Sunset had finally woken up to a new morning, now fully rested after that exhausting journey yesterday. She hadn’t imagined this vacation would become the wild ride she’s experienced, but began recapping to plan out her schedule. Day one was focused on getting to Twilight’s coronation, while day two revolved around exploring all over Equestria with her new friends. She was still adamant on continuing her original plan for day three, in hanging with Applejack for a bit, reuniting with Celestia once more in Silver Shoals, and possibly even meeting her potential father, assuming Starlight and Sunburst were ready for her. Other than these three main objectives, Sunset didn’t particularly feel interested in doing anything else for the day.

She kept in mind there was still the matter of reconciling with Rainbow Dash, though she would likely need to talk to Twilight about it first, and perhaps even require her assistance in convincing Rainbow to talk things out. And of course, there was also still a mysterious thief on the loose who had already negatively impacted Sunset’s friends, particularly Derpy and Fluttershy, supposedly. It didn’t seem like a coincidence that during both instances, an orange pegasus was heavily implied to be around the respective crime scenes when items were stolen, and Sunset still had yet to see one who also had blonde hair, purple eyes, and green eyeshadow. Whatever was the case, Sunset felt the case was still very much inconclusive until she had much more solid evidence on what had really happened, and decided to focus back on her vacation in Equestria.

Given how Sunset went to bed relatively early last night, it was no surprise that in response, she had woken up much earlier than she normally would, at around 9 AM. A noticeable contrast to the times where she would stay up late, sometimes even up til 4 in the morning to play video games in her apartment back in the human world. As Sunset got out of her bed and went over to Applejack’s room, she noticed that her bedroom door was open and that the bed was empty. She then heard noises downstairs, seemingly coming from the kitchen. It made sense for Applejack to be up relatively early, as she had a lot of responsibilities and chores, especially as a farm pony. Sunset followed the noise downstairs to the kitchen and saw Applejack had already prepared a nice breakfast.”

“Mornin’ Sugarcube.” Applejack addressed her friend. “Ya’ must be hungry as a pumpkin right now?”

“Mmm, this looks so good.” Sunset’s licked her lips. “Pancakes, applesauce, apple cider, buttered toast, it’s like we’re dining in Canterlot!”

“Aw shucks, thanks.” Applejack blushed. “I do my best in followin’ my family’s recipes. It’s because of stickin’ together as a family, our business blossomed immensely all over Equestria. I’ll let ya’ be the judge of that, help yourself!”

“I can certainly see that.” Sunset smiled, as she sat down and dug into the hearty breakfast on the table in front of her. “Mmm! Your family’s recipes are scrumptious! Looks like you got something not only to be proud of now, but for many many years to come.”

“Yeah, er…” Applejack stuttered for a bit, before her tone began to turn more gloomy. “Many more years, at least that’s what I’m hopin’…”

Sunset noticed this shift in mood, and remembered that last night, Applejack was vaguely hinting toward something that troubled her. Although initially having a bright conversation over brunch, Sunset realized she had unintentionally opened an old wound, as reminding Applejack of her family in this particular context yielded a mixed feeling. Since it was now a new morning, and Applejack already mentioned that she’d talk about it later, it seemed like a good time to finally learn what specifically was so upsetting for the farm pony.

“Hey, Applejack…?” Sunset began, trying to comfort her friend. “It seems like the thing that’s been troubling you from last night has returned. I’m here for you if you really need it, would you like to discuss it with me?”

Applejack nodded in agreement, but took a rather sudden pause. She just stared at her bowl of cereal for a bit, blinking every few seconds, but also giving Sunset eye contact to signify she was still interested in explaining. It was by this point, Sunset knew this was extremely serious, so she was ready to give a listening ear whenever Applejack was ready to open up about this seeming tragedy.

“Well, things have been rough lately for the Apple family.” Applejack took her hat off for a moment and sighed in sadness. “It all started yesterday mornin’, pretty much immediately after Granny Smith got home from Twilight’s coronation. Granny had felt a very sudden pain in her chest and collapsed onto the floor, so we had to rush her to the nearest hospital. While in the hospital bed, she seemed to be slowly gettin’ better with proper treatment, but there was then another issue. We were told by the clinic that our current insurance plan didn’t have enough to cover everything, so I had no choice. Big Mcintosh and Applebloom stayed behind at the hospital with Granny, but I had to return here to Sweet Apple Acres and gather funds all by myself yesterday. Workin’, bakin’, and managin’ a huge liquidation sale of the family’s crops and products in order to make enough bits for coverin’ her treatment. I worked nonstop since this meant Granny’s life was on the line.”

“…I’m so sorry you’ve been going through all this, Applejack.” Sunset empathized. “I feel so sad to hear you can’t even be with your grandmother during these tough times because of some hospital bill, as they’re making you work just to afford the proper treatment. They’re actually going to put prices over ponies’ lives? That is simply disgusting.”

“I know the feelin’ for sure.” Applejack sighed. “Life’s not fair, but society can sometimes be like this when it comes to money, just ask Flim and Flam for instance. The issue now being, after I took my earnin’s and already deposited them into our family bank account this mornin’, the clinic called and said we were still short around 650 bits. The hospital has a strict policy in which every patient’s case must be paid in full before they begin the main operation, so there’s nothing we could do about it.”

“That really is troubling…” Sunset put her hoof on Applejack to comfort her.

“It sure is, Sugarcube…” Applejack reflected. “I tried my absolute best to gather enough bits in the hope of paying for everything to save her, and I still failed. Now I almost don’t know if I can bring myself to visit her at the clinic, since she might be gone very soon and it’s all my fault…”

Sunset listened on to Applejack’s pain and understood it completely, the same way she had felt about her own parents, especially with the constant thought that they might’ve already passed during the time she’s lived in the human world. However, she realized that Applejack’s hesitation on visiting Granny seemed to steer her in the wrong direction, so she decided to advise her.

“I can understand how upset you are, Applejack.” Sunset said in a soft and sad voice. “But this is certainly not your fault. The fact that you decided to stay behind to pull together any funds you could get in affording her treatment makes you a granddaughter with a heart of gold. You might not have gotten enough funds, but the fact you tried your absolute hardest should still count for something. You should still go visit her at the clinic, since being able to spend time with your grandmother would be just as valuable to her.”

“But… what if she sees me as a failure of a granddaughter because I wasn’t able to save her?” Applejack looked down at herself. “Those funds really were the last we had, as I’ve already sold everything else profitable here at the farm, and there’s nothing else I can do to earn anything more in time.”

“She won’t see you as a failure.” Sunset assured. “She’ll see you as a granddaughter who truly cared and had her heart in the right place. Even if you aren’t able to afford this operation, you’ll always be able to afford being with her in her time of need. Take it from me, as Princess Celestia’s former pupil. I was always an overachieving student who got the best marks and results back at the School for Gifted Unicorns under her guidance. However, after disobeying what she believed was best for me as she had believed by heart, I failed as not simply her pupil, but as a metaphorical daughter. Given how close Celestia and I were, we were practically family, and I always knew that deep down, failing as family hits much harder than anything else imaginable. I might’ve been a good student, but that still ended up becoming irrelevant because of my past selfish ambitions. If you’re still able to be there for Granny Smith during these tough times, you’ll have fulfilled your duties as a family, and that’ll matter the most in the long run.”

“Y-You’re right, Sunset.” Applejack sniffled a bit. “I might’ve failed with financial purposes in the operation, but I could never forgive myself if I failed as a granddaughter by not showin’ up to visit. I gave all I could to contribute to the clinic’s bill, and now it’s time to do what’s right, since family is forever. She hasn’t actually seen me since she left home, so being by her side is the only thing I can do now. Thanks for helpin’ me see that, you really seem to understand what being family is all about.”

“I’m really glad to hear that, and that I’ve steered you in the right direction.” Sunset smiled. “I’ve never been close with my family in the past, which has made me realize why I was so unhappy during most of my early years. I guess the time I’ve spent away from Equestria has made me miss my actual parents, and it’s helped me understand to never take my family for granted.”

“You miss your parents?” Applejack started comforting Sunset back. “That makes two of us, Sugarcube. Let’s just say, Ma and Pop are smilin’ from Heaven right now, and unfortunately, they never got to say goodbye to the rest of the family. Granny’s the closest me, Big Mac, and Applebloom have to a mother left, so things have been really hard lately.”

“Sorry to hear about your parents too…” Sunset sighed. “As for my parents, I just never really knew my mom. All I know was, I used to live with my dad somewhere in Ponyville, but it’s been so long to where I can’t even remember his name, what he looked like, or where he lived. This is the price I pay for never keeping in touch, since I only seemed to care about being the best student in Canterlot back then. Twilight’s doing some research on the side, but as far as I know, they could both already be gone since I’ve already spent several good years in the human world. And even if they were still alive, I don’t really know if they’d be happy to see their daughter again, since I’ve been practically absent for a good majority of their lives. What if they’ve moved on or don’t even remember me?”

“Well, I wouldn’t just jump to conclusions, Sunset.” Applejack replied. “I admit, I haven’t really had a case in the Apple family similar to yours, but what I do know is, family will always respect and love you no matter what. In the worst case scenario that your parents would act like that, I’d understand for sure how much it would hurt. But then I would also keep in mind that they wouldn’t truly be family if they ended up treatin’ me that way. Plus, Twilight has sometimes told me she sees all of us as her family too, because we all treat each other the way we’d wanna be treated ourselves. I’d genuinely hope if you could find your parents, it wouldn’t end up in the way you’re worryin’ about, but if it does, I still want you to remember you still have all of us. You’ll always be part of the Apple family for takin’ the extra mile regardin’ Granny’s situation, and nothing would change that.”

“I really love your philosophies regarding family, AJ.” Sunset began tearing up. “These are some wonderful ideas I’ll always keep in a special place in my heart. I genuinely can’t emphasize how nice it is to have friends who truly care for you in even the hardest of times.”

“Me too, Sunset. Me too.” Applejack smiled. “Well, I’m glad that we’ve had this talk together, but I suppose we should start heading over to the hospital to check up on Granny Smith. I legitimately gave all I could, and that’s what truly matters.”

“Yeah, I guess I could join you as an honorary Apple, since I now know all the values of what a family entails.” Sunset said. “Which hospital is she staying at?”

“The one on the other side of Ponyville.” Applejack responded. “It’s admittedly further than the hospital we normally go to checkups, but that clinic was already full. Not entirely sure why, but I’m guessin’ it may have something to do with that huge battle we all had with Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow. Many ponies and creatures did get injured tryin’ to fight against those snakes in the grass. Regardless, we got some serious ground to cover if we wanna make it before visitin’ hours are over. If I remember correctly, the visitin’ time will end today at noon, so we have to get goin’ After this, they’re stopping visitin’ hours for the rest of the week. I mean, who knows how much time Granny has left?”

“Alright, that’s very understandable.” Sunset replied. “We should get going then, since it’s almost 9:30.”

Applejack and Sunset exited the house after finishing up breakfast and began trotting together to the clinic. There was a bittersweet feeling in the fact that Applejack wasn’t able to make enough to cover Granny’s treatment, but she knew being by her side was now the only thing that mattered most. As the two ponies were about to depart Sweet Apple Acres, they noticed a green Earth pony approaching them. Given how Sunset recalled the Wallflower incident several times throughout this entire journey, she was able to immediately recognize it was the pony Wallflower Blush who was seemingly stopping them from visiting the hospital.

“Applejack, right?” Wallflower addressed the farm pony she had planned to do business with.

“Oh, howdy there, Miss Blush!” Applejack replied back. “To what do I owe the pleasure today?”

“Well, you did give me a call yesterday afternoon in offering to help me out with my botanical garden, since you were looking for work.” Wallflower reminded. “It’s going to take several hours, so we might as well get started.”

“Oh… that’s right.” Applejack put her hoof on her face, feeling astounded at how something like this could’ve slipped her mind. “I’ve been so busy makin’ sales yesterday that I completely forgot about this. Could we please do it sometime later today, preferably in the afternoon?”

“That was not part of the deal, ma’am.” Wallflower replied sternly. “You mentioned you were desperate for work and booked this job with me at exactly 9:30 in the morning. Plus, you also expected a good amount of bits from me, and I had already paid upfront for you. It’s too late to back out and change plans now.”

“Please, hear me out.” Applejack begged. “I needed the money for my grandmother’s treatment, and I absolutely have to get to the hospital to visit her before visitn’ hours are over today at noon. If you would let me reschedule this job for you on such short notice, I’ll be sure to make it all up to you with extra labor toward your gardenin’ later today. Or, could I give you a refund?”

“I won’t accept a refund because this will be mandatory for my business.” Wallflower stated bluntly. “Nopony else is available to help me with the gardening, and I must get the gardening done before noon today, because I’ll have to leave to Mustangia in order to set up my shop there, and I can’t be late! You can’t persuade me with some sob story about a grandma if you’ve already taken my money and specifically agreed to the deal as we had set. If you still refuse to help out, everypony in Equestria will hear about this, let’s just say.”

Applejack knew what this meant. Wallflower Blush was likely going to sue the Apple family for ‘scamming’ her, or go share her story in a newspaper article all over Equestria, which would certainly impact the family business for many years to come. Applejack then understood that she simply had no choice. Even if Granny didn’t have much time left, she would certainly not be happy in the afterlife to see what would become of her family’s reputation in the later years over this one tiny little incident, and neither would Bright Mac nor Pear Butter. The farm pony was about to come to terms with Wallflower’s demands, but Sunset was analyzing the situation this whole time.

Sunset definitely didn’t appreciate what the human Wallflower did in erasing her friends’ good memories of her, but eventually came to terms as to why she ended up doing so. Plus, they did make up in the end, and even went to the Postcrush Music Festival together as mutual friends, though they didn’t interact much there. However, even keeping in mind that this was another Wallflower, Sunset already noted how much more pushy and demanding she was, whereas the Wallflower she already knew was more of an introvert.

In some ways, Sunset could understand why Wallflower was acting the way she did, considering Wallflower had a tight schedule herself, already paid Applejack upfront, and set a specific time to do the work well in advance. It might’ve been Applejack’s fault for letting this slip her mind, but the fact that Wallflower seemingly didn’t care at all about AJ having a sick relative didn’t sit well with her. Since Wallflower brought up how nopony else was available to help her today, it gave her an idea on what she should do, as she saw Applejack was ready to give in to Wallflower’s demands.

“All right then.” Applejack sighed. “I guess I’ll go with you, Miss Blush-”

“Applejack, wait!” Sunset stopped her friend before she potentially made a decision that would change everything. “Miss Blush said she needed somepony available to help her out with gardening, right? If that’s the case, how about you go on ahead to the hospital, while I do the gardening with her?”

“A unicorn?” Wallflower observed the pony who had offered her help. “Well, I suppose if you’re up to tend bonsai trees with me, it doesn’t really matter who assists me. But if you end up doing a shabby job…”

“I won’t.” Sunset affirmed. “I actually know exactly what bonsai trees needs, since back in my hometown, a certain friend taught me everything it takes to run a successful garden club.”

“Oh, Sunset…” Applejack said, astounded at Sunset for how big of a sacrifice she was willing to make. “But I got myself into this here pickle by forgettin’ I signed up for this, and you’d essentially be doin’ what should be my labor.”

“It’s okay, Applejack.” Sunset assured. “Since you consider me as part of your family, I’m willing to do anything I can to provide you that opportunity to see Granny Smith. As family, we stick together and help each other through even the toughest of times, no matter what.”

“You have a real heard of gold, yourself, Sunset…” Applejack smiled. “Havin’ family like you in my life, makes me feel-”

“Hey, I hate to interrupt, but we’re all kind of on a schedule here!” Wallflower blurted out. “So, do I have a gardening assistant or not?”

“Well, she certainly just ruined a heartwarmin’ moment.” Applejack observed. “Regardless, I can’t thank you enough for this, Sunset.”

“No problem.” Sunset replied, before turning to Wallflower. “And yes, you do have an assistant now, so let’s head over to get started on the work.”

Sunset and Wallflower headed off together to the garden while Applejack went off in the other direction to see Granny. It didn’t take long for the two gardening ponies to finally arrive, and Sunset noted that the garden did look somewhat similar to the garden owned by the human Wallflower for her club back at CHS. Although the garden’s theming did seem to line up with her human counterpart, her personality did not. The human Wallflower was initially seen as a mysterious, invisible girl who nobody ever seemed to notice, which made her begin to resent all the attention Sunset got. Despite ending up erasing her friends’ good memories of her out of pettiness, Sunset realized there seemed to be a completely different side to this Wallflower for acting the way she did.

As the two ponies tended to a number of bonsai trees with the correct procedures and also began planting them into flower pots, Sunset still couldn’t help but think why this Wallflower was so bitter. Obviously, due to her own absence in Equestria, combined with how Wallflower didn’t seem to recognize her at all, Sunset couldn’t imagine that she herself was responsible for this Wallflower for turning out the way she did. She was understandably justified in feeling frustrated for Applejack changing her plans on such short notice, but definitely not for blackmailing AJ if she didn’t comply with her demands in the end. The labor would normally take a lot longer with two Earth ponies, but Sunset sped things up since she had the advantage of her horn to move things along quicker. Since she and Wallflower had already been working together for a while, and it appeared they were already nearly done, Sunset felt the need to ask Wallflower what was seemingly making her act so grouchy.

“Wallflower, do you mind if I ask you a question?” Sunset addressed the gardening pony.

“H-How do you know my name?” Wallflower asked, surprised. “Most ponies only know me by ‘Miss Blush’.”

“Err, just a lucky guess?” Sunset tried to save herself, as she felt silly for accidentally making this mistake again, much like she did with Gloriosa. “But I mean, since we’re nearly done with these bonsai trees and we still have plenty of time to spare, could I maybe talk with you for a while?”

“Well it’s only these bonsai trees I’m exporting to Mustangia, and we are about to wrap up soon, so I guess so.” Wallflower rolled her eyes. “What could you possibly want to talk about?”

“Do you feel… invisible in the world sometimes?” Sunset questioned, trying to understand if this Wallflower was having the same issue as the human version she knew. “Feeling like nopony seems to notice or understand anything about you?”

“I mean… considering how that Applejack pony completely forgot about my gardening appointment with her, what do you think?” Wallflower asked rhetorically. “That’s not even been the first time either, I almost feel as if my existence in Equestria is almost worthless if I can’t even get a simple bonsai tree business to take off. Everypony around here only seems to buy from that Gloriosa pony, while I just got forgotten all the time.”

“Well, what if I told you I knew what it was like myself, being shunned and ignored in a society that never really understood or accepted me?” Sunset alluded to her past where she went through such treatment shortly after Princess Twilight left the human world for the first time after retrieving her stolen crown.

“What do you even know about anything like that?” Wallflower questioned. “It’s not like you have problems making friends if you’re just casually hanging with somepony like that Applejack mare, whom I hear is a legendary hero here in Equestria. Meanwhile, I can’t even go through with simple business negotiations, because everypony keeps forgetting about me. I give them some details and demands upfront, the next thing I know, they just change their plans or minds. Why does that keep happening time and time again?”

“To be honest, you do have a bit of a temper.” Sunset noted. “Is it entirely possible you might be difficult to work with because of that?”

“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?!” Wallflower snapped, similar to the time the human Wallflower straight up roared at Sunset bluntly, that she hated her. This made Sunset flinch back a bit before speaking up.

“Well for example, I didn’t exactly like what I saw back there with Applejack.” Sunset explained. “You didn’t seem to care that AJ had to go see her grandma, given how strict the hospital’s visiting hours are. Not exactly a friendly reception for somepony she was planning to work with, right?”

“Well what did you expect when Applejack and I set a strict agreement on time, and I already paid her upfront for her services?” Wallflower attempted to justify her behavior. “Only for her to just ditch and forget about me to change plans at the very last minute, just like everypony else I’ve come across. Plus, I’ve heard that excuse plenty of times. ‘My grandma is sick and I need to see her…’, that’s what they all say! And I’ve actually gone and found out that other ponies who’ve said that, it turned out to be nothing more than a lie. So why should I have thought differently about Applejack?”

“…Because I’ve known Applejack for a while.” Sunset said, though mostly referring to her human counterpart. “She would never ask you of something if she didn’t need it, and plus, her family’s the most reputable apple business in Equestria. I’m sorry to hear you’ve had different experiences in the past with actual dishonest ponies, but I can assure you, AJ is nothing like that. She’s a hardworking, honest, and independent farm pony who really cares about her friends and family.”

“And how do you know that?” Wallflower simply spat in disgust. “This was supposed to be the job she signed up for, not you. How do we not know she’s just scamming you by letting you do her work so she can just go goof off instead of visiting her grandmother, like you said? Has she even shown you any proof?”

“You wouldn’t make yourself come across as the easiest pony the work with if you demand proof for every small little thing.” Sunset huffed. “I know AJ, she would never lie about something so serious. Plus, I slept over at her house, and saw that nopony else who lived there was even present, including her grandmother. Even if I were to demand proof, that would’ve been all I needed to be convinced, and it wouldn’t have been professional for anypony to be constantly prying like they don’t trust them. If you wanted to work with Applejack in the first place, you surely would’ve trusted her to some extent, yes? What makes you think she, the most reputable businesspony in Equestria would lie to you on a matter as serious as a sick relative?”

“I just told you, it was my past experiences that makes me not wanting to trust many ponies nowadays!” Wallflower spouted. “Do you have cotton in your ears or something?”

“I don’t.” Sunset frowned. “I simply want to help you out in understanding why Equestria’s society seemingly forgets about you, Wallflower.”

“Quit calling me that name!” Wallflower demanded. “You either call me ‘Miss Blush’, or stop talking to me altogether! You choose.”

“Fine, Miss Blush.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Do you see what I mean though? This is really unprofessional behavior from you, to somepony like me who’s offering their time to help you with some labor.”

“So… what are you saying then?” Wallflower asked for clarity.

“You’ve been mean to so many residents of Equestria for so long, that nopony wants to work with you.” Sunset illustrated. “I, myself used to be just like that, and believe me, I lived out a life of misery because everyone kept on shunning or ignoring me, because I was so hard to work with. It’s hard when something like that happens, but then you have to analyze and understand why ponies start to hesitate in wanting to work with you, or forget about you. Though in Applejack’s case, from what I was told, it was purely in accident, as she was desperately working nonstop yesterday.”

“All I’m doing is setting my demands and expectations upfront for simple business transactions in service.” Wallflower explained. “What more could they want?”

“Right, but did you feel for how that would be if you were in the other pony’s place?” Sunset asked.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to imply by that.” Wallflower said, confused.

“Let’s pretend… I’m the client who’s expecting you to do another job when you’re in the middle of exporting these bonsai trees, and you’re the assistant who agreed to the task.” Sunset explained, before changing her voice slightly in pretending she was a completely different pony. “Hey, Miss Blush! You need to come with me now to deliver these pizzas to Canterlot! I don’t care what you’re doing right now, you must come with me now and that is final!”

“B-But, I have to move these bonsai trees to Mustangia for my business. It’s very urgent!” Wallflower said, playing along.

“Urgent?” Sunset reiterated. “The only thing you’ll need that’s urgent is a bath for disobeying my orders! I’m dumping these pots of soil all over you until you comply! Take it or leave it!”

“I… I desperately need these trees for my business though.” Wallflower said, somewhat intimidated.

“Very well then, you asked for it!” Sunset said in an aggressive tone.

Sunset used her magic to levitate around 10 pots of soil over Wallflower’s head, and turned them 180 degrees to drop the dirt all over her. Wallflower shrieked in horror and almost wanted to cry, but Sunset had thankfully planned ahead. The time she’s spent in Equestria had started letting her get more used to having magic, and she used her levitation spell to catch all patches of soil before they could make Wallflower look like a mint and chocolate chip ice cream mess. She then put the pots back on the ground, as the soil magically went back into each respective pot, as her point had finally been made.

“Gosh, that’s how I’ve been treating the ponies I’ve been hiring?” Wallflower looked back in shock. Although those disreputable ponies in the past who’ve wronged me are to blame, I still have to blame myself for taking this approach with absolutely everypony I work with. I guess… over time, it just becomes hard to look at yourself in the mirror, and it’s easier to just point a hoof. Then it just reached a point where I was used to behaving this way, that I didn’t think much about how anypony else would react. I guess… when you’re seeing this behavior from somepony else’s point of view, you start to see a fragment of yourself that you normally can’t seem to understand.”

“That’s exactly what I was hoping you would realize.” Sunset smiled. “I’m certainly not the most perfect pony myself in that front, since I do occasionally still have anger issues that make me explode in other ponies’ faces simply because I couldn’t control my frustration. I understand your frustration with those ponies who have lied to you before in the past, that’s on them. But always acting cranky to the point of being difficult to work with…”

“…Is all my fault.” Wallflower finished Sunset’s sentence, before sighing. “I’m really sorry for the way I’ve been treating both you and Applejack. Now I feel so ashamed and disgusted with myself, and even dumb for not realizing there was a legitimate reason why I seemed so… invisible to everypony.”

“Please… Miss Blush.” Sunset put a hoof on Wallflower. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Such flaws never make you a bad pony, they show there’s a piece of yourself which you can always improve on for the better.

“Thank you so much for this valuable lesson, Miss…” Wallflower began, but realized Sunset never introduced herself.

“Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset finally gave an introduction. And let’s just say, I learned this kind of lesson myself from the many friends I’ve made over the years. Now, we’re almost done with the bonsai trees, and I’m glad you were able to understand me on the same level. Once we fill out these remaining 30 pots, I guess it’s time to ship them off to this Mustangia place? Admittedly, I’ve never been there myself.”

“It’s my hometown, but I had to pick up my garden’s supply here in Ponyville, since I don’t own any acres there.” Wallflower explained. “Some ponies have considered the possibility of letting me share with them, but ended up changing their minds after mentioning I’m a bit too difficult to work with. Now I understand why.”

“Well, if you do end up expanding your business with the proper attitude, I’m sure you’ll start becoming successful in no time, Miss Blush.”

“Actually… you can call me ‘Wallflower’ if you’d like.” Wallflower changed her approach toward Sunset. “I’ve already realized that demanding to be referred to as ‘Miss Blush’ doesn’t make me come across as a friendly or easy pony to work with.”

“I’m starting to like this new Wallflower already!” Sunset smiled, before she went back to packing the bonsai trees with her, and felt satisfied in solving the mystery behind why this other Wallflower was constantly feeling so… invisible.