Art of a Sun's Love Volume 1

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

It was the evening of the Fall Formal. Flash and Vincent were at home getting themselves ready with the help of Lullaby Strings.

"Mom!" protested Flash. "You've already got my hair looking neat and tidy!"

"Sorry, dear," said Lullaby. "I'm just making extra sure no cowlicks sneak past my watch."

"Quit being such a big baby, Flash," laughed Vincent. Flash shot a sour glare at Vincent.

"Pretty soon, I can bet you'll be asking your dates to marry you," teased Fictionary.

"It'll be a one-time thing," said Vincent firmly. "It's not like we'll be in a love relationship beyond high school."

"Well, we'd best be off," said Flash. "You ready, Vincent?"

"Yeah," his brother replied. With that, the two headed out the door.

Soon, they arrived at Canterlot High School on board the train.

"Well, here we are," said Flash. The first people that Vincent noticed were Soarin and Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash?" he asked in surprise. "You're going out with Soarin?"

"Sure am," said Rainbow Dash. "Him and me have a lot in common."

"What, does he have an older brother that never lets him live down past incidents?" asked Vincent sarcastically.

Rainbow Dash scowled.

"Actually, I'm an only child," said Soarin.

"Consider yourself lucky," said Rainbow Dash.

"Anyway, I heard Fluttershy's going with Big Macintosh," said Soarin, "and his sister Applejack's going with some guy called Caramel. What about you guys?"

Just then, Comet Tail came in.

"Hey there, Comet," said Vincent. "And to answer your question, Soarin, he and I are dating the sisters Cloudchaser and Flitter."

"In my case, unwillingly," Comet muttered.

"What about you, Flash?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Flash seemed rather uncomfortable talking about it for some reason.

"Hello, boys." Vincent and Comet turned to face Cloudchaser and Flitter, both wearing matching dresses.

"Are you ready for tonight?" asked Cloudchaser.

"I am," said Vincent. "Both of you look ravishing this evening."

"Thanks," said Flitter.

"Ready to go in?" asked Cloudchaser.

"Ready when you are, Cloudchaser," said Vincent. With that, they headed into the school gymnasium.

As he went inside to the party, Vincent thought he saw Sunset Shimmer.

"Hey there, Sunset!" he called out, waving to her. "Old childhood friend," he explained to Cloudchaser.

"Vincent!" called Sunset, waving back. "Hi. I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"You weren't?" asked Vincent. "Who were you expecting?"

"Flash."

Vincent's eyes widened. "FLASH?!? As in, my brother Flash Sentry?!?"

"Why, yes, your brother Flash Sentry," replied Sunset, taken aback by Vincent's outburst. "Why?"

But before Vincent could come up with an answer (it wouldn't have been a pleasant one at that), Flash walked up to Sunset.

"There you are, Sunset," said Flash. Then he noticed Vincent. "Um, surprise?"

"So... Flash," said Vincent, as calmly as possible despite his clenched fist. "I see that you were the one who asked Sunset to the Fall Formal before I could."

How could he have done this to me? Vincent thought bitterly. I thought brothers told each other everything.

"Vincent, please don't be angry," said Sunset. "Flash and I are just friends. Can't we just enjoy the Formal?"

"Fine," said Vincent. But as he walked past them, he shot a glare at Flash and whispered. "I'll deal with you when we get home."

"What's with him this evening?" asked Sunset.

Flash shrugged innocently as if to say "I don't know". But deep down inside, Flash knew what Vincent was upset about.

"Uh, why not head over to the refreshments stand?" he said, hoping to break the tension.

"Sure," said Sunset. She walked over to get some punch, but two other girls were also there, as if they'd been waiting for her.

"Oh no," groaned Sunset. "Not you two."

"Well, if it isn't our good friend Sunset," said Starlight deviously.

"What do you want?"

"It's a shame you had to turn down Vincent's offer just to go with his brother," taunted Trixie. "Some friend you are."

"I didn't mean to upset him," protested Sunset. "It's just that Flash asked me first and I didn't want to reject him and hurt his feelings since he'd missed the chance to ask Twilight out."

"Oh, that is so sad," said Starlight in a mocking tone. "We are so sorry."

Sunset then looked over to where Twilight was. She and Math Equation were laughing and talking together, having a great time.

I wish I'd asked Vincent to go with, she thought.

"Are you alright, Vincent?" asked Cloudchaser. "You seem kind of distracted."

"That weasel," growled Vincent. He was still thinking about Flash.

"Vincent? Vincent!" Cloudchaser repeated.

Vincent snapped out of his thought and looked to his date.

"Huh?" he said. "Oh! Yeah, I'm okay. Just... thinking, that's all."

"Thinking about what?"

"Er, I was thinking that with his skills," said Vincent, "he could start a band."

"That sounds like a great idea," said Cloudchaser. "I bet he'd love to do so."

"Hey there, Vinny, my man!"

That came from Brawly Beats; he was arm in arm with Twinkleshine.

"Hey Brawly," said Vincent. "Having a good time?"

"Totally, dude!"

"I'm so glad you suggested I go with him," said Twinkleshine. "Most students see him as a nuisance, but I think he's really sweet."

She then started petting Brawly Beats' head. He went red as he felt his date's gentle touch. Vincent and Cloudchaser snickered quietly.

Meanwhile, Soarin and Rainbow Dash were by the punch bowl with Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, Applejack, and Caramel. The latter was a boy around the same age as Applejack and Rainbow Dash with grayish brown hair and cerulean eyes.

"Isn't this a great party?" asked Soarin.

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh.

"I heard Vincent seemed rather upset," said Fluttershy.

"From what I heard, Song Cue's had it worse," said Caramel.

He then motioned over to Comet Tail and Flitter; the latter was enjoying herself, but the former was not. Applejack then looked over to Song Cue. She had been asked at the last moment by Thunderlane, a dark-skinned junior with light gold eyes and light cyanish gray hair with paler streaks. Both of them caught sight of their friends and walked over.

Song Cue smiled best as she could, "Hey there, AJ! Rainbow, cous."

"Oh, hey there, Songs. Thunderlane..." Rainbow Dash said before trailing off. "Hey, didn't you have a cold?"

"I do," admitted Thunderlane, "but it isn't so bad so I'm well enough to come over. A really interesting story, to say the least..."

*YESTERDAY*

When Song Cue heard that "Comet asked Flitter out", she had been heartbroken and on Tuesday the 27th, she lashed out on poor Comet which left him in shock. But her depression continued for the next two days, and that Thursday afternoon, it was a surprise when Thunderlane knocked on the door of her family's house.

Orange Sherbet was the one who answered. "Oh, hey there, Thunderlane," he said. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm recovering from my cold," said Thunderlane, "but I'm well enough to attend the Fall Formal tomorrow."

"Well, that is good news. Anyway, I heard that your sister was upset when the boy she wanted to go with already asked out another girl."

"Oh, Song Cue? She's in her room." That voice came from Heartsong, who was curious as to what was going on.

"That your other sister?" asked Thunderlane. "It's nice to meet you."

"That I am, and nice to meet you as well," said Heartsong.

"Well anyway, I don't know if Songs will want to talk," said Orange, "but I think it's worth a try, Thunder."

He then led the dark-skinned athlete to Song Cue's room, where she was playing with a few of her Sonic plush toys.

"That's how it is now," her voice said through the door. "True love, utterly shattered."

Orange then knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" asked Song Cue despondently.

"It's your brother," said Orange. "I even brought a friend - Thunderlane."

"Thunderlane?" Song Cue opened the door and looked at him. "But I thought you had a cold."

"Still a little bit of one, but otherwise, I'm well enough to go," Thunderlane smiled weakly. "But I was wondering; would you like to go with the Formal to me, just as friends? If you don't, then I'll underst-"

"Say no more," said Song Cue, smiling slightly. "I'd like to. It's better than nothing."

TODAY

"Well, that's mighty nice of ya, sugarcube," smiled Applejack.

"Thanks for helping my cousin," whispered Fluttershy.

"Oh, it's okay," said Thunderlane, and then turned to Song Cue. "Hey why don't we go get some cake over there?"

"Sure, why not." And the two headed over to the tables.

"Anyway," said Soarin, "getting back to what we were talking about; I wonder why Flash didn't tell anyone he was going with Sunset?"

"He probably thought Vincent would kill him if he found out," joked Rainbow Dash.

"Dashie, that's not funny," scolded Fluttershy. "Killing people is wrong."

"What? I didn't mean it seriously!"

Before anymore could be said, Celestia walked onto the stage.

"Good evening, Canterlot High," she said through the microphone. "How is everyone doing?"

Most of the students cheered.

"Happy to hear that," said Celestia before continuing. "It's now time for the dancing."

A few select students groaned at that, but Celestia continued anyway.

"Also, please be on your best behavior, and no roughhousing, or you'll be spending a week in detention. Vinyl Scratch, would you care to begin the first song to get students off their feet?"

"Don't mind if I do," said Vinyl. She picked a song at random, and pressed the play button. First came the sounds of a one-two-three-four percussion intro, and when the mandolin played, that caused the male students attending the Formal to begin dancing with their dates. And then there was the all-familiar Liverpudlian voice to millions around the world...

Youtube Video

*during instrumental break #1*

As the students danced, Vincent noticed Sunset and Flash dancing.

Why did it have to be Flash dancing with her? thought Vincent unhappily. Then there was trouble.

"OW!" snapped Cloudchaser. "Vincent! You stepped on my foot!"

"Sorry!"

*during instrumental break #2*

What Vincent didn't know was that Starlight and Trixie had been watching this.

"You see him, Trixie?" said Starlight. "Without Sunset, poor little Vincent is struggling in his independence."

"Well, he's taller than us," said Trixie.

"I don't need to know about those technicals," snapped Starlight. "What do you say; why don't we humiliate him in front of Sunset?"

"I'm all for it," said Trixie. "What did you have in mind?"

Starlight whispered her plan, and both mean girls snickered to themselves.

*after the song finishes*

Just as the song was ending, Vincent suddenly felt himself leaning forward toward Cloudchaser. Before they knew it, both ended up on the gym on floor with Vincent lying on top of Cloudchaser.

"Vincent!" cried Cloudchaser. She was red with embarrassment as Vincent, also embarrassed, got his face out of her chest.

"So sorry about this," he said, helping her up. "Don't know what's up with me, really."

Fortunately for them, the audience had been clapping once the song had finished, and apart from a few snickers from the crowd upon seeing it, nobody really took it seriously.

"Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" said Vincent.

Trixie and Starlight snickered quietly at Vincent's slip up.

"I was expecting more laughs out of it though," said Trixie. She sounded disappointed.

"Nevertheless," said Starlight, "it's a good start at least."

"So, what's next then, might I ask?"

"I think we may need a little help," said Starlight, looking over to Sunset.

Starlight then walked over to Sunset with a mischievous smile on her face. Sunset, once again, felt nervous with her nemesis' presence.

"What is it now?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing," said Starlight innocently. "I just thought it would be really funny if you would cause Vincent to have a little accident out there."

Sunset gasped in shock. "No!" she cried. "I won't do it! I won't hurt any of my friends!"

"Oh, yes, you will," said Starlight, getting in her face. "Because if you don't, Trixie and I will. And if we do it, chances are it will be much... much more dangerous. Do you want it to be that worse?"

Sunset just stared, wide-eyed and with fear.

"You wouldn't dare..." she whispered.

"Want a bet?" grinned Starlight evilly.

Meanwhile, Vincent and Cloudchaser met up with Flitter and Comet Tail.

"Hey there," said Vincent. "Are you doing okay?"

"Never better," said Comet, still slightly annoyed. "How about you?"

"I'm... doing okay myself," said Vincent. While Vincent and Comet spoke, the sisters had a chance to chat.

"How is it with Comet Tail?" asked Cloudchaser.

"Comet's been rather grumpy all night," said Flitter. "I hope you've had a better time with Vincent."

"Well..." Cloudchaser blushed as she tried to get words out.

"Oh, I see," teased Flitter. "You've got a crush on him, don't ya?"

"Well... no!" snapped Cloudchaser, still blushing. "Just as the music ended, he tripped and landed face first on my chest!"

"Oh my!" cried Flitter. "I hope it was by accident and not on purpose."

"Rainbow Dash said he's a nice person," said Cloudchaser. "I don't think Vincent is stupid enough to do anything that perverted."

"I'm going to go get some punch," said Vincent.

As he walked to the punch bowl, Starlight took something out of her pocket.

"Trixie," she said to her friend, "there's an old saying that comes to my attention."

"And what would that saying be?" asked Trixie.

"Always keep your bearings." Starlight then then rolled a few metal bearings onto the floor in Vincent's direction. He never saw them coming, because the moment his foot came down on them, he lost control!

"Aaaaaaahhh!" he yelled.

Slipping wildly, Vincent crashed into the punch bowl table. He wasn't hurt, but he was soaked with red punch.

"Smooth move, Vincent van Klutz!" laughed Sunset Shimmer. Many of the students laughed at Vincent's predicament, but the poor boy felt a mixture of humiliation and sadness. Without any warning, he bolted towards the doors.

Starlight and Trixie both found this amusing, but seeing Vincent run away in tears made Sunset instantly regret what she said.

"Why did I do that?" she whispered. Her thoughts were interrupted when she found herself being splashed with punch as well. The one who splashed her was Flash Sentry. He looked very angry.

"How dare you humiliate my brother like that!" he snapped.

"B-but, Flash! I didn't mean it! I j-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" snapped Flash. "Never come near me or my family ever again!" With that, he left to find Vincent.

Cloudchaser was also fed up too.

"Well, my night's ruined," she complained. "Thanks a lot, Shimmer! I'll be waiting for you outside, Flitter."

Sunset ran outside to look for Vincent. She found him by the front of the school. He was sitting near the statue, a stallion on a square podium, facing the school and with his head buried in his legs and arms, crying.

Sunset felt awful for what she had said.

"Vi... Vincent?" she called out to him. He lifted his head to look at Sunset, tears in his eyes. It broke her heart to see him in such a state, more so when she knew she brought it upon him.

"What do you want?" asked Vincent sadly.

Sunset walked up to Vincent and used her thumb to wipe away his tears. In her eyes were sorrow and regret.

"I'm so sorry," she said sadly. "I didn't mean to make fun of you in there."

Unfortunately for Sunset, it was also around that time that Flash had managed to find his little brother.

"Get away from my brother, you harpy!" he shouted to Sunset. "Haven't you done enough damage for one night?"

Sunset was startled by Flash's sudden presence and landed on her hindquarters the ground, looking up in shock.

"C'mon, Vincent," muttered Flash. "Let's leave this she-demon and head home."

Vincent reluctantly did as he was told, feeling bad at leaving Sunset behind. The poor girl was left in front of the statue, silently crying over her mistake.

"What have I done?" she whispered to herself.

Meanwhile, back inside, Comet was still feeling bored.

"Don't you want to dance even for one minute?" asked Flitter. She'd been trying all night to even get Comet to have fun, but she didn't have much luck.

"No," said Comet. "It's not that I don't think you're pretty, but I just can't see it working between us."

Even if Comet never meant to be rude, Flitter took offense and ran off to the bleachers.

Not too far away, Song Cue and Thunderlane were drinking some punch.

"This is certainly refreshing," Thunderlane grinned at Song Cue.

"I know," the purple haired teen replied. "Last time I had punch like that, it was Fluttershy's thirteenth birthday last year, made by our grandmother."

"That's interesting..." Before Thunderlane could say anything else, he coughed.

"Heh, maybe one of these days, you could try some..."

Because the two were so engrossed in their conversation, they didn't notice Comet Tail walk up to them.

"Uh... good evening, you two..."

"Oh... you," Song Cue said crossly before looking away.

"What were you thinking, man?" asked Thunderlane, also annoyed with the British student. "You ran away from her, and then asked Flitter out before Song Cue even said yes. Orange Sherbet even said she was crying that Monday afternoon whilst with her and Fluttershy."

"But I didn't ask Flitter," sighed Comet. "Vincent asked if she and Cloudchaser wanted to come with us. I tried convincing Flitter to cut it off, but she wouldn't listen!"

"So... it was his fault then?" Song Cue turned to look at Comet with a hint of surprise.

"Yes, but there was more to it; he was upset that Flash asked Sunset out because Math already asked Twilight out."

"In other words," cut in Thunderlane, "you weren't happy with dating Flitter."

"Absolutely not. I think I may have scared her off."

"I'll see if I can talk to her," said Thunderlane, and he walked off. Song Cue still didn't understand something.

"But why would you run away from me before I could reply?"

"I... I was shy," said Comet, going red with embarrassment. "I was afraid you'd turn me down."

"Well, of course I'd say yes, Comet!" said Song Cue, giggling a little. "You're sweet, caring, and a pretty amazing guy. I wouldn't wish to be with any other guy on the planet. Thunderlane only asked for me to go with him as a friend."

"Was this about the whole thing with running off?"

"It was."

"I'm so sorry I hurt you, Song Cue," trailed Comet. "I won't upset you like that again. I promise."

Song Cue smiled weakly, but then Vinyl played another song.

I know this song, Song Cue thought, but it wasn't just any song...

"'Raisin' Me Up'," she realized. "That's the ending theme of Sonic Rush!"

"Er, Song Cue?" Comet asked shyly. "M-May I have this dance?"

"Sure."

At the bleachers, Thunderlane (having spoken with Flitter and gave her some comfort) smiled at his friend.

"How'd you know she liked that song?" Flitter asked.

"When I went to Song Cue's house earlier that evening, she had Sonic toys all over her room," Thunderlane explained. "I looked up a few songs on the internet, and this one felt like a good pick for a couple's dance."

"Why don't we check up on Cloudchaser?" asked Flitter. "She's kind of waiting for me."

"Of course." The two friends looked over to Comet and Song Cue, having just begun dancing, and then walked off to see how Cloudchaser was getting on.

Meanwhile, Flash and Vincent had returned home. On the ride home, Vincent had been carefully thinking about what he was going to say to Flash once they were inside. He still couldn't believe his brother would lie to him like that about asking Sunset to be his date.

His chance finally came once once they were in Vincent's room. Suddenly, without any warning, Vincent grabbed Flash by the collar and slammed him against the door!

"Ah!" cried Flash. "What's the meaning of this?!"

"You backstabbing double-crosser!!" shouted Vincent. "It's bad enough that you asked Sunset to the dance before I could, but you lied about it to me?!"

"Vincent, calm down!" coughed Flash.

"You knew I was going to ask her to the Formal!" snapped Vincent. "You knew it! But you didn't care! You were so annoyed with losing the chance to take Twilight that you had to ruin my chances! How could you? I thought we were brothers!"

"I did it for you!" protested Flash.

"For me?" Vincent scoffed. "How was that done for my own benefit?"

"I was just trying to ween you away from Sunset so you could meet other girls," said Flash.

"I'm fourteen years old!" argued Vincent, now feeling rather stubborn at this point. "I can decide who I want to hang out with and I didn't need your input on who I can and can't trust!"

Flash was stunned by what Vincent had said. Vincent, however, felt somewhat happy to get it off his chest, almost like he'd been rehearsing that argument for months, possibly years. But of course, a big argument can have dire consequences.