Flash Sentry's Secret Santa.

Flash had been one of the students that had a red dot on his note. It took him a good deal of waiting and sneaking during Monday before he was able to put Fluttershy's first gift into her bag. He got his chance when she wasn't looking during afternoon recess. He was tempted to follow her around for the remains of the day and watch her as she opened it, but he decided he didn't have the patience. It was enough having to wait for the perfect moment.

But then Monday had passed over into tuesday and Flash had yet received no gift. So whoever his santa was, they did not have the red dot. But the day passed rather quickly and even if he knew the system with the dots, he did get a bit anxious. There was always the risk of someone bailing out. It was rare, but not unheard off. And he knew that if he himself would get… Well, Adagio Dazzle… he would probably buy some fish food, give it on Friday and just skip the rest.

But as he opened his locker to get his bag a small item fell out. It wasn't a package, just a small black bag, but it had a red satin bow tied around it, showing it's status as a gift. Even if it was small, the bag and the bow gave it a somewhat exclusive feeling. He opened it and found six new picks. And not the cheap kind, all Bender signature! And in H, his prefered thickness as well! Damn… this secret santa knew his game. Or hers. Flash hoped it wasn't Fluttershy. Sure, it was maximum 50 bits and these picks wasn't that expensive but… it was still a difference in how much thought you had given between a bag of fancy cat food and six personally favoured picks. All in a light blue nuance as well… almost like his hair. He took one up and looked at it. The Logo was printed in gold and black like it always was on the real signature ones. The other side should be bare, and he turned it around just to check. As he did, he immideately noticed there was something strange. A heart had been carved into it, and then the line had been marked up with a gold pen. A bit messy, definitely not professionally done, but still with great care. He took out all six picks and studied the backside. They all had hearts, slightly different in size, but all in gold and made by hand.

Wednesday had been a blur after tusedays gift, and he had almost forgotten about giving Fluttershy her gift as well. In the end, he had to go to the sanctuary and hide it with the stray cats. He had yet to use the picks, but he had the bag on him all the time. He picked them up and examined them a few times during the day. He wasn't completely sure what to think or feel. This gift seemed to be more than just a fun thing for Hearth's Warming... But he didn't want to jump to any conclusions, one thing he had learned from his father. It could just be a coincidence. Maybe the secret santa just had the picks at home and decided to customize them a bit so they would look like a fancy gift... He shook his head. No, it was to much of a coincidence. His secret santa probably wanted to tell him something, and honestly it could be only one thing. Flash's cheeks got hot when he thought about it. Because if it was a guy… wow. If it was a girl.. mmm... well, sure, why not. He wasn't that picky.

His parents had noticed him having his thoughts somewhere else, and his dad had teased him about boy troubles until his mother chased him out to remove the snow from the driveway. Lightning Riff had just raised an eyebrow and gone "oh la la..." But Flash had barely listened. Picks with hearts was cute and it would be interesting to meet his secret santa and see who it was. And finally talk and maybe... see where things went.

Thursday morning he opened his locker with care, but nothing fell out this time. He got a little disappointed but tried to comfort himself. The day had just began.

Instead it happened after lunch. Almost HW-break or not, mr Cranky STILL gave out homework over the holidays. They were supposed to write an essay about some aspect on the founders of Equestria. Flash was lucky though, since the subject almost completely matched another essay that his brother had gotten a few years earlier, one that was titled "the songs the founders sang at HW and why they sucked". He needed a new title and to come up with a more positive conclusion, but most of the work was already done. A few more sources wouldn't hurt though, and that meant him sitting in the library in front of a computer with dozens of annoyed and stressed students running around him carrying books to and fro. It was mr. Cranky's opinion that every internet source needed to be balanced by at least two books, hence the running.

Flash felt pretty confident about getting the whole break free from school work, as he had only needed to upgrade one source this far. But just for safety he was going to have a look at the latest edition of Clover the clevers Singing. It was a short walk to the shelf, finding the passage he was looking for, write it down and go back. Max six minutes. But when he returned to his computer... there is was. A red usb-stick with a similar red bow to the one from tuesday. He looked around but saw nothing suspicious and so he sat down. He smiled, this was promising! He decided to check it out at once, and so he inserted it into the computer. It's not like it is anything dangerous. Perhaps it's a game or a few Mp3s? How bad could it be? He clicked on the icon but to his surprice, there was nothing more on it but a few jpegs named SS1 to SS6- He clicked on one. And then he quickly shut it down. It had only been open for a second, but that second was enough for him to clearly see a man's penis! What the hell? After once again looking around to see if anyone had noticed, he choose SS1 and hoped it would be... something else. This time the picture loaded slower, revealing a man with his back against the camera, looking over his shoulder and wearing the tightest briefs he'd seen. He also recognized who it was, and WHAT this was.
It was Stalwart Stallion. And this was the famous “lost” set of pictures done a few years before he landed the part in daring do, when the young actor had trouble finding jobs and had to go creative to ged money. After his rise to fame, he had tried more than once to get rid of these pictures, with no luck so far. But they were rare, and to Flash this was close to a holy grail. He looked at all the pictures (but number five he kept open waist up...) and began to wonder even more who his secret santa was… And how the heck he would know about his celebrity crush!

Tomorrow was going to be interesting, that was for sure.

But first a few minutes… meditation in the mens room.