you know it all, you're my best friend
STUNNING
by soulmates
FLASH SENTRY TRIES to get a peek at the skirt design Rarity's coming up with. The measuring tape relaxes, semi-unravelled, just by her elbow on the desk and Flash can see where she's written his lower body measurements. The table they’re currently at stands bang in the middle of the backroom, not so scattered atop with fabrics, threads and pins. Compared to the rest of the room, this part of the room was the tidiest.
Rarity catches on too quickly for Flash’s liking and shields her sketchbook away from his view with a meaningless glare. Flash pouts, shoulders sulking.
“It’s a surprise, darling,” Rarity chides him.
“But it’s for me,” Flash whines, bouncing on the spot like an upset child. Rarity pays her no attention, continuing to feather almost invisible lines on the paper. Flash attempts to lean in different directions to see what Rarity’s design looks like, but Rarity eventually pulls the entire sketchpad away from her.
“Are you paying for it?” Rarity raises an eyebrow at her, holding the pad in her hands as if she was gonna smack Flash's side with it.
Flash closes her mouth at that, pulling her lips into a straight line of defeat. “...Well, no…”
“Exactly,” Rarity replies, grinning at him cheekily. “There’s no need for you to see what I’m doing because you’re not wasting any money on it. If it turns out to be something you don’t like, you have nothing to lose.” She walks to some cabinets with glass doors, boring Flash’s attention and loosening the curious grip his eyes had on what the skirt looked like.
“Isn’t it a disadvantage that you won’t let me see it?”
“Nope.”
Flash nearly sputters at the certainty of such an illogical answer. He doesn’t get to list out the reasons as to why it is an illogical answer.
Good lord, he’s been hanging around Twilight too much.
“How do you know I’ll even like it?”
“Goodness, as if I haven’t known you for four years. Have some faith in me, Flash.” Rarity doesn’t even look at her when she says this, back turned to him, waving the hand which holds her pencil. Flash huffs, pouts even harder as if Rarity can see her. “Besides, you know I won’t make it fancy. We all need to match; Soul will have my head if I make you stand out again.”
Flash rolls her eyes, giving up. It’s true that their dance coach won’t be happy if Flash turns out to have an extra little something on her outfit compared to his teammates, even if she literally is their leader and, most of the time, the centre in their choreos. They said it’s because they didn’t want Principal Celestia to assume they had a bias towards Flash, which she understands, that’s reasonable. They managed to get by unscathed during the last performance, Soul and Pinkie insisting the latter dropped cake on Flash’s bomber jacket. Just to clear up suspicion as to why she had danced in a leather jacket earlier, unlike the rest of his team.
But Rarity can at least let Flash see the design first. Even if it’s a first draft.
He contemplates whining bestieeeee to annoy her. Flash changes his mind after reminding himself of the Disturb Rarity Consequences.
Rarity busies herself with what looks like a collection of skirts, continuously returning to her sketchpad laid on her left for reference. Flash might be able to see the general shape of the skirt if he stood on his toes, but the fact he was waiting too long to do so settles his decision against it. Rarity will catch on if he tries it now. Then, see the previous point.
“How long has it been since you’ve danced in a skirt, Flash?” asks Rarity.
Flash curls his lip in thought. “Uh… like…” Has he ever danced in a skirt? “I don’t think I have, actually?”
Rarity turns her head in Flash’s direction, only so much that Flash can see her side profile. She raises her eyebrow at him for a second before nodding.
“Right, so I need to get this done a good fortnight before the performance so you can practice in it.”
“Can’t you, I don’t know, give me a spare skirt that I can practice in for the time being? I don’t wanna rush you.”
His friend shook her head instantly. “One, it’s fine, dear, I work under pressure well. Second, I don’t have skirts that’ll fit you. People with your body type and height don’t tend to wear skirts.”
Flash puckers her lips in defeat. She had even asked Rarity to make her skirt flare out a little more since he’s a little self-conscious about how his thighs will look in one. He’s not a gym person but he’s got most, if not all, his muscle from dance. All of his friends have told him he’s got nothing to worry about; any stares he’ll get is because he’ll look stunning. Flash wasn’t sure what to say to that.
“All right,” he says, voice smaller. Perhaps it’s not so bad that Rarity isn’t letting him see the design. Any worries he has are mainly about dancing in it. The main one is to make sure the skirt isn’t too short so he doesn’t accidentally flash (haha…) some poor lowerclassmen. The levels in their choreography are always versatile and quick – it’s a valid concern. But Rarity is also on the dance team and she knows the routine exceptionally well, so that should be fine.
Soul Lantern, their dance instructor, was (and is, to be honest) a demonstration of what CHS would show to the school board. Not that it hasn’t gotten better, with the magic of friendship or whatever, but from what Flash remembered when he joined in Freshman Year, they were the best aspect of his experiences back then. From personality to professionalism. And they were a good distraction to the abomination that is Mr Doodle, his still cursed maths teacher. He’d missed out on seeing them in his schedule when he had been dating Sunset Shimmer for nearly two years – though, to be fair, he missed out on and gave up a lot of things during that period – however, Lantern welcomed him back with open arms when he was ready to join the team again.
As the CHS teachers grew more accepting and friendlier, Soul simply got better. Or happier. Happier is the more suitable word. They look less like they were holding back from a breakdown and each smile they gave the team is a proper smile.
She makes her way out of the backroom, leaving Rarity to do her magic, and into the decompression zone of the Carousel Boutique, sparse. Empty, Flash corrects herself because she mistook some mannequins for people. Flash smells the fragrance of lipsticks even when they’re closed (as he expects, he knows Rarity would give anyone an earful if she were to find any left open). He hears Pinkie make sound effects nearby, her voice growing clearer in his ears as he focuses.
“Whatcha up to?” he asks, sliding his hands in his pockets. Pinkie looks at her as if she’s been aware of her presence this entire time and she smiles. He peers over at the vanity Pinkie’s next to, glancing over the products in one casual swoop. They’re still in some orderly fashion and Flash knows better than to think Pinkie’s the culprit.
“Nothing much, kinda bored,” says Pinkie. She flips the makeup brush in her hand, catching it perfectly. “What were you doing with Rarity?”
Flash follows the persuasion the vanity seat beckons him with and takes a seat, facing towards Pinkie and away from the mirror. “Soul asked me if I was comfortable dancing in a skirt for our next performance and I said sure. I need Rarity to make one since they need to match the rest of the team.” Flash guesses his skirt will either be pink or white as he’s seen the others’ outfits beforehand.
Pinkie hums, understanding. “I see! I figured. Gosh, you haven’t worn a skirt in ages.”
He chuckles. “Yeah. Last time was like…”
“Lyra’s Halloween Party in sophomore year.” Flash doesn’t blink at Pinkie’s absurd memory recollection anymore. “You looked really cute in them, by the way.” She reaches for the blush container, fiddling with the lid.
Flash hears a gentle, repeated click in the background. It’s a nice sound. Ironically, Flash also blushes from the compliment.
“Ah, thanks…” Flash rubs the back of her neck to distract the tingles in her collarbones. She catches a fond smile on Pinkie’s face when she ruffles her hair, blue strands falling over Flash’s eyes. Normally she gets pissed at whoever touches her hair without her permission, yet Pinkie is Pinkie and Flash can hardly refuse her anything.
“I saw her taking measurements; did you outgrow your old skirts?”
Flash’s cheeks steam. “Uh… yeah…” She looks away.
Pinkie must’ve heard Rarity’s dramatic exclamation about his waist to hip ratio if she saw her taking Flash’s measurements.
Are you sure you don’t have an abnormally high amount of oestrogen in your body? I know you don’t take hormones.
Yes, Rares, I’m sure, I don’t know why I have curves either.
“All I had were skirts you’d wear at the hip. They fit around my waist but that makes them too short lengthwise.” Flash rubs his face in embarrassment. He feels like the crying emoji.
Pinkie nods. “That makes sense. I’m pretty sure it’s because of your thighs!”
Naturally, he takes a look at his thighs, clad in ripped jeans. She notices how the fabric presses against his skin slightly compared to areas he can see through the rips.
“You were a lot more twinky before.”
Flash’s eyes almost bulged out of his head. He reaches out and shoves Pinkie who giggles like a maniac.
“I mean, you’re not quite himbo level yet, I think that’s more like pony you.” She signals with her hand, not looking at him.
“Pony—” Her brain swerved. “What?”
Pinkie simply grins at him. A groan rumbles in his throat.
Flash shifts in her seat. “I was gonna say Timber is more of a himbo than I am but then I remembered Timber is… actually smart.”
Her friend snorts. “Smart but no common sense.”
“Is that why you two get along so well?”
An offended gasp, exaggerated, leaves Pinkie. “How rude,” she imitates Rarity’s accent.
“Hey, I just called you smart!”
“A backhanded compliment, how rude!” She ignores her, fanning herself with her hand. Flash stifles his laugh at how no breeze forms from the movement.
“Can’t believe we’re eighteen now,” Pinkie starts, cutting the act, averting her gaze. She lets out a sharp breath, eyebrows high.
Flash’s eyes widen when the realisation rests in her head yet again. This happened when they turned seventeen too, he never got used to it until it was too late and he was already turning eighteen. “Fuck, oh wow.” She shivers. “Don’t remind me, please, I don’t wanna be an adult.”
“Well, technically I’m not eighteen yet but—”
“May is literally, like, in a month and a half, Pinks.”
Pinkie pushes his head away from her playfully. “Shhhhh.” Pinkie presses a finger to her own lips.
Flash laughs and turns in his seat, facing the mirror.
And once more, joining the other few times this has happened, Flash actually likes what he sees. He can blame it on the excellent lighting in Rarity’s boutique but he’s… glowing. Flash runs a hand through his short hair, tickles the sides of his head where a fresh undercut sits and then rubs a spot on his neck. He looks… pretty. He sees why people say so all the time.
She had gotten two eyebrow slits per Sunset’s peer pressure, the clean cuts adding a little something to her appearance, making him look masc but in a girl way. When his younger self didn’t see what was the big deal about people saying he appears feminine in a boy way and masculine in a girl way, he could’ve figured it out by then. Obviously, those things didn’t necessarily make him non-binary but they were hints that he wasn't… like other boys. Led him down the road to where he is now.
Flash glances back up at her reflection. Should she grow out her hair? She’s seen boys like her do so and she wonders if it’ll look good on her. The strands on the left side of his head flow with gravity and perhaps at one point, it’ll reach his jaw. She’ll eventually start having to brush it but it’s something she wants to try. Rarity will finally be able to plait his hair then.
“Hey, uh,” Pinkie starts and Flash is surprised at how nervous she sounds. That’s a rarity. (Pun originally not intended, but, well…)
Pinkie doesn’t speak until Flash looks at her. “Can I put makeup on you?”
Flash gauges her expression. Pinkie’s biting her lip expectantly, hands together loosely with hope sprinkled on them. He wasn’t gonna say no in the first place since he’s always up to put makeup on, but the way Pinkie grows even more anxious leads him to respond quickly: “of course.”
Pinkie’s lips form a giddy smile. She leans for the lipstick and pigmentation set.
She doesn’t know how much time passes but Flash is smiling at the mirror once Pinkie tells her to open her eyes. His lips are a little more pink thanks to the soft pigment and joy spreads throughout his body. He’d normally bite on them to give them a prettier flush; he remembers now he doesn’t have to. While both eyes have winged eyeliner on, his right eyelid displays three flourishes of eyeshadow in the colours of the bi flag. He tries to lean in closer to see the detail; the end tails, pink and purple, in the inner corner of his eye, twirl together.
With the same colours of pencil eyeshadow, Pinkie carefully wrote the word BISEXUAL just under his right cheekbone. He’s unsure and amazed at how she managed to get each letter the pink-purple-blue pattern going vertically downwards in such a short amount of time but it’s Pinkie Pie, she finds a way. The pencil strokes on his skin left remnants and memories he can’t rub off unless he wishes to mess up the artwork, so instead he smoothes over it, tracing the letters. It looks amazing and his heart blooms in pride at his identity so clear for everyone to see.
He squeals and nods enthusiastically when Pinkie asks if he likes it, returning the back hug she gives Flash tight and telling her he loves it.
“What’s with the noise—” Rarity pops her head out of the backroom doorway, at first irritated due to the disruption but her face softens at the pair. “Oh, wow! Flash, you look stunning!”
She suppresses the urge to get shy at the casual compliments, keeping his hands on Pinkie’s wrists so he doesn’t hide his face.
Rarity wanders closer to inspect the design. Flash closes his eyes so she can take in Pinkie’s work seamlessly. Pinkie slowly rocks side to side while her arms are still hooked around Flash’s neck. He’s probably gonna ask Sunset why hugs are so comforting, especially from the ones she loves.
“Pinkie, you did a really good job on her!” His heart flutters at the pronoun usage. Flash can hear Rarity grinning at Pinkie. “You’ve got such a stable hand.”
Pinkie giggles and that’s when Flash opens his eyes again.
“She bakes and does art, of course she does,” Flash comments, poking her friend’s hands with his index fingers in a soundless rhythm. The next laugh he gets out of Pinkie warms his chest.
“Can I take a photo? I can’t not post about you when you look like this,” Rarity asks and it doesn’t even take a second for Flash to nod.
He feels Pinkie’s fingers fix his earrings, particularly the one that dangles from his cartilage, the tiny badge-like model with the genderfluid flag. Flash knows it’s not noticeable on the first look but she specifically wants to see people do a double-take when they do catch onto it. He feels a good overwhelming aura flow through him as she senses the makeup on her face, euphoria spinning around her like a ribbon wand.
“Pose for me, darling!”
That sends Flash into a stammering frenzy, doing everything but sitting still when Rarity prepares her phone, not knowing how to pose. Pinkie removes her arms from his body to rest them on his shoulders, steadying him out of his anxiety. She gives her a few directions with her hands, positioning Flash’s head at times when she’s missing the mark and of course, gives her the be natural sentiment.
It’s done and over within seconds. Flash shakes his head, combing his fingers through his hair to relax. Rarity ah-ha!s when she managed to upload it onto Instagram, showing Pinkie first, who oohs and points at what Flash assumes is the likes it has gotten so far. An urge to look fills Flash from the bottom up but she’s grateful for the way Rarity reconsiders showing her the photo on the app. It’s on instinct that she turns the phone to him; Flash notices the way she quickly pauses and changes her mind, so she doesn’t remind Flash of what happened last time a photo of him was on there.
She does get to see the photo itself without the social media adrenaline; Rarity kindly shows the version in her photos app instead and…
And yeah. He does look stunning actually.
