Sweat dripped from fiery copper-and-gold locks, running in beads and thin rivulets down smooth, beautiful skin as orange as the disc of a setting sun.
Flash Sentry lightly jogged on a treadmill, sweat plastering a faded grey T-shirt to his pale peach chest as he watched Sunset Shimmer, his eyes lustily drinking in her bare shoulders and arms, her smooth, delicious midriff, her long, lean legs, and her stunning supermodel face. Every bare inch of her honeyed skin glowed as she lightly shuffled and danced in place, driving punches into a training bag. Each impact of gloved knuckles on canvas was met with a loud smack, a grunt of exertion, and a burst of talc. Sunset's sneakers squeaked on the floor as she stepped, turned, and threw her whole body into her workout.
Sunset Shimmer was fire: warm and inviting, but always with the promise of burning you down and destroying anyone who stepped carelessly around her. To those she cherished, she was a light in the night, shelter from the cold, and the promise of warmer days. To those who roused her ire, she was destruction in the shape of a living goddess.
Sunset shook out her hands and stepped back from the swaying bag, untying the towel from around her waist and running it through her hair and over her face before tossing it around her neck. "I think...that's enough," she said. "I'm gonna go grab a shower."
Flash watched her go, admiring the sway of her hips, the sheen of sweat on her glowing orange skin. He swallowed, looking down at his own pale, fuzzy peach-white arms, and frowned.
An hour later, after Flash himself had finished working out and had showered and changed, he was behind the wheel of his black, shiny symbol of manhood, Sunset Shimmer sitting in the passenger seat. She was talking excitedly about some concert or other she was going to with her friends the following weekend; Flash had half an ear on her discourse and half an ear on the road.
"Oh hey," Sunset said suddenly as Flash turned smoothly onto a street two blocks from her apartment. "I need to pick up a couple of things from the grocery store. Do you mind? It's right up this way."
"Sure, no problem," Flash said. He knew the store all too well. He'd made many trips there to pick up one thing or another while they were dating. He eased the car into the left lane and coasted to a stop at the parking lot entrance, checking that the coast was clear before pulling in. He parked the car in an open slot not too far from the doors and turned off the engine. "Do you need a hand?"
"Nah, I've got it," Sunset said with an easy smile as she dug her wallet out of her handbag, which sat on the floor between her booted feet. "I'll be back in a sec." She undid her seatbelt, opened the door, and got out of the car.
Flash watched her disappear into the supermarket, hands idle on the base of the steering wheel. He swallowed heavily, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. After several seconds, he undid his own seat belt, leaned over to the passenger side, and hauled Sunset's bag up into the seat. His heart thumped and thudded as he dug through the bag, constantly flicking his eyes up to make sure nobody was watching.
After a few minutes of digging past mints and tissues and tampons and tweezers and a huge hairbrush, Flash found what he was looking for: a small jar of foundation. He uncapped it and looked inside. A warm, inviting orange glow, like the setting sun, stared up at him from the little jar. Licking his lips, he screwed the lid back on. Checking again to make sure nobody was watching, he slipped the little jar into the pocket of his hoodie, then hurriedly crammed Sunset's bag back into its space on the floor. His breathing was heavy and his heart hammered as he felt the hot weight of his pilfered treasure searing his colorless flesh through the thin fleece and cotton he wore.
Sunset returned a few minutes later with two bags of groceries, which she put in the back seat. Once she was belted in, Flash took off for her apartment, perhaps breaking the speed limit by just a hair.
Once they reached the apartment complex where Sunset lived, she gathered up her things and favored Flash with a brilliant, sun-kissed smile. "Thanks for the ride," she said. "You're a good workout buddy, we should do this again."
"Yeah, totally," Flash agreed, nodding rapidly. "I gotta book it, see you later!"
Sunset looked at him curiously, but shrugged and closed the door, sashaying off to her comfy little home. Flash backed out into the street, turned the car around, and headed home.
Once Flash had pulled into his own driveway, he killed the engine, grabbed his gym bag out of the back seat, and hurried inside and up to his room. He dropped off his bag and shed his hoodie, then took the little jar of foundation out of his pocket. He swallowed, turning it over and over in his hands. Hiding it in his palm, he snuck out into the hall, then crept around the house, cautiously checking to see if anybody else was home.
As soon as he verified he was alone, Flash shuffled into the bathroom. He examined his pale, colorless face in the mirror. Unscrewing the cap on his stolen treasure, he scooped out some of the creamy makeup with his fingers, shivering at its coolness and texture. He spread it haphazardly across his cheek, grimacing as it clumped and streaked. He smoothed it out, watching little bits of it crumble down into the sink like crumbs from a messy eater's mouth. He scooped out more foundation and spread it on his other cheek, learning as he went, evening it out, covering the streaks, evening it out. He kept going until almost his entire face was a glowing, fiery orange.
But not all of it. His ears, neck, and the orbits of his eyes betrayed him; the smooth, shining, vibrant orange face he had been hoping for instead looked fake, unnatural, and grotesque, like a Halloween-themed clown or a sunburned raccoon or...
Well, it just didn't look good. At all.
Flash sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. He capped the little jar forlornly and wet a washcloth to clean the mess off his face before anyone came home and saw.
It was foolish, he supposed, to hope there was any way he could capture Sunset Shimmer's natural, fiery radiance, even just a false fragment of her brilliant shine...