Chapter 55: End of the Year (Part 2)
(Flash’s house)
Ok… let’s see here.
Clothes… check.
Hairdo… check.
Cologne… check.
Teeth… sparkly… check.
Everything was ready for tonight. Flash made one last inspection making sure that he was prep and ready for tonight. While it may just be a pretend-date, that didn’t mean he couldn’t show Rainbow a good time. And he made it a tradition that anyone that goes out with Flash Sentry should have a great time, or their money back. So right now everything has to fall onto his standard, including him.
“Lookin good, partner.” He gave a finger gun gesture to his reflection who responded in kind. He then spotted a stray hair coming along so he quickly reached for his comb and tamed it. “Right. What do you think buddy? Do I look great or what?”
Bananas gave him a long look and tilted its head letting out two barks before returning to chewing its toy.
“Yeah, you’re right. I should probably put on something simpler.” He looked at himself one more time before checking the time on his phone. He still had 2 good hours before he had to pick up Rainbow Dash from her place. That means he could put in some extra effort for their not-date-date. “Hmm… maybe I should get her a gift. What does Rainbow Dash like?”
*Woof!*
“No Bananas. A basket of bananas is your thing. I need something else.” Unfortunately the boy came in blank. Honestly, he never really had much of a relationship with Rainbow until recently. It didn’t help that they were locker-neighbors either. Everyone in school knew what Rainbow was on the outside. She was sporty, loves music, likes to dance too apparently, and enjoys her mother’s cooking more so than she claims. But those were just the surface level stuff. He needed something deeper. Something concrete.
“Should I get her a new guitar?”
*Woof* Bananas disagreed… or maybe he did. It’s not like he could tell.
“No no. You’re right. I should keep it low. This isn’t a real date after all. How about… a new bike?” If his dog could understand him, it’d be rolling its eyes right now. “Geez buddy. You’re not making this easy. Oh! How about the latest edition of Daring Do?”
*Woof woof*
“No… wait. The latest issue was a month ago. The next one isn’t due to arrive until next year. Hmm…” He cupped his chin deep in thought. “Wow… I never thought it’d be this hard to pick a gift. What do you get a girl like Rainbow anyway?”
Should he ask Rarity for help? Nah. That girl already gave enough of her free time and help for this whole act. Asking for more would just be selfish. But seriously though… what does a girl like Rainbow like anyway? Perhaps he should’ve used the parental meeting last night for some tips.
“Master Flash.” Edmund’s voice cackled from the door interrupting his thoughts.
“Come in.” The butler did so, giving the young boy a polite nod. “You got everything?”
“As per your request, sir.” He handed Flash an envelope which contained his secret weapon. “You’ll find all of your passes inside. As well as the tickets you ordered.”
“Awesome! You’re the best, Edmund.”
“My pleasure sir.” The older man nodded. “I take it you have plans for tonight.”
“Yeah. It is New Year’s Eve after all. Speaking of which. Any word from my dad?”
He shook his head politely in return. “I’m afraid Master Sombra has not relayed any news to me. Should I ask him for you?”
Flash looked dejected for a moment there but then he reminded himself that this wasn’t anything new. “Nah. If I didn’t know better I’d say he was busy with work as usual.”
“I shall summon a chauffeur?”
“No need. I got my own ride. No need to wait for me tonight. I’m planning to spend the New Year outside.” He paused in thought. “Oh… speaking of which, you wouldn’t happen to know a good gift, would you?”
(Rainbow Dash’s house)
“How about this one?” Rainbow groaned into her hand as Windy suggested another dress from her own collection presenting it to her daughter like some kind of trophy. “Or this one? How about this one? Or maybe you’d like something that would match your hair.”
When Rainbow presented her apparent boyfriend to her parents yesterday, she was hoping that would be the end of it. She hoped that they would leave her alone and let her take her relationship steadily as it goes by. But that was probably too much to ask for knowing what her parents were like. That was doubly taken for her mother, who for the lack of subtlety and inability to perceive, or let alone respect, personal space.
“Mom~~ please.” Rainbow whined. “This isn’t such a big deal. Flash is just taking me on a date.”
“But sweetie. This is a BIG deal. The New Year doesn’t roll around every day.” Yeah. The same can be said for any holiday ma. “You have to put some extra effort here if you want to seal the deal.” She stated giddily like this was hers and not Rainbow’s date. The woman had been snapping pictures whenever she could documenting this whole moment like it was going to be put in the history books.
“It’s nothing like that. We’re just hanging out and having fun. It’s nothing too serious.”
“All the more reason to put the extra effort.” She added, earning herself an expressive eye roll from her daughter. “How about this blue one? It’ll look great on you and you two would match perfectly together.”
“Mom. Please. I’m sure what I’m wearing now will be fine. So unless Flash shows up in a suit and tie, I think I’m good.”
Windy deflated and casually toss her collection on the floor. “Alright. But if he does turn up in a suit and tie, I get to pick what you wear.”
“Deal.”
“Good. Now face the mirror and let me brush your hair.”
Rainbow opened her mouth to protest but there was something about the longing look on her mother’s eyes that had her sighing instead. “Fine. But nothing hard.”
She did so and scooted to the back of her daughter. With her hands caressing over her rainbow colored hair, she began to comb it gently, untangling any strands that might’ve made its way.
“So~?” The woman began. “What did you guys have plan for this evening? Do we need to set up a curfew?”
Windy giggled from behind, and Rainbow had a sinking suspicion there was another reason why she’d ask to brush her hair. She was working on an angle. There was no way she could run away now. At least not without seriously damaging her hairdo. Curse her and her sneaky habits.
“Mom. Seriously. It’s nothing like that.” Rainbow threw out her same sad excuse. “Flash and I are just gonna hang in the docks. It’s nothing major. We’ll play some games, watch the firework, and get come straight home. It’s just that simple.”
“If there’s one thing I know about dates, sweetie: It’s that no date is ever simple.” She added cutely while maintaining the motion of her comb. “Sometimes the most amazing things can happen. You might even find that spark that’ll light up your whole relationship.”
Yeah… I doubt it. The only sparks I plan to see in this date is the fireworks.
“This brings back so much memories for me.” Windy followed, not taking her hand off the job. “I remember when I first started dating your father. My mother did the same thing to me. She would spend hours letting me try on everything and made sure I was as perfect as I could be before I even set one foot outside the house.” She crooned. “If she saw us now she’d be gushing all over.”
“Sounds tiresome.”
“Very. Your grandmother was a very picky person. But I love those moments. Your father’s parents weren’t much different either. We’d spend hours picking out clothes, adding accessories, putting makeup.”
“Makeup!?”
“Yes! Lipstick, eyelashes, the works.” She then noted Rainbow’s panicked face on the reflection. “Oh but don’t worry. I know that those things aren’t really your cup of tea. As much as I would love to put mascara on you, I wouldn’t force you to put anything ridiculous.” Oh thank god. For a moment there she wondered if she would be dolled up like one of those supermodels on TV. Rarity would probably be thrilled on the prospect. But even she knew where to draw the line when it came to personal boundaries and taste.
There was no way in heck was she ever gonna wear makeup. The sun would implode first before she’d willingly try on anything so… girly.
Still… her mother’s expression said much. And she supposed that it wouldn’t hurt… for just tonight.
“Eh… I wouldn’t mind a little blush.”
“REALLY!?” Windy’s smile beamed up like a thousand lights. So much so that she unconsciously pulled her a lock of her hair. “Oh. Sorry sweetie. But you really mean it?”
“Yeah… sure. Why not?” She shrugged. “You did say I should put some effort.” Plus it would ease this guilt I was feeling inside.
The older lady squealed with such delight that it could be heard throughout the neighborhood. “Hold still. I want to treasure this moment.” With a quick motion, she grabbed the blush from the nearby cupboard and began applying it generously on both sides. The powder puffed everywhere for a moment before revealing her daughter in all her glory. “There… you’re beautiful.”
“Really? I don’t see it.”
“Even the slightest change can make all the difference, sweetie.” She pulled Rainbow into a tight hug sniffling a tear. “Look at my beautiful baby girl. Going on her big date. Pfft… they grow up so fast these days.”
Oh brother. That sounded like a quote from a romance comedy skit.
Still… at least the extra effort she put in would sell the whole couple thing. Whatever happens now, she was ready.
And not a moment too soon either, for the doorbell rang. They weren’t expecting any visitors today and dad was probably still busy at work. So the natural answer would be her ‘date’. Rainbow looked to her watch and noted that he was ten minutes early, which was kind of expected coming from a guy like Flash. Even a guy like him would know professional courtesy.
“Oh! That’s probably him.” Her mother beamed as she hurriedly hopped her daughter out the room and facing the main entrance. They could see a silhouette by the window which matched his size. She squinted, scanning her face for any useless blemish that she may have missed. But smiled when she found none. “She’s ready~~!”
Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. She just needs to last a few more minutes. Once she was out the door, her act would finally be over and she could return to her normal daily routine of being awesome. No more of this makeup, or dressing up business.
She yanked the door open.
“Hey Rainbow Dash.”
And her heart skipped a beat.
“H… hi?” The girl could only stammer and raise her hand to give an awkward wave. Her lips curled up a smile and her cheeks darkened enhancing the blush that her mother applied just recently.
The boy on the other end raised an inquisitive brow but didn’t mind. He looked… different than before. No, his clothes were the same old rocker style. Was he always this tall? He looked like he could tower over her dad. And did his hair always looked that nice? Were his eyes always blue?
“I uh… got you these?” Flash said, breaking the strange eerie silence that seemed to have lingered far longer than she realized. His hand came from behind his back, revealing a small bouquet of red roses, their petals still wet from the morning dew – or maybe that was just her eyes playing tricks on her.
“Uh…?” Without even thinking she accepted the flowers, which was kind of weird now that she thought about it. No one in their right mind would ever get her flowers. It was like… the last thing anyone should get her. Heck even her parents knew that she wasn’t the kind of gal who’d enjoy such girly things. People would get her comics, video games. Heck, a replica sword from Daring Do and the Adventure of the Lost Tomb. Never… flowers.
Yet strangely enough these felt charged and alive. They shivered in her hands – or maybe that was just her hands shaking. Why was she shaking?
And it didn’t the fact that they were roses, which made it look way more serious than it needed to be. Rainbow might not know much about the language of flowers, but even she knew what they represented in the general spectrum.
“Oh how adorable.” Windy’s voice quickly brought her out of her train of thoughts. “They’re gorgeous.”
It was Flash’s turn to blush this time. She wasn’t sure why he had anything to be embarrassed about. “Thank you ma’am. I wasn’t really sure what to get as a gift so I went with the classic.”
“They’re perfect.” Windy turned to her daughter committing every second of her daughter’s expression to memory. But she quickly nudged the girl out of her stupor when she realized that she was getting too quiet. “What do you say honey?”
“Huh? Oh! Uh… umm… thanks?” Why is everything coming out her sounding like questions rather than proper statements? Come on girl! Get a grip! They’re just dumb flowers. How touching can they be? “I mean THANKS~!”
“You’re welcome.” He bobbed his head in acknowledgement. “Shall we go? We got a full night ahead of us.”
Yes please. The sooner they were out of here, the better.
“Wait!” Mom clapped her hands pulling a camera out of her pocket. “I promised your dad I’d take pictures. It would make a wonderful centerpiece for our next family album. Say… chrysanthemum~~.”
Chrys-what?
Click. The flash came before she had a chance to even think.
“Mom!”
“Perfect! Alright you two. Stand side by side and I’ll have a close up shot.”
“No!” Rainbow yelled much to everyone’s shock. But she quickly recovered. “Uh… I mean… not until I have our matching jacket. We can’t have a close up picture without that, can we?”
Windy’s jaw slacked as if struck by realization. “Of course! How could be so foolish?! Stay right here, I’ll go get it!” She bolted off into the other room and began rummaging through the drawers.
Rainbow bolted out of there, dragging her date with all her might.
(Flash’s house)
Everything was ready.
Sombra puffed his chest proudly as he checked his work.
The whole dining room was decked out to his specification. While not as elaborate as his other parties, it was well enough to be passed as a party for two.
He had an assortment of snacks. All of his son’s favorite lined up in alphabetical order. And at the center of it all, was the photo album he had picked for this special occasion. The night was going to be perfect. By the time New Year rolls around, he and Flash will become the best of buddies like all father-son should.
The old man gave himself a pat on the back for a job well done. Maybe he should be the one writing the book about parenting. Because he seemed to be great at it.
Now all he needed to do was play the waiting game.
And thankfully he didn’t need to play it long because the door behind him creaked open.
Whipping his whole body around, he gleefully welcomed his son with a wide smile on his face.
“Surprise!”
“Wha?” ‘Flash’ was obviously caught off guard.
Sombra’s expression visibly soured when he looked closer to the new arrival. “Oh… it’s just you, Edmund.”
“Master?” The butler tilted his head, visibly confused. “I wasn’t aware that you were here. I thought you said you would be busy tonight.”
“A slight change of plans.” He replied as he returned to his seat, adjusting the chair adjacent to him as if he saw it by a millimeter off. “I prepared a little surprise for my boy for this very special night.”
“Did… did you do all this?”
“Impressed?” He smiled smugly. “It was a bit of a challenge keeping the other servants in the dark. I had to buy all the food myself as well. The fast food industry here is by far the most unsanitary. It’s a wonder why Flash likes them at all. But in the end, I overcame these challenges. It was quite the eye-opening experience. Flash will undoubtedly be surprised. Don’t you agree?”
“Very much sir.” Edmund cordially nodded. “Though… I have to ask. Does Master Flash know of this?”
Sombra laughed, reaching for a drink. “Of course not. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he knew.” He then noted his butler’s face souring just as he did. “What’s wrong?”
“Well… it’s just that…” Edmund stammered, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. “… Master Flash said that he made plans for tonight.”
“Plans?” Sombra’s lips went dry. “With who?”
(Docks)
Flash had a look of bewilderment at Rainbow Dash. He knew the girl to be the most energetic in the whole school. There was never a moment she would be idle. If she wasn’t practicing some sport or coaching a team on their techniques, she’d be practicing her guitar. That… or coaching a team while playing the guitar.
But tonight that same girl was sitting on a bench, face planted on the table, letting out the mother of all sighs.
“Rough night?” He couldn’t help but hold back a smirk.
“Don’t even get me started.” Rainbow groaned on the table, lifting her face up just in time for him to push a drink to her face which she greedily accepted. She gulped down a quarter of the bottle and then letting out a moan. “That… was the most exhausting two hours of my life.”
“Come on. Aren’t you exaggerating? I mean your mom wasn’t that bad.”
She slammed her bottle spilling a drop or two. “That’s easy for you to say! You didn’t have to sit around all morning having someone pick out your outfit. First it was the shirt, then the shoes, then the skirt. Ugh…”
Flash rubbed the side of his neck in apology. “I guess you had a pretty bad morning.”
“No! Of course not!” She retorted which confused him. “Actually… I… kinda did.” Flash mouthed an ‘Oh’ sound. “At first I didn’t. I mean… me and fashion don’t exactly see eye-to-eye. My closet is pretty much just the same thing I had all year round. But when mom started going on and on about my appearance, I kinda… got into it.”
“So… what’s the problem?”
“Everything.” She yelled out loudly which was thankfully masked by the music in the fairground. “When I saw mom looking all so happy… I kind of felt… guilty. She even had me put on makeup.”
She did?
He can’t see it.
“Well if it’s any consolation: It is over now.” Flash said hoping to bring a silver lining to this. “All you need to do now is break up with me and everything will be back to normal. Right?” He certainly hoped so. They didn’t go through that whole mess just to have everything fall apart at the very end. “So why don’t we forget this whole thing and enjoy this fair. It is the New Year after all.”
Her eyes looked up, the color returning to her face.
“Yeah.” She admitted. “You’re right. It’s over. I can finally go back home and relax and not worry about my dad setting me up with some stranger.”
“That’s the spirit.”
Rainbow quickly finished what was left of her drink and masterfully tossed it to the nearby bin. “So… how does this whole date thing work, exactly? Do you take me to dinner and an opera?”
Flash stifled a laugh. That last bit was probably a referral to the vampire movie: Fangshire. Who goes to the opera these days? Was there even have an opera house in Canterlot? “Are your only references, movies?” He quickly jumped back dodging a punch.
“Hey! Give me a break here. I’ve only seen these types of things in movies and books. I’ve never really had much of a dating life before now.”
“Well, don’t you worry. Because you’re in the hands of the dating master himself.” He offered his arm which Rainbow looked at confusingly before clumsily holding onto it. “I guarantee you that you’ll have a good time or your money back.”
“Is that a sales pitch?”
He rolled his eyes in return. “Let’s just have fun.”
And fun they did have.
xxxxxxxxxx
In the far off corner of the docks, another couple was having just as much fun.
“Come on. You’ve got to be kidding me.” Twilight watched as Timber pleaded to the ticket holder who refused him passage to what looked like the viewing platform for tonight’s firework show. Timber went on and on about the show and to be honest, he didn’t exaggerate. A whole section of the pier had been walled off just right next to the ocean. A row of bleachers stretched out to the far side, giving the audience a perfect view of the ships that would launch the pyrotechnic art into the night sky. There was even a gazebo reserved for the most affluent guests who will undoubtedly have the best view of the display.
“No means no, mister.” The manager in charge of the tickets repeated what she had been saying for the last minute. “Sorry buddy. But the whole place is booked. You aren’t the only couple that are here for the fireworks. Those that knew about the firework show made reservations days ahead of schedule.”
“But there has to be something you can do.”
She shrugged. “Not if you can make some new seats appear like magic.” Twilight rolled her eyes at the comment. “Sorry kid. But there’s only so many tickets I can hand out. So unless one of the others give away their tickets, you’re out of luck.”
“Not even the top slot?”
“Nope. We reserve that place for some of our more… wealthy clients.” She knew it. “Fortunately they all their own plans than watching some firework show.”
“Great! We’ll take it.”
But again the manager shot him down. “Sorry kid. You’re a little late on that too. Someone just rented the whole section for their date.”
“A whole floor!?” Timber gawked in disbelief. “Who in the world can rent a whole floor to themselves?” She can think of a few.
Again the woman shrugged. “Someone with money, I guess. Look. Like I said: Unless someone gives up their ticket on the slot, you’re out of luck. Now if you’ll excuse me, I got work to put on the gazebo.”
And with that, the manager departed leaving the poor boy to sulk.
“Timber. It’s ok.” She reassured him, patting the poor boy in the head. “We can just watch the firework from the beach instead. It’ll be just as fun.”
He sighed but admitted that there was little he could do to change that. “Yeah. I guess so. It’s just that I really wanted to take you up there. We’d have the view of the whole bay. Alone. Together.”
Aww… what a sweet heart.
Oh just drop him already.
“That’s sweet of you. But it’s fine. Really. I’d very much prefer if we just played a few games around here. This whole trip was for us to be together, isn’t it? So it doesn’t matter where we are.”
His eyes lit up as if struck by enlightenment. “Yeah… yeah you’re right. As long as we’re together, nothing can top us.” He then grabbed her hand and led her to the pier.
xxxxxxxxxx
Why oh why did I ever agree to come here?
Adagio groaned as she walked into the pier, dressed to the nines with her sisters in tow. The moment she stepped into this god awful fair, her skin began to crawl. Everywhere you looked you can see joy and positive energy pouring out from every soul. Happy couples locking arms together, family spending their time in fun and games. Heck, even the rides here oozed with enough positive emotions that made her want to hurl.
Why in the world did she let Aria talk her into coming to this place?
“Weeeeee!! Ohmigosh! Adagio look! It’s an all you can eat buffet!” Ah… right. That’s why. They needed to walk the idiot. “And look! They have a giant unicorn!” Oh yay… a giant plastic version of a creature they once dominated a long time ago. Talk about painful nostalgia. Adagio rubbed the side of her head in frustration. She would’ve snapped there and then had Aria not held her back.
“How did I let you get me into coming here?”
“Lighten up Adagio. It’s the end of the year. Try to enjoy it while you can.” Aria waved off to Sonata as if she was giving permission for the kid to go off on her own. “Besides, not everything has to be about magic. Learn to have a little fun.”
“I think we have two different definitions of what we consider fun.” The leader glanced around, resisting a hurl when a happy couple passed on by with smiles plastered on their faces. “Ugh… it hasn’t been a minute yet and I already want to burn this place to the ground. There’s not even a hint of negative energy here. Why do these people have to be so full of joy and hope? Will it kill someone to have a little misery out here?”
“Stop with your moping. Let’s try out some of these games and win us some prizes. You love it when you clean out their stock.”
She didn’t exactly ‘Love’ it. But it was a welcoming distraction. Seeing the reaction of some sucker lose all of his trophies often brought a smile to face.
“Fine. But if any of those creepy clowns get anywhere near me, I’m putting this place to the torch. Got it?”
Aria shrugged. “Fair enough. Now hurry up or some chef will try and pry Sonata from the buffet table.”
Too late for that, the girl was already having a tug of war with another patron over the fries’ bucket, waving a stuffed toy like a club to defend herself.
xxxxxxxxxx
Whoosh.
Another ball slid through the hoop with a pleasant sound followed by a series of tickets chucking out the slot.
Flash couldn’t help but watch as Rainbow followed it up with another dozen or so throws and each ball that fell, went through that hoop like a waterfall while the scoreboard went up. A few passerby gave her an impressed look and some even applauded for her performance. But from where he was standing, it seems like that girl was letting out some steam.
He looked to his own corner, lining up a shot and tossed. The ball bounced, dangled and fell. No whoosh.
A buzzer noise came a few seconds later signaling the end of their game.
“Booya! New record!” Rainbow pumped her fists triumphantly into the air before grabbing her tickets which was now piling below her. “Phew. You were right. This was a lot more fun than I thought.”
“I’m… glad?” He muttered, eyeing the two scoreboards and seeing the obvious difference. “Guess you had something to blow off?”
“Was it that obvious?”
No. But her frustrated grunts and annoying throws were easily definable from a closer perspective.
“A little bit.” He shrugged.
“Sorry.” She grabbed a stray ball and casually tossed it in like it was nothing, earning another whoosh. “It’s just my parents. They can be a little…” Her voice cracked. “… well… you know.”
“I’d say they were pretty decent considering how much they love you.”
“Oh please. What you saw was nothing.” Her mouth curled a scowl. “Last year, they snuck into our soccer match with Crystal Prep.” Oh yeah. He remembered that. They brought in a boatload of camera equipment saying that they wanted to capture their girl’s great moment. It didn’t really interrupt the match but it was certainly hard to ignore.
“Right~… the super camera incident. That was pretty fun.”
“For you maybe. But it was so embarrassing. Everyone was staring at them like they were elephants in the room.” Rainbow scoffed. “And it was even worse when we got home. We had to watch the whole thing on reruns. Dad even bought a new TV just for that occasion. He said that it had better picture quality or something.”
“Sounds like a fun thing to do.”
“No. It was not.” She replied in a matter of factly. “Don’t your parents do anything embarrassing to you?” The smile on his face wavered instantly, which prompted Rainbow to reconsider her words. “Ah… no. I mean… I didn’t mean it like that. I was just…”
“It’s fine.” He waved it off brushing through the subject. “Honestly, I don’t exactly have that much family memories so I can’t really relate. My dad was always away on his archeological adventures and my mom is… well… I don’t even remember her.”
“Yeah… sorry. I didn’t mean it that way…”
“It’s fine.” He repeated. “For what it’s worth, I think your parents are pretty cool. A little on the flipsy side, but cool. Not to mention they let me see your trophy room. Or to be more precise: Rainbow’s Room.”
Rainbow Dash’s face cringed at the thought. “Please don’t remind me. I’m gonna be suppressing that memory forever.”
It was rather disturbing and amazing at the same time. Bow converted their guest room to some kind of shrine dedicated to everything about his daughter. From baby pictures to fads, hobbies and baby teeth, even her old diapers was framed on the wall. It was downright harrowing yet Flash couldn’t take his eyes off any of it. There were even stuff in there he wouldn’t dare mention it to others unless he wanted Rainbow to rip his mouth off.
“I knew you were a big fan of Fangshire. But I didn’t think you’d have an exact replica of her dress.”
“It’s a battle skirt! And Claire is cool!” She nudged a finger at him, strong enough to send him recoiling. “And enough about me. Let’s turn this to you.”
He blinked dumbly. “Me? What about me?”
“This whole dating thing is about getting to know each other, right? Like… to see that we’re compatible and stuff?” The girl stated which was somewhat technically true. “Well you know everything about me now. So why don’t you tell me about you?”
“I think you know enough.”
But she didn’t seem to take that as an answer. “Oh please. No one in school knew that you were a rich-boy until just a few months ago. Not even Sunset knew. You have a giant pool, a giant mansion, a whole lot of cars, and even an Aviary! I wanna know the real you. Not the rocker guy or the rich boy. The real Flash Sentry.”
She made it sound cool in her own way which made it rather tempting. “Why are you so interested all of a sudden?”
“Because you know some of my deepest darkest secrets. It’s only right I get to find out a few of yours.” She then raised her massive ticket pile to him. “I’ll even give you half my tickets in exchange.”
Wow… arcade tickets in exchange for all of my revelation. That sounds like a fair trade if he was an idiot.
“I think I’ll keep my real self a mystery for now.”
“Oh come on! No fair.”
He laughed while the girl puffed her cheeks in annoyance. She looked absolutely adorable. Nothing that you would expect from a girl like Rainbow Dash.
“Tell you what. If you can beat me in the next game, I’ll spill the beans.”
She smiled cockily knowing that it was a sucker’s bet. “Ha! You’re so on!”
“Now hold on a second.” The boy poked her head stopping her from bolting off. “But if you lose, I get to ask one favor from you, free of charge.”
“Ha! Deal!” Oh wow, she was certainly confident if she was willing to shake on it so quickly. “So what’s it gonna be? Another hoop match? Darts? Soccer? Strongman high striker? Motocross derby? Race across the pier? Name any game you want and I’ll beat you at it without even breaking a sweat.”
“Any game?”
“Any.” She answered confidently, striking a pose.
Flash couldn’t help but smile. Hook, line, and sinker.
“Ever heard of Sudoku?