A Bright Night

There were many times when Wallflower wished she had the magical powers that her girlfriend was blessed with. It could only be useful to be able to have a look inside someone else’s mind. With that someone’s permission, of course. But seeing how Sunset was pacing back and forth in the room filled Wallflower with a sense of anxiousness that was only matched by Sunset’s own.

Wallflower hummed for a moment, thinking how best to approach Sunset while sitting up from the place she had been kneeling in the school’s garden. While the gardening club - with Sunset’s help of course - had expanded quite a lot since the memory stone incident, it was now summer break. Which meant while the gardening club was still free to meet, there were often less people willing to break from their own summer plans in order to visit the school and participate in helping with the garden. Today, for example, it was just her and Sunset. Not that Wallflower minded that at all. Spending time with Sunset in her favorite place in Everton was worth it.

But not while Sunset was like this.

“Is… something wrong, Sunset?” Wallflower hesitantly asked as she set down a water can on a stone bench in the gardens.

“Wrong?” Sunset froze mid-step before a smile appeared on her face as she turned to face Wallflower. “Nope! Not at all, why would anything be wrong?”

Wallflower wasn’t fooled a second, only quirking an eyebrow in response. “You’ve… been pacing ever since you got here. And you’ve barely said a word.” While Wallflower didn’t usually lead the conversations, she enjoyed listening to Sunset’s retelling of days events. Though mostly mundane things, hearing her girlfriend give her perspective on every day interactions always kept Wallflower’s interest.

“Well… I guess I do have something going on,” Sunset admitted, her smile dropping away as she turned her gaze away from Wallflower. “It’s just a little complicated, and it’s a big decision.”

“A big decision?” Wallflower asked, blinking, before she felt a pit in her stomach starting to grow. “Was it a college reaching out to you?” Wallflower asked , trying to sound positive still even while her heart seemed to clench slightly at her spoken words.

While Wallflower certainly wanted to support Sunset in any of her endeavors, college… was something that Wallflower really couldn’t follow Sunset in. While her girlfriend had enough smarts and the grades for her to easily get into a good college, Wallflower hadn’t ever had the same level of academic prowess. She was a B average student at best, and her grades had slipped through the last year or two especially. While she had been accepted at the Everton Community College, she still wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to do with her life.

The obvious answer was biological sciences. But while she loved tending to plants, dedicating the next four years of her life to that sounded like a bit much. Not to mention the math and chemistry involved in it as well.

“No, it isn’t anything about college this time,” Sunset said, shaking her head. Wallflower found herself letting go of a deep breath she hadn’t realized she had taken, relief flooding through her slightly. “It’s a letter from Twilight.”

“Twilight?” Wallflower asked with a small frown on her face. “Isn’t she still in town?” While Wallflower hadn’t exactly grown close to Sunset’s other friends… she did know about them quite a bit from Sunset. She knew that Twilight was heading to her university a bit early in late July in order to get a head start on research. But that was still nearly a month away.

“No, it’s from the other Twilight,” Sunset said carefully, now meeting Wallflower’s gaze head on again.

“Oh,” Wallflower said, now straightening up as she looked at Sunset more carefully, and with a touch of curiosity. “What did the letter say?”

Equestria was still such a foreign concept to Wallflower - but the more she learned about the other world the more she was fascinated by it. To think her girlfriend was from such another world was still something Wallflower had yet to wrap her head around completely even while seeing proof. She had seen how Sunset had reacted when her memories had been taken - she had also seen how Sunset and her friends ‘ponied’ up. It was crazy to think the very human girl in front of her was actually originally a talking unicorn, and yet Wallflower knew she couldn’t dispute the proof that was given to her.

“It was an invitation to come back to Equestria for a special event,” Sunset said, coming to sit next to the can on the bench. “Twilight is going to be hosting this year’s Grand Galloping Gala.”

“The Grand Galloping Gala?” Ignoring the pun - Everton already had a weird love of horse puns in general - it sounded like a big event. A fancy one at that.

“It’s a yearly event held in Canterlot - as in the capital city there, not the school. Obviously. Sorry.” Sunset’s face seemed to turn red slightly at the explanation, but Wallflower just smiled slightly shaking her head slightly.

“It’s alright. Tell me more.”

“Well, you see the Grand Galloping Gala is a big deal,” Sunset said, continuing on. “When I was younger I used to attend every year with my mentor.”

“Was it fun to attend?” Wallflower asked, trying to imagine a little kid - no, a little unicorn version of her girlfriend attending an event like that.

“Not at all,” Wallflower was a bit surprised when Sunset snickered slightly in response. “It was mostly a get together for mostly the rich nobles to talk about being rich nobles, and pretend like the party wasn’t something to hold over other ponies’s heads. “I mostly just stuck by Princess Celestia’s side each time. Sure, I had to smile and say hi to ponies, but that was all I had to do. After the event each night, me and Celestia used to get ice cream together and laugh the night off. She didn’t like it any more than I did.” A fond smile had appeared on Sunset’s face as she talked on.

It was interesting for Wallflower to watch - and to try and imagine. When she thought of Sunset, she saw a smart student by daylight and an avid painter by night. Someone who loved to experiment with both the arts and the sciences. But to be someone that hung out with royalty - even pony royalty - was something outside of her scope of imagination.

“But this time will be different. Or so says Twilight,” Sunset said, now digging out something from her pockets. More specifically, the letter. “This will be her second time leading the gala, and she plans to help liven things up this time around.”

“Are you thinking of attending?” It was meant to be a casual question, but Wallflower couldn’t help but look closely at Sunset, waiting for the answer. Sunset had told Wallflower she had only been back in Equestria two times since she had run away from home. It would be a big deal for her to try and go back - and one that Wallflower wasn’t quite so sure of. The idea of Sunset going into another world in a way made Wallflower want to curl up next to her girlfriend and never let her go.

“Well, maybe. I’ve been invited as a special guest to the event this year. But… you have to.” Sunset said, now extending her arm out and holding out the letter.

“What?” Wallflower said, her eyes widening as she felt herself freeze up slightly. “I’ve been invited?” With a slow movement, she took the letter out of Sunset’s hand and opened it up, to see two golden tickets inside, with a note. ‘For Sunset and Wallflower.’ “But… I’ve never even met her.”

“I may or may not have talked about you. A lot,” Sunset said, her face turning once again red from blushing. “Twilight must have known that I’d want to invite you along if I went.”

“I…” Wallflower sat down next to Sunset now, finally letting herself find some comfort in being next to her girlfriend. Her head felt a little light, and her thoughts were beginning to race. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to agree to anything,” Sunset said, firmly, as she leaned into Wallflower, which the latter was grateful for. “Anything you don’t want to do, we don’t have to.” Wallflower hung onto the words, giving a small nod, as she reached a hand to curl around Sunset’s tightly.

Why was she being so overwhelmed by this? She was supposed to be getting better… ever since Sunset came into her life, Wallflower had slowly been coming out of her shell and blooming despite wanting to wilt only a few months earlier. And she would be going with Sunset to a dance. It wouldn’t be much different than prom, and she had somehow survived that.

But this was different. This was going to be Sunset’s home, and this was a gala. And she’d be a pony. And she’d meet a lot of new ponies… and so much more. It was almost too much to think of right now.

“But…” Wallflower turned to Sunset as she spoke again, looking up at her girlfriend slightly. “If you do wanna go, I think it’d be really good. There’s something I want you to see there.”

“And what’s that?” Wallflower asked, trying to push down her anxiety and focus on Sunset for a moment. “Is it Princess Celestia?” she guessed. It would be weird to meet a princess, but it’d be worth it to meet someone so close to Sunset.

“I mean - I’d like for you to meet her also - but I’d mostly like you to see the Canterlot Castle gardens.”

“The gardens?” Wallflower said, blinking her eyes before looking to the left, at the bed of tulips that sat nearby. It was weird enough to think of Canterlot not as a school - but a capitol city with a castle. To know they also had gardens made sense, but…

“Yeah… the only night of the year where all the flora happens to be in bloom actually happens to be during the Grand Galloping Gala.” Sunset said with a grin. “It’s actually quite beautiful and probably the least crowded part of the gala. I think you would love it.”

“That actually sounds pretty nice,” Wallflower said, and was surprised that she actually meant those words. While the worries about meeting so many new people, and being in a brand new place were still eating at her… she knew she could get through it with Sunset. Especially with a place like that. “I think I want to go.”

“Really?” The excitement on Sunset’s face made Wallflower sure of her decision, as she gave a small nod in response.

“I’m sure," Wallflower said firmly.