Wallflower's Hearths Warming Surprise


                                            >It's the day before Hearth's Warming Eve.

                                            >You, Wallflower Blush, are out and about browsing various shops and boutiques.

                                            >Unfortunately you don't have any bits to buy presents with.

                                            >Even more so you don't have anyone to buy presents for.

                                            >You still like to go out and see all the wonderful things ponies buy for each other and imagine having somepony to buy them for.

                                            >There is one thing you've had your eye on for yourself however.

                                            >At the florist shop with the help wanted sign that you have applied for time and time again is the most amazing plant.

                                            >A venus fly trap.

                                            >It had been in the window for quite some time now.

                                            >Every time you go there to hand in yet another application you stop outside and admire it first.

                                            >Ironically your low income has put you into a position where taking care of it would actually be pretty easy.

                                            >Your crappy apartment has a pretty bad bug problem, so feeding it would not be an issue.

                                            >However, for the time being all you can do is look at it from outside the display window.

                                            >Hopefully your next application does the trick.

                                            >You put one in a few days ago and are still waiting for a response

                                            >Eventually the chill in the air becomes to much to bear, a sign it's time to go home.

                                            >Upon returning you open the door to be welcomed by a small herd of cockroaches scattering when the light from the hall enters the room.

                                            >"One of these days..." You whisper to yourself.

                                            >You turn on your computer and make yourself some ramen while you wait for it to boot up.

                                            >It can't run very much, just some janky old MMOs, obscure indie games and Minecraft.

                                            >Speaking of, you should really see how your house is on that server.

                                            >You went on what you thought was a quiet PVE server only for your first house to be annihilated as collateral damage in a clan war.

                                            >The voice chat server that the other players talked on was pretty chill.

                                            >No pony really paid much attention to you when you spoke.

                                            >The most you got was the occasional request for hoof pics.

                                            >Except for one.

                                            >His name on the server is CIA_Zig.

                                            >He was weird, but pleasant enough and nice to talk to.

                                            >You wonder if he's on.

                                            >You grab your noodles and bring them over to your computer.

                                            >Wait for the voice chat to boot up.

                                            >He is!

                                            >"Hey" you type to him.

                                            >You slurp up some noodles waiting for him to reply.

                                            >You get a "hey" back.

                                            >That's your sign to put on your headset and call him up.

                                            >"Hey Zig!" you say.

                                            >"You uh... you know you can call me Cipher now right?"

                                            >That's right, he told you his real name not too long ago.

                                            >You're still getting used to doing that.

                                            >He also knows your real name.

                                            >It's better then him referring to you by that silly weeb name you use on Minecraft.

                                            >"Oh yeah... sorry, still not used to doing that." you reply.

                                            >"That's ok."

                                            >"So, how is your Hearth's Warming going Cipher?" you ask.

                                            >"It's going... I guess. H-how about yours?"

                                            >You look to your cactus you decorated instead of a tree in the corner of your dumpy apartment.

                                            >"It's..."

                                            >It's not really fine, It's not bad, but it could be better.

                                            >"You hear from that florist shop?"

                                            >Much better...

                                            >"N-not yet... I'm hoping I hear something soon."

                                            >An awkward pause.

                                            >That was what you always said.

                                            >"Youuu wanna play something?" he asks breaking the silence.

                                            >"Sure! anything in particular you wanna play?"

                                            >"Hmm..."

                                            >He's probably trying to remember what games the both of you own.

                                            >"Oh! you wanna level up your alchemist on RO?" he asks.

                                            >"Sure!"

                                            >You boot up Ragnarok and log in.

                                            >You meet up with Cipher and go on a virtual adventure.

                                            >Eventually you find yourself resting after a rough fight with a mini boss that dropped nothing interesting.

                                            >"What a waste of pots..." Cipher says.

                                            >"Yeah, gotta rely on natural regen now."

                                            >Wait, you notice something in your inventory.

                                            >"Oh, wait a sec!" a few clicks later you spawn a plant that begins healing the both of you.

                                            >"Oh yeah, forgot you had that skill" Cipher says.

                                            >A monster approaches and the plant begins attacking it

                                            >"Could you imagine if plants actually could do that?" He says.

                                            >"Some can!"

                                            >"What?"

                                            >"You can even buy them!"

                                            >"Bullshit!"

                                            >"Hold on..."

                                            >You alt tab and go to the florist's web site and find a page about the venus fly trap you've been admiring and link it.

                                            >"They eat bugs!"

                                            >"Well I'll be damned..." he says.

                                            >"Hey... is this the Florist shop you applied too?"

                                            >"Yeah... they also have that there. I'd really like to get it, but bits are pretty tight right now..."

                                            >Probably shouldn't mention how bug infested your apartment is in in regards to how you would feed it.

                                            >"I see... I never knew those actually existed, I thought they were just a weird cartoon thing."

                                            >"Nope, they are very much a real thing." you assure him.

                                            >The two of you continue your adventuring.

                                            >You glance at the time.

                                            >6:12 PM, the mail should be here.

                                            >"Think I'm gonna call it quits for tonight, got some things I gotta take care of."

                                            >All you really needed to do was get the mail, but you are also feeling a bit... needy.. at the moment and need to take care of that.

                                            >"Alright, I'll see you later then."

                                            >"Talk to you tommorow" you say before taking off your headset and heading out the door.

                                            >You go down to the mail box and open it up.

                                            >Lots of coupons and other junk.

                                            >Hm?

                                            >An envelope from the florist?!

                                            >They never send you one of those!

                                            >You immediately tear it open almost tearing it's contents in the process.

                                            >You unfold the letter and start reading.

                                            >After all those application and all this time and all the wondering they finally send you something

                                            >A rejection.

                                            >Your back legs give out.

                                            >Sitting there in the hallway you reread it over and over again to see if you misinterpreted it somehow but no matter how many times your eyes go over those words you can only see one thing.

                                            >Rejection.

                                            >You keep rereading it over and over.

                                            >It must be wrong, it must be!

                                            >Eventually the tears make it impossible to read any more.

                                            >You force yourself up and bolt back to your apartment crying the whole way.

                                            >When you get there you break down even more.

                                            >You break out into loud ugly crying.

                                            >You failed.

                                            >It wasn't supposed to be like this.

                                            >You were supposed to get a nice job, get a decent apartment and make a whole bunch of friends.

                                            >Instead you got no job, a shitty apartment and a whole lot of bugs!

                                            >Your only friend was a voice on your computer...

                                            >Eventually you cry yourself out.

                                            >You're too exhausted to cry anymore.

                                            >Too exhausted to stand up even.

                                            >You decide to sleep on the floor, you aren't worth a bed.

                                            >Sleep eventually comes to give you respite from your sadness.

                                            >Unfortunately you wake up some time later.

                                            >Your eyes and throat are still worn out.

                                            >You notice you never turned off your computer.

                                            >Nor did you close that voice chat with Cipher.

                                            >You have a bad habit of forgetting to do those things

                                            >He was still in the call too.

                                            >Oh Celestia he probably heard you crying.

                                            >"Zi- I mean, Cipher? are you still there?"

                                            >No response.

                                            >Hopefully he forgot to turn everything off too.

                                            >"Fuck..."

                                            >You flop onto the floor with a heavy sigh.

                                            >Now what do you do?

                                            >Maybe you can go the pageant tonight.

                                            >It is Hearths Warming Eve after all.

                                            >But that won't be until later tonight.

                                            KNOCK KNOCK

                                            >Somepony is at the door.

                                            >Maybe it's the landlord coming to tell you that you're being evicted for some arbitrary reason.

                                            >With some effort you get up and open the door.

                                            >It's a mare in a green apron.

                                            >"Miss Wallpaper?" she asks.

                                            >"Wallflower..." you correct.

                                            >"She looks at a slip in her hoof.

                                            >"OH! sorry, I just got this got this job and I can't keep my head straight I'm so excited."

                                            >Well that's ni-

                                            >WAIT ONE FUCKING SECOND.

                                            >THAT APRON!

                                            >THIS STUPID BITCH IS THE ONE WHO GOT THE JOB?!

                                            >AND NOW SHE'S HERE TO RUB IT IN YOUR FACE?!

                                            >THIS SLUT IS GOING TO GET SUCH A-

                                            >"This is for you!" she says.

                                            >wha-

                                            >"GASP!"

                                            >It's the venus fly trap!

                                            >What? how? why?

                                            >"b-b-but I d-didn't..."

                                            >"It was sent to you by someone who wishes to remain anonymous."

                                            >She then places the potted plant in your hooves.

                                            >This is real...

                                            >This is really happening!

                                            >"Happy Hearths Warming miss Tall Flower!"

                                            >You turn back into your apartment, now with joyful tears in your eyes.

                                            >It's not the job you've been wanting, but it is a friend... sorta...

                                            >And it will help you improve your apartment... sorta...

                                            >But most importantly it's something finally going your way.

                                            >And you REALLY needed that right now.

                                            >You begin to ponder as to who could have sent it to you?

                                            >Was it a consolation gift from the floral shop?

                                            >No... They probably never even noticed you ogling it.

                                            >Out of the corner of your eye you spot movement.

                                            >A cockroach.

                                            >You direct your gaze to it.

                                            >Then to your new plant.

                                            >"You know... you sure look hungry... let's see what we can do about that..."


                                            END