Author's Note

Art by VyazinRei

Y'know, I've uploaded a chapter a day for four or five days now... but let's be real here.

No, this won't be a daily. In fact (for rather obvious reasons), my attitude about "dailies" have changed dramatically. At least in regards of uploading fics daily.

I still see potential in the art of writing stuff daily, but I think in the end that sort of a format could hurt a story more than help it.

Long story short, while I've enjoyed giving this thing a consistent upload cycle, I don't think I can manage that for very long. But as of this moment (06/12/2019), I very much wanna try and work on this daily. Only time and tits will see how long I manage that.

Bookmark this page so we can all come back to it when I've failed. Like most things in fartexistence. F'naaaa.
-Panties

I Hear the Exposition of the Rain, Like a Prologue It Falls

"Flash, honey..." A beautiful brow furrowed over turquoise eyes. "...what do you think you're doing?"

Flash Sentry—seated in the passenger's seat of Sunset's car—was presently wrestling with the millionth strand of silk sapphire hair. After much fuss and snake-charming, he finally managed to loop the last length of the 'do up into an oversized baseball cap atop his crown. The hat looked two sizes too big for the boi's fair head, and yet it was a gross and perfect match for the frumpy hoodie and slacks dangling off his petite figure.

In answer to the chauffeur's inquiry, Flash looked over, tugged the back of his cap snug, and nodded his obscured head. "Getting comfortable."

Sunset Shimmer merely sat there with her hands on the wheel, engine idling. She looked the boi up and down... but ultimately stared at his offensive cap. "But... why?"

"Why what?"

"Why..." She pointed all over his cranium. "...do that?"

"Because... it's what I always do?"

"Seriously?"

He nodded, eyes thin. "Yeah... ... ...?"

"Whenever you go out, you always hide your hair like that?"

"Well, since I'm too lazy to cut it, I have to."

Sunset Shimmer shuddered from head to heels.

"Something wrong?"

"Oh Flash..." Sunset sighed, adjusting the rear-view mirror with a crooked smile. "Whatever are we going to do with you?"

"Did I forget to thank you for washing my clothes?"

"At this point, I sorta wish you did." Then—with a motherly swing of her arm—she reached over and past him. "Here, sweetie. Let me buckle you up."

"I—...!" Flash froze, watching as the amazon's hand moved too quickly for him to protest. (Cl-Click!) Before he could blink, he was secured neatly in the seat. She even finished with a loving pat on his shoulder. Flash was slightly surprised she hadn't pulled a lollipop from her sleeve and given it to him. "Uhhhh... ... ... thanks?

"Don't mention it," Sunset smiled, and switched the car into reverse.

Flash watched—with more than a little bit of awe—as her massive frame swung to cast a look past the rear seats. The vehicle looked like a normal sports car on the outside, but on the inside the whole thing had been clearly designed for someone of amazonian frame... or perhaps a special custom chassis with huge basketball players in mind. Flash's concerns over what such a rig must have cost were quickly annulled by how confidently and casually Sunset operated the vehicle, pulling them out of the driveway and into the subdivision road adjoining.

"Whew... what a chilly... grimey day...!" Sunset's words danced along the gray hues of an overcast sky. Moisture lingered along every hedge, rooftop, and sidewalk outside—and the exterior of the car was coated with a plethora of lazy rain droplets. "Best time for a lazy cruise around town, huh?"

"Huh... ... ..." Flash looked at how her long, long, beautiful legs effortlessly swept through the space beneath the massive steering wheel. Sunset Shimmer pushed the brake and gas lightly, like kicking the surface of a pond. She was wearing stone-washed jeans—enough denim to weave a tent for a boi like Flash to sleep under... or maybe three Flashes. Pitifully, he glanced down at his side of the vehicle. The boi's legs dangled like popsicle sticks off the passenger's side seat and the heels of his shoes scarcely reached the floormat.

"Imagine if I had found you a day later, Flash." Sunset smirked at herself, switching the car into drive and aiming down the straightaway. "You would have been soaked to the bone!"

"Well, I do like taking showers," he muttered, gazing out the passenger window.

Flash got a good long look at Sunset's house as they rolled down the road. It was his first time consciously viewing the outside of it since they reunited. The place was nothing like the urban pad where Sunset used to crash as a high schooler. She now lived in an upper middle-class suburban neighborhood and her home blended amicably with the rest of the buildings (and accompanying lawns). The foundation was huge, and—judging from some ornamental "window frames" positioned close to the roof—Flash surmised that the house was attempting to convey to onlookers that it was somehow two stories instead of one. This—coupled with the fact that the driveway dipped down a shallow grade to reach the garage door—helped conserve the fact that the place was the domain of a giantess... or the next best thing closest to it.

"Hey, I'm proud of you," Sunset said.

Flash looked over, squirming in his seat. "Hmmm?"

She smiled calmly at the traffic ahead, keeping to her lane. "That almost sounded like a joke just now."

"A joke?"

"About taking showers."

"Oh..." Flash slid his hands out from beneath his long sleeves and twiddled his thumbs. "Sure. I guess."

"Although you could work on your sarcasm."

"I'm not being sarcastic," Flash muttered. "I-I really like taking showers."

"Well..." Sunset shrugged at his literal reply, lips pouting. "There goes my water bill."

Flash sank a little. "I'm sorry—"

"Pfffft! Hahaha!" Sunset laughed, and the car weaved somewhat from the amazon's lungburst. "What did I just tell you?!?"

Flash bit his lip to keep from saying anything.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh Celestia..." Sunset sighed. "Pinkie Pie, I am not." Awkward silence. They passed through an intersection. A second one. "I still don't see how it's comfortable."

"How what's comfortable?"

"Having to fuss with your sleeves all the time," Sunset muttered.

Flash hugged himself—and his hoodie. "It's snuggly."

"You could be snuggly in a cardigan. Or a sports jacket."

"I... d-decided long ago that I don't like drawing attention to myself," Flash said.

"And stuffing all that beautiful hair up in that ugly cap of yours," Sunset said. "Doesn't that get absolutely stuffy?!"

"Sunset..." Flash's jaw clenched as he nearly hissed: "Why are you taking me out for a drive, huh?!"

"It'd be nice for you to go out and see the sights for once—"

"I'm—... Sunset..." He sighed, rubbing his head as if it was pounding. "I... thank you for being so considerate, but you really don't need to waste gas money on my behalf."

"Were you wasting gas money for me back in the day?"

"Huh?"

Sunset shrugged, switching on a turn signal. "We used to do this all the time, remember?" She rolled them out of the neighborhood subdivision. "After school. On the weekends." She smiled gently. "By that—I mean you drove me around all the time."

"I... uh..." Flash fidgeted, glancing out the window as convenience stores popped up. "I guess I thought I'd be cooler if I showed off my car..."

"Well, it was a nice car," Sunset said.

"My folks bought it for me," Flash muttered. "The only gift they ever gave me." He swallowed hard. "I never asked for it. I used up so much gas in that thing just... going nowhere."

"Was it all wasting gas, Flash?"

He was silent for a bit. "No..." He leaned his chin against an arm that was propped against the passenger's side door. "You... were the best thing to happen to that car, Sunset."

"Awwwwwwww..." Sunset glanced briefly his way, cheeks warming. "That's really sweet of you to say."

"They weren't... all bad conversations we had, y'know," Flash said.

The amazon bit her lip, looking back at the road. "Even on the days when I did nothing but bicker and bitch at you?"

"It wasn't all... erm... B & B-ing," Flash murmured.

Sunset snorted. "What? You can cuss."

"Only when I feel like it."

"Figured you'd had gotten used to cuss words ages ago," Sunset said. "I distinctly remember high-school-me filling your ears with—"

He was already shrugging. "Sometimes you just... had bad days and needed to vent about it."

"... ... ..." Sunset's brow hardened.

"Okay... most of the time it felt like you were having bad days," the boi muttered. "But... being able to drive you around... and let you spill it all out... and just... let you unwind...?"

Silence.

It was the driver's time to fidget. "Yeah...?" Sunset stammered.

Flash shrugged, smiling ever so slightly. "I guess... I felt a little proud, is all."

"Proud that you could be my punching bag..."

He rolled his eyes and gazed at her. "You never punched me, Sunset."

"I should have," she muttered. "It would have been merciful, all things considered."

"You were a stranger from another world and you were trying to understand the absurdities of human life—"

"Still doesn't change the fact that I was an evil manipulative bitch who did just about everything but sit on you," she grumbled out the side of her mouth. "A friggin' she-demon in the making... Luna help me."

Flash touched his delicate fingers together. He felt tempted to say—nay, tempted to think—that part of him had gotten used to being the sole partner to an "evil manipulative she-demon." Perhaps it was some sadsack half of him that misperceived his parents' hardass ways as a substitute for endearment. Or maybe it was something far more shameful—the part of Flash that would make love to a brush handle—that was perfectly fine with such a she-demon "sitting on him."

Flash bit his lip all of a sudden.

Silence.

Flash's fingers clenched tightly together... he imagined actually relishing the thought of a she-demon sitting on him.

More silence. Just the hum of the car and the hush of the wet, cold world beyond the windows.

Nervously, Flash raised his eyes to look at Sunset.

The telepath wasn't even registering him. She kept her hands tight to the steering wheel as she shifted lanes in traffic.

Flash took a breath. His eyes laid on Sunset... then on the beaded bracelet on her left arm—

"Hey, remember that place?" Sunset Shimmer pointed at a random plaza.

Flash lifted his head and squinted out the window as they passed by. "... ... ...Treehugger's Yoga Palace?"

"Pffft..." Sunset snickered. "It used to be a Blockbuster, silly," she droned. "One of the last in the nation."

Flash blinked. "I think that's where the Vape Station is now."

"Nah—that and the Yoga Palace occupy the same space. Used to be one video store."

"Oh." Flash blinked. "Egads, that was long ago."

"Just before fall break," Sunset said. "You were excited about it for some reason."

Flash shrugged. "The end of an era..." He glanced aside. "Or so Magnolia told me."

"She... used to shop at Blockbuster?"

"No, but she owned stock with them once," Flash muttered. "Right when Netfllix started and she thought the digital competition would bomb." A long sigh. "She told me it was her life's worst investment..." He straightened his bulky cap. "Besides Bitcoin, that is."

"I never knew how crazy humans could get over outdated media," Sunset mused. "I swear... you had us spend an hour in that place on closing day. You almost bought the entire Disney aisle."

"I did buy the entire Disney aisle," Flash hummed.

Sunset chuckled... then chuckled some more.

Flash gazed out the window again. "We broke up a week later."

Sunset's chuckles stopped.

"But..." Flash shrugged gently. "...I had lots of movies to fill my free time."

They came to a red light, and Sunset took the opportunity to gaze at him. "We didn't break up, Flash. I broke things up."

He clenched his jaw.

"That... is one of my worst decisions ever," Sunset said. "And considering I've betrayed Equestria—"

"You ended up okay," Flash muttered. "Now you're with Twilight and... five other girls. Six girls, Flash. I call that a bargain of a tradeoff. So... it was all for the best."

"Flash—"

"Please, let it rest. Sunset. I'm not mad. I never was."

Silence.

There was a pitter patter. Then light tapping. A drizzle of rain swept lightly across the car and surrounding asphalt.

Sunset stared thoughtfully into the gray malaise.

"Is this what you wanted out of a joy ride through memory lane?" Flash muttered.

"Well... if you must know..."

The light turned green.

Sunset pushed gently ahead.

"...I wanted to talk about magic."

"Mmmmm..." Flash turned to look at her. "Oh really?"

She nodded at nothingness. "Yeah really."

"Lemme guess..." The boi smirked wrly. "It's about 'friendship.'"

"Wouldn't be true magic if it wasn't," Sunset droned.

Flash Sentry kept his mouth shut. Friendship with benefits, he thought, and his mind flickered purposefully to a fresh mental image of the pink latex room.

Sunset's hands kept tight to the wheel.

Flash squinted curiously at the telepath, then back to her left wrist—

"What was the first magical thing that ever happened to you?" the amazon asked.

Flash nearly jumped. The seatbelt kept him in place. "Uhm..." He blinked. "...magical?"

"You heard me."

"You're... talking literal magic or some sort of abstract metaphor—?"

She smirked at him, eyebrow raised like a 90s wrestler's. "What universe are we living in?"

"Okay okay okay...!" Flash squirmed in his seat. "That's... th-that's an easy one." He gulped. "The night of the Fall Formal when you..." He winced. "... ... ...when that... terrible she-demon was vanquished..."

"Mmmmmmmmmmmm—" Sunset mmmmmmmmmmmm'd.

"—aaaaaaaaand she was forever exorcised of all her evil qualities and turned reformed and awesome and adorasexy the end!" Flash smiled nervously. A blue strand of hair fell out of his cap; he swiftly slid it back underneath.

"Think harder, Flash," Sunset asked.

His eyes narrowed. "Harder?"

"Humor me."

He tongued the inside of his mouth. The boi considered mentioning the first time he met an actual princess—Princess Twilight—but this had already turned into the worst possible moment and place to bring that up. "Well... uh... I guess there were times back when I was shredding... y'know... in the band?"

"Ah yes..." Sunset smiled brilliantly. "The Master Chiefs."

Flash eyes rolled so hard that they nearly popped out of his skull. He stifled a groan: "I... always hated that name."

"Then why did you choose it?"

"I didn't. The band outvoted me."

"It was all Thunderbass' fault, wasn't it?"

"Thunderbass... sure..." Flash sighed dreamily, gazing out the windows and spotting a momentary break in the clouds above. "... ... ...but... I-I couldn't stay mad at him."

Sunset listened.

But Flash wasn't talking. He was merely smiling. Smiling and gazing out the window.

Curious, Sunset glanced at her passenger in mid-drive—

"Ahem!" Flash sat up straight, tugging the bulky lengths of his hoodie down—further over his lap. "So... yeah... the Master Chiefs. I know we never did any major gigs... but..." He twiddled the air with guitar thumbs. "...I swear, there were times when we just... got into the moment... and it was like I rose to a whole 'nother level."

"Pure magic, huh?"

"Well, from my perspective." Flash shrugged. "I... don't suppose that's the magic you're looking for."

"How come you stopped playing music with them?"

Flash's head hung. "Oh... uh..." He shrugged limply. "I just... c-couldn't keep up with their energy."

"Couldn't keep up?"

"They were too metal... too metal for my taste..." Flash winced. "Or... or so I discovered."

"I thought you wrote songs for them."

"Yeah, but..."

Silence.

Sunset glanced over. "But what?"

"They said that everything I made was... too 'pop' or 'ballad-y." Flash muttered. "I just... wasn't man enough for the image they all wanted. So... I guess they just... replaced me."

"Flash, that's awful," Sunset cooed.

He shrugged. "It was inevitable."

"You were the one creative soul in that whole ensemble!"

"I was a real bummer to work with," Flash droned. "And they were right. I wasn't... edgy enough to fit in. Or at least charismatic enough to fake it."

"Who needs edge?" Sunset smiled. "Pinkie, Twilight, Rainbow and I distinctly remember hearing you sing at the Summer Festival that one time."

"You mean right after our trip to Camp Everfree?"

"That's the one!" Sunset grinned. "Over in McCracken Park. You played this breathtaking cover of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

Flash sank in his seat a bit. "They s-said I was the only one in the band who could sing that."

Sunset giggled.

"That and..." Flash ran a hand over his sighing face. "...Walk Like an Egyptian."

Sunset giggled again. "See? They had a reason to keep you around!"

"Yeah..." Flash grumbled. "If our venues were nothing but quinceaneras and sorority parties."

"Awwwwwww, Flash..."

"Sunset, you may or may not find this hard to believe..." Flash looked up at her. "But the Rainbooms were the biggest thing in town."

The driver gulped. "Uh huh..."

"And everyone who was anyone—with a guitar—had no recourse but to compete!" Flash hugged himself, glaring over the glove compartment. "Once Senior Year rolled by—and the Rainbooms were no longer part of anyone's life... the Master Chiefs had no need for... th-their soprano."

Sunset reached a hand up to brush her hair back. "Well..." The beads of her bracelet rattled. "That's a shame."

"It's okay." Flash murmured. "I learned to live with it."

Sunset's eyes narrowed. "How is pawning off your guitar 'living with it?'"

He said nothing.

So, after another turn, Sunset steered the conversation back on course as well. "Well, Flash, what if I was to tell you that maybe—just possibly—magic was a part of your life long before the Master Chiefs or Rainbooms... ... ...long before the Fall Formal..."

"Sunset, I don't understand where—"

"Long before me."

"... ... ..." He looked quietly at her. "... ... ...how is that even possible?"

"Think about it."

"I am. And I'm confuzzled," Flash said.

Sunset stifled a snort.

"I mean it..." Flash's lips pursed. "Before you? But... there was no magic before you."

"Equestrian magic was in this world long before me, Flash," Sunset declared. "The Sirens. The geodes. Wallflower Blush's memory stone."

The boi blinked. "Who...?"

"To put it simply," Sunset said, "Magic has been here longer than me... longer than Twilight and the rest of the girls... longer than you—or Magnolia, or your folks or your folks' folks..."

"Yes, and?" Flash blinked at her. "What does that have to do with me? I'm no magical anime girl."

Sunset Shimmer merely stared at the road.

"... ... ..." Flash's eyes narrowed on the telepath's deadpan expression. "...or is there something you know that I don't?"

Sunset flipped the windshield wipers on, clearing the rain streaks from view.

Flash exhaled through his tiny nostrils. "Sunset... ... ...where is this conversation even going?"

"I used to believe that the girls and I were imbued with the power of the Harmonic Geodes for a purpose," Sunset said. "As if... we were the ones destined to be the living human avatars of Equestrian magic."

"Do you... not believe that anymore?"

"Yes and no," Sunset remarked. "It makes more sense that I—being a unicorn from Equestria—maintained some degree of low-lying magical energy in myself, and the rest of the girls also became vessels of magic simply due to being in proximity of me for so long."

"Ah..."

"But... it doesn't particularly explain the bond that the girls and I have," Sunset said.

"You mean..." Flash bit his lip as he formulated a way to say it: "...the way you all like to go skinny-dipping with each other?"

"It's simply too much of a cosmic coincidence that magic would choose to unite seven individuals who already got along as friends."

"Or... it could all just look like that in hindsight," Flash said.

"Hahahahaha..." Sunset suddenly chuckled. "'Skinny-dipping.'" She smiled.

Flash looked at her. "Did you hear what I said—"

"The girls and I have considered it," Sunset said with a nod. "Twilight and I especially argue over it a lot."

Flash flinched. "You argue? Oh, that's sad..."

"Happens in every relationship, Flash," Sunset said. "Even inexplicable enchanted lesbianism."

"Uh... huh..."

"But—when we work together—we learn more about how magic functions in this world than we ever could apart," Sunset said in a proud tone. "And—to an extent—Twilight and I have come up with a way to measure it."

"No kidding..."

"Would I kid about this?"

"Are we talking... saiyan power-reading scouters or something?"

Sunset glared at him briefly. "Magical anime girls... and now DBZ? I thought you liked western princess films."

Flash shrugged. "I've been known to cheat."

Sunset chuckled. "I can't even imagine that for a second."

Flash hung his head. "Yeah, me neither."

Clearing her throat, Sunset went on: "What Twilight and I ultimately discovered is that all of our powers—the girls and I—have a distinct flow."

"Flow?"

"Yes. A harmonic pattern of focused distribution, if you will," Sunset said. "She nick-named it the Harmonic Fountain."

Flash's eyes narrowed. "Why 'Harmonic Fountain?'"

"Because the leylines of magic that are focused within all of our essences—"

"You mean you and the other six..."

"Right." Sunset nodded. "Twilight and I discovered that energy resonates outward from us... hence why we are all able to exert so much magical force on the world."

"You mean... like how Applejack started being able to toss heavy stuff around and Rarity was conjuring those invisible diamond thingies and Pinkie was making stuff go all kersplodey...?"

"Right," Sunset said. "The geodes fused with our beings, turning us into living gateways through which Equestrian magic flows outward. This manifests in superpowers."

"And then you became the Elements of Harmony."

"Right." Sunset made a turn, driving slowly through the thickening rain. "And the amazing thing is—from as much as Twilight and I were able to observe—the leylines were conveying an endless supply of magical energy. All these years... the Harmonic Fountain would never dry out."

"Until..." Flash nervously gulped. "...just recently."

Sunset sighed. "Until just recently."

"You and the rest of the superher—... the girls," Flash chose to say. "You've been losing control of your powers..."

"And having to temporarily retire the Elements of Harmony," the telepath grumbled.

"But... forever?" Flash squeezed his limbs together, gazing at her like a worried damsel.

Sunset slowly shook her head. "I truly hope not. And a good thing is..." She looked over at him. "There is hope." A slight smile. "Now more than ever."

"How so?"

Sunset looked at the rainy road again as she crossed an intersection. "It didn't make sense for magic to spring from nothing and exhaust into... nothing. Twilight hypothesized that there would be an opposite phenomenon to the Harmonic Fountain that would act as a means of counterbalancing the leyline flow and instigating harmonic feedback... thereby creating a loop so that the magic would essentially be recycled and redistributed... much like it naturally does in Equestria, albeit on a small scale because... well... this isn't Equestria..."

Flash tongued his teeth, trying desperately to follow along.

"Twilight named this hypothetical phenomenon the 'Harmonic Well'... and its function would be the polar opposite of the Harmonic Fountain. Instead of exerting magic on the world, it would take magic... and repurpose it into being used by the Harmonic Fountain again."

"So, let me guess..." Flash stuck his delicate hands into his hoodie's pouch. He eyed the raindrops outside the car. "...you and Twilight and the girls need to find this Harmonic Well in order to create balance with your magics..." His brow furrowed in thought. "... ... ...and that way you could be superpowered and awesome again?"

"Hmmmmm..." Sunset smiled. "That's about it."

"How... do you know that it's out there to be found?" Flash asked. "This 'Well,' that is."

"There's a simple explanation as for why," Sunset remarked. "For the Well to exist, the Fountain would have to exist. These phenomena—regardless of their physical representation—would have to be essential to the nature of Equestrian Magic as it resides in this world. One way or another, both the Well and the Fountain have made themselves manifest. In the case of the Fountain, it was the geodes we stumbled upon at Camp Everfree."

"The same ones that eventually just... zapped their magical properties all into you."

"Mmmhmm."

"But what about the... other one...?"

"The Well."

"Yeah. The one you all need." Flash looked at her. "You think there're some other geodes lying around in an ancient place snazzy and hidden just waiting for you and the girls to find them?"

"It... isn't quite like that, Flash," Sunset said. "The Harmonic Well isn't the same as a bunch of rocks hiding deep in Camp Everfree."

"How do you know that?"

Sunset's fingers tightened on the wheel, and her voice had a trace of heaviness. "Because I've already found the Well."

"You have?" Flash asked, eyes blinking bright. "Where...?"

"I'll tell you soon," Sunset said. "But first..." She pulled the car into a parking lot and idled to a stop. "...I need your help with something."

"Help with what?"

"Let's just say... scientific verification."

"I... I don't understand what this is all about."

"Celestia-willing, you will. As will I. We both will soon." Sunset flipped the windshield wipers into a faster speed and pointed out the windshield. "Check it out."

"... ... ...?" Flash craned his fair neck to see.

He hadn't been paying attention to where Sunset was driving them. But now that they were parked in the cold autumn rain, he found himself gazing across a drenched street...

...and to a familiar high school courtyard where a mirror'd podium resided.

Sunset smiled down at the boi. "Right where it all began."