There are days we have in our lives when we can just feel that something is wrong. Even when everything around us seems to be going right, there will always be that little instinct, tucked in the backs of our minds, that keeps us on-edge. So it was with Flash, who walked down the streets of Canterlot, right towards Sugar Cube Corner. The sun was shining, the breeze was cool, and there were plenty of people about with smiles upon their faces. And yet, in spite of all that, he couldn't help but feel like something off was going to happen. Still, he ignored this feeling for the time being, taking his hand out from his jacket pocket when he finally reached the Corner. Placing that hand upon the door, he pushed, entering the place in earnest, and when he did, he stopped.
A smile touched his lips when he saw that his girlfriend, Sunset, was already there, in her usual corner booth, smiling right back at him. But that pleasant feeling at seeing her lessened somewhat when Flash noticed that she was not alone here today. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity were all sharing that same booth, giving him nods of greeting as they saw him enter. A quick glance around the room alerted the boy to the fact that they were, quite frankly, the only ones there. No other students in any of the other booths, and even the Cakes were absent from the front counter, even though they could clearly be heard in the back kitchens. All this did little to put the boy at ease, but even so, he moved inwards, heading for the only free seat left in their booth.
"Hey there, Sunset. Girls. Is...is everything okay?"
A silence fell between them, and the girls cast nervous glances at one another, with the obvious exception of Pinkie, who covered her mouth in that way she did when there was something big she needed to talk about. Flash raised an eyebrow to this, but never let his eyes stray from Sunset. The former unicorn stared at her boyfriend for the longest time, letting out a deep sigh before reaching forward and placing her hand upon his own.
"Flash...we need to talk."
Now he knew something was up. Because it was a universally accepted truth that nothing good ever followed the words "we need to talk". Even so, Flash steeled himself, looking to her in that same way he always did.
"Okay...what do you want to talk about?"
Sunset cast a glance to her friends, who all silently urged her on, before looking back to the boy and seeming, for the most part, guilty.
"I'm afraid...we haven't really been all that honest with you."
She looked down at the table.
"I...haven't been honest with you."
Looking back up, she removed her hand from his and leaned back into her chair.
"You see...the girls and I...we kind of...had this plan."
Flash nodded, letting out a sigh of his own.
"I know."
Immediately, all eyes were on him, with looks of shock plastered upon the girls' faces.
"You...you know?!" Sunset remarked.
Flash nodded again.
"You made arrangements with the girls to have me spend time with each and every one of them...right?"
Sunset looked to her friends, all of whom seemed just as confused and taken aback as she was, before turning back to face her boyfriend.
"How...how did you know?"
An uncharacteristically sly smirk crept upon Flash's face.
"Not to sound like I'm boasting, but it wasn't that hard to figure out."
Lifting his hand slightly, he gestured to the other girls.
"There were little signs all over. Like Apple Bloom telling me that you'd just visited Applejack before she and I had that swimming hole incident. Or when Rainbow came up with that fake radio contest."
Looking back to her, he raised an eyebrow.
"Plus...it seemed pretty unlikely that there would be so many instances of you or the other girls being unavailable every single time that you were."
The other girls all looked to each other with the same guilty expression Sunset now had. And as for Sunset herself, she was genuinely surprised by her boyfriend's words.
"I...I thought we were all so careful."
Flash chuckled.
"You were. In fact, this was pretty much just a theory I had until you just now said you had something you needed to talk to me about. That's when it all came together."
Sunset nodded, accepting his words, only to stop when the boy turned and looked over to Fluttershy. His expression was not of anger, like she expected, but rather simple curiosity.
"Tell me, Fluttershy. Were you actually sick that day?"
To this, the animal carer nodded.
"Oh, I definitely was! The plan had been to just have you help me look after my animals. But then I got sick and...well...the plan changed."
Flash nodded.
"Okay. Makes sense."
But as he turned back to Sunset, he now bore a slight frown.
"As you probably know...my next question is...why?"
Sunset said nothing for a time, prompting Flash to continue.
"As Rainbow could probably tell you, I don't like having people trick me like that, Sunset. So...what's this all about?"
The Equestrian looked down to the table, then back up to her friends, who once more urged her to go ahead with whatever it was she'd been planning. Then, after taking a few deep breaths, she began to reach into her jacket pocket. Flash looked to her with curiosity, then confusion, as he saw her pull out some form of pamphlet. After hesitating for just a moment, Sunset handed it over to him.
"This is what it's all about."
The boy looked to the thing, then gently took it from his girlfriend's hands. It was a pamphlet that went into great detail about some sort of out-of-town couple's retreat. A by-the-sea type of place, with pretty much everything one could hope for in that kind of location, from great views, to stunning food to even a few pre-set activities. The boy stared at it for a long time, then looked back up to his girlfriend, raising an eyebrow. For the first time since Flash had arrived here, Sunset felt the need to put on a smile, speaking softly to him as she began to explain things.
"It's something I've been planning for a while now, ever since we went to visit Princess Celestia and Twilight."
A wider smile grew on her as she continued.
"Celestia recommended something like this in passing, but I got to thinking. You and me...alone together in a place like this. Just the two of us."
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"With the summer break just starting, I knew we had time to fit it in. And the due date is about a week before the school trip to Camp Everfree. But I think that'd be plenty of time for us to...you know...do everything we could do there."
Flash stared at her, then back to the pamphlet, and as he looked to the thing, Rainbow chimed in.
"Yeah, Sunset wanted it to be a surprise so she asked all of us to help out by keeping you occupied while she sorted out the details. So...yeah, that's why you've been spending so much time with us."
Looking back up, Flash looked to Sunset with what could only be described as surprise.
"A couple's retreat?"
Sunset nodded, and Flash continued.
"Just...just a vacation...for the two of us?"
Sunset nodded again. This time, Flash looked to her with a blank expression, which caused her to feel just the tiniest bit of concern. Then, to the surprise of all of them, not only did the boy start to crack a smile, but he actually started to let out a brief chuckle. It wasn't in any way mocking or making light of anything. If anything, it sounded, to their slight confusion, relieved.
"That...that's great! Seriously! That sounds like a wonderful idea, Sunset!"
Sunset regained her smile, watching as Flash leaned forward placed his hand upon hers once more.
"To go with you to a place like this...I would be more than happy with it."
To say Sunset seemed happy would have been an understatement, as she now leaned forward herself, planting a tender kiss upon the boy's lips, prompting many an "awww" amongst the other girls. When they parted, Sunset too seemed relieved.
"I'm glad to hear this. I was actually kind of worried about me going behind your back like this."
But Flash shook his head.
"I may not like being deceived, but even I understand the need for secrets when you're planning a surprise."
Sunset, as well as the other girls, smiled happily to this, but were once more struck with confusion when the boy leaned back into his chair and let out a sigh. The relief on his face caught their interest, and after casting each other a look, Applejack broke the silence.
"Um...is there something wrong, Flash?"
The boy shook his head.
"No, it's nothing."
Rarity raised an eyebrow.
"Truly? Because you seem like something of a burden has been taken off you."
Flash looked to each of them, then let out a chuckle.
"Don't worry, it's...it's just this silly little thing I got into my head."
Pinkie's face lit up at that.
"Well now you gotta tell us!"
That was a sentiment that seemed to be shared by many of them there, which Flash couldn't now help but feel nervous about.
"Well...when I started thinking about how you girls might be going behind my back and stuff...I maybe...kinda...started thinking that something else was going on."
The girls looked to each other again, before Sunset then took her turn addressing him.
"Okay...what did you think was going on?"
Placing his hand behind his head, Flash took on a nervous expression.
"...You're gonna think it's ridiculous."
Sunset smiled to this.
"Flash, I promise you, we won't laugh."
The boy looked to her, then to all the other girls, and after taking a few moments to weigh his words, he simply came out and said it.
"Well...with this whole thing involving me spending one-on-one time with all the other girls, I...I kinda got it into my head that maybe you were...you know..."
He paused briefly.
"...planning on making some sort of...harem?"
Immediately, the boy was made privy to a barrage of chuckles, chortles and giggles as the girls all responded to his words. Eventually, he joined in on the fun himself, giving a dry laugh at his own statement, all while Sunset looked on with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"Well...looks like someone has an active imagination."
Flash nodded.
"Yeah...I guess it was pretty ridiculous."
Rarity, sweeping aside some of her hair, leaned forward and patted his hand.
"Think nothing of it, darling. It's hardly an unreasonable train of thought to have."
Glancing to the side, the young fashionista gave Rainbow an odd look.
"Especially given what some of us did with you."
A blush crept onto Rainbow's cheeks and she gave a rather embarrassed chuckle.
"Yeah...guess not."
Giggling, Pinkie added her own voice to matters.
"I know, right? I mean, it's not as if a whole bunch of us were secretly crushing on you and used this whole thing as a chance to get close to you and do intimate boyfriend-girlfriend stuff while doing the whole distraction thing. I mean, that'd just be crazy, right?"
Flash looked to the party girl with incredulity, while others in the group gave her very clear "shut up" looks in their eyes, prompting Pinkie to speak up once more.
"...What?"
Looking over to Flash, Applejack nervously cleared her throat and spoke in a somewhat embarrassed tone.
"Um...y'all can just ferget that bit if ya like, Flash."
In spite of this bizarre and unexpected turn in the conversation, Flash nevertheless seemed unable to look anything but relaxed over the whole thing, giving a small smile to himself as he looked down at the table.
"You know what? I should just focus on more normal things. Things like...like..."
Looking back to Sunset, Flash began to wear a smile for the first time since this conversation had started.
"...like our couples' retreat."
Sunset blushed to this.
"That's right, Flash. Just you, me and one week of peace and quiet."
Flash nodded, smiling wider.
"Yep, a whole week of calm and relaxing time with my girlfriend. And after that, another week of quiet...except at a camp...with all our friends."
Sunset giggled.
"I wouldn't worry about it. It is just a woodland camp after all."
Flash chuckled to this, nodding in response.
"Yeah, you're right. I mean...what's the worst thing that could happen to us at a camp of all places?"
