Chapter 1: Invisible no more
Wallflower Blush is a good teenage girl. A quiet one, but good.
Well, she usually is good. There was that memory stone fiasco last month when Wallflower stole her fellow students’ memories of Sunset Shimmer, post-reformation. It was part of her plan to get revenge on Sunset, due to a maddening combo of jealousy and lingering resentment toward her.
Teenagers don’t go through phases, said no adult ever.
But outside of that brief not-so-good phase, Wallflower is a good girl. So why did others keep failing to notice her whenever she was nearby? It was like she was invisible, and she even wrote a heartfelt song about it.
However, there was good news for Wallflower. She was both forgiven for her memory-stealing shenanigans and befriended by Sunset and her friends (Do I even need to tell you those six other pretties’ and their little dog’s names?)
Unfortunately for the green-haired introvert, old habits die hard, and others simply take a long time to end. While she was seldom outright forgotten, she was still...wait, what am I doing? You might get bored and read something else if I keep spouting exposition like this and don’t get to the good stuff. For all our sakes, let's move on to the real story and see how bad things are going to go wrong.
Ten minutes after the final bell rang throughout Canterlot High School, CHS for short, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset, and the five other pretties met up at a pedestal in CHS’s courtyard. It used to proudly hold the Wondercolt statue, but the statue had a bad encounter with the Midnight Sparkle kind.
There was someone else there too, but who was it?
Oh, right, Wallflower Blush was also summoned, standing beside Sunset.
Sh*t, now I’m getting into the act! What kind of narrator am I?
At any rate, as a desperate idea from Twilight and Sunset to use as a stopgap measure, Wallflower wore a necklace, with a bell hanging from it, around her neck to help others notice her more easily. Wallflower had no other ideas, so she chose to roll with it.
“Okay, we're all here,” Twilight said, holding a closed brown case in her hands. “Now, I’m sure you all are aware of how the school and even us still tend to...not always notice Wallflower, even when she has her bell on?”
“Yeah, and, Wallflower, we promise we aren’t doing it on purpose!” Sunset assured with pleading eyes.
“Yes, darling,” Rarity said with sympathetic eyes of her own. “You are our friend now, but you just don’t have much...presence.”
Fluttershy gently tugged on her hair. “But we are trying our best to not make you feel like we don’t care about you.”
“Yep, because we do!” Pinkie laid a finger on her cheek and rolled her eyes up in thought. “Well, sure, there was the time I bumped into you and your potted plant because I didn’t see you. Oh, and two weeks ago Sunset ‘wallflowered’ you when she cut the lights off of a room that you were still inside, again–”
“B-but at least after I remembered you were there, I came right back to cut them on and apologized,” Sunset said with a sheepish grin.
Rainbow crossed her arms and chuckled. “I had never seen Sunset run so fast before. She would have literally ran through somebody if they were in her way and she didn’t see them.”
Wallflower sighed, but forced out a weak smile. She had started to think of and accept it as an unintentional punishment, so she genuinely didn’t resent the more recent oversights of her person, mostly. “It’s okay. Besides, that new verb may mean ‘to forget’, but it’s kinda flattering to have one named after me.”
“But the days of you being wallflow–uh, overlooked will soon be over, all thanks to this!” Twilight opened her case, her head held high in pride. Inside rested a dark-purple bracelet, decorated with small multi-colored gems.
Wallflower walked toward the bracelet and stared at it with big, curious eyes. “What is that? Some fancy watch or bracelet?”
“It’s a bracelet, but not just any bracelet, but a…” Twilight frowned, her eyes widening. “Uh...okay, I haven’t thought of a name for it yet, but that’s not important.” She cleared her throat and continued, “What is important is that if you wear this bracelet, it will magically trigger you to release something akin to harmless artificial pheromones, which will raise your noticeability.”
Applejack lightly smacked her forehead in astonishment. “Artificial what now? Not tryin’ to doubt yer bracelet, Twi, but how could you, a teenager, whip upsomethin’ like that?”
“Without my geode, it would have been impossible, but this bracelet is operating through some magic I infused into it.”
Rarity gazed at the bracelet and nervously rubbed her chin. “That would go nicely with Wallflower’s usual attire, but I don’t know, Twilight. This sounds like it could be dangerous.”
“I know, but I ran a series of tests first. I even experimented with a prototype yesterday, but I kept it hidden.”
Rainbow gasped, followed by a snap of her fingers. “So that was why you felt different and why students talked to you more yesterday! I almost thought you were Princess Twilight pretending to be you for a while.”
“Yes, my prototype was a complete success. This final version will be even better, be perfectly safe, and be far more effective at countering Wallflower’s...lack of attention than wearing a bell. It’s Twilight Sparkle approved!” Twilight snorted and smiled after her words, showing her inner, yet endearing, dork.
Wallflower stared down at her bell, then back at Twilight’s bracelet. A smile slowly curled on her lips. “Oh, I like the sound of that. I never wanted that much attention, but it would feel great to not fall into the background all the time without my bell.”
“Also, despite the prototype’s success, I considered the very slim possibility that even this final version could malfunction. It will automatically shut down if it detects itself functioning beyond acceptable parameters, but if that built-in safeguard fails, all you will have to do is either turn off or take the bracelet off. The same goes for if you just want its effects to stop for a while.”
Twilight pointed at her arm, leaving the non-pointing arm outstretched to keep holding her bracelet’s case. “I programmed it to only operate when around an arm or wrist. Anywhere else, it’s no more than an ordinary bracelet.”
Despite Twilight not saying them in a song, the words were music to Wallflower’s ears. The melody deepened her smile into an ecstatic grin. “If it’s ready and safe, let me have it! Uh, please?”
Twilight nodded in approval. Wallflower swiped her new bracelet from its case and immediately fastened it onto her arm. She playfully raised the arm with the bracelet in the air, as if she had put on an omnipotent bracelet, or glove.
“There! Do I have to do anything else?”
Twilight shook her head. “Other than keep it near you for the rest of the day, you’re set, and it’s already turned on. It will require a little time to adjust itself to you and become functional, but you should start noticing the effects when you get to school tomorrow morning. If you have any questions, come find me.”
Meanwhile, in the library of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle in Equestria…
Snuggled comfortably in a chair while levitating a book with her magic, Princess Twilight rubbed her cheek with a forehoof. A peculiar, unsettling sensation quivered throughout her belly, and not due to indigestion. “That’s odd.”
Spike turned his head from his comic book and toward Twilight. “What’s wrong, Twi?”
“I got the strangest feeling that I just did something I’m going to regret.”
Starlight Glimmer’s mane flapped twice, coaxing her to lay down a half-finished kite in her magic to the floor. “My ‘crazy but well-meaning plan with magic’ sense is tingling too. It never fires when I’m the one with the plan, so it can’t be me this time.”
Spike said, “Wow, that is odd. Maybe it’s in your heads? You two can be a little...overcautious.”
“Maybe.” Twilight peered at the towering, or short to her, bookshelves lining the walls of her library. “All I planned to do was read, and I doubt it’s because of something my human self did. From what Sunset told me, she is rarely reckless with her magic, at least not after she learned how it works. I can't even claim to have such a near-perfect magic track record, and I was born with magic!”
“She’s that smart with her magic despite still being relatively new to it?” Starlight asked, her eyes bulging in amazement. “Oh, I envy her.”
Spike buried his head in his comic book as he thought, ‘I envy my other self. That lucky dog.’
The next morning, after she ate breakfast, Wallflower hopped out of her front door and skipped to Canterlot High School, with her bracelet smugly around her wrist. She didn’t know it, but the joyful girl made history by becoming CHS’s second student to look forward to going to school. Twilight Sparkle was its first student to do the highly improbable deed.
She skipped through the school’s front doors, but a sudden wave of uneasiness signaled that she was acting too unnaturally for a teenager in school that wasn't named “Pinkie Pie”. She forced herself to cease skipping and merely walked down the halls.
The students wandered about, but not a single one glanced in Wallflower's direction. She waved at a couple of them, but received results that she was all too used to: none.
Wallflower sighed, her steps slowing as joy deflated from her body. “Well, at least Twilight tried her be–”
The bracelet flashed in a dim purple light. Wallflower stopped walking and stared at her bracelet. “What was that?”
“Hey, Wallflower!” a green-haired boy called out, waving a hand.
Wallflower lifted her head toward the boy. She bashfully stroked her hair with a matching bashful smile. “Oh, um...h-hi.”
A blue-haired girl also called out, “Hi, Wallflower! Have you planted anything good lately? You’re one of the best gardeners I know.”
“Yep! Ya weren't named ‘Best Gardener’ for nothin’!” A younger red-haired girl, wearing a pink bow on the back of her head, chimed in.
“Oh, some Hibiscus that I planted had bloomed a few days ago.” Wallflower rubbed her index fingers together. “I can show you them after school if you want.”
“Really?” the blue-haired girl asked. “You don’t mind?”
“No,” Wallflower answered, a blissful, fuzzy warmness building in her heart. “I love to show my garden to anyone that wants to visit it.”
“Great, then I'll see you then!” the green-haired boy said.
The three students left Wallflower and each went to their respective classrooms. Wallflower walked down the hallway, reached her locker, and took out the textbook for her first class. As she did, some students waved or verbally greeted her (or both) and Wallflower answered with a friendly wave or greeting of her own.
More fuzzy warmness bubbled within her, and she fought to refrain from resuming her previous skipping. However, a few skips still broke themselves free.
Upon semi-skipping into her half-filled class, Wallflower took her usual seat near a window. The sun shone the same as always, yet its warmth felt ten times more pleasant.
A girl sitting at a desk near the front got off her chair and moved to a desk beside Wallflower. “You know, we never spent any time together, so do you mind if I sit beside you today?”
“Oh, o-of course not.”
More students entered the classroom, and most waved at Wallflower as they took their seats.
After the last student entered, the class’s teacher, Miss Cheerilee, entered the room and sauntered to her desk, laying a book on top of it. “Good morning students. I hope you all had a good night’s sleep.” She looked toward Wallflower, who was still smiling from her recent attention. “Oh, did you change your hair, Wallflower? Something about you seems different.”
Wallflower rolled a finger through her hair. ‘Oh, right, Twilight’s bracelet,’ she thought, then said out loud, “No, my hair is the same as before.”
“Hmm. Maybe it’s just me.” Miss Cheerilee walked to the chalkboard and picked up a piece of chalk. “Anyway, as you all should remember from yesterday...”
Wallflower leaned back in her seat, her face beaming. Not only wasn’t she ignored, but dare she think she had some popularity? Her?
‘Twilight, I owe you big time for this.’
Things were borderline paradise for Wallflower. She didn’t once feel the awful feeling of being invisible to everyone but herself. After years of being overlooked, even by the nicest and most considerate of students, she had this coming for a long time.
After the final bell, Wallflower, willing herself to not skip, ambled out of CHS. Her smile was threatening to lock permanently on her face. Outside the school’s main door, Twilight and Sunset chatted with each other.
“Oh, hi, Wallflower,” Twilight said as she turned toward Wallflower and waved her hand in greeting. “Is my bracelet operating correctly?”
A gleeful high-pitched “squee” squeaked from Wallflower’s mouth. “Yes, and it’s working better than I ever hoped! I can never thank you enough for this!”
Wallflower wrapped her arms around Twilight, who returned the motion. While she was smiling, Sunset fiddled her fingers as she watched Wallflower and Twilight in their embrace.
Wallflower and Twilight let each other go, and Twilight said, “I’m glad my bracelet is functioning as it should, but I knew it would. Have you needed to turn it off?”
“No, I haven’t even thought about turning it off.”
Sunset ceased with the fiddling of her fingers. “That’s great, but while I’m glad you’re doing so well, don’t be afraid to give that thing a break sometimes.”
“I will,” Wallflower said, but she thought, ‘As if!’
The next day, Wallflower again skipped to school. Like before, she cooled it and calmly walked once inside the school, but this time it was to keep her ankles from becoming sore. Unless it was to a gardening store during 50% off sales, she seldom skipped anywhere, let alone with so much energy.
Ahead was a female student with striped dark-blue and light bluish-gray hair, named Minuette, leaning her hand against a locker. She called out, “Hey, Wallflower! I’m glad you’re here! Do you want to sit together during lunch? You can tell me more about your garden!”
“I’ll be happy to,” Wallflower answered. The heavenly warmness that she might never get tired of swelled from within. “I’ll see you th–”
A second female student with pink and dark-blue hair, Bon Bon, ran over to the two. “Can I join you too?”
“Me three?” another girl with light-blue hair, Lyra, asked as she ran to the group.
“Sure. I wouldn’t mind sitting with all of you during lunch.”
“Okay!” the three students cheered. They walked away, but muttered to each other. Lyra shoved Bon Bon, who shoved back, but they continued their trek with no further pushing.
Wallflower shrugged her shoulders and headed to her locker; like most CHS students, she had seen far weirder things happen. Along the way, more students walked or ran up to and greeted her. In all, over twenty students played the role of fanboy/fangirl.
With her textbook in hand, Wallflower made her way to her first class. Only five students had arrived already, but they all sat at desks closest to the one Wallflower always sat in–one near the window. They waved in her direction; she weakly returned one, tittered, and traipsed by them and to her seat.
A sinking feeling buried in Wallflower’s stomach. Something about this felt wrong. Not even Princess Twilight had drawn this level of attention during her visits.
Then again, being ignored felt worse. It felt not only wrong, but bad.
The bell for lunch rang. Wallflower crept out of her class, smiling timidly while receiving more hand waves from her new fans in the class and out in the hallway. She gazed at her bracelet, and Sunset’s advice about occasionally shutting it off nagged in her mind.
No, not yet. This will just take some getting used to. It’s still better than barely being noticed at all.
With her decision about tempting fate made, Wallflower slunk down the hallway and into the cafeteria. She froze at the sight of Minuette, Lyra, and Bon Bon sitting at one of the numerous cafeteria tables, who were waving at her with huge grins. Her lips broke into an awkward smile, and she willed out an equally awkward titter.
She shook her head to snap out of it and went to pick out her lunch, a salad, a pack of pineapple chunks, two carrots, and a pint of orange juice–I would have taken a pint of apple juice in case Applejack was around. The tray with her lunch in hand, Wallflower dawdled to the table with the waiting students and sat in one of the table’s chairs.
The nearest student, Lyra, inched closer to Wallflower. From her other side, Bon Bon inched even closer to fall a finger’s width of tapping shoulders with her.
A sense of uneasiness struck, imploring Wallflower to lean away. “W-what are you doing? Can I have a little sp–”
“I just wanted to be the closest to you,” Bon Bon said. Her eyes, while friendly, sent an icy chill down Wallflower’s back.
Wallflower scooted her chair away. “W-well I’m flattered, but–”
Minuette hopped off her chair and yanked Bon Bon off hers. “Hey! Don’t you see she doesn’t want you so close? Besides, I want to sit closest to her!”
“No, I am going to sit the closest!” Bon Bon shot back.
Lyra jumped from her seat and motioned toward herself. “Then how about I be the one? She was already moving toward me!”
Bon Bon countered, “Why don’t you instead read your notes on ponies? You’ve been obsessed with them for years!”
Wallflower stared at the three and said, “Um, how about if you took tu–”
“I have an idea,” Minuette proposed. “How about we play ‘rock-paper-scissors to settle this?”
Bon Bon and Lyra glanced at each other, then both nodded at Minuette in agreement. The three girls positioned themselves in a circle so they could all face each other.
“Rock, Paper, Scissors, shoot!”
Minuette and Bon Bon threw down their hands in “paper” position, but Lyra played “scissors”.
“Yes! I win!” Lyra yelled, hopping in joy.
Minuette groaned and snapped her fingers in disappointment. However, Bon Bon declared, “Then I call dibs for next time!”
Three boys wandered to the table, opposite the side Wallflower sat by.
“No, no, you had your chance. How about I get one?”
“Or me?”
“Well, you should have been here sooner!” Bon Bon pointed toward herself. “Besides, I already called ‘dibs’.”
More students flooded over to Wallflower’s table like an unwanted downpour of rain.
“Fine, then I call dibs on hanging out with her after school!”
“I call dibs on doing homework with her later! You don’t mind, right, Wallflower?”
Yet more students jumped from their chairs and joined in the arguing. Wallflower grimaced and shrank in her chair. She yearned to say something, but she wasn't sure what to say.
Rainbow Dash hurried into the cafeteria and, fitting of her name, dashed toward the growing crowd. “Hey, what’s going on over here?”
Wallflower sprang off her chair and yelled, “Rainbow Dash! Everyone won’t leave me alone and want to–”
“What?!” Rainbow scowled and stormed through her peers. “Okay, bozos, back off! None of you could even remember Wallflower’s name a month ago, and now you’re fighting over her?”
“Like you were much better, Rainbow?” Lyra shot back.
“W-well at least I don’t wallflower her anymore. Anyway, I’ll make this real easy.” Rainbow wrapped her arm around Wallflower and pulled her close. “She will have lunch with me, every day, for the rest of this week! No ‘ands’, ‘ifs’, or ‘buts’ about it!”
“Ands”, “ifs”, “buts”, and a lot more were yelled all over.
Sweat flowed down Wallflower’s face. She wasn’t the Element of Empathy, but the suddenly over-popular girl still sensed that Rainbow wasn’t quite herself either.
It was time. She couldn’t delay it any longer. Wallflower twisted a knob on her out-of-control bracelet to turn it off.
But the knob wouldn’t budge. She twisted it harder while gritting her teeth, but it stubbornly remained locked in place. She pulled on the bracelet to slide it off her arm, but it tightened to become unmovable. It, like her, was stuck.
Her eyes darted around the bickering mob surrounding her, followed by a big, nervous gulp. Faced with her unprecedented dilemma, a thought that Wallflower Blush had never imagined flashed in her mind.
‘For once, I wish I was invisible.’
Author's Note
It was that this moment that Wallflower Blush knew she was *bleeped*.
Will Wallflower find a way to get that bracelet off her arm or at least escape? Are the rest of the mane 7 affected by that bracelet too? Will I ever learn to not ask questions like these like they might not be answered in the next chapter?
Chapter 2: How to survive being stuck with too much popularity
Wallflower had to do something. Students were arguing over who would sit nearest her during lunch, as if it would prevent teachers from assigning them homework, the bane of their existence. Rainbow Dash had her arm locked around her, keeping her in place. All because of that now uncontrollable bracelet, which now was stuck on her arm and couldn’t be shut off.
Even if she were desperate enough to use it, Wallflower’s memory stone was obliterated last month by an overpowered rainbow, so she couldn’t tap into its magic to get herself out of this jam anyway. She instead searched her brain for a plan.
Any plan.
One surfaced in her head. She wasn’t sure if anyone would agree, but unfortunately, it was either try her plan or just let them fight.
“Uh, I have an idea: how about you all play ‘rock, paper, scissors’ at the same time? Whoever wins can have lunch with me for the whole month.”
The students stared at each other. They, shockingly, agreed, and entered a mass game of “rock, paper, scissors”, ending in tie after tie. With her peers’ attention on chanting, “Rock, Paper, Scissors, shoot!” after each tie, Wallflower sneaked out of the cafeteria. Once in a hallway, she picked up the pace.
‘There’s no way a single person will win a game of ‘rock, paper, scissors, with that many playing at once. Now I just need a safe place to–’
A door just ahead of Wallflower opened, stopping both her walking and thoughts in their tracks. The door was to the Principal’s office; Principal Celestia stepped out of her office and smiled warmly toward Wallflower.
“Hello, Wallflower. Is there something wrong? You look worried.”
“I was about to have lunch, but the other students in the cafeteria acted...odd.”
“Oh?” Celestia looked toward the cafeteria’s direction with an authoritative scowl. “There isn't any fighting going on, is there?”
“Not physical fighting, but–”
The authoritative scowl of Celestia’s chilled. “Well, then it’s fine, and some oddness is normal for this school.” She chuckled and laid a hand on Wallflower’s shoulder. “But, if the students are acting too weird for most schools, would you like to have lunch with me instead?”
“Me?” Wallflower asked as she pointed at herself. The idea of having lunch with her principal felt weird, but Wallflower would take this “weird”, if she were still hungry. “I would, but I lost my app–”
“Not so fast, Celestia,” a serious feminine voice from inside Principal Celestia’s office commanded. Vice-Principal Luna stepped out of it with her arms crossed. “May I ask what you are doing?”
“What?” Celestia asked.
Luna stomped to Celestia. “I believe I had just told you that I was going to have lunch with young Wallflower here.”
“And I believe I told you I was going to have lunch with her.” Celestia let out an uncharacteristically annoyed moan. “This is like when you took my toy castle when we were kids!”
“Hey, finder’s keepers,” Luna commented, her arms still crossed. Her childish side was showing.
Celestia huffed, her own childish side peeking out. “Oh, please! You took it from my bedroom!”
“So we’re even for when you took my toy rocket, then tripped and broke it! You know how I used to love pretending that I was being sent to the moon!”
Celestia facepalmed with the hand that was on Wallflower’s shoulder. “You haven’t gotten over that yet? Honestly, sometimes you make me want to send you to the moon!”
As the two siblings further wallflowered their maturity levels and titles as principal and vice-principal and argued like kids, Wallflower tiptoed away and into a classroom. She silently closed its door and leaned her back against it. Being ignored all the time had never been more appealing.
Safe for the moment, Wallflower gripped her bracelet’s knob to give turning the device off another go. It resisted being moved by even the tiniest of margins, unfazed by its owner’s progressively louder grunts. “Come on, you! Turn! Turn!”
If it had the power to talk, the bracelet would have said “no”. She pointlessly tried to turn the knob for a few more seconds, then groaned and gave up. She noticed a small button on the other side of the bracelet and pushed it.
Nothing.
The frustrated girl gritted her teeth. She gripped the bracelet as best she could and summoned all of her strength to at least loosen its tight grip on her arm. Her yanks caused the part of her arm trapped under and around her stubborn bracelet to burn. At this rate, she’d risk damaging her skin or, far worse, tearing her favorite sweater’s sleeve.
“You have got to be kidding me! ‘This will be perfectly safe’ she said! ‘It’s Twilight Sparkle approved’ she said!”
She released one more loud grunt and yank, but while her arm burned, the bracelet remained locked in place. Wallflower banged it against a wall, but let out an “Ow!” on impact. The bracelet practically laughed at her efforts.
“Ugh, I hate this thing! Okay, calm down, Wallflower. Find your happy place.” Wallflower closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. She pictured herself in the center of her garden, flowers blooming majestically in all directions. Her imagined self held her hand over her head, balled in a fist, hidden in a golden glove with six different-colored gems attached to it. The agitation melted from her real body, and her frown gradually melted into a serene smile.
Relaxed, she opened her eyes. “Much better. Now, I should look for Twilight and ask her for help. She’s a genius, so she might have made herself immune to this bracelet's pheromone-whatever during her tests, just in case. I hope.”
Plan set, Wallflower scanned the room for something that could be of use. A black coat hung over a chair at one of the students’ desks, and a pair of glasses and a fake mustache lay on the teacher’s desk. “I could use those as a disguise, and wearing glasses worked for Superman.” She threw on the coat, and swiped the glasses and mustache to put them on. She took a steadying breath, then peeked out of the door. Celestia and Luna were nowhere in sight, so Wallflower crept out and down the hallway.
Rarity and Applejack came from around a corner and strode in Wallflower’s direction. She gulped, pulled her hat down to cover her forehead, and looked toward the floor. ‘Stay cool, Wallflower. Don’t look at them.’
“Hey there, Wallflower,” Applejack greeted nonchalantly as she and Rarity crossed paths with Wallflower. “Ah’m glad you haven’t gone to lunch yet.”
Wallflower’s head shot up, her eyes agape. “You can recognize me?”
“Of course we can, darling. It’s obvious that you are Wallflower Blush wearing a coat, glasses, and a fake mustache.” Rarity circled Wallflower, studying her failed disguise. “It’s not a horrible disguise per se, but if you were wearing an eye patch, I might not have recognized you.”
Busted, she growled to herself. ‘I should have known my idea was too cartoony.’
Rarity stopped examining Wallflower’s change in wardrobe and stood still. “Regardless, you don’t have to wear anything other than your normal clothes for our lunch together. I was thinking we should–”
“Oh, no ya don’t, Rarity! Ah was gonna ask her to spend some one-on-one time with me. Ah owe that to her for makin’ her feel alone and invisible!”
Rarity placed a hand on her chest. “But I was worse! I should be the one to atone to her!”
Two squirrels zipped down the hallway and to Wallflower’s feet. One hugged her ankle while staring up at her, but the second squirrel shoved the first one, squeaking, and broke its partner’s grip. The first squirrel shoved back harder, also squeaking harder.
Wallflower stared down at the squirrels. A blank stare covered her face. ‘This can’t be real. Squirrels are fighting over me now?’
Fluttershy ran in from the direction the squirrels came from, leaned down to them, and asked, “What are you two doing? Why did you jump out of my backpack?”
The squirrels squeaked their answer.
Fluttershy gasped and covered her mouth. “You two really shouldn’t use that kind of language. Besides, I was going to ask Wallflower to spend a little time with me.”
Rarity groaned in protest. “Seriously, Fluttershy? You always try to hog her!”
“No, I don’t!” Fluttershy said genuinely innocently. “It’s true that I invited her to help at the animal shelter once, but I wouldn’t call that–”
One of the two squirrels squeaked angrily.
Fluttershy glowered at the protesting squirrel. “Don’t you use those words on me, mister! I’m not that kind of girl!”
Applejack wrapped an arm around Wallflower. “And while ya deal with yer squirrels, Wallflower and Ah will mosey on to lunch. Ya haven’t eaten yet, right?”
Rarity pulled Wallflower from Applejack’s arm and curled her own arm around the hapless teen. “I believe you meant to say, ‘Wallflower and Rarity will ‘mosey’ on to lunch’.”
A cloud of white smoke poofed behind Wallflower. When it cleared, it revealed the school’s magician, Trixie, and she yanked Wallflower to her. “Trixie thinks you meant to say, ‘Wallflower and the Great and Powerful Trixie will mosey on to lunch’!”
The girls and squirrels continued to talk/squeak over each other as they made their cases. Seeing it, Wallflower clenched her fists. Even if it were due to her malfunctioning bracelet, the fighting crowd was talking as if she weren’t a sapient being, but a thing.
Anger within her built, built, and built. And built some more. It blew like a volcano cheated out of its money, and Wallflower roared, “Okay, that is it!”
The girls and squirrels stopped arguing. They stared at Wallflower in shocked silence.
“Now look here, all of you! I know you all want to hang out with me, but you are trying to claim me like I’m an object! I’m a–”
“But Ah don’t think–”
“Applejack, will you please let me finish?! I keep getting cut off when I try to say something, and I’m sick of it!” Wallflower took a calming breath, expelling some of her excess anger. “As I was saying, I’m a girl with feelings, not something you claim, and I just want to be alone right now!”
The scolded group stared at one another. Unlike the rants she laid onto Sunset a month ago, this one was more justified. It allowed Wallflower to feel pride, not shame or guilt that she might not have had the right to say what she did.
“Well, I hope you are all proud of yourselves for upsetting her,” Rarity said in a huff.
“Me?!” Applejack pointed an accusatory finger at Rarity. “Yer the one that tried to ‘claim’ her first!”
Rarity countered with her own accusatory finger aimed at Applejack. “Well, at least I didn’t interrupt her when she tried to talk!”
One of the squirrels squeaked.
“Be that as it may about Trixie, but at least I didn’t grab Wallflower like you did!” Fluttershy pointed out. “Plus, I feel her pain about being interrupted when you are trying to speak.”
“Trixie doesn’t know what he, or she, just said about her, but at least Trixie speaks in a language Wallflower can understand!” Trixie shouted, again referring to herself in the third person for kicks.
As the shameless blame-deflecting continued, Wallflower frantically looked in one direction after another. Trying to run away as things were would be too risky. Somehow, she needed to buy herself some time before she ran as if her life depended on it.
An idea flashed in her head. It was a stupid idea, but it was the only thing Wallflower could think of.
She pointed behind the group and shouted, “Hey, look over there! It’s Wallflower!”
Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Trixie, and the squirrels swung their heads where Wallflower pointed. “Where?!”
*Squeak!* (Where?!)
The girl that cried “Wallflower” threw her coat, hat, and glasses onto Rarity and zipped the other way down the hallway.
Trixie smirked at Rarity and playfully poked her with an elbow. “Oh, that was a good one, Wallflower! Now we–”
“I’m not Wallflower, I’m Rarity!” Rarity shoved the coat and hat off her to the floor. “Thanks to you all, the real Wallflower is running away! Darling, come back!”
Wallflower turned around a corner, dove into a room, and closed its door. Her heart pumped as footsteps approached. Sweat flowed down her forehead.
The footsteps grew louder still, until they were right behind the door. Her eyes shut tight. A chill rolled down her back.
The frightening steps, once loud, became faint. Then fainter. Finally, sweet silence.
She was safe, for now. Wallflower wiped her forehead, smiled, and sighed from relief.
“Hey, there you are, Wallflower Blush!” a male voice called out.
Wallflower’s pupils shrank. A purple puppy, Spike, lay on the floor by a desk near the chalkboard in the classroom. Even in her panic, she couldn’t believe how she didn’t see him as she fled inside.
“Spike?”
“The one and only...well, semi-one and only! I’ve only seen you a couple of times, and I was hoping I’d run into you here and we can hang out.” He rolled on his back and patted his stomach. “You can scratch my belly!”
Instead of answering, Wallflower stood still and quiet, as you do in these situations.
The room’s door swung open and Twilight ran inside, which snapped Wallflower out of her trance.
“Wallflower? I thought I saw you run in here. Is something wrong?”
“Twilight, I am so glad to see you!” Wallflower laid her hands on Twilight’s shoulders. “ I hope you’re yourself because your bracelet–”
Twilight looked over to Spike and asked, “Wait, Spike? What are you doing here?”
”I’m here to hang out with Wallflower!”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “What?! You snuck all the way here for that?!”
“Yeah!” Spike rolled off his back and hopped to his paws. “You hardly bring me to school anymore, so I had to come on my own to get a chance!”
After a groan, Twilight said, “Okay, first, if you wanted me to sneak you to school, you could have just asked me. I can’t read minds; that’s Sunset’s power!”
“Uh, I hate to interrupt you two, but, Twilight–”
“And second–” Twilight swung to stand right behind Wallflower, freeing herself from the latter’s hands still on her shoulders. The nerd wrapped her arms around CHS’s most wanted girl. “–I want to talk with Wallflower for a while! We have a little time before lunch period is over.”
Wallflower groaned, her eyes closing in defeat. There went her best, and possibly only, hope. “Not you too.”
Spike ran up to Twilight, glowering at her. “Oh, no you don’t, Twilight ‘Greedy’ Sparkle! You see her all the time! It’s my turn!”
Twilight leaned down to Spike, looking at him in the eyes. “Yeah, but it’s always with the others! I never get to be with her by ourselves!”
“At least you get to spend time with her at all!”
As Twilight and Spike continued to argue like brother and sister, not like a puppy and his owner, Wallflower gently lifted Twilight’s arm off her and sneaked away. Luckily, the hallway was empty. As she debated if there was anything else she could do, the person – sort of – who could be her last hope emerged in her mind.
“If only I could ask Princess Twilight for help, but she lives in that weird pony–”
The school’s yearbook office’s door opened; an amber-colored arm from within waved toward it. Wallflower bolted to it without thought and went inside. After the door was closed, she found herself face-to-face with whom signaled her inside: Sunset Shimmer.
“Sunset, if you somehow are still yourself, and I really hope you are, you gotta help me!” Wallflower pointed at her bracelet. “Twilight’s bracelet is going haywire, I can’t turn or get it off, and people keep trying to make me spend time with them! Even Spike and some squirrels are after me!”
“I saw, so you should hide with me for now.” Sunset rubbed her chin. “Once you’re safe, I can send a message to Princess Twilight and ask for her help. She knows magic better than anyone I know.”
Wallflower grinned, her eyes lighting up in happiness. She finally had some good luck. “Whew! Thank you so much, Sunset! You’re a great friend, and I’m still sorry about how I tried to ruin your–”
“As I told you before, it’s okay.” Sunset’s smile faded. “But, there is something I wanted to ask.”
“What is it?”
Sunset took a deep, slow breath, the calming feeling emitting from her eyes changing to something Wallflower couldn’t put her finger on. Whatever it was, she had never seen it before.
“Wallflower...kiss me.”
Wallflower pupils shrunk to tiny dots. Her heart skipped a beat. “WHAT?!”
“I said, ‘kiss me’! At least just once!”
Sunset spread out her arms and lunged forward. Wallflower ducked under the incoming arms and Sunset “hugged” a single green strand of hair that freed itself from its owner’s head. Said owner dashed out of the yearbook office and locked the door.
“Wait, Wallflower! I’m sorry about that! Uh, I didn’t mean it! At least let me get my journal so–”
“I’m sorry, Sunset, but I can’t take any chances! But unlike the last time I locked you in there, it’s nothing personal, I promise! I’m sure someone will come and free you before too long!”
Wallflower sprinted down the hall. After a few seconds of fleeing, with the adrenaline from escaping Sunset fading, she peeked her head into yet a different classroom. It was empty, so she ran in, closed the door, and laid her back against a wall. One of the students’ desks in front of her held two bananas and a pair of scissors on top.
If there was anything good about being pursued, it was that Wallflower was getting in some exercise. Not that she was out of shape or anything.
But the good news stopped cold there. Classrooms were only empty because of lunch, so once it was over, there would be no safe room to hide in. Wallflower was out of other options, so taking her chances by freeing the over-affectionate Sunset might have been her best move to make.
“I think Sunset’s the only one that can contact Princess Twilight, so maybe I should let her out. She’s cute, so if she really wants to, I guess I could–”
The door creaked open. A bolt of fear pulsed through Wallflower’s veins. She snatched up the two bananas from the desk in front of her, closed her eyes, and pointed them toward the door. “I don’t care who you are, but I’m warning you, leave me alone! I hate fighting, so I don’t want to have to use these!”
“Huh? What’s wrong? Not that I’m complaining, but wouldn’t that be more...effective if I refuse to listen?”
Wallflower opened her eyes. Twilight stood in the doorway, pointing at the scissors on the desk Wallflower picked the bananas from. She bore a puzzled stare.
“It would, but this is an ‘E’ rated story, so I can’t do anything to you that would draw blood. I faint at the sight of blood anyway.”
Twilight audibly blinked twice in rapid succession, then blinked twice again. She leaned ever so slightly forward and asked, “Pinkie Pie? Is that you?”
“No, I’m not Pinkie, and why aren’t you wear–”
Pinkie stuck her head from outside one of the classroom’s open windows, scowling. “Nope, I’m over here, and only me and I get to break the 4th wall around here, Wallflower Blush! You will hear from our lawyer later, after you and I spend the day together!”
Twilight stole one of Applejack’s moves by raising an eyelid. “Okay, I am so confused right now.”
Wallflower’s instinct was to try to run away pointlessly. However, while trying to figure out how to get around Twilight and escape, Twilight’s appearance and air about her grew more apparent.
Twilight’s hair was down, not in a ponytail, and she wasn't wearing glasses. Her normally striped turquoise blouse was missing its stripes. Her skirt held the design of a single large, eight-pointed pink star that split in its center, not coated in multiple small, eight-pointed pink intact pink stars and smaller light-purple stars.
Finally, the person-ish’s identity struck like a truck, triggering a gasp from Wallflower. “Wait. PrincessTwilight, is that you?”
“Yes,” Princess Twilight answered, “but more importantly, what in Celestia’s name is–”
Pinkie pounced through the window like a predator hunting her helpless, delicious prey, albeit without a desire to eat her prey. She dashed to and picked up the still distracted Wallflower – who dropped the bananas in her hands – and held her over her shoulders in a fireman’s carry.
“Eep! I can explain, but first, you have to get me away from Pinkie! Please!”
Princess Twilight pulled Wallflower off Pinkie’s shoulders. She immediately reached into her (Twilight’s) backpack and pulled out a cupcake, covered in pink icing. “W-wait, Pinkie, do you want this cupcake?” she asked with a sly smirk. “You want it right?”
Pinkie licked her lips. Her pupils morphed into cupcakes. “Yes! Pinkie wants!”
“Then follow me!” Princess Twilight walked backward out of the door, teasingly swaying her cupcake like a pendulum.
With her eyes locked on the cupcake, Pinkie followed. Wallflower cautiously followed them.
Twilight steered Pinkie to the doorway of yet another empty classroom. She tossed the cupcake in there, threw her backpack in for good measure, and ordered, “Go get it! There are more cupcakes in my backpack!”
Pinkie barked like a dog and chased after the cupcakes on all fours, like a dog. Princess Twilight closed the door, grabbed Wallflower’s wrist, and the pony-girl led the human-girl back into the classroom they had just been in.
“Those cupcakes should keep her busy for a while. That must have been why the Pinkie from Equestria told me I’d ‘need’ them right before I left.” Twilight looked down at the bow on her chest and straightened it; it was tilted just slightly to the side. “Anyway, do you know what’s going on with the students? You obviously know about me, but I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
“I’m Wallflower Blush, and–” Wallflower’s heart skipped a beat. She took a fearful step back. “Wait, you’re not here to make me spend time with you like everyone else or just take me away to that ‘Equestria’ world, are you?” She placed her pleading hands together and begged, “Please tell me you’re not. It’s not that I don’t like you, but I just want to be left–”
“No, no, no, I’m not here for anything like that, so don’t be afraid,” Princess Twilight assured softly. Her eyes oozed compassion and friendliness, and she reached out and gently set both her hands on Wallflower’s. “I don’t know what happened to you before I got here, but I promise I’m not going to force you to do anything. You have my word as a princess of Equestria.”
With her paranoia shrinking into non-existence and reassurance exploding into its place, Wallflower engulfed Twilight in a hug, forcing a grunt from the huggee. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how glad I am to hear that–”
The fact that she was hugging royalty without her permission, albeit royalty from another world, smacked Wallflower’s brain in the face, obviously metaphorically. Her cheeks reddened and she released her grip on the spot. “I-I’m sorry about that. Anyway, I’m Wallflower Blush, and...”
Wallflower explained who she was, the situation, and what led to it. She made it a point to emphasize that she was so sorry about her “phase” and wouldn’t do anything like it ever again.
“Oh...now the odd feeling I had two days ago makes sense!” A boastful grin popped on Twilight’s face. She joyfully clapped her hands, though due to her still adjusting to being in a human body again, her hands instinctively balled into fists during the clap. “Ha, I knew I wasn’t just being paranoid like Spike told me I was! ‘Sunset would have asked you for help if something was wrong, Twi’ he said. ‘You’re just going to feel silly if you go over there, Twi’ he said. I’m glad I listened to Starlight instead–”
The gloating alicorn-turned-human gasped, un-fisted her hands, and covered her mouth. “Oh, I am so sorry about that. Anyway, we have to do something about that bracelet stuck on your arm, so do you mind if I take a look at it?” She leaned toward the bracelet. “I’m not used to a lot of this world’s technology, but since my other self designed it, maybe I can figure something out.”
“I don’t mind. Do whatever you need to do, but just try not to damage my sweater if you can help it.” Wallflower stretched her arm with the bracelet out. Princess Twilight surveyed the troublesome device and felt around on it with her eyes squinted.
“Hmm…” Princess Twilight hummed to herself. “We may be unable to turn it off, but there has to be a way to unlock the mechanism that would loosen your bracelet. We just have to hope it’s not malfunctioning too.”
“I’m hoping.”
“Okay...uh...wait, let’s try this.” Princess Twilight slid a small button on the bracelet. After a click, the bracelet loosened, fell off Wallflower’s arm, and crashed onto the floor.
Wallflower facepalmed. The fact that she was in the presence of Princess Twilight further powered the embarrassment building in her. “Oh...you slide that button, not push it. I’m an idiot!”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Twilight gave a friendly pat on Wallflower’s shoulder. “It can be easy to overlook even obvious things when you’re stressed out or overly excited. Believe me: I know.”
A comforted smile cracked on Wallflower’s lips. Princess Twilight was more relatable to her – a normal, previously overlooked girl – than she thought. “Thanks. What are we going to do about that bracelet? Throw it away?”
“With how out-of-control things are, it will be best to deactivate the bracelet permanently to ensure its effects end.” Princess Twilight stared at the bracelet, the edges of her lips falling to a deep, guilt-filled frown. “I feel awful to do it because I’m sure my other self worked hard on it. Later, I will bring her a few books from Equestria as an apology.”
Twilight bent down and picked up the bracelet.
“What are you going to do? Use magic to–”
*SMASH!*
With both hands, the Equestrian Princess slammed the device against a table repeatedly while unleashing a grunt each time. Tiny cracks formed on the gems around the bracelet, growing larger with each strike, until a few small pieces finally broke off.
“–Or do it that way.”
After one final smack, Twilight set the damaged bracelet on the table and wiped the sweat off her forehead. “There! That should be sufficient damage.” She walked toward the closed door. “Now, if the pheromone-like effect is already weakening, everyone will now likely leave you alone if I ask them to. Would you like me to try?”
“Yes, and thank you so much!” Wallflower answered, her smile leaking pure elation. “If you didn’t come or were affected too, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“It’s no problem. I’m the Princess of Friendship in Equestria, so helping others is pretty much my job,” Twilight answered, which finished with a giggle.
Princess Twilight peeked out of the door. The hall was empty, so she waved for Wallflower to follow, and the two crept through the halls.
“To be on the safe side,” Twilight whispered, “we should try to find one student by themselves and see how they act. That way, if the worst-case–”
A boy with blue hair, Flash Sentry, stepped out of the boys’ bathroom. He saw the unexpected duo and ran to them. “Hey, Wallflower! Would you like to hang out with me for a bit?”
“I got this,” Twilight whispered to Wallflower. She smiled at Flash and scraped the floor with a foot bashfully. “Uh, she has...some science homework that she needs to start on early, so would you mind giving her some time alone?” Twilight stroked her hair, her cheeks glowing in a faint red. “Or, maybe we could talk for a bit and catch up? It has been a while.”
“Uh...no thanks.”
“Great, so let’s–” Twilight’s smile vanished, her pupils collapsing “–wait, ‘no thanks’?”
“Nope. Our homework lately has been brutal, so Wallflower and I would probably need each other’s help just to get a ‘C’.” Flash rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Besides, you and I literally live in different worlds; it wouldn’t work out if we got together. Sunset even told me it’d be for the best if I got over you, but can we at least stay friends?”
Princess Twilight’s jaw dropped. The strain on her mouth burned from how hard her jaw fell. Flash Sentry had turned her down. Just as well–for a moment, the smitten pony-girl wallflowered that she was supposed to be playing pseudo-bodyguard. “Oh, y-yes, of c-course we can be friends. I’m all about friendship you know, being the Princess of Friendship and all that. Ha, ha, ha?”
If it weren’t daytime, crickets would have trolled Princess Twilight via chirps.
With her attempt to hide her awkwardness not being very effective, she cleared her throat. “But at any rate, can you at least let Wallflower get her…her...” She looked toward Wallflower. “What did you need again for that, uh, math homework?”
“Um, t-textbooks, and I’ll be back, Flash!”
“Well, okay. I'll be here.”
Princess Twilight ran down the hall with Wallflower trailing from behind. The pair ducked into another empty classroom, out of Flash's sight, and closed its door.
“Uh, say, Wallflower, have you ever wanted to visit Equestria?”
“A little. I have wanted to see how flowers are like there.”
“Good. Since the worst-case scenario seems to be happening, I think it would be wise for you to hide in Equestria for the rest of the day, that is if you want to. You can even spend the night in my castle.”
Wallflower nodded. “Sounds great, and I always wanted to visit a castle. Can we go now?”
“Yes, we need to hurry to my portal to Equestria before anyone else sees us. Once you are settled in, I’ll come back and tell Principal Celestia and Flash that you got sick and I walked you home,” Twilight said. She bit her lip and thought, ‘Maybe Flash didn’t mean everything he said. It could have been the effects of the bracelet talking.’
With that, Princess Twilight and Wallflower ducked from room to room and hallway to hallway. They managed to escape from the school, undetected, and hurried through the portal to Equestria.
The next morning…
At the pedestal of the still-gone Wondercolt statue, the portal to Equestria appeared on the side of the pedestal facing CHS’s main doors. Princess Twilight emerged first, followed by Wallflower a second later, with the latter’s eyes spinning.
Once Wallflower’s eyes reset themselves, she shook her head to re-focus and thought, ‘That world was even weirder than I thought.’
“Okay, I couldn’t find Pinkie, but from what I can tell and what everyone else said, they are their normal selves again. Will you be fine without me?”
“I will. Thanks so much for your help.”
Twilight’s smile deepened. “Any time, and I’ll see you the next time I come to visit this world. That is, given I don’t overlook you again, but I’ll try not to.”
The pair shared a giggle. Twilight gave a farewell wave and walked back through the portal. Shortly after she re-entered Equestria, the portal disappeared and became inactive.
The Princess also planned to break the Equestrian record of the most cups of cider drunk in one setting later.
Wallflower got on all fours, but immediately rose back on two feet. “Right, I’m not a pony anymore.” She crept to and through the school’s doors, rubbing her hands, fighting against the nerves that she might still be CHS’s most popular student.
The students wandering about in the hall talked between themselves. They didn’t look in Wallflower’s direction.
Wallflower smiled and blew a relieved-filled sigh, her nerves soothing themselves. She was going to enjoy being invisible again.
Later on, outside in the courtyard, Wallflower saw Sunset and her friends, but Pinkie wasn’t with them. Twilight–the non-royal one–was gleefully reading a book with Spike and three boxes half Twilight's height, packed with more books, lying near her.
Wallflower crept closer and meekly greeted, “Um, hi?”
Sunset looked in Wallflower’s direction. She frowned and said, “Hey, Wallflower. About how I acted yesterday...I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, we all are,” Applejack said with a frown of her own. “Pinkie said she had to see ‘herself’ about somethin’, whatever that meant, but Ah’m sure she’ll want to apologize too once she’s back.”
“Yes.” Fluttershy fidgeted her hands. “We just couldn’t control ourselves, but I would never pressure you to spend time with me,” Fluttershy said.
“Yeah, I’m sorry too.” Spike lowered his head in shame. “We barely met, and I made a great early impression.”
Wallflower gave a forgiving smile. “It’s okay, and it was that bracelet making you do it, right? Besides, I’m just glad things are back to normal.”
“It is. Even if I had remembered to tell you how the emergency trigger worked that would allow the bracelet to come off more easily, Rarity was right: I shouldn’t have made that thing. I triple-checked all of my data, and I still don’t know how it malfunctioned that severely and even drew Spike and squirrels to you.” Twilight’s eyes closed in guilt. “So much for it being ‘Twilight Sparkle approved’.”
“Well, I did sleep with it on, so maybe I laid on it without knowing and messed it up?”
“I suppose that could be the case. I thought I made it durable enough for something like being slept on to not damage it.” Twilight tapped her chin, entering speculation mode. “Hmm...maybe I should have run a couple more impact tests or–”
Applejack strode to Twilight and patted her on the back. “Well, no matter whose fault it is or if it was just plumb bad luck, at least yer heart was in the right place. That’s what bein’ a friend is all about.”
“After what I did to you all a few weeks ago, I didn’t deserve for you to want to help me at all, and I really appreciate it. You all are the best friends I could have.” Wallflower looked down to her chest, where her bell would be if she had it on. “But, if I feel too invisible again, I’ll just go back to wearing a bell. I didn’t hate wearing it.”
The well-meaning genius's dejected frown flipped into a cheered-up smile. “Hehe, that’s good, but hopefully you won’t need it again. But, there’s something I wanted to ask.”
“What?” Wallflower asked.
“From what Princess Twilight and I found out, Equestrians were immune to the pheromone-like effect the bracelet’s magic made you radiate, which was why she wasn’t affected. Why didn’t you ask Sunset for help?"
Sunset’s eyes didn’t widen, they just got bigger. The rest of her simply froze.
"I did ask her, and, well...wait." Wallflower looked in Sunset’s direction. Her jaw dropped.
"Well, what happened?" Twilight looked toward Sunset. “Sunset, did you just not know what would have been the best move when she found you?”
Sweat flowed down Sunset’s reddening face. Spike and the rest of the pretties stared toward her, and the sweat from Sunset poured even harder and faster.
Before this story ends and you try to guess how bacon-hair will dig herself out of that hole, there is one last thing to say.
The Pinkie Pies planned to sue Wallflower for breaking the 4th wall, something only the Pinkies are supposed to have the self-awareness to do in the Equestria Girls world. However, due to their unpredictable natures, both Pinkies wallflowered it after a couple of days.
How she gained the ability, and why she could only do it one time, is something not even Wallflower Blush herself knows.
Author's Note
She might not write a letter to Princess Twilight about what she learned, but Wallflower Blush learned a friendship lesson: popularity may feel great to have, but it can have a cost. The higher the popularity, the greater the cost can be, and can make it no longer worth it.
Also, really Sunset Shimmer? It's not like Wallflower isn't a cute girl, but really Sunset?
Also fun fact: until late 2020, I didn't notice how the pink star on Princess Twilight's skirt is split in the middle. I had almost never paid any real attention to how the star looked and I've only sometimes re-watched the EQG movies, so that split was something I had always overlooked. Now that I'm aware of it, I don't know how I missed it.
Bringing up something that I didn't see for a long time is very fitting, given who was this story's protagonist.
