Wallflower sat beside a bed of roses in the school garden; she could hear the sounds of other students in the distance but no one else was around to disturb the peaceful moment in time she was enjoying. Looking up into the afternoon sun, she breathed out a contented sigh as warm rays bathed her as they did the flowers she loved so.
“Wallflower.” A familiarly sweet yet pronounced voice called.
Eyes slowly opening, Wallflower smiled as she saw Sunset approaching. “Hi Sunset,” She waved. “What are you doing out here?”
“I missed you,” Sunset responded in a manner of fact tone as she sat beside her. “You know I can’t make it through lunch period without seeing you.”
“You can’t?” Wallflower grinned as she laid her hand atop hers.
“No…I can’t…” Sunset gently leaned in, eyes closing and full lips pursing for a kiss.
“Sunset,” Wallflower closed her eyes, quickly opening them again to see Sunset with her mouth agape, a horrid buzzing noise blaring from her mouth. In an instant, she found herself upright in bed; hand held tightly against her chest, the tempo of her heartbeat as wild as the alarm sounding off on her nightstand. With an irritated groan she smacked the snooze button and fell back onto the bed; taking several deep breaths as she pounded the mattress in frustration. “Again…” She moaned, the vivid dream having grown more and more familiar over the course of the past year.
After a very cold shower, Wallflower hurried through breakfast and caught the bus to school. Her social life had improved since her battle with Sunset and her friends, but it was still timid and removed from the busier goings on at Canterlot High. For her though, the high point of it was the daily time she was fortunate enough to spend with Sunset; they spent final break between fourth and fifth period together ever since they had become friends. Fortunately for her, Wallflower’s intense thoughts of Sunset were pushed to the back of her mind as she was approached by Bon Bon and Rose Luck as soon as she made her way onto the school grounds.
“Hey, Wallflower!” Bon Bon hailed as the duo came to a stop.
“Hi,” Wallflower observed the excited looks in their eyes. “Something up?”
“In the garden, you’ve got to see this.” Rose Luck waved for her to follow.
Without any explanation, Wallflower was led through the school and out into the rear garden where her gardening club met on the regular. Bon Bon sped over to a recently seeded flower bed and gestured down to a single bloom.
“What the heck is that?” Wallflower knelt down beside the foreign growth; its stem not remarkable but it petals were a myriad of yellows and oranges that formed into a tight seal at the apex.
“You’re the expert, we thought you’d know.” Rose Luck knelt beside her.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Wallflower shook her head. “Who planted it?”
“Don’t know,” Bon Bon shrugged. “We just planted normal perennial seeds Friday afternoon, nothing should have grown for a while much less this.”
“This grew in just two days?” Wallflower took out her phone and snapped a picture. “It must have either blown here or been deposited by a bird or something. I’ll see what I can find online.”
“Should we leave it?” Bon Bon asked.
“I don’t see why not,” Wallflower concluded. “It is pretty.”
The five minute bell chimed which forced the girls to abandon further investigation of the mystery flower. Wallflower went through her day as normal, taking sneak glances online to see if she could learn anything about the flower to no avail. Mind worn from school and online research, she smiled at the respite seeing Sunset brought her as she headed for her locker to visit.
“Heya, Wallflower.” Sunset leaned on the locker beside hers. “How was the weekend?”
“Not as interesting as today has been,” Wallflower took out her phone and called up the picture she took that morning. “Bon Bon and Rose Luck found this growing in the garden; apparently it grew over the weekend.”
“Whoa,” Sunset leaned in for a closer look. “What is it?”
“No idea; I’ve never seen anything like it and I can’t find out anything about it online.” Wallflower pocketed her phone. “How about you? Anything new?”
“Well, the school hasn’t been attacked or anything so it’s been pretty quiet lately.” Sunset laughed. “To be honest, I’ve been getting kind of antsy.”
“Want me to terrorize the school again?” Wallflower asked with an awkward laugh.
“No, no no,” Sunset shook her head with a warm smile. “I much prefer you this way.”
Wallflower blushed at the idea. “Yeah… me too.”
“Hey, send me that pic and I’ll run it by Twilight,” Sunset suggested. “If she can’t figure out what it is then no one can.”
“Okay,” Wallflower retrieved her phone and sent a quick message to her with the picture attached.
“Perfect, I’ll message you later if she finds anything.” Sunset promised as the five minute bell sounded for the next class. “Ugh, that time already?”
“Yeah,” Wallflower sighed. “Only part of the day that is predictable.”
“For sure,” Sunset gave a light wave. “Talk to you later.”
As Sunset started off, Wallflower felt a panicked surge of confidence. “Uh… hey, Sunset?” She called.
“Yeah?” Sunset halted, spinning on her heels to face her. “What’s up?”
“Well…” Wallflower laughed timidly. “It’s been a while since you and I… you know… got to hang out; you want to get together tomorrow for something.”
Sunset smiled at the idea. “Sure, sounds great.”
“Really?” Wallflower said in a bit of shock. “Okay, we can talk about it later.”
“Alright,” Sunset waved again and headed off for her next class.
Wallflower smiled excitedly to herself, her heart beating wildly after the nervous request. The remainder of her day played out in similar, unremarkable fashion. Once home, she grabbed a light snack and went to her room to wait for word from Sunset. About two hours passed and just as she was beginning to feel silly for thinking about nothing else, her screen lit with a notification. Swiping the screen, she saw a message that relayed that not even Twilight could uncover anything about the flower that sprouted up in the school garden. Wallflower messaged back, saying that it was okay and she’d just keep an eye on it; after a few moments she got a follow up message asking if she’d be interested in grabbing a late lunch after school the next day. A broad smile washed over Wallflower’s face as she eagerly accepted the invitation. Thoughts of her mystery flower immediately left her head as she began daydreaming about Sunset, a dream abruptly ended by her mother’s call for dinner.
The following morning, Wallflower again went through her daily routine before finding herself at the steps to Canterlot High. Swapping out her books at her locker, she decided to make a quick trip to the school garden to check on the new flower. She found Bon Bon there as well, snapping pictures on her phone; she stopped as soon as she noticed Wallflower and waved her over.
“Hey, come see this!?” She shouted.
Wallflower jogged over and gasped as she saw that the flower had bloomed. “Wow…” She knelt down and studied it more thoroughly, the interior just as lovely as the exterior. “It’s beautiful.”
“I know, right?” Bon Bon joined her. “Did you find out anything about it?”
“No, I had Sunset ask Twilight too and she couldn’t dig up anything either.”
“You know what this means?” Bon Bon asked.
“What?”
“It must be a new species,” She noted. “If we report it, maybe they’ll let us name it.”
“Think so?” Wallflower pondered the implications of the idea. “That would be neat.”
“I wonder what it smells like?” Bon Bon got close and took a deep whiff, she immediately sneezed and shot back upright. “Ooh, smells kind of like lemon.”
Before Wallflower could take a turn, the five minute bell rang out and called her attention. “Shoot, let’s come back during lunch.”
“Okay,” Bon Bon nodded as they rose to their feet and headed for class.
The day carried on in apparent normalcy, at least until Wallflower made it to lunch. The hallways were alive with more chatter than usual and Rose Luck approached her with a distraught look on her face.
“Rose Luck, what’s wrong?” Wallflower asked.
“Didn’t you hear?” She asked in return. Bon Bon got suspended.
“What!?” Wallflower nearly dropped her books at the news. “What happened?”
“Nobody knows, she just started really laying into people all day and even got into with Mr. Cranky Doodle when she started pointing out what a lousy teacher he was. She got sent to Principal Celestia and then had to be sent home."
“That’s so unlike her,” Wallflower noted. “What got into her?”
“Don’t know, I didn't have a chance to talk to her.” Rose Luck shrugged. “Lyra has been texting her ever since, hopefully she can figure it out.”
“We were going to meet out in the garden,” Wallflower lamented. “That flower bloomed.”
“I’ll check on it with you,” Rose Luck began following her down the hall. “Bon Bon did send me a picture of it, bet it looks even better in person.”
The pair returned to the garden and Wallflower was taken by surprise as she saw that the flower had wilted and all but died. “What in the world?” She quickly tried to stand it up and it crumbled away in her hand.
“It died… just like that?” Rose Luck squatted next to her.
“It must have a life cycle similar to a Daylily.” Wallflower surmised. “That’s a shame.”
“Well, at least we have pictures.” Rose Luck sighed. “I wish I could have seen it with my own eyes though. This could have been a once in a lifetime find.”
“Nothing we can do now,” Wallflower patted the soil from her hands. “Although, if this one showed up then maybe we’ll get lucky and another one will pop up somewhere.”
“Here’s hoping,” Rose Luck glanced back. “We should grab our lunch though, we’ve only got like fifteen minutes left.”
“You go, I’m meeting Sunset for lunch after school.” Wallflower informed. “I’ll live if I skip this one.”
“Okay, see you later.” Rose Luck hurried off, leaving Wallflower in the silent garden.
With worried thoughts of Bon Bon lumped in with all the other things carrying on in Wallflower’s head, she made it through the rest of the boilerplate school day. After the final bell, Wallflower got a message to head out to the west parking lot to meet Sunset. She found her by her car waving as she emerged from the side exit.
“Hey,” Sunset greeted as Wallflower got within earshot.
“Hi,” Wallflower pulled open the passenger door and got inside. “Did you hear about Bon Bon too?” She asked as Sunset got behind the wheel.
“Yeah,” Sunset looked at her with concern as she started the car. “I was going to ask you about it.”
“I don’t know what happened, Rose Luck filled me in at lunch period.” Wallflower tucked her backpack and her hands between her legs. “She was fine this morning.”
“Well, something got into her,” Sunset backed out of her spot and headed for the main road. “Aside from all that, how was the day?”
“That flower we found bloomed sometime last night, but by lunch it had completely died.” She detailed.
“Really, is that normal?”
“It can be, for some species.” Wallflower informed. “Still, that’s a short life cycle… how in the world can it hope to reproduce in just twelve hours or so.”
“Looks like a mystery that will stay unsolved for the moment.” Sunset smiled over at her. “So, where to?”
“Huh?” Wallflower glanced over. “Oh… well, whatever you want is fine.”
“Come on, you must have favorite place.” Sunset quickly returned her eyes to the road.
“Well, there is this little hole in the wall I like.” Wallflower confided. “It’s called Provisions; they only use locally sourced ingredients and they have a seasonal menu.”
“Sounds cool, lead the way.”
Under Wallflower’s direction, Sunset drove downtown to the locale. The odd events of the day were set aside as the two merely relaxed and ate underneath the ambient sounds of a dozen conversations. As it was just the two of them, Wallflower opened up much more and spoke more candidly; laughing and smiling in a way she simply did not do in public. Sunset felt a great ease settle in as she listened to her talk, for a brief span of time she was able to enjoy life without the looming threat of villains, the hiccups of magic or the other oddities that formed the majority of her life. Come five in the evening, they settled up and Sunset drove Wallflower home; rolling to a stop before her driveway, Wallflower reluctantly climbed out and leaned on the sill of the window.
“This was… really great, Sunset.” She said sheepishly.
“Yeah, it was.” Sunset agreed. “Nice to see you cut loose a little.” She chuckled.
“Oh,” Wallflower’s cheeks reddened. “Well, I don’t normally feel so relaxed.” Her eyes held on Sunset's for a long moment and the back of her mind was screaming at her to just say what she was feeling in that moment. Under tightening chest and a feeling of panic she laughed nervously and rapped her fingertips along the door frame. “But uh… I should head in, still have some homework to do.”
“Don't remind me,” Sunset nodded. “I have an algebra packet to get done.”
“You know, I’d really like…I mean, we should do this more often.” Wallflower meekly suggested.
“Definitely,” Sunset effortlessly agreed. “Just say the word.”
“O…okay,” Wallflower stepped back from the car with a timid wave. “See you tomorrow.”
“Night, Wallflower.” Sunset waved back before speeding off down the street. Wallflower stood at the end of her drive, watching until she made a right hand turn and disappeared from view.
Waking from an all too familiar dream at this point, Wallflower’s return to school the next day was immediately chaotic. Rose Luck met her at the front entrance with great excitement in her eyes and motioned for her to hurry along.
“What’s going on now?” Wallflower asked.
“You’ve got to see this, come on.” Rose Luck pulled her along through the hall and out to the garden where an unnaturally large crowd of students was gathered.
Wallflower halted as her wrist was freed and her jaw dropped at what she saw before her; dozens of the mysterious flowers now filled the seed bed and all of them were in bloom. “What the… this is impossible.” She muttered in shock.
“I know,” Rose Luck turned back to her. “But they’re the real deal; I don’t know what that flower is but it’s super special.”
“Special doesn’t even cover this,” Wallflower watched as many of the girls began picking the blooms. “No flower could propagate that quickly.”
“Whatever is happening, I’m not missing out on it this time.” Rose Luck made her way back into the crowd and sought out a bloom of her own.
“This is nuts, I’d better take one to study.” Wallflower mumbled to herself as she went into her backpack, emptying her lunch from its insulated tote and putting one of the remaining flowers inside to protect it. The crowd dispersed as first period neared and for the moment Wallflower put the situation from her mind. The day remained far from quiet though as during second period Wallflower’s class was disrupted by an outburst from Photo Finish who began yelling at Snips during a test about his habit of chewing his pen, the sound of which apparently being a constant source of irritation for the eccentric girl. Her interruption was handled much the same as Bon Bon’s the day prior but by third period the school became flooded with similar incidents. By first break, Wallflower carefully edged her way down the hall with her back against the lockers as student’s argued as more and more spoke their mind without restraint. Wallflower avoided getting dragged into any of it, bumping into Sunset who was trying to play peacemaker.
“Wallflower!” Sunset called as she spotted her.
“Sunset.” Wallflower made her way over and the two convened by the water fountain.
“What in the world is going on?” Sunset asked. “Everyone is getting into fights with… well… everyone else. “Even my friends are doing it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Twilight started in on Pinkie for her childish behavior in chemistry class.” Sunset began. “Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy got into it with each other and…” She rubbed the back of her head. “Well, let’s just say I think Rarity and Applejack need to have a long talk about some things.”
Wallflower began to think about everything that had happened. “Sunset, did any of them have one of those flowers I showed you?”
“Uh… yeah,” Sunset nodded. “Fluttershy brought some to us this morning. I thought it died, I was going to ask you about it until all this happened.”
“I think that flower is what’s causing this.”
“What?”
Wallflower gestured to the students. “This is what happened to Bon Bon, she smelled the flower that died yesterday and got suspended for acting out in class. This morning… I don’t know how, but there were dozens more in the garden and everyone was picking them. I know that sounds crazy but…”
“No,” Sunset stopped her. “I think I may have asked the wrong Twilight about that flower.”
“Huh?” Wallflower tilted her head in confusion.
“Come on, we need to go.” Sunset motioned for her to follow.
“What? But… what about school?”
“I don’t think the teachers are going to care right now,” Sunset glanced back at her. “They’re going to have their hands full.”
“Fair point.” Wallflower followed her out of the school and to the parking lot. “Where are we going?”
“My place.” Sunset pulled her keys out.
“Your place?” Wallflower flustered.
“Yeah, hop in.” Sunset ordered.
“Oh, right.” Wallflower composed herself and took to the passenger seat. “Do you have an idea on what’s happening?”
“I think that flower might be magical.” Sunset relayed. “Like the memory stone you found.”
“Magic?” Wallflower repeated. “Oh man, you mean I…”
“This isn’t your fault Wallflower, don’t even think it.” Sunset quickly shut her down. “You didn’t know.”
Hearing Sunset defend her so quickly warmed her heart. “Right, thanks; I still have some lingering issues about what I did with that stone.”
“I know the feeling.” Sunset admitted with a light laugh, her own history far from without blemish. Upon reaching her home, she led Wallflower inside and hurried to her room.
Wallflower idled in the living room, delighting in the fact that the whole place smelled like Sunset. Her wandering mind was called back as Sunset returned a few minutes later with a hopeful look on her face. “So what’s the plan?”
“We need to wait until after school hours and then head back, we’ll be meeting a friend.” Sunset informed.
“At school?” Wallflower questioned. “Who?”
“Listen, not a lot of people know this so you have to keep it between us, okay?” Sunset sat on the back of her couch.
“Sure.” Wallflower nodded.”
“That stone you found came from a world called Equestria; I have friends there and one of them is another version of Twilight. She’s the one who helped me figure out what was going on with you.”
Wallflower was instantly overtaken by the bomb that was just dropped in her lap. “Wait… another world?”
“Yeah,” Sunset nodded. “That memory stone isn’t the only thing from Equestria that wound up here; I think your flower is from there too so I’m having this Twilight look into it for us.” She saw the look in her eyes and laughed. “You okay?”
Wallflower stuttered but eventually nodded. “Yeah. Actually that kind of makes sense, which is really weird to say.” Her train of thought shifted. “You’re… alright with telling me all this.”
“I trust you,” Sunset assured with a smile. “I just hope that seeing how crazy my world can get isn’t too much for you. It tends to keep people at arms distance.”
“No!” She quickly blurted out, just as quickly laying her hand over her mouth. “I mean… that’s really great that you’d be willing to share that stuff with me.” She made a quiet laugh. “It’s nice to be on the other side of it for a change.”
“Glad to hear it,” Sunset tossed her head towards the kitchen. “You hungry? We’ve got some time to kill.”
“Alright.” Wallflower happily accepted the invitation. While they waited, Sunset revealed the truth about her magic although she held onto the secret of what she truly was. Wallflower sat in wonder as she was made privy to some of Sunset’s closest secrets, feeling closer to her than ever before which is something that resonated inside of her. Once three o’clock had come and gone, Sunset drove them back to the school grounds and took Wallflower to the statue that acted as the portal to Equestria.
“Should be any second now,” Sunset checked her watch as the portal began to glow. “Ah, perfect.”
“Wow.” Wallflower watched as an identical copy of Twilight stepped from the stone.
“Hi, Sunset.” Twilight greeted, observing the new addition.
“This is Wallflower, she was the one who found the memory stone.” Sunset explained. “I told her about you already.
“Um… hello.” Wallflower shyly greeted.
“Nice to officially meet you,” Twilight smiled. “Sunset told me about you after that stone business.”
“Yeah, sorry about all that.”
“So, did you find anything about our flower?” Sunset asked.
“Yep, fortunately is isn't as bad as you thought.” Twilight assured. “It's called a Truth Blossom; it grows in the Everfree Forest and has a pollen that compels creatures to speak whatever truths are on their mind or in their heart.”
“That’s incredible.” Wallflower noted.
“Not where I come from.” Twilight laughed. “It’s a relative to a similar plant called Poison Joke; something my friends and I had our own run in with.”
“Is there an antidote or something?” Sunset inquired hopefully.
“There is, but the effects of the flower only last a day. I had my friend Zecora make some anyway, just in case.” Twilight produced a jar of purplish liquid. “Just a sip with do the trick, as she put it.”
“Awesome.” Sunset took the jar.
“I have this too,” Twilight passed over another jug. “That plant grows like a weed, this is an herbicide that will kill it off so it doesn’t spread any further. You need to make sure you get it all, just one blossom can reproduce like crazy.”
“We noticed.” Wallflower chimed in.
“Thanks, Twilight.” Sunset nodded soundly.
“No problem, I’m just glad this isn’t a huge deal.” She sighed. “I just got done with tough friendship mission.”
“Well, the school is empty so we’ll get to work.” Sunset promised.
“Great, take care you two.” Twilight waved. “Tell the others I said hi.” She jumped back through the portal.
“That was new,” Wallflower eyed Sunset with a grin. “But, it’s good to know that everyone will be alright.”
“Yeah, now let’s go make sure it stays that way.” Sunset brandished the herbicide
Working into the late afternoon, Sunset and Wallflower pulled the remaining flowers from the school garden and mixed up a solution of the herbicide to completely soak the area to ensure no further truth blossoms would grow. With their work done, Sunset took Wallflower home where she gave a hasty explanation to her parents about where she had been before collapsing onto her bed in exhaustion. She may have been tired, but she was deeply happy to not only have gotten closer to Sunset but to have had a chance to help the school to atone for her own misdeeds. Her eyes were opened to a new world and that was something that gave her a great deal of confidence; so much so in fact that she decided to make a call about something that had been in the back of her mind for months.
The following day was a sea of apologies as the students of Canterlot High spent their time making amends for everything that they had said the day prior. Sunset let her friends in on what happened, the six girls all proving the strength of their bonds by letting bygones be bygones. Around lunch, Sunset got a message from Wallflower asking her to meet her in the garden after school; vowing that their mission had been a success and the beds were barren of any foreign flora. Answering the call, Sunset headed out to the garden after school; she found Wallflower by herself staring off into the distance with a look of hard thought on her face.
“Wallflower?” Sunset called her attention. “Everything alright?”
Wallflower let out a deep breath, raising her hand to reveal a single truth blossom. “I don’t know yet.” She answered honestly.
“I thought we destroyed them all.” Sunset noted.
“I had it in my backpack, this is the last one.” Wallflower looked down at it. “Sunset, I know these things have been nothing but trouble but… there’s something I need to say and this flower may be the only way I’ll ever be able to.”
“Wallflo…” Sunset gasped as she watched Wallflower lift the bloom to her nose and inhale deeply.
Wallflower lowered the bloom to her side, her eyes beginning to water as she felt everything in her begin to come to surface. She turned to Sunset with a frightened but genuine smile and sighed. “Being a part of your adventure instead of the cause of it this time has been the best part of High School. Honestly, everything has been better since we became friends; but…” Her lips quivered as she was compelled to continue. “But there’s more to it than that.” She took a brave step towards her. “Sunset, I think about you everyday… and… and that little bit of time we get to spend together during break is the best part of that day. At first, I thought it was just because I looked up to you for being so many things that I’m not; but that was me lying to myself.” She laid her hand over her heart. “I… I’m in love, I’m absolutely in love with you and…” Tears began to stream from her eyes. “And… I want to be closer to you. Even if you could never feel the same way I just… I want to be a bigger part of your life. I just hope saying all this doesn’t push you away after everything we just went through; that’s my biggest fear and it’s been in the back of my mind ever since I realized how I felt.” She held out the flower. “And with this… you know I’m not confused or holding anything back.”
Sunset stood stunned for a long moment as she absorbed the sudden confession. “Wallflower…” Sunset quickly went to her and took her wrists.
“Sorry…” Wallflower laughed with a sniffle. “I know this is a lot but I didn’t think there was any other way.”
“It’s okay,” Sunset assured with a light smile. “I’m sorry you’ve had to hold all of that in for so long.” She lowered her head and looked into her eyes. “First off, you’re not going to push me away; you know enough about me now to know I don’t scare off so easily.” She pulled her close, wrapping her arms around Wallflower and setting her head against hers. “Secondly, since we’re being so honest; I’ve noticed that I really like you too.”
“Really?” Wallflower asked in shock.
“Yeah,” Sunset affirmed. “You may not like that your life is so quiet and uneventful, but I think that sounds wonderful. I mean, my whole life has been pretty wild and it rarely gets a chance to slow down. But, when I hang out with you, everything just feels so peaceful and calm; I really love it.”
“Grass is always greener, right?” Wallflower pulled back, looking into Sunset's eyes with a smile.
“I guess so,” Sunset giggled.
“Look, I know I’ve already blurted out so much but… can we just… have dinner or something; just talk and… and see what happens?”
Sunset slowly nodded. “I’d really like that, Wallflower.”
Wallflower made a happy laugh as she took a step back; waves of joy and relief passing through her. “You know…” She sat on the grass by the rose bed. “This is embarrassing, but… I kind of have a recurring dream where you and I are right here… just like this.”
“Oh yeah?” Sunset headed over and sat beside her. “Anything… special happen?” She asked, chuckling as Wallflower’s cheeks turned red.
“Depends on what you mean by ‘special’.” Wallflower gazed back at her with a boundless fondness in her eyes.
“Let me guess…” Sunset whispered as she gently took her cheek and brought their lips together.
Wallflower closed her eyes, a happy tear squeezing out as she reached down and took Sunset’s hand. The truth blossom fell to the grass; as it withered and died, the truth it helped set free lived on as Wallflower lost herself in a dream come true.
