh!" she said, holding her hands out in front of her with the fingers curled like claws.
"And then there's Pinkie," Twilight said. "No, that's not fair of me. Pinkie was the very first person to draw faces on the bags."
Rarity nodded. "Who would have thought? The invisible girl and Pinkie Pie as fashion trendsetters." Rarity made a serious face. "I think I might design a collection myself."
***
(The remaining views were low to medium quality photographs of Wallflower Blush's amazingly adorable true appearance. The images have been omitted from this version, to help preserve the reader's peace of mind about whether they might be going blind.)
Author's Note
There are really a lot of different ways to see Wallflower Blush and Sunset Shimmer.
