//------------------------------//
// The First Date 
// Story: A Set-Up For Flash 
// by James Pwyll 
//------------------------------//

To say that Flash was taken aback by this turn of events would have been an understatement. But, here he was, and with the infamously bubbly force of personality of Pinkie, he just didn't have it in him to say no to this arrangement, especially since his newly-acquired companion for the afternoon was very much settling into to her new booth, looking smug as a pair of local girls passed them by. "Oh yeah! Who has two thumbs and just snagged CHS's most eligible bachelor? This girl!"

The girls, having safely passed that particular area of the café, looked to one another with confusion. "Who was that?" one asked.

"No idea," the other replied with a shrug.

Wincing slightly at this display, Flash leaned forward, keeping his voice down in stark contrast to Trixie. "Um, Trixie? I'm glad you're feeling enthusiastic about this, but could you maybe tone it down a bit?"

Looking to him, Trixie wagged her finger while giving a bit of a tut-tut sound. "Oh dear, naïve Flash. You can't just snag a sweet date and be humble about it! No, no, no! You've got to make it clear to everyone around you that you just scored big time! A win in your corner!"

Leaning back into his side of the booth, Flash scratched the side of his cheek. "Well...that's certainly one way of looking at it." Then, moments later, curiosity came to him. "So, since you became a match on that dating app, I'm guessing you've been on the lookout for someone?"

All of a sudden, Trixie looked at least a little bit embarrassed. "Well, far be it from me to say that I'm in need of someone by my side...but I was rather interested in starting things up with someone." Her smirk returned in full force shortly afterwards. "So imagine my surprise when the first person I get as a match is a goldmine like you!"

Flash rolled his eyes. "Trixie, I appreciate your compliment, but I'm no better than any other guy from school."

Trixie waved him off. "Oh please, modesty is hardly appropriate here. Let's not forget, you're the ex of both Sunset Shimmer and Princess Twilight Sparkle. Two of the biggest magical heroines out there! If those two both saw something in you, then chances are you're pretty special. And definitely worth being sought after by others."

The boy was surprised by those words, taking a moment to really ponder them. "Is...is that how people really think of me?"

Folding her arms, Trixie gave him a firm nod. "You better believe it, friend."

Naturally, this revelation gave Flash a moment of pause, and he looked out of the window to many of the people passing by the café. "I'm not sure how I feel about that. Especially since I never really became Twilight's boyfriend. Officially anyway. And as for Sunset..." He sighed as he looked back to his date. "We all know she didn't date me for me back then." Immediately his voice took on a more panicked tone. "I mean, she's a good person now, great even, but..."

Trixie chuckled, shaking her head slightly. "Do you freak out this much on every date you have?"

Relaxing slightly, Flash weighed his answers. "Hard to say, I don't really do that much dating nowadays."

That caught Trixie off-guard. "Wait? Seriously? You? The most romantic of romantics? The one person who could give even Rarity a run for her money on wanting the ideal fantasy relationship?"

Here, Flash actually cracked a smile for the first time in this whole thing. "Oh sure, I'd love to have someone special in my life, but as I told a certain someone..." He trailed off, glancing to the side to the poofy-haired waitress who was not trying anywhere near hard enough to hide the fact that she was spying on them. "I'm actually fine being single at the moment."

Trixie, at first, didn't know what to say to that, but after a while she just sort of slumped into her chair. "Hmph! Typical! I finally get myself a date and it turns out to be the one guy who doesn't want it!" A moment of silence lingered between the two, but after a while they looked to each other and, failing to hold it back, shared in a laugh together. "Oh dear, Pinkie really roped you into a mess, didn't she?"

Slowly, Flash nodded. "She means well, but...yeah, she kinda did." A quick glance in the direction of the girl in question, and then Flash turned again to Trixie. "You know...we can still try to make this a fun time, if nothing else."

Trixie looked to him with interest. "Oh? I thought you didn't want a date?"

A quick shrug from the boy. "True, but there's no reason a boy and girl can't just have fun together without it being a date, right?"

Trixie thought on that for a bit, then smiled, resting her hands upon the table between them. "Alright then, Mr Sentry. A just-friends get-together it is."

Flash smiled to her. "Great! So, first things first, how's your guitar practice coming?"

Trixie winced slightly, nervously scratching the back of her head. "Oh, right, that. Yeah, thing is...I kinda stopped."

Flash gasped, looking utterly aghast at the news. "What?! But you were awesome at it! Back in the battle of the bands you shredded like an utter pro!"

Trixie, looking no small amount of prideful at the remark, swept some of her hair aside. "Well, yes, that much can't be denied. But still, after that I think I just sort of lost interest. Wanted to focus more on my street magic."

Flash exhaled deeply, looking aside for a moment. "Maybe...a cooldown effect from the Siren magic not being on you anymore?"

Trixie shook her head. "Nah, I'd actually been planning on giving up on it long before the contest. Their magic made me keep at it for a bit, but after that, you know..."

It would have been impossible for Flash to not look disappointed, but credit to him he didn't look in any way angry at her, even resorting back to his earlier smile. "Well, if you're happy not having it in your life anymore, I guess that's fine. Your choice after all."

Trixie looked to him with a degree of appreciation. "Thanks. I know most people tend to give others a hard time when they quit stuff. But in the end it just wasn't for me, you know?"

Flash gave her a nod, then looked to her with renewed interest. "So, your magic then? How's that going?"

Here, Trixie looked infinitely more excited. "Oh, it's going splendidly! I've been practising my sawing-in-half act, and I think I'd make some great headway with it if I had more volunteers to help me."

Flash had to hold himself back from letting out a quick chuckle. "Well, to be fair, most would be pretty sensible to turn down the offer of being sawed in half by someone who, and I mean no offense here, is still new to this."

Another huff from Trixie. "They're just cowards. My act would be so much more impressive if people actually took an interest in participating!" Suddenly, and perhaps inevitably, Trixie started looking a touch mischievous as she regarded Flash. "Say...how would you feel if...?"

But before she could finish, Flash already knew and had an answer for her. "No, Trixie," he said flatly.

Another shrug from the girl. "Ah well, worth a shot." Her smile came back shortly afterwards. "Still, having you help in my magic show would be pretty nice. If you were interested of course."

This time it was Flash's turn to smile. "I might be. I've tried my hand at a few magic tricks myself."

That caught Trixie's attention. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

Flash, reaching forward, put his hand close to the side of Trixie's head, which she recognised instantly as the coin-behind-ear trick. An oldie, but a goodie nonetheless. However, when Flash pulled back his hand, what he held there was not a coin, but rather a card from a traditional deck, which he held in front of her as if in triumph. "Is this your card?" he asked in his best stage magician voice.

Trixie, after staring at him for a long while, sighed deeply before rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Flash...I think you might need some tutoring on this."

Looking to the card, Flash then gave Trixie a kindly smile. "Well then, Miss Trixie. Since we're both here..."

Picking up what he was putting down, Trixie returned the smile, giving a quick bow of her head. "Mr Sentry, it would be my pleasure." A slight blush came to her seconds afterwards. "And maybe...we could take a walk together on the beach afterwards? You know, since the weather's so nice today?"

Flash, not expecting that request, considered it for a moment, then reached out and offered his hand to her. "Alright, a walk it is."

Unbeknownst to Trixie, but very aware to Flash, Pinkie was close by, peeking out from behind the counter at what was transpiring. The the grin on her face as Trixie took Flash's hand could not be easily measured, and as she reached into her pocket and took out her phone, she looked to the dating account she'd set up for the boy, deleting it in seconds. "Sorry, ladies. Consider this match made!"