Wondercolt of Personality: Ch. 4
Sunset was still sore the following day. Her legs hurt even while sitting in class. Her arms screamed every time she picked up her back pack. She knew the workout yesterday was intense, but wasn't prepared to face this much delayed onset muscle soreness. Now she had to flex different muscles for today's tryouts.
About half of yesterday's contestants were eliminated from the conditioning tryouts. You could be the smartest kid in class, but if you couldn't keep up with the physical competition, it wouldn't mean much for Canterlot in the Friendship Games.
"Ugh I'm so sore." Minuette complained. She sat backwards in her chair as usual, but slumped her upper torso over the backrest.
"Why does everyone have to do everything in the Friendship Games? They should let us specialize with our team members." She grunted towards the hardwood floor.
The students were gathered together in the gymnasium. They sat in chairs next to folding tables set up on the basketball court. With a few dozen contestants still remaining, the next part of the tryouts had to be held in a bigger room than usual. Minuette’s backrest was facing Sunset.
"The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools." Sunset rattled off from memory.
"I'm sorry, what?" Minuette shook her head rapidly.
"Sorry. I've been reading a lot of Greek philosophy lately." Sunset admitted.
"So are you calling me a coward or a fool?" Minuette smirked.
"Well that depends. Which part of the tryouts do you suck at more?" Sunset fired back. Both girls giggled incessantly.
“Alright students, it’s time to begin the written exam portion of the Friendship Game’s tryout.” Celestia stood in front of the fifty or so that would eventually be whittled down to twelve.
Sunset looked down at the sealed test packet on the table in front of her. A sharpened No. 2 pencil next to it. She had long since gotten accustomed to human writing utensils. But she silently longed for her magical quill, because even her fingers were sore. The students collectively quieted down and got ready to focus.
“You may begin.” Celestia declared and sat down to moderate. She gazed serenely out at her studious contestants.
Sunset’s hand flew across the scantron paper as she flipped her test packet open. She circled in answers so fast, one might think she was just guessing each answer. But the answers poured from her mind in a continuous flow. Minuette looked dumbfounded at Sunset, barely able to believe how fast she was going. Sunset’s face was focused so hard she didn’t notice her surroundings at all. It was as if she were the only person in the world and this test the only object. Sweat quickly built up on Sunset’s forehead.
Not twenty minutes passed when Sunset abruptly stood up to hand in her test. Her chair squeaked loudly along the floor as she walked over to the principal. Celestia, lost in thought, looked up when she noticed her student’s presence in front of her.
“Do you have a question about the exam, Miss Shimmer?” Celestia tilted her head.
“What?” Sunset snapped out of her academic trance. “Uh, no ma’am. I’m finished.”
“Finished? Already?” Celestia’s eyes shot wide.
“Yes.”
“Including the short answer section and the essay at the end?” Celestia stared in disbelief.
“Yes.” Sunset repeated.
“That’s remar… imposs…” Celestia failed to find the right word. “Even so. It’s not good to rush through such a difficult exam.”
“Difficult?” Sunset looked confused.
“Yes well,” Celestia cleared her throat. “Surely in your haste you must have made some mistakes. Perhaps you should go over the test and make sure you are satisfied with all of your answers.”
“I did that already.” Sunset moved her finished exam papers closer to Celestia, insisting that she take them.
The Principal just stared at her. Sunset looked around the room and noticed that all eyes were on her. A few students were whispering to one another. Had she done something wrong? She didn’t want to offend or upset anyone.
“Tell you what.” Celestia smiled as she gently accepted the papers. “There’s plenty of time left in the exam period. I’ll go over your answers for you and if there are any mistakes, I’ll let you change your answers for half credit.”
“Um… ok.” Sunset shuffled her feet and held her hands behind her back. All of the awkward stares from her classmates left her self conscious.
Celestia focused on Sunset’s exam papers as her pen flew across the sheet. Her red marker was ready to mark any mistake, exposing Sunset’s hubris. Yet page after page she flipped and the pen never came down. Her expression became increasingly flustered as she scanned each answer. She was almost frustrated that she couldn’t find anything to critique.
Finally the red pen came down, making a big circle on one of the last pages. Sunset’s heart sank at the sight of the red ink. In another minute, Celestia looked up at Sunset. She shook her head as she said,
“I can hardly believe it, Miss Shimmer. You got 99.3 percent of the exam correct.” Celestia sighed, about to compliment her student more when Sunset spoke up first.
“What did I miss?” Sunset appeared distressed.
Celestia flipped back to the math section of the exam.
“One of your answers on the calculus questions was off by a factor of ten.” Celestia noted. “Which is odd considering how accurate your other answers were.”
“Ack.” Sunset slapped her forehead. “I moved the decimal again. I’m so dumb. You were right, Principal Celestia, I should have gone over it more carefully. Please forgive me.” Sunset bowed her head to her new ruler.
“Uhm…” Celestia sat flabbergasted. “That’s quite alright, my dear. This is still one of the highest scores that any student has ever received on the written exam for the Friendship Games. It’s also the fastest completed, if I’m not mistaken.”
Sunset nodded humbly. She sheepishly looked around and caught the gaze of her astonished classmates, causing her cheeks to turn as red as her hair. Was she not supposed to do well? We’re they making fun of her?
“Would you like to correct it?’ Celestia offered. “That would bring your grade up to a 99.65%”
“No.” Sunset held up her hand. “It was a careless mistake and I should live with it.” She moved her hand over her heart.
“Very well.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. She wondered if Sunset was being arrogant, but she couldn’t detect any insincerity in her mannerisms. Sunset turned to walk away, but Celestia grabbed her hand with hers, causing her student to blush again.
“You’re going to be my greatest hope.” Celestia whispered as she winked at Sunset.
“I’ll do my best.” Sunset whispered back. She began walking towards the door, her heart fluttering as her footsteps seemingly walked on air. The silent and stunned room continued the exam in her absence.
Sunset entered the music room, gathering a few belongings she had stored in there. The music room was now her, and the Spirit Club’s, base of operations. She decided to read some of her assigned reading while she waited for the others to finish their exams. Some time passed before the double doors burst open, causing her to jump.
“Holy crap!” Minuette stormed into the room and accosted Sunset. “What are you, some kind of super genius?” She glared harshly at her.
“I’m sorry.” Sunset cowered even though Minuette was a few inches shorter than her. “I didn’t mean… I just…”
“What do you mean you’re sorry?” Minuette scooped up both of Sunset’s hands into hers and clutched them so tightly it hurt. “You’re just incredible.” Minuette leaned her head back and cackled like a mad woman.
“T-that’s a good thing, right?” Sunset meekly asked.
“Of course it’s a good thing!” Minuette shouted in her face and Sunset winced. “Sorry, I'm just so excited we…” She paused, too moved to speak. Sunset simply squeezed her hands back waiting for Minuette to continue.
“We’re gonna win aren’t we?” Minuette’s face was near tears.
“Of course. We’ve been saying that all along.” Sunset looked confused.
“Yeah, yeah, but…” Minuette freed one of her hands to wave it dismissively. “I thought that was us all coping until now. Like, maybe we’d do better this year but winning?”
“We have to win.” Sunset appeared dead serious.
“With you on our team, we can’t lose the academic portions. All we have to do is have a respectable showing in the sports stuff. And with Rocket on a rampage… Oh my God…” Minuette trembled in excitement. “We can do this. We can really do this.”
“Of course we-” Sunset paused when Minuette suddenly embraced her. Neither of them heard the music room doors open again or the footsteps that followed.
“Thank you for this, Sunset. You don’t know what it means to me. To us.” Minuette squeezed her tightly. Sunset simply smiled and hugged her back.
“Uh… I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I can come back in a minute.” Flash stood in the doorway with his hand behind his neck. He looked away, too embarrassed to look directly at the girls.
“Pervert.” Minuette suddenly broke from Sunset to face Flash. “Can’t I hug my wife in peace?” She waltzed past Flash and gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. When Flash blushed, she held out her tongue and blew a raspberry at him. “We’re gonna win!” She declared down the hall as she walked out of the room.
“Um, I…” Sunset fussed with her skirt and stroked her hair. “That was… we were just…” She pointed towards the doors that Minuette had just exited.
“Congrats on the wedding.” Flash smirked
“Pffft!” Sunset couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Thanks. Sorry your invitation got lost in the mail.” She pointed a finger gun at him.
“Hey uh…” Flash looked away, sounding serious all of a sudden.
“What’s wrong?” She lowered her finger gun slowly.
“I just… I think I may be in a bit of trouble.” He admitted.
“Oh no. What did you do?” Sunset crossed her arms and stared suspiciously at him. “Does Celestia know?”
“Not that kind of trouble.” He laughed. “What makes you think I did something bad? You think I robbed a bank or something?”
“Did you rob a bank?” She grinned deviously. “If so, where's my cut?”
“Check's in the mail.” He said. Sunset giggled. Although his good humor quickly fell. He sighed and drew out a long breath. “But seriously, I’m really struggling with my classes lately. I don’t know what it is. It’s like I can’t focus or something.”
“Are you worried you won’t make the Friendship Games team?” Sunset put her arms down.
“Yeah I am. But more importantly, I’m worried about failing my classes.”
“Oh wow is it that bad?”
“See I told you it was bad.” Flash smiled again finally.
“So are you saying you need…” Sunset was cut off by a nervous Flash Sentry.
“Since you’re apparently like a genius and stuff, I was hoping you could tutor me.” He held out his palms, his eyes pleading with her. He appeared more afraid of rejection than when he had asked her out.
“I’m not a genius.” Sunset gripped her elbow with her palm and sat down on the stage platform in the music room.
“I don’t know, you seem pretty smart to me.” Flash sat down next to her. The afternoon light flooded through the windows giving a warm orange glow to their meeting. “Your score on that test was amazing. I didn’t know you could do that…” Sunset gave him a look as Flash thought about what he just said for a beat too long.
“I mean…” He stammered. “I figured you were smart and stuff. I just… it seemed so incredible and… not that I didn’t think you were incredible before…” He smacked his forehead.
“Thanks.” Sunset placed her palm on his shoulder. “You should quit while you’re ahead next time.”
“For sure.” He nodded.
“Yeah I can tutor you, Flash.” Sunset abruptly put her hand back to her side. “What subjects are you struggling with the most?”
“Would it be cringe if I said all of them?” He sighed.
“I won’t tell anyone.” Sunset Snickered. “I’ll come over right after school today and we’ll get started.”
“Today?” Flash blushed.
“Yeah, you said it’s pretty dire. And it sounds like we have a lot of ground to cover.”
“I’m sorry for burdening you with this. You don’t have to do it if it’s too much work on top of what you’re already doing. Plus the Friendship games.” Flash threw up his hands at the mention of the games.
“Hey, what are friends for?” Sunset placed her hand back on his shoulder and gave him a gentle rub.
“Thanks.” Flash placed his hand on top of hers and grinned. They stared at each other for a few long seconds. Flash wanted to bring up his feelings again, but everything had already been said. He felt like he was in romantic purgatory until the Friendship Games. For a moment, he worried that she was just trying to let him down easy over time. However, something about the way she looked at him told him otherwise.
“I’ll see you in your dorm later.” Sunset got up and grabbed her backpack. Flash watched as she sauntered out of the music room. He allowed his gaze to get lost in the sway of her hips with each foot step. She turned around, almost catching his stare, and smiled.
“Later.” He smiled back and the doors to the music room gently swung closed. It took a minute for Flash’s heart rate to calm down.
****
Sunset whisked off down the Canterlot High School halls on the way to her locker. The rest of the day couldn’t have gone by any slower for her since she had been looking forward to meeting up with Flash Sentry in his dorm. The last time she was in his dorm, she had suddenly darted away from Flash in a hasty retreat. This time she would make it up to him. He needed her help, and she was more than happy to provide it. Sunset quickened her pace, accelerating from a light jaunt to a full jog. Her mind raced with excitement as she felt her body surge with newborn energy. This was her school. This was her new life and, to her immense surprise, it was good. Good enough to thoroughly distract her.
She never saw the poor young man standing outside the administration office until it was too late. Sunset collided with what felt like a brick wall and went careening downward. She landed squarely on her butt and looked up confused and dazed.
“Are you alright?” A rich and masculine voice called to her. The tall gentleman towered over her, holding out his palm to help her stand back up. His eyes were as blue as his hair. He wore a violet cardigan sweater with a star symbol that Sunset didn’t recognize on his left breast.
“I know our schools are supposed to be rivals, but I wasn’t expecting this level of hostility.” The stout student kept his hand offered as he smiled slyly. Sunset unconsciously accepted his hand with hers while staring straight at this new stranger. She yelped as his brisk yank sent her flying back to her feet. Was he even stronger than Flash? His upper body muscles were certainly larger than Flash’s.
“Oh my Celes…” Sunset’s face blushed deep red. “...My goodness, I am so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. I certainly didn’t mean to be hostile, I just…” Sunset spoke a mile a minute as he cut in.
“I know, I know, I was just teasing. I wasn’t being serious.” He smiled broadly and his calm demeanor allowed Sunset to breathe a sigh of relief. “My name is Shining Armor. I go to Crystal Prep.” He offered his palm again for a handshake this time.
“I’m Sunset Shimmer.” She shook his hand and tried to match the firm grip he gave her. Although, she was pretty sure he wasn’t trying to be firm with his grip.
“Sunset Shimmer.” Shining Armor nodded his head curiously. “I haven’t seen you at any of the Friendship Games before.”
“Oh… haven’t you?” Sunset meekly fussed with a strand of her bangs. She didn’t like people pointing out that she had materialized in this new world out of nowhere.
“No, I would have definitely remembered a face like yours.” He winked.
“Heh.” Sunset chuckled as she rested her hands on her hips. Were all guys in this world filled with such forwardness and confidence?
“Is that so?” She cocked her hip out to the side.
“I take it you’re a freshman then? Are you planning to compete in the friendship games?” His disarming smile made her suspicious.
“Why do you ask? Are you some sort of spy?” She matched his mischievous grin from earlier as she folded her arms in front of her jacket.
He cocked his head back and laughed deeply from his chest.
“If I am, I’m a pretty bad spy.” He gestured to the main entrance behind him. “What with my walking in the front door and heading straight for Principal Celestia’s office.”
“You’re here to see Celestia?”
“Yeah, I’ve actually known her since I was a little kid. In fact I almost attended…” He paused for a moment, his eyes suddenly looking sad for some reason. “Well… that’s a long story. But if I see any spies, I’ll be sure to send them your way.”
Sunset laughed this time.
“Ok, ok, well sorry about bumping into you. I won’t keep you from your meeting with Celestia.” Sunset turned to walk away.
“Hey, before you go, I was just wondering…” He hesitated and Sunset glanced in his direction again.
“You’re new here so I was just curious…” He looked away as he scratched the side of his neck. “What do you think of Principal Celestia?”
Sunset stood dumbfounded for a moment, his question throwing her off guard.
“I uh…” She cleared her throat and squared her shoulders. “I think she’s an amazing leader. I can’t imagine having a better principal.” Sunset felt as if she needed to defend Celestia. Especially when she knew Celestia’s job was secretly on the line at the Friendship Games.
Shining Armor nodded his head with a pleased smile.
“Yeah. I agree.” He said simply. “See you at the games, Sunset Shimmer?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
As they turned to go their separate ways, Sunset’s bright mood turned bitter sweet. It seemed as if not even a moment could go by without her being reminded of what was at stake.
****
Sunset sat on the end of Flash Sentry's bed tired and sweating. The room was warm with their combined body heat and air circulation was lacking through the tiny air vent in the roof of Flash's dorm.
"Then you solve for the derivative of X as it approaches zero." Sunset said confidently.
"So X can be as low as zero?" Flash tugged on his sweaty shirt.
"No. It approaches zero but it can never be zero." Sunset punctuated her point by tapping the graphing paper on the desk in front of her.
"How close to zero can it be?"
"Infinitely."
"Infinitely?" Flash repeated, his face perplexed. "How can something so small be infinite?"
"It's infinite because it can always get smaller but still can't reach zero. Imagine just adding lower and lower decimals down the line forever." Sunset examined Flash’s face for any signs of confusion. He simply nodded to himself so she continued.
“You know, cause the farther right you add decimals the smaller the…” She began but he interrupted.
“Yeah, yeah, I get that. I just don’t get why it just keeps getting smaller.” Flash rubbed his head as he stared at the sheets Sunset was writing on.
“Because the derivative is the limit of the function. And in order for there to be a limit to the function the number has to be the same on either side of the equation and with absolute value it’s impossible to do that with zero.” Sunset smiled, pleased with her sound explanation.
“But what if it is?” Flash genuinely asked.
“It can’t be.” Sunset narrowed her eyes.
“But what if it magically was?” The side of Flash’s lip curled up mischievously.
“Then the universe explodes.” Sunset threw up her hands. They both laughed for a few seconds before the room fell silent for a moment. Just long enough to remember how hot it was.
"You really need to get some kind of fan in here." Sunset wiped her brow with the back of her palm as a no. 2 pencil poked out through her grip.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. You know it doesn't usually get this hot in here when it's just me." Flash fanned his face with his math textbook, trying to get some air flow.
"I guess you're not used to having a guest." Sunset smirked and turned to Flash. "Good to know I'm the only girl you've been bringing around here."
Flash Sentry flushed, but it wasn't the heat.
"Har, har." He rolled his eyes. "You know I probably could if I wanted to." Flash set his book down and leaned back in his gaming chair.
"I don't doubt it. What with all the fangirls from your band." Sunet scribbled a few notes on the math sheet in front of her.
"Oh yeah." Flash’s tone dropped as he acknowledged her comment. "Probably." He cleared his throat.
The math was abruptly forgotten. This subject far more interesting.
"Why don't you bring any of those girls over?” Sunset swallowed as she finished. No taking that question back now.
“I don’t know.” Flash sighed. “I guess it would just feel shallow and meaningless to me. Not that the girls who come to the show are shallow or anything, but I just… I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right.”
Sunset’s inner dialogue went nuts:
Why is it hotter all of a sudden? Oh, because my heart is pounding wildly in my chest. My core body temperature must be up two degrees. Should I take off my jacket. Wait, no. That would insinuate too much. Jacket stays on. Am I sweating? Can he smell me? Oh god, he hasn't said anything yet. He’s being so honest and open and cute. How long has it been since I last spoke? Oh good grief, say something.
“And it does feel right when I’m here?” Sunset fiddled with her pencil, trying to quiet her own voice in her head. Flash’s face snapped in Sunset’s direction.
“Of course it does.” He said emphatically.
Sunset’s chest welled up in joyous triumph.
“It’s just…” Sunset swallowed again, coming back down to earth. “It was Tempest’s idea for me to come here the first time, so you could have been just humoring her.”
Brush it off. Maybe he’s not that into you? Her inner voice tormented her. She found herself unable to look Flash in the eye until she felt him grasp her hand into his.
“Sunset.” He began and Sunset lost herself in his gaze. His strong jaw line complemented his quaffed blue hair. He was the quintessential pretty boy artist, which Sunset found out she was apparently into.
“I wouldn’t have asked you out if it didn’t mean something to me.” He continued. “Tempest just gave me a nudge in the right direction. I should thank her. It probably would have taken me longer to work up the courage if we didn’t connect on the first night like that.” As soon as he finished talking, his face grew bright red. He let go of her hand to rub the back of his neck and chuckle nervously.
“Yeah, she was definitely playing matchmaker.” Sunset smiled as her own cheeks felt flush. “She kept making comments to me in private. You know… nudging me in the right direction.”
“So it was the right direction?” Flash’s hopeful gaze fixated on her.
“Y-yes. I think it is.” She said, but looked away shyly. She didn’t know what to do with her hands. Why did she care that her lips suddenly felt dry? Did her breath stink? What was the last thing she ate? This was unfamiliar territory. A side of herself she rarely showed to anyone. She liked this flirty Sunset. It felt normal. Something every girl goes through. A perfectly normal teenage crush. And she was normal right?
Meanwhile, Flash wanted to throw caution to the wind, take her in his arms, and kiss her passionately. Screw the Friendship Games and waiting. He wanted her now. Her soft lips, her round cheeks, the curve of her hip and waist, he had taken in all her features and was enraptured by her.
But instead he nodded and let the, bordering on awkward, silence linger.
“How’s your band going? When’s your next show?” Sunset filled the dead air, tucking a section of hair behind her ear.
“Oh…” Flash deflated like a popped balloon. His shoulders slumped as he sighed at the floor. “About that…” He said but didn’t finish.
“What about it?” Sunset looked worried. Flash was visibly upset. All that flirty teenage pent up energy dried up like a desert.
“Remember when I said the band was double booked and couldn’t do the pep rally?” Flash looked like a kid admitting he stole a bike to his parents. “Well that was only partially true. They actually kicked me out of the band altogether.”
“What!?” Sunset stood up suddenly causing Flash to flinch. “Why would they kick you out? You’re like the best part of the band.” Sunset breathed heavily like a MMA fighter ready for her next opponent.
“Thanks. I wish they saw it that way.” Flash leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. There happened to be a poster of his old band right above where he was sitting. He considered standing up and ripping it down. However, Sunset seemed upset enough for the both of them.
“Did you guys get in a fight? Maybe you can just cool off and figure it out?” Sunset said hopefully, trying to calm down. Her imposing demeanor made Flash a little nervous but he found her anger in this situation cathartic for his own needs.
“I don’t think so.” Flash shook his head. “When I told them about the pep rally they said school functions like that were for losers and that they were above that. I tried to argue but they just kept shutting me down.”
“And so they kicked you out over that?”
“Well…” Flash swallowed before continuing. “I tried to argue that the pep rally was really important to me. So much so that I joined the cheer squad and they laughed.” Flash put his face in his hands.
“They called me a…” Flash paused at the memory. "Well they used a word I prefer not to repeat, but it hurt alot. Especially from guys I considered friends.”
“Flash…” Sunset’s anger subsided as her focus shifted to Flash’s declining mental state. She scooted the wooden chair over so she could sit next to him. Two minutes ago the idea of being physically closer to Flash had been nerve wracking, but now, she wanted to hug him for sympathy.
“Then they said they didn’t want somebody so… ‘gay sounding’ to be their lead singer.” Flash was near tears. He kept his eyes buried in his fingers to hide it. Sunset placed her hand on his thigh, wanting to comfort him anyway she could without overstepping boundaries.
“Then they told me...” Flash grunted, forcing his voice not to crack or sound sobbish. He was terrified of looking unmanly to anyone. Especially to a girl he was interested in. “That my voice was too nasally and effeminate. That if I was going to be a… ‘f-word’ I should be it somewhere else so that they can go make real metal. Not fake pop metal. Which is the only thing I can sound like apparently.” Flash breathed in deeply, trying to get ahold of himself to make sure he didn't lose control and cry all over Sunset.
“I’m so sorry, Flash. I can’t believe they would say all that stuff. It’s 1000% not true.” Sunset rubbed his leg as she shook her head disapprovingly.
“I can’t help thinking that…Maybe they’re right though?” Flash looked up at Sunset with redness in his eyes. The tears just barely under the surface. “Maybe I do sound like… like I’m g-.”
Sunset cut him off, her voice suddenly booming with volume.
“Your voice sounds freaking hot!”
Sunset blushed at her outburst but didn’t care. Hearing Flash sing had been one of the highlights of her time in this world. What if he stopped altogether because of this? She wouldn’t let that happen.
“And even if you did sound ‘gay.’” Sunset made air quotes. “Who cares? Why is that a problem? Well the jokes on them because you're the best catch in the whole band and now they have no appeal remaining whatsoever.” Sunset folded her arms in protest. “Their loss. I bet they won’t even book any shows now that you’re gone.”
“Heh, thanks.” Flash sniffed and finally smiled again.
“I bet all those fangirls suddenly stop going to their shows too. Good. That’s what they deserve.” Sunset’s eyes lit up in realization. “You should start your own band! Or go solo!” She finger gunned him at the suggestion.
“You think so?” Flash perked up a little bit.
“Heck yeah. Don’t give up on something you're passionate about. You’re a freakin rockstar.”
“I don’t know.” Flash shook his head. “I’m not sure I have enough creative juice to make my own songs from scratch. They always rejected or heavily edited anything I wrote.”
“Let me show you something.” Sunset got up and walked over to the edge of the bed where he kept his acoustic guitar. She flipped the strap over her head and sat back down with the instrument. He watched her intrigued. She looked much more confident and natural than last time.
“You practiced?” He asked. She looked up, nodded, and smiled so beautifully at him that he felt his mouth gape open.
She refocused her gaze on her finger positionings and began strumming. The chords came out clear and musical, as if she had been playing for much longer than just the start of the semester. He instantly recognized the melody and lyrics she began passionately singing.
It was his song. The one he often played in the cafeteria during lunch, or afterschool in the music room. He would usually play somewhere off to himself, thinking no one really noticed what he was doing. Just another guitar nerd doing guitar things. He stared entranced at her as she sang and played his own song. Her voice was elegant yet full of vigor. Her fingers flew, changing and shifting, strumming and playing with great musicality.
When she was done, she looked up and smiled that same amazing smile at Flash. He wanted to keep that smile in his heart forever.
“How did you learn to play my song? I’ve never done that one in a show before.” He asked curiously.
“I hear you playing it all the time. It’s clearly your favorite one and I think it’s pretty.” Sunset shrugged as she continued explaining. “You showed me how to play chords and Tempest has a guitar in our room so I looked up guitar tabs and lead sheets online and started practicing everyday. I noticed a pattern in the chord progression of most popular songs so I was able to reverse engineer your song just by listening a lot.”
Sunset blushed at the implication.
“I mean.” Sunset stuttered. “I don’t wanna bother you when you play at school, but I like listening so I… I guess I kinda spy on you.” Sunset giggled nervously.
“That’s incredible.” Flash said dead seriously.
“That I spy on you? I’m sorry I-” Sunset began and Flash interrupted.
“No, haha,” Flash laughed nervously as well. “I mean that part is fine. It’s kind of cute.”
“Not creepy?” Sunset bit her bottom lip. Cute. He called her cute. Her heart was fluttering all over again.
Sunset biting her lip brought Flash’s attention to her mouth. “Maybe if I didn’t know you, but we’re friends.” Flash shrugged. “You can come listen to me play anytime. It won’t bother me. In fact… I may like it better if I know you’re there.”
“Flash…” Sunset gazed into his eyes again. His baby blue irises and bunny slope nose were handsome and matched his personality. Maybe her rule of waiting for the Friendship Games was stupid. If she wanted him, why should she wait? After a moment she noticed that she had been unconsciously leaning into him. The only thing separating them was the body of the guitar. Sunset’s face got dangerously close to Flash’s until she could see the blue gradient in his irises up close.
A phone ringtone went off like an air raid siren, snapping the two of them out of their momentary trance.
“Uh, sorry, hang on a second.” Flash picked his phone up off of the desk, looking annoyed. That was until he saw the name on the caller ID.
“Why is Principal Celestia calling me?” Flash looked perplexed.
“At this hour?” Sunset looked equally confused. The sun had set about an hour ago. Tempest was probably gonna tease Sunset later about how long she stayed at Flash’s dorm.
“Hello?” Flash answered the phone. A small pause as Celestia spoke. “Yeah Sunset is here.”
Sunset looked even more confused that her name was brought up.
“Yeah here she is. Hold on.” Flash handed the phone to Sunset and she hesitantly accepted it.
“P-principal Celestia?” Sunset cautiously asked.
“Hello Sunset. I’m sorry for tracking you down so late but the matter is rather urgent.” Celestia explained.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Well we have a student directory with everyone’s phone number but you don’t have a phone apparently. When I called your roommate Tempest she said you were with Flash Sentry.”
“Oh.” Was all Sunset could think to say in response.
“Miss Shimmer, I need to ask you a question and I need you to be completely honest with me.” Celestia’s voice sounded harsh in a way she had only heard a few times in her life. It made her heart skip a beat.
“Y-yes ma’am. Of course I will.” Sunset swallowed hard.
“Where did you come from?”
****
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Talk about quite the record!
Oof.
Some, but not all.
Or remove your leather jacket Sunset as not only is your jacket made of leather, but is also black which of course absorbs heat.
https://m.of the band. She wouldn't*
Just what they needed.
Oh boy!
FRICK
Go girl
Is that even allowed?
why....do you ask?
ooooh crap