//------------------------------//
// Hue 
// Story: Flash Colored 
// by MythrilMoth 
//------------------------------//

"I do hope nobody minds my going barefoot at the dinner table," Rarity said as she primly arranged her paper plate of pizza and plastic cup of sparkling water on the living room table, crossing her bare legs primly as she occupied a plush, overstuffed lounger. "I'm afraid those boots are somewhat uncomfortable and overhot after a match like that."

"Doesn't bother me!" Pinkie Pie said. She'd also shed her sandals and wriggled her stocking-clad feet around as she sat on the sofa, munching on a piece of pizza.

Flash swallowed as he looked at Rarity's shapely bare legs, reaching for his soda cup and nearly spilling it. Sunset noticed and raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Enjoying the view?" she asked teasingly.

"GAH!" Flash cried, almost dropping his cup. "I'm not—I wasn't—!"

Rarity tittered. "Oh my, darling, it's nothing to be embarrassed about," she said. "It's actually rather flattering."

"Flashie's been feasting his eyes a lot lately," Pinkie said with a teasing grin.

"Oh really now," Rainbow said with a leer. "You're not thinkin' up some weird scheme like tryin' to date your way through my whole band, are you? Like we're some harem anime and you're the dude?"

Flash sweated. "N-no!" he said insistently, eyes wide and darting around the room. "I...I'm not like that! I mean, I...y-yeah, I like all of you—as friends! Friends! Very pretty, beautiful...amazing girls who are all my friends!"

Sunset chuckled. "Alright alright, enough teasing the poor guy," she said. "Still, one thing is bothering me."

"What's...what's that?" Flash asked, gulping.

Sunset held up her foundation jar. "This," she said. "It's half empty. I hardly ever use it, so I know for a fact it was almost full."

The girls all eyed Flash suspiciously, with raised eyebrows. Flash rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes darting around the room. "Is...is that right," he said.

"Uh-huh," Sunset said. "And, well, the only place it's been since last Saturday is your car, so..."

"Oh geez is that the time? I should get going I've got dogs to dish and washes to walk," Flash said, shooting to his feet. "It's been fun girls see you later—"

Rainbow pushed him back down on the couch and kept a hand on his shoulder. "Uh-uh," she said with a smirk. "This is just gettin' good."

"Wow, this got all interrogationy all of a sudden," Pinkie said, chewing excitedly on her pizza as she leaned forward in her seat.

Flash sighed and slumped forward, his shoulders sagging. "I got curious," he said. "I just...I was curious, and I—"

"Oh my," Rarity said, covering her amused smile with one delicate alabaster hand. "That must have been quite the horrid sight!"

"It was, yeah," Flash admitted. "I looked...ridiculous." He looked over at Sunset. "I'm sorry. I really am."

Sunset rolled her eyes and smirked. "It's cool," she said. "Okay, enough drama. Back to pizza everyone."

"Wait, I didn't get enough drama yet," Rainbow said. "Why were you curious?" she challenged, peering at Flash skeptically. "Don't tell me you're a..." A sly grin crossed her face as she stage-whispered the next word. "...paintjobber?"

Rarity's pizza fell right into her lap. Pinkie's eyes went wide. Sunset froze, a slice of pizza halfway to her mouth.

Flash cringed.

"RAINBOW EUPHEGENIA DASH!" Rarity shrieked, aghast and scandalized. "How could you! Such a...scandalous word!"

"Wow, Dashie, that was so not cool," Pinkie said.

"Oh come on, it's not like we're in public or anything!" Rainbow complained.

Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. "Rainbow Dash, you know transcolor persons are having a rough time these days," she said patiently. "It really, really isn't cool to use that word, even in private."

"Okay okay, sorry," Rainbow said huffily. After a beat, she added, "But are you though?"

The girls shot Rainbow cross looks, then looked back over to Flash in anticipation.

Flash closed his eyes. "N-no, I..." He sighed. "I guess maybe? I don't—" He wrung his hands. "I just...I hate being so bland and boring when I'm surrounded by, well..." He gestured to the room at large. "You girls and your bright colors and you're all so amazing and stand out and everybody loves you all and I'm just...this boring dude in the background." He chuckled ruefully. "Everybody's pack mule, move-heavy-stuff, get-a-ride-here-and-there guy, but as soon as nobody has a use for me, I might as well not exist anymore. I'm just...part of the scenery. Dull. Drab. Colorless. Boring."

"Oh, Flash," Rarity said, on the verge of tears. "Oh, sweetness, is that really how you feel? What you...what you think we think of you?"

Sunset winced. "Ouch," she said. "I...I never knew you felt that way."

"Dude, seriously, whoa," Rainbow said.

"Poor Flashie," Pinkie said sadly.

"I just..." Flash gestured helplessly. "I just look at all of you, and sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to have your color, to be so bright and...and vibrant, and really stand out..." He sighed. "I know, it's weird. I'm weird."

"You are no such thing!" Rarity said. "There's nothing wrong with that at all! Aside from the part where you think you're just part of the scenery, I mean. You most certainly do matter to all your friends! If we've been remiss in showing it, well...that's on us."

"So that explains all the ogling at the diner the other day," Pinkie said. "Here I thought you were just hot for my sweet sweet bod, or maybe developing some kind of floofy skirt fetish!" She giggled. "You were just thinking pink thoughts!"

"Wow, that sounded perverted," Rainbow muttered.

Flash winced. "I've been doing a lot of ogling lately, and not for...not for the reasons guys usually ogle hot chicks," he said. "I'm sorry about that, I really am. It's just, you all, with your bright colors and your beauty and the way you all shine and glow and you're all so alive every second of every day! It..." He swallowed. "I want that. I want to be like that. To know what it feels like to be what you girls just are."

The girls stared at him, eyes wide, cheeks tinged pink.

"W-wow," Rainbow said breathily. "That got me all choked up. Just...wow!"

"Goodness," Rarity said, fanning herself with a napkin. "I do believe that's the most sincere and beautiful and flattering thing anyone has ever said to me!"

"So why not go for it?" Sunset asked.

Flash snorted. "Yeah, right. I couldn't afford it. Besides, my dad would freak." He sighed. "I'm not even sure if I'd wanna...y'know...commit to that." He wrung his hands. "I mean, that's a lifestyle that's...pretty rough, y'know?"

The girls were silent for a long moment, the forgotten pizzas cooling in the quiet living room.

"What if..." Pinkie said quietly, slowly, into the silence. Everyone looked at her. "What if you could just try it for one day? You know, just to see what it's like?"

"Hey, yeah, that's a good idea," Sunset agreed.

Flash frowned. "Well, I...I guess," he hedged. "But...but how?"

Pinkie pulled out her phone. "Fluttershy? You've still got that one friend, right? You know, the one from the color clinic?"