It was quite the day for Sunset Shimmer. Trying to organize a date for two of her new friends took some energy out of her, and her job was not done yet. Lying on her bed, she stretched her arm to pick up her phone intending to call Wallflower Blush to see if everything was fine. She did not pick up.

At first she thought it wasn’t worth worrying about right away, but after a few more attempts she realized that something was wrong. Thankfully she knew Wallflower’s home address so she got ready as fast as she could and headed there.

Many thoughts crossed her mind, but she cut each one at the root and tried to be optimistic. “She just silenced her phone, no need to be worried.” But then she asked herself “Who am I kidding?” It was crystal clear that there was a problem and it needed to be solved, fast.

Wallflower’s house was not unfamiliar to her as she had visited there before, but she hadn’t done it alone. She had come there with Twilight to get information about how to take care of plants so Twilight’s little garden wouldn’t dry up. When the house was in sight, she ran up to it at full speed. Once she reached the door she didn’t hesitate and rang the bell.

The door opened soon after she rang the bell. A tall woman stood tall. It was Wallflower’s mother.

“Hello Ms. Blush. I wanted to see Wallflower,” Sunset said. She couldn’t disguise the nervous tone of her voice.

“Oh, hello,” the mother responded, “Yeah, sure, she’s upstairs but she is in pretty bad shape. I don’t know what has gotten into her recently. She’s locked herself in her room and she won’t let anyone in.” Sunset realized that Wallflower’s mother was more worried that she herself could ever be.

“Don’t worry, I got this,” she said as she stepped into the house and dashed up the stairs. The hallway, despite all the shelves with plants on them, looked dead. Sunset approached Wallflower’s room and knocked on the door. There was no answer.

“Wallflower! Open the door! It’s me, Sunset!” Still no response.

“Wallflower, what happened? Did you forget that you have a date?”

“NO!,” Well, Sunset told herself, at least Wallflower was alive. “I haven’t forgotten, but how do I know it’s not a prank by one of those stupid boys, or why should I even go to it when I like someone else?”

“Look, open the door and we can talk about this, OK?”

“Sunset, I appreciate that you want to help me, but now I need some time to think so just leave me alone.”

Sunset had only read Wallflower’s mind once, concerning her use of the Memory Stone, but it was enough to tell her about her suspiciousness, her insecurity, her overwhelming loneliness. Sunset decided to talk to her again but the sound of her own phone cut her off mid-action. It was Flaming Star; it appeared that he was facing a problem to Sunset’s. At first, all Sunset could think to herself was “You’re kidding!” But after a quick exchange of messages, she had a plan.

Sunset knocked on the door again. “Wallflower, what if I told you that the boy you really like is the one who put that note on the locker?”

“What do you mean?” Sunset’s words seemed to have sharpened Wallflowers ears. She was listening; that’s good.

“I mean, Steely Armor is the one you have a date with tonight. I really shouldn’t have told you that, because it was supposed to be a surprise, but now you know.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course. So, will you open the door?”

Just after Sunset asked the question, she heard footsteps coming from inside Wallflower’s room. There was a slight pause, then the handle turned and the door opened.

“You’re not trying to pull my leg, are you? That’s happened a lot, and you’ve kind of got a reputation for manipulating people.”

Sunset shook her head. “That’s long gone. And if I was trying to prank you, I wouldn’t have come here to tell you the truth, would I?”

Wallflower looked away, tugging at her unwashed hair.

“Now let’s go, you don’t want to leave him waiting, do you?”

“NO! I mean … OK ,,, but let me change clothes be-“

She reached out toward her closet, but Sunset grabbed her elbow and pulled her out of the room.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ve got you covered.”

Author's Notes:

Make sure to cheek out other chapters too.

Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen.