Flash Sentry looked up from his seat on the school’s steps, his fingers idly brushing against the strings of his guitar as he let his mind dwell on the sad state of affairs he was now thrown in. He could still hear them chiming in his ears, words that held no malice in them but when she had spoken them, felt as cold as ice and as sharp as a blade as they tore through his heart. Twilight had rejected him. She had said it in the nicest way possible, letting him down easy and hoping that they would still be friends. After his tumultuous relationship with Sunset Shimmer, Flash finally felt that he could learn to love again after meeting her but it was now clear that it was not to be.
Flash Sentry had been thrilled when he heard the news that Twilight Sparkle had decided to transfer out of Crystal Prep and enlist into Canterlot High School; so much so that he had heard his heart pounding all the way up to his ears when he overheard the Rainbooms discussing it at their favourite table at lunch. He knew that it wasn’t the same Twilight Sparkle that he had fallen for but deep down in his heart, he wanted to believe that she was. Perhaps it was selfish of him to expect that from her but even if she wasn’t the same Twilight, he really did like her and had hoped that she would’ve liked him back. A laboured sigh escaped his lips although it did nothing to ease the pressure that had built up in his chest.
‘Maybe it’s time to move on,’ he thought to himself.
Looking down, he saw his trusty guitar looking up at him; as though it were a silent friend sharing his grief. Smiling at the thought, he brought his left hand up to the neck, his fingers pressing down on the strings of the fretboard as he fished around for a guitar pick in his jeans pocket with his right hand. Pulling the pick out of his pocket when his fingers grasped its familiar shape, Flash began to strum his guitar, playing a guitar riff from one of his favourite songs. Although there wasn’t any music coming from his guitar as he hadn’t plugged it into an amp, simply going through the motions of playing helped relax him. In his mind, he could hear every note as his fingers glided across the fretboard and when the riff had ended, the pressure he had felt in his chest earlier felt so much lighter.
Deciding that he should probably be heading home for the day, Flash started to pack his guitar into its case but stopped short when he heard someone whistle behind him. Still holding his guitar, he turned around and came face to face with a girl that he certainly wasn’t expecting to see. She was clad in a Crystal Prep uniform and had a pair of headphones hanging from her neck along with a small leather satchel draped across her shoulder. Her lime-coloured hair had light green and yellow highlights in them and cascaded in waves past her shoulders and down to her back. An impressed grin had spread across her dark pink face and her golden coloured eyes were fixed on his guitar. As he regarded her closely, Flash recognized her as one of the Crystal Prep contestants in the Friendship Games.
“Sweet axe,” she said to him, her eyes never leaving his guitar.
Flash blinked a couple of times before realizing that the axe she was talking about was his guitar.
“Oh,” he exclaimed when the realization hit him, “the guitar. Umm…thanks, I guess.”
“Custom job?” she asked.
“Yes, it is,” he replied. “You can tell?”
“It’s written all over it, dude,” she replied. “Solid mahogany body, curved six in line headstock, jacaranda wood fretboard, vintage tailpiece, Seymare Duncan humbucker pickups. That is one totally wicked axe you’ve got there.
Flash felt his eyebrows shoot up to his forehead as he stared in wonder at the girl in front of him. Not many people could tell that his guitar was a custom made instrument and even fewer would be able to list its specifications just by looking at it.
“Wow,” he exclaimed in admiration. “You really know your guitars.”
“Well, I should,” she said as she flashed him a cocky smile. “My parents totally own the largest chain of music stores in Canterlot after all. Gotta know the family business.”
“Hold on,” Flash asked in surprise, “your parents own the Fillyharmonics chain of music stores?”
“That’s right,” she answered, her smug grin never leaving her face. “Name’s Lemon Zest by the way. What’s yours, Rocker Boy?”
“Flash Sentry,” he replied as he offered her a handshake.
“Well, Flash,” she said as she shook his outstretched hand, “you’ve got an awesome axe but have you got the fingers for it?”
Flash felt his left eyebrow raise itself at her insinuation, was this girl questioning his ability to play his own guitar.
“I’m sorry,” he said, annoyance tinting his tone, “but are you suggesting that I don’t know how to play my own guitar?”
“Whoa, slow down, Rocker Boy,” she replied, holding her hands in front of her defensively, “it was just a question. I just thought it’d be a total bummer if you couldn’t play is all.”
Flash considered this for a while before an idea came to his mind. Gesturing to the school doors with his thumb, a confident smirk grew on his face.
“Come on,” he said, “I bet one of the music rooms are still open.”
An amused smile drew itself on Lemon Zest’s lips as her eyebrows lifted in expectation. She and some of her classmates were invited to a tour of Canterlot High in an effort to foster new friendships between the two schools. So far, the tour had been about as entertaining as watching the Triennial Canterlot Golf Tournament but Lemon had been able to keep herself entertained thanks to her headphones and CD player. Therefore, being given the chance to see a musician rock out on a guitar was certainly the most eventful part of her visit to Canterlot High so far.
“Alright, Rocker Boy,” she said as she walked up the stairs beside him, “let’s see what you got.”
Opening the large double glass doors of the school, Flash and Lemon walked into the now mostly deserted corridor of Canterlot High. Most of the students had gone home for the day leaving only a handful of students in the hallways, each of them turning to catch a glimpse of the strange couple with genuine curiosity. As the pair turned into another hallway, this one lined with two rows of sturdy wooden doors on either side, Flash would peer through the small windows of the doors to check if any of the music rooms were available.
“So,” asked Lemon Zest as they walked down the corridor, “your parents’ fans of ‘Colts and Roses’?”
“Not really,” he answered in confusion. “Why do you ask?”
“Figured they named you after the band’s guitarist,” she replied with a giggle.
“Very funny, Lemon,” he responded with a chuckle as he looked into another window. “Just because ‘Colts and Roses’ main guitarist’s name happens to be Flash doesn’t mean my parents were so unoriginal in choosing a name for me.”
Finding a vacant music room for his performance, he turned the doorknob and held the door open for his sole spectator.
“Well,” she said coyly, “ain’t you a gentleman.”
Walking past him as she entered the room, Flash Sentry felt his heart speed up slightly as he caught the scent of her perfume. He hadn’t noticed it before as he was preoccupied finding an empty room but as she passed him, her perfume that seemed to be a lovely mixture of citrus fruits and wild flowers wafted gently past him.
“Oh, man,” he whispered to himself. “She smells amazing.”
“You say something, Rocker Boy?”
“Oh, no. Nothing at all,” he replied quickly as he hastily unpacked his guitar, hoping to high heaven that she didn’t notice the colouring of his cheeks. He silently berated his tactlessness and shallow thinking, he should not have been thinking of Lemon Zest like that. He knew he told himself to move on and get over Twilight’s rejection but going after the first girl who shows up was a little pathetic if not a little sad. Besides, Lemon Zest had been nice the whole time with him and he was doing her a grave disservice by thinking of her as something as lowly as a rebound girl.
“So you like ‘Colts and Roses’, Lemon?” he asked, bringing his mind back to the task at hand as he plugged his guitar’s cable into the amp. “Ever heard of ‘Sweet son of mine’?”
“Oh, dude, that song totally rocks hard. The guitar riff in the middle is just sick.”
Placing his fingers on the frets and bringing his pick to the strings, Flash Sentry gave Lemon Zest a smug smile before belting out the very same riff that Lemon had mentioned. Lemon felt her mouth opening in shock and excitement. ‘No way,’ she thought to herself, ‘he’s belting out the riff’. Flash, chuckled to himself as he watched her get more excited as he continued playing as Lemon Zest had started bobbing her head and tapping her feet to the melody. However, halfway through it became clear she was getting a little too excited as she now began to jump all over the place while playing an air guitar along with some serious head banging. It took all of Flash’s concentration and restraint to stop himself from falling over and laughing at Lemon’s reactions. The riff finally came to an end and as the vibration of the strings played the last note, Flash watched with amusement as Lemon Zest continued rocking out on her air guitar before she finally decided to stop about a half a minute later. Rushing up to him in what seemed like the blink of an eye, she grabbed his shoulders and brought her madly grinning face about an inch away from his.
“Dude, that was totally awesome,” she screamed in excitement. “You were wielding that axe like you were some kinda wicked guitar god!”
“Umm, thanks,” replied Flash, his smile turning a little nervous as his eyes locked themselves onto Lemon’s golden irises, his nose starting to once again drink in the intoxicating scent of her perfume that now returned at full force.
“What other songs can you play?” she asked excitedly. “Do you know ‘Hazy Train’ from ‘Black Stallion’ or maybe ‘Mistress of Puppets’ from ‘Maretallica’? How about ‘Enter Sandmare’?”
There were obviously more songs that Lemon Zest had wanted to ask if Flash Sentry knew how to play but she was cut short when a shrill voice rang out across the corridor.
“Lemon Zest!” cried a voice that Lemon immediately recognized as Sunny Flare’s.
“Aah, bummer,” griped Lemon as she released her grip on Flash Sentry. “Here comes the warden.”
Flash and Lemon watched the music room door open to reveal a short haired girl with pale blue skin behind it who, just as Lemon, was also wearing a Crystal Prep uniform. Her knitted brows, accentuated all the more by the visible twitch in her right eye, showed that she was in an extremely foul mood.
“Seriously,” she snapped. “Can’t you stay with the rest of the group? Now, hurry up and get your stuff, the bus is leaving.”
Had a pin dropped in the music room as Sunny Flare stomped out, there probably would have been an echo when it hit the ground. Cringing as the door slammed shut, Flash and Lemon turned to each other as awkward smiles cropped up on their faces.
“Guess I got a little crazy there,” she said sheepishly, her hands tucked behind her as she blushed slightly at her impulsive behaviour.
“You were a little excited,” Flash replied.
“What can I say?” she said with sly smirk. “I’m a girl who appreciates a hot lick.”
Flash felt his face go hot at her last statement for although he knew full well that she meant a guitar lick, it could still be taken out of context very easily.
“Yeah,” he said, “I could tell.”
“Lemon Zest!” cried Sunny Flare once again, her voice even more shrill than the first time.
“Oh, man, I gotta bail,” she said as she grabbed her belongings. “If Sunny’s using that tone, then she’s totally gonna blow her top if I don’t head over there.”
As he watched her pack up her things, Flash wondered if he should say anything. Lemon Zest was a strange girl to be sure but she was in no way a boring girl, quite the opposite actually, as he had enjoyed the short time the spent together. Furthermore, Lemon Zest had managed to turn a potentially lousy day into an unexpected yet amusing one.
“Hey, Lemon,” he said as she slung her bag on her shoulder, “why don’t we meet up after school. I mean, I’m usually here for practice and if you ever want to hear me play, well, I wouldn’t mind playing for you.”
Lemon Zest found herself blinking in surprise for a few moments after Flash had made his offer. Was he suggesting what she thought she he was suggesting?
“Are you,” she asked, “are you asking me out?”
“Well, I,” stammered Flash as his nervousness returned, “I figured it’d be nice to hang out and...”
However, before he could properly voice a reply, Lemon had grabbed his right arm and pulled out a pen from her satchel. Furiously, scribbling a number on his palm, Flash gulped softly in both eagerness and slight trepidation as he wondered if Lemon was doing what he thought she was doing. Slipping her pen back into her satchel when she was done, she looked up to him with a suggestive smile on her face. Giving him playful wink, she confirmed his suspicions with a simple reply.
“It’s a date, Rocker Boy. Call me.”
Author's Note
I have know idea where this came from. I think I was trying to pair Lemon Zest with someone and figured that Flash would've been the only one with some degree of common ground with her. Still, I think they would probably make an interesting couple, the mild mannered guitarist and the somewhat obnoxious rocker girl.
