Day 1
"Alright! This is gonna be awesome!" Flash Sentry said to himself as he finished making his way through security with his guitar strapped to his back. It had taken some time, but as the guard working there had explained, “Security is an art, and it can't be rushed.” It was well worth the wait though, as now he would get to enjoy two whole weeks of the Star Swirl Music Festival as well as hopefully getting to work on his music.
"Awesome is right," Sunset Shimmer said with a wave, which was quickly reciprocated by Flash, as she approached him with her friend Pinkie Pie. "Hey there, Flash."
"Oh, hi there, Sunset, hi, Pinkie."
"Hey there, Flashlight!" Pinkie said.
"Flashlight?"
"Don't mind her, Flash. Pinkie is just really excited."
"Of course I am." Pinkie Pie said as she started jumping around in circles. "Two whole weeks of PostCrush. They got back together for the last Starswirled Music Festival and had so much fun they came to this one too. Two whole weeks of music and fun! Can you imagine what that's going to be like?"
"I have a pretty good idea," Sunset said, remembering the last music festival.
"So, PostCrush?" Flash said, trying to make it sound casual. "They're here too?"
"Oh yeah," Sunset said. "Honestly, I'm kind of fighting the urge to jump for joy myself. Would you like to see them?" Sunset asked, which almost caused Flash to jump back in surprise.
"What?" he asked as Sunset Shimmer pulled out a backstage pass.
"After the last festival, Pinkie Pie and I became rather close to K-Lo and Su-Z, so they sent us these backstage passes for us and to give to a few of our friends. Or in this case, ex-boyfriends." Flash Sentry grabbed the pass right away.
"Oh my gosh, Sunset, thank you. This is the best gift you've ever given me."
"It's the only gift I've ever given you." Sunset released an eep of surprise when Flash pulled her into a hug.
"Well, thanks all the same," Flash said as he made his way deeper into the festival. "This is incredible. I knew Sunset had to be close to them after what I saw at the last festival, but a backstage pass? I can finally meet Kiwi Lollipop," Flash Sentry said as he looked around the festival grounds for anything that would make a great gift for the musician. Flash had had a crush the size of Canterlot High on K-Lo since the day he first saw her play live. He loved her and her music so much that he had been inspired to learn how to play guitar, just like her.
And now he’d just been given the chance to tell her all this in person.
"All right, their bus is right over there," a rather large security guard said as he pointed to the PostCrush bus after seeing his backstage pass. "Now you seem like a nice kid, but don't think that that pass of yours means you can do whatever you want."
"I'll be on my best behavior," Flash said. It had been several hours since he had received the pass from Sunset, and despite looking till the last rays of light were left, he hadn’t been able to find anything that seemed to be the right gift for someone like K-Lo.
"Good to know."
Flash then made his way to K-Lo and Su-Z’s bus was parked, and as luck would have it, the two girls were exiting at that very moment.
"Oh, hey Suns. Wait, you aren't Sunset," Su-Z said.
"Must be a close friend of hers," K-Lo said as she applied some ruby red lipstick, an action that drew Flash’s focus to her lips, resulting in his heart skipping a beat. "Nice to meet you."
"Wow, you're pretty, I mean it's nice to see you too."
"What's your name?"
"You look like a princess, I mean Flash Sentry." Flash face palmed after this blunder, a mistake that also got K-Lo and Su-Z to laugh a bit.
"Wow, he must be a huge fan," Su-Z said.
"I'm sorry," Flash said with a blush.
"It's okay," K-lo said as she approached him. "Don't be nervous. Can I get you something, maybe a bottle of water?" Su-Z then went back into the bus to get him something to drink.
"How about an autograph, or a selfie with you, or your hand in marriage." Flash clamped his mouth shut after the last statement, but it was too late.
"Wow, that was definitely a new one," K-Lo said, unable to help but laugh. "Where do you want to honeymoon?" Flash's entire head then turned red from embarrassment. "Don't be so embarrassed, I meet fans that put their feet in their mouths all the time."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but you're the first that’s asked me to marry you."
"Uh, K-Lo, we have a problem here."
"What? Did he misplace where he put the ring? I'm sorry, I'll stop."
"It's fine. My own fault."
"No," Su-Z said. "I can't find your guitar."
"What?" K-lo then made her way into the bus and proceeded to look everywhere for her instrument. "This doesn't make sense."
"It must be with the other luggage."
"You mean the stuff that's supposed to come tomorrow?!" K-Lo then looked like she was going to burst a blood vessel. "We're supposed to play tonight. I can't do that without my guitar. What are we going to do? We can't cancel and let down our fans." At this point, K-Lo was practically hyperventilating, her breath was rapid and unsteady, and it didn’t take long for her to drop into a nearby chair in an effort to catch said breath. "What are we gonna do?"
"You need a guitar?" Flash said as he entered the bus.
"Yes," K-Lo replied.
Without hesitation, Flash unslung the guitar from his back. "You mean like this one?"
"Yes!" K-Lo practically shouted as she got up. "It's not exactly like mine, but I can work with it. You're really okay with me using this."
"Of course," Flash answered. K-Lo then took the guitar and played with it a little bit, getting the feel of its sound profile right away. To her surprise, Flash’s guitar was using the same tuning as hers.
"Thank you so much, Flash," K-Lo said, clearly very grateful. So grateful in fact that she pressed her hands to Flash's chest and kissed him on his lips before leaving with Su-Z to break the guitar in more.
Day 2
"She kissed me right on the lips," Flash said as he walked through the festival. He was so shocked by it he barely made it back to his tent where he quickly fell asleep. "I made such a fool of myself, but then she kissed me." Flash placed the fingers of his right hand on his lips, remembering the kiss as if he could still feel her soft warm lips against his. "Though I still need to get my guitar back."
He’d gotten that guitar as a birthday present from his mother, and it would be rather awkward explaining its sudden disappearance to her.
"Hey, you!" A large security guard called out to Flash which made him jump a little. "Come with me. PostCrush wants to see you."
"Okay," Flash replied. He then followed the guard, who led him right to the bus that he’d gone to last night, where K-Lo was waiting outside for him.
"Hey there," she said with a wave.
"Hey," Flash said, trying to sound cool, and somehow actually pulling it off. K-Lo then got up and returned his guitar.
"I can't thank you enough for giving this to me," she said as she blushed a bit. "You really got me out of a jam, I don't know if I can ever thank you enough for that."
"Oh it's nothing," Flash said as he blushed a little bit himself. "It's the least I can do for you, considering..."
"
"Well, you inspired me to play the guitar," Flash said as he got a little closer.
"Really? How did I do that?" K-Lo asked as she closed the gap as well.
"When I first heard you play, it made me want to be just like you. I hope one day that I can be as good as you."
"Well, I'm glad that I was able to inspire someone.It’s nice learning that I make a difference in other people’s lives."
"Yeah, you definitely made a difference in my life," Flash said as he and K-Lo were now standing right in front of each other.
"Aw, that's so sweet," the security guard said as suddenly both Flash and K-Lo realized that he was still there. "Need anything else Ms.?" K-Lo shook her head. "All right, I guess I should get going huh?" K-Lo and Flash nodded. After the guard left, K-Lo and Flash faced each other and rather intensely looked into each other's eyes.
"So," K-Lo said, trying to come up with something to dispel the uncomfortable silence that had enveloped them, but nothing was coming to mind.
"So," Flash responded, having the same problem.
"You wanna practice guitar together?"
"What?"
"You said that you wanted to play the guitar like me, I could show you a couple things."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, I'm kind of rather busy today so we can't do it for long, but I can show you some things for a while."
"Sure! That would be awesome. I couldn’t ask for anything better!"
"You mean besides giving you my hand in marriage?" K-Lo asked, which made Flash's face turn red again, which K-Lo couldn't help but laugh at. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist," she said as she laughed more.
"It's fine, it's my own fault," Flash said. After that, he sat down with K-Lo and they got to playing, hardly exchanging a word the entire time. This is wonderful.
Day 3
Flash Sentry back at his tent, practiced more with his guitar. Despite only practicing with K-Lo for a little while, he thought he had already gotten much better. He was already considering practicing more during his free time to improve even further, hopefully he would be able to even finish creating a song just for her in the process.
That had to impress her.
"Not quite there," Flash said, as he was having a little trouble finding the right words for a song. "But I think I'll have it down before the end of Starswirled. I hope." Flash then got out of his tent to stretch his legs and hopefully clear his mind, that and he was in the mood for some churros. Meanwhile, while Flash went to look for something to eat, K-Lo and Su-Z were relaxing by their bus, mostly.
"Kiwi, can you please stop all that guitar playing," Su-Z asked. "I can't hear myself think."
"Come on, Supernova, help me with this music. I think we can make a new song for the festival. I bet our fans would go nuts for it."
"I'm gonna go nuts if you keep playing." K-Lo then decided to stop, plus her fingers were getting quite tired.
"I'm sorry, I just want this new song to be perfect."
"A need for perfection is what caused us to go on our "indefinite hiatus" remember?"
"Fair point. Maybe if I clear my head and get something to eat I'll think of something."
"Good, because I want to hear more about Flash Sentry." Su-Z said as she sat down next to her friend.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you've taken a real liking to him real fast."
"Well, maybe, but it's nothing serious."
"Oh really? That's why you kissed him on the lips the night you met him."
"That was more out of gratitude."
"Does he know that?"
"That… is a really good question." K-Lo then got up and was about to head into the Starswirled Festival when Su-Z stepped in front of her.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to the festival grounds to look for Flash and something to eat."
"The festival grounds?"
"Yes, I just said that."
"Where all our adoring fans are, who will no doubt surround you and beg and plead for autographs and photos?"
"Right," K-Lo said after a pause. "I'll put on some sort of disguise."
"You know, you could just wait until we get backstage to get something to eat."
"It's fine, Supernova, I'll be in and out before anyone even notices." K-Lo then quickly slipped into something that she was sure no one would be able to recognize her in.
She was wrong.
"I LOVE YOU MUSIC!"
"I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN!"
"MARRY ME!"
The fans cried out to the musician who was quickly becoming overwhelmed, not to mention breathless. K-Lo started to panic and tried to figure out how to get away. When suddenly, a large purple cloud came out of nowhere, causing everyone to panic as they tried to figure out what was going on, especially K-Lo, who was in the center of the cloud. Suddenly, a hand grabbed onto her arm and she was forcefully, but gently, pulled right out out of the cloud, and before she could even ask why, another hand was placed over her mouth, stopping her from making a sound.
She started to panic when she saw it was Flash Sentry, but when he winked at her, something about that small gesture made her feel that she could trust him. "Relax," he said. "I got this." Flash then got up from the booth he’d dragged K-Lo behind. "HEY LOOK! SHE WENT THAT WAY!" Flash yelled as he pointed deeper into the festival. The other fans didn't even bother to ask questions, instead bolting in the indicated direction in hopes of catching up to the pop star.
"MARRY ME!" The same fan from before called out as he ran off with the others. After they had disappeared into the sea of festival goers, K-Lo got back up and brushed off some of the dirt that had gotten on her.
"Thanks, Flash, I owe you one."
"No problem, honestly, I kind of feel like I just rescued a princess."
"So I take it you were that one that made the cloud?"
"Well, I had a little help," Flash said as he pulled out several small purple orbs from his pant’s pocket. "I did a favor for this magician at my school named Trixie by giving her some guitar tips, and in exchange, she gave me these as a thank you. She was sure they would come in handy one day, and I guess she was right. I'll have to remember to thank her if I ever see her again."
"I'll have to thank her too," K-Lo said. "But I want to thank you first," K-Lo said as she was about to kiss Flash on the lips, but stopped to duck under the booth so several people with PostCrush T-shirts wouldn't see her.
"How about you thank me after I get you back to your bus?"
"Sounds good to me."
Careful to not expose her, Flash left his position behind the booth and quickly went around collecting accessories from the nearby vendors to make a more convincing disguise for K-Lo. When he returned, K-Lo wasted no time in changing into the new guise Flash had brought, and upon finishing this, the two made their way back to the backstage bus without another incident of her being recognized. "Thank you so much for helping me out there Flash, you're my knight in shining armor."
"Anything for you, my beautiful princess." Flash then kissed K-Lo on the lips, just like what she’d done the night they first met.
She enjoyed it just as much as Flash did, if not more.
"Well, I have to get to practicing. When you have a hoard of fans, you have to practice all the time to make sure you are always at your best so you don't let them down."
"Right, I understand. But honestly, I doubt you would ever let me down. It's just kind of hard to imagine."
"Thank you," K-Lo said with a blush. "That means a lot."
"You're welcome, listen, K-Lo."
Yes?"
"Can, can I borrow your guitar please?" K-Lo was rather surprised by the request, but considering what he'd done for her, she felt this was the least she could do for him. Su-Z, who was having a snack on a nearby chair, was rather shocked when she saw K-Lo give Flash her guitar.
What the? Su-Z thought. She goes nuts when other people touch her guitar. Even me. When Flash was handed the guitar, he quickly started playing it.
"K-Lo," Flash started to sing. "You make me happy just by being close to see, you mean oh so much to me. When I'm with you all else falls away, K-Lo, please oh please stay, K-Lo, K-Lo, K-Lo, ah nuts," Flash said as he stopped playing to K-Lo's surprise, who was rather enjoying the song. "I thought I had it. I've been working on this song for you. I thought I might have been able to get all the words out right now, but I guess not."
"I know how you feel," K-Lo said, which made Flash jump a bit.
"You do?"
"Yes, sometimes I can't get the right words out either," K-Lo said as she gestured for her guitar to be returned, which Flash did. K-Lo then played with the cords. "As a musician, I know that even if all the words aren't all there, the feelings behind them always are. As long as you remember that the words will always come eventually."
"Thanks, I'll remember that." Flash then got closer to K-Lo who put her guitar down allowing Flash to hold her hands. "K-Lo, I know we just met and hardly know much about each other, outside the stuff I learned from you in magazines." K-Lo laughed a bit at that. "But I've felt this powerful connection I can't explain since the moment I saw you."
"I-I think I may have felt it too," K-Lo replied as they got closer to each other and looked into each other's eyes.
"I don't know what's going to fully come out of this, or what will happen when this is all over. But until then, do you want to see what's going to come from the time we can spend here together?"
"Yes, Flash, I do." K-Lo and Flash then warmly embraced each other and kissed as passionately as they could. Each one felt as though they were a bee gathering sweet nectar from a beautiful flower.
Day 4
Flash wasted no time going to see K-Lo after he woke up and had breakfast, because she wanted to help him work on his song, and wondered if he might be able to help her with her own song. Flash thought it would be so fun to work with her on something like that, but he mostly wanted to help K-Lo with the song she was working on, because he wanted to keep the final draft of his song a surprise. When they met up once again, they wasted no time in getting to work on their music.
"How long did you say you’ve been practicing again?" K-Lo asked.
"Around my high school years," Flash answered. "In all honesty, it's kind of hard to internalize that I graduated already. Half the time I get up in the morning and rush my morning routine so I can get to school, but then I remember that I don't have to."
"Yeah, a change in the routine can be weird or rather hard to handle. Su-Z and I just started our little band, and before we knew it, we were a pair of big celebrities. Now some of the time it's nothing but a routine, it's nice to just take a break once in a while."
"That makes sense, but I wouldn't mind a new routine."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, now that I'm out of high school, I'm not really sure what to do. I mean I love that I got to come here. But other than that, I'm not quite sure what to do. Sometimes I just kind of feel like my life is on pause, or I'm just stuck."
"I wouldn't mind if someone would press the pause button for me and Su-Z."
"You do?"
"It's like I said, we hardly get a break from what we do. It’s like someone pressed the fast forward button for our lives, and they just won't take their finger off of the said button for some reason."
"Sounds exhausting."
"It is. Don't get me wrong, I understand how hard it feels when you're stuck in one place. But when you're moving from one place to another with hardly enough time to enjoy all of the places that you're going to, well-"
"You’d do just about anything for someone to press that darn pause button?"
"YES!" K-Lo said as she almost jumped up. "You really get me Flash," K-Lo said after she calmed down a bit and took a rather deep breath.
"Well, I have been admiring you from afar so to speak for a while. From- from magazines and TV interviews and stuff!" Flash said as he suddenly got nervous. "I'm not a stalker or anything like that, I swear." Flash calmed down when K-Lo placed her hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay Flash I understand what you mean. I get you too."
"Sorry, sometimes it's not just when I'm making a song that I have trouble finding the right words. I was even kind of like that with Sunset."
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that. How do you know her again?"
"Oh, we used to date."
"Ah, I thought so, I'm guessing since she gave you that pass you two were still friends when you broke things off."
"Not at first, it's a long story. Speaking of Sunset, how did she and her friend Pinkie Pie get to be on stage with you at the last Starswirled Festival?"
"It's a long story."
"Okay then," Flash said, deciding not to press K-Lo anymore. He had a feeling that the answer might be rather personal, he had no idea just how right he was. So to take his mind off of it, he began playing random notes and chords on his guitar to see if any of them would inspire him to think up more lyrics for his love song to K-Lo. Before he knew it, he’d found a tune he was in love with, and thought up a couple of ideas for lyrics that he would write down later.
"Wow, you're really in the zone," K-Lo admired.
"Yeah, you can't really make yourself get in there, but when you find a way, you're in there."
"I know what you mean. Sometimes I can't think of anything new for days, and then all of a sudden, I think up half of one before lunch. It can be hard at times."
"But it's worth it in the end when you know you could make something perfect."
"Well, maybe not go that far."
"What do you mean, K-Lo?"
"Well, you know how you asked how Sunset and Pinkie got on the stage with Su-Z and I?" Flash nodded. "Well to try to make a long story short, Su-Z and I tried to make our show as perfect as we could. But that ended up making more trouble for us. In the end, she taught us that in the end, it's not about perfection, it's about the fans, they didn't care about perfection, they cared about our music. And how sometimes it's the flaws in something that makes it great."
"Yeah," Flash agreed. "If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs."
"What?"
"I don't know it's something I heard on TV once," Flash said as he played his guitar more. "But I think I get what you're talking about, it just might not have been the best example."
"Well, maybe not. But it was kind of funny. Sometimes comedy is a great way to get your point across to others."
"Yeah, but you don't need to be funny for me to get your point."
"That's refreshing."
"Refreshing?"
"Oh it's nothing, I was just thinking about when Su-Z and I first started the band, it took us a while before we were taken seriously. From talent scouts to people that just thought two girls could barely even count as a band."
"Wow, that sounds rough. I may know how you feel."
"May?"
"What you said just kind of got me thinking about my parents. I'm almost twenty and I think it's time for me to move out and find a place of my own. However, they don't think I'm quite ready to do just that, despite my various attempts to prove that theory wrong."
"Parents certainly can be a handful, though I'm sure parents say the exact same thing about us kids."
"Considering my childhood, that would be a safe bet."
"All this talking about parents is making me want to call them." K-Lo then stood up. "You know, saying that out loud makes me realize that it’s actually a good idea."
"You think so?" Flash said as he got up with K-Lo.
"Yeah, do you mind if we cut this practice a little short?"
"No, that's no problem, you and I can always practice again some other time." Flash then grabbed K-Lo's hand and kissed it, which she couldn't help but blush at.
"Were you this romantic with Sunset?"
"No. But she wasn't a princess, like you." K-Lo then made her way back to the bus and suddenly Flash started strumming like crazy, which caught K-Lo's attention as he was playing rather well.
"Wow, sounds like you found yourself in the zone. Maybe I can stay out here with you a little longer, I'd like to somehow sneak in there and join you."
"I'd be honored to meet you there," Flash said as K-Lo started playing with him, and doing just that until she had to get to practicing with the other half of her band.
Day 5
Flash Sentry, once again waking up rather early, decided to make what had become his regular early morning walk around the Starswirl Festival. For as much as he wanted to go see how K-Lo was doing, he also figured that he should see what this festival had to offer as well. And if he found something that K-Lo might enjoy, that would just be a bonus. "Hey." Flash turned around to see who was talking to him, and to his surprise it was the rather large security guard from before.
"Oh, hello. Do you need something?"
"Sort of. I just wanted to tell you something?"
"I'm not in trouble am I?"
"Why did you do something?
"I hope not. I really like it here."
"I just have a message for you. K-Lo says she can't really hang out with you today. She decided to just spend some time with Su-Z today since, as she put it, she's been spending a lot of time with you."
"Well," Flash said as he started to blush a bit. "I wouldn't say a whole lot of time."
"Well," the security guard said. "She would. Rather impressive getting so close to her so fast. Some of these other guys would probably kill for a chance to be in your shoes."
"K-LO WHERE ARE YOU!" The fan from before who was still looking for her called out. "PLEASE COME OUT! MARRY ME!"
"I know that guy would kill for a chance to be in your shoes," the security guard said.
"Yeah, no argument here," Flash said. "I don't want to tell you how to do your job or anything, but I think that you should keep a very close eye on that guy."
"Yeah, no argument here," the security guard said back as Sunset and Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared from out of the meager crowd that was mulling around this early in the morning. Upon seeing him, the two began making their way over.
"Hey there, Flash," Sunset said. "How's it going?"
"It's going okay. What about you?"
"Oh, it's going all right for me too," Flash answered.
"From what I hear, it's going much more than okay for you," Sunset said. "Pinkie and I said hi to K-Lo the other day, and from what she told us, she took a very fast liking to you."
"Oh, you know about that?" Flash said, feeling a little embarrassed. "I took an immediate liking to her."
"Reminds me of the first time I had cake," Pinkie Pie said.
"So how did you two get so close so fast?" Sunset asked.
"I'm pretty sure it was when she kissed me," Flash answered.
"That makes sense," Pinkie said.
"Why did she kiss you?" Sunset asked.
"I gave her my guitar when she needed one on the first night, and she kissed me out of gratitude. After that, we decided to see what would come out of being with each other. Speaking of which." Flash then made his way to a nearby booth and wasted no time at all coming back with a rather large bouquet of flowers which he handed over to the security guard.
"Oh, for me? Wow, thanks a lot, I gotta say it's nice to be appreciated," the security guard said.
"Uh, actually it's not for you-"
"I know, I'm just yanking your chain," the security guard said before following it up with a laugh, which Pinkie and Sunset couldn't help but join in on. "I'll make sure that K-Lo gets these."
"Please and thank you," Flash said.
"And listen," the security guard said. "I've seen quite a few guys date the performers here, from what I can tell, you seem like one of the most gentlemanly that I've come across."
"Oh, thank you," Flash said. Her and I haven't really spent a whole lot of time together, so I'm not sure just how much of a compliment that is, but it's still nice, I guess.
Day 6
K-Lo had placed the bouquet she received the other day in the center of the dinner table that was within her tour bus. "Flowers huh?" Su-Z said as she saw her close friends still admiring the flowers she had received. "Rather old-fashioned don't you think?"
"I'd say it's more like classical," K-Lo said.
"You and that Flash guy have really gotten close to each other."
"Yeah."
"But what's going to happen when this Starswirl Festival is over and we hit the road again?"
"You know honestly, I haven't really given it that much thought. Mostly because I don't want to think about it. For now, the future can wait, live for the moment, you know?"
"It kind of sounds like you're putting off the inevitable."
"You think so?"
"Well, maybe just a little." K-Lo then continued to simply stare at the flowers as she started to think even more about Flash.
"Maybe this is something I should talk to Flash about," K-Lo said as she decided to pick up the flowers from the table and put them by the window. "Like a flower."
"Huh?" Su-Z said.
"Flowers are beautiful, but they don't always stay that way. However, as short as the beauty of the flower is, it can still make you happy. Just because something doesn't last very long doesn't mean you can't enjoy it."
"Wow, that's true. And also really deep," Su-Z said, rather amazed by her friend's words. "It reminds me of when we first started our little duo."
"It does?"
"Yeah, you weren't just artistic, you were really insightful. Something that could translate easily to music."
"Oh yeah," K-Lo said as she remembered those days. "You told me it would be loads of fun being in a band and we could really reach people with what we had to say."
"Yeah, and we're still doing that. It feels so nice to be back together."
"Yes it does. You know, I was thinking of meeting up with Flash again today. But if you want us to just hang out again today, that's fine."
"Nah it's okay, you go enjoy yourself." Not too long after that, Flash showed up at the bus with even more flowers.
Day 7
K-Lo and Flash made their way to a lake not too far from where the Starswirl Festival was being held. While new to festivals, Flash had visited this area many times when he was a kid, and every time he'd go swimming in the lake. And he didn't plan on stopping just because he was grown up. Despite having just gotten there, he wasted no time in jumping into the lake in his black swimming trunks, while K-Lo, who was dressed in a green one-piece swimsuit, decided to lay on a towel by a tree not too far from the lake and watch the clouds.
"This is nice," K-Lo said to herself. Before long, Flash made his way out of the water, and K-Lo sat up on her elbows to watch him come her way.
"Having a good time?"
"Yeah, I can't believe how relaxed I feel. I mean don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but sometimes it's great getting away from it all."
"I know. I've always felt like that, ever since I was a kid, coming here just has a way of making all my stress and worries melt away."
"I know how you feel." Suddenly, Flash laid down next to K-Lo, scaring her.
"Well, you don't exactly know how I feel seeing how you haven't joined me for a swim yet."
"Oh, actually, about that. I can't swim."
"What?"
"I can't swim."
"You can't swim but you brought a swimsuit?"
"Actually, this is Su-z's, she let me borrow it."
"Okay, and that was nice of her. So when you say you can't swim, do you mean you can't swim very good or-"
"At all. Period. I can't even cat paddle."
"It's a dog paddle."
"Either or, I can't do it."
"Well let's see if I can help with that."
"What?" Flash suddenly lifted K-Lo up, holding her with the back of her knees on one arm and the small of her back on the other. Taken off guard by this, K-Lo couldn’t help but put her own arms around Flash’s neck. "What, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to teach you how to swim."
"You're what?" Without warning, Flash started to walk towards the lake, causing K-Lo to panic. "Flash, put me down, I'm not kidding, I'm dead serious." K-Lo tried to free herself, but Flash's hold was too strong. "Flash, I'm not asking, I'm telling you, put me down."
"Are you sure?" Flash asked.
"Yes I'm sure! Put me down!" K-Lo demanded, realizing too late that Flash was already up to his crotch in the water. "WAIT! NO, DON'T PUT ME DOWN! DON'T PUT ME-" suddenly, K-Lo was thrown further into the lake, and when she landed, it took no time at all for her to begin thrashing like crazy. She started to panic when out of nowhere, Flash grabbed her arms and pulled them straight.
"Kick, K-Lo, kick!" Flash said, still holding her arms and pulling them to help keep her afloat.
"I'm gonna kick something!" K-Lo said darkly as she did as Flash told her. Suddenly, she began to establish her own control over her position in the water, and after only a few seconds of this, she was able to swim into Flash, who subsequently pulled her into a comforting embrace.
"See, it's not so bad," Flash said as he continued hugging K-Lo, who was rather impressed by just how muscular Flash was.
"No, it's not bad at all," K-lo said as she was feeling a few more of Flash's muscles.
"Trust me, it's not so hard, let me show you a few other things. Don't worry, I'm right here."
"Okay," K-Lo replied after a pause. Flash then showed K-Lo several other swimming moves that she actually managed to pick up almost right away.
"You're doing a great job," Flash said.
"I really am," K-Lo said as even she was rather impressed with herself.
"Yeah, you're taking to this like a fish to water. If you'll pardon the expression." K-lo then pressed her lips against Flash's, who returned the gesture in addition to embracing her.
"Your expression is officially pardoned." Flash then picked up K-lo once again and carried her over to the edge of the water. He gently placed her back down, still in the water, but barely, and leaned down to join his lips with hers. K-Lo welcomed the kiss and embraced him once again, their lips, as well as their embrace, rapidly became more firmly affixed, with neither one wishing to let go of the other. Eventually though, their lips disconnected, allowing them to look rather deeply into each other's eyes.
"I love you," Flash said as he stroked K-Lo's cheek, brushing a bit of her hair out of the way as he did so.
"What?" K-Lo asked, shocked by his comment.
"I said I love you. I know it's only been a week, but that's how I feel, and I don't just want to say it. I want to show it." Flash then got up and offered his hand to K-Lo, and despite still being rather shocked by his comment, decided to take it. Flash helped K-Lo up before guiding her deeper into the lake before prompting her to swim with him to the center.
"What do we do now?" K-Lo asked when Flash suddenly stopped.
"Now you take a very deep breath."
"I don't think I like where this is going," K-Lo said after a pause.
"You will, trust me," Flash said as he once again offered his hand, which was tentatively accepted after a time. "Hold on now, and remember what I said." Flash and K-Lo each took as deep of a breath as they could manage.
Flash then dove under the water, pulling K-Lo, whose hand he was still holding, with him, leading K-Lo to the very bottom of the lake.
He wasn't kidding about the deep breath, K-Lo thought. When they reached the lakebed, Flash made a b-line for a small rock, and when he picked it up, he began swimming back to the surface with K-Lo right behind him. After both of them gasped upon breaching the surface, they swam back to the shore.
"We went down there for a rock?" K-Lo asked when she followed Flash back onto dry land.
"Nope," Flash answered as a perfectly straight line appeared on the rock.
"A fake rock?"
"A watertight fake rock. I put it down there years ago."
"You did? How come?"
In a sort of silent response, Flash then opened the rock, revealing a ring.
"I put this in the lake when I was young for safekeeping for when I found a special someone. But I never thought that special someone would be right there with me when I got it."
"Couldn't you have just put it in a drawer or something?"
"Don't ruin the moment please."
"Sorry." Flash then took K-Lo's hand and placed the ring on her finger. K-Lo couldn't help but admire the ring, while rather old-fashioned, it was quite beautiful.
"This was a gift from my grandmother. My grandfather gave it to her when they were dating, and she gave it to me to give to a special someone. But I never would have thought that I would be giving it to that special someone like this. Nor that that someone would be as perfect as you, Kiwi Lollipop. So as I said, I love you." K-Lo couldn't help but be moved to tears at hearing that, making the ring she was being given all the more beautiful.
"I love you too," K-Lo said as she cried a few more tears of joy.
"That's so good to hear." K-Lo and Flash then kissed once again and, holding each other rather tightly, neither one wishing to ever let go of the other.
Day 8
As another day at the Starswirl Festival came to a close, the organizers decided they wanted to spice it up a little bit and have a rather colorful firework show. One that Flash and K-Lo had a perfect spot in which to watch it. However, to them, the most beautiful colors were the ones they saw in each other's eyes.
"I love you," K-Lo said.
"I love you too," Flash replied back before they pulled each other close and began to kiss each other as the fireworks lit up the night sky.
Day 9
After all the performers at the festival finished their sets for the day, they decided to have a private little party to celebrate. They even set up a spot in which to dance, a location Flash and K-Lo wasted no time in making use of.
"I love you," Flash said as they danced in the center of the floor.
"I love you too," K-Lo said back. They then kissed each other as they continued circling around on the dance floor.
Day 10
With help from K-Lo, Flash was finally able to finish his song for her, and to show his appreciation, he decided to perform it for her at the end of the day. "I would do anything for you, no mountain too high, no valley too low, I'd do it all for you. You, my true love, K-Lo." Flash finished, and when he looked up, he could tell by the look in K-Lo’s eyes that she utterly enjoyed it.
"That was wonderful," K-Lo said as she got out her own guitar, to Flash's surprise. "Now it's my turn." After listening to her play for several seconds, Flash decided to join in. The harmony this created was something that both musicians could thoroughly appreciate, a reflection of the connection they had formed over these last few days.
"I love you," they both said simultaneously upon finishing their duet in concert. Looking into each other's eyes, they once again locked lips.
Day 11
Morning came, and as Su-Z got out of bed, she saw that K-Lo was not only up, but had already finished breakfast and was currently dancing with the bouquet of flowers that Flash had given her with a big smile on her face. "Wow," Su-Z said.
"What is it?" K-Lo asked as she stopped dancing.
"It's you."
"Me?"
"Thinking about Flash?"
"Was it that obvious?"
"Insanely. You look like you're in the honeymoon phase, and you two aren't even engaged."
"He makes me so happy."
"I can tell."
"When I'm with him, it's like I found a piece of myself that I didn't even know I was missing."
"Are you sure about that? I mean, I'm not saying you're overreacting or anything, but you've only known him for about ten days."
"But it feels like ten years. I know that sounds crazy, but it just feels so right when I say it."
"Well, if you really mean that then I'm happy for you. It doesn't surprise me you found someone so special. I thought it would happen sooner or later, you always were the pretty one."
"Hey now, you're pretty too," K-Lo said as she put down the flowers and gave her friend a side hug.
"No, I'm just the talented one."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" K-Lo asked as she gave her friend a bit of a punch in the side. Su-Z then put her arm around her friend and they had a rather good laugh. "I may only have four more days with Flash, but I want to make the best of it." Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Su-Z was the first to get to it to see that it was Flash Sentry.
"Wow, speak of the devil. K-Lo and I were just talking about you, and I'm going to guess that those are for her."
"Yes, they are." Su-Z then grabbed the box of chocolates Flash was holding and gave it to K-Lo.
"What are you doing here so early, Flash?" K-Lo asked.
"Well, I was just thinking that maybe you'd like to come with me to see all the great stuff going on at the festival. Since it's almost over, I'd really hate it if you missed out on all that."
"Well, Flash, I'd really love to, but you were there the last time I did that. I think the guy that wants me to marry him is still looking for me."
"Don't worry, I've got that covered, compliments of Sunset's friend, Rarity." Flash then brought out a pair of dark brown shoes and long, dark green leggings from a large plastic bag he was holding. Next, he took out a lighter green shirt and matching skirt as well as a deep brown shawl to cover her shoulders. Lastly, he removed a rather long ochor wig that would cover her hair. "No one will recognize you in this."
"You know, I think he may be right," Su-Z said.
"And if it doesn't work?" K-Lo asked.
"Covered," Flash said as he pulled out another one of the smoke bombs he still had.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to try." K-Lo then put on the disguise and went with Flash to the Star Swirl Festival.
"You know, Flash, life is a lot like a maze," K-Lo said as she and Flash slid down a wall of the maze into sitting positions to rest their legs.
"It is?"
"Yeah, it has twists and turns."
"Right," Flash said as he started to understand more of what she was talking about. "Or how you think you're going one way but you end up going another, and sometimes you go down somewhere that you figure is going to be good-"
"And it turns out to be much better than you could ever have thought?" K-Lo interrupted to finish Flash's sentence.
"You read my mind," Flash said as he pulled her into a hug, one which she returned by pressing her hands to his chest. "And sometimes the trail ahead is full of unknown things, it can be rather scary, but you know you need to walk down there one day."
"Yeah, the future can be scary, but sooner or later it's going to come, so we need to do our best to prepare for it."
"K-Lo? Can I tell you something?"
"Sure."
"I may have only known you for about ten days, but it feels like ten years. Do you think that sounds nuts?"
"I think you read my mind." K-Lo then locked lips with Flash and wrapped her arms around his neck. "We should probably get out of this maze though," K-Lo said as she pulled away from Flash. "Don't want to get grass stains all over your nice leather jacket."
"Yeah," Flash agreed. "You might get them too, but it'll be harder to notice." K-Lo couldn't help but laugh at his point. She was then suddenly picked up as Flash had decided to carry her the rest of the way.
Day 12
Like yesterday Flash made it to the PostCrush bus early and wasted no time getting romantic with K-Lo. They were kissing while leaning on the side of the bus. "Every time I kiss you, it gets harder and harder to stop," K-Lo said.
"Except when we need to breathe," Flash said.
"True." K-Lo and Flash kissed once again and wrapped their arms around each other in a loving embrace. "I always watched and read stories about it, but I never thought that falling in love would be this wonderful," K-Lo said as she and Flash stopped again to breathe.
"And I never imagined that I'd be dating the one who inspired me to play guitar," Flash said back.
"It's still so nice to know that I inspired someone. Flash?"
"Yes?"
"Would you like to know who inspired me?"
"Can we kiss a little more first?"
"Flash!"
"Just kidding," Flash said as he raised his hands. They then sat down and K-Lo placed her head next to his shoulder.
"It happened when I was very young. My mother took me to a rather small cafe where a woman by the name of Marie Hui did this thing where she played all sorts of instruments one after another."
"You mean like a one woman band?"
"Something like that," K-Lo answered as she held Flash's hand tightly. "I heard all sorts of wonderful music and it made me want to make music as great as what I’d heard that day. And hopefully inspire others like she inspired me."
"So what happened next?"
"That's, kind of it."
"It is?"
"Well the bare minimum, I didn't want to go on that long."
"How come?"
"Because I want to go back to kissing you."
"Fine with me, after this would you like to explore the festival a little more?"
"Sure," K-Lo said as she placed her other hand on Flash's chest as they stood up. "And maybe go for another swim."
"That's a good idea, you need to work a little more on your backstroke anyway."
"FIne, but if you throw me in the water again, I'm putting you in a sleeper hold."
"Ah no offense, K-Licious, but I work out quite a bit, so don’t get upset when I say-" Flash was cut off when K-Lo decided to demonstrate her skills at subduing others. "Okay, okay! No throwing my sexy princess, let go please!" K-Lo did as he asked and Flash took a minute to recompose himself. "That was a rather impressive hold."
"A woman has to know how to defend herself. Now where were we?" K-Lo and Flash once again kissed, but before they could embrace each other, K-Lo pulled away. "K-Licious?"
"I thought that would be a nice nickname for you. You don't like it?"
"It's okay, but honestly, I like sexy princess better."
Day 13
Flash and K-Lo were once again exploring the grounds of the festival, with K-Lo still in the same disguise as before. They also met up with Sunset, who was with both her friends, one of which being Rarity, who K-Lo wanted to thank in person for the excellent disguise.
"Oh, think nothing of it, darling," Rarity said. "So is it true what Sunset told me? Are you and Flash an item."
"Yes, yes we are," K-Lo answered as she pulled Flash into a hug.
"Well, I for one think that's just wonderful. After that whole thing with Twilight, I didn't think you'd ever date again," Rarity said, not noticing Flash gesturing for her to be quiet, that or he’d just eaten a bag of bad prunes, and that was causing him to act all weird.
"Twilight?" K-Lo asked.
"She's an old flame, nothing to worry about, let's see if they added some new stuff to the maze," Flash said as he started to walk away while holding K-Lo’s hand, forcing her to come with him.
"Oh dear," Rarity said, realizing too late that she put her foot in her mouth.
"Geez, Rarity, why did you have to say that?" Sunset asked.
"I'm sorry, dear, sometimes I just say things without thinking," Rarity said.
"I thought I did that," Pinkie Pie said.
"You do," Rarity said.
"Oh," Pinkie replied.
Flash and K-Lo made their way to the maze once again, but there was something gnawing at K-Lo’s mind.
"So who is this Twilight anyways?" She asked. "Was she another girlfriend?"
"Sort of," Flash answered.
"Sort of?"
"Some time after Sunset Shimmer broke up with me, I met this girl, Twilight. I thought we had a thing, or something that could become a thing. But when I tried to get involved with her romantically… well, let's just say we were from two different worlds."
"Do you still love her?"
"I thought I did, until I started spending time with you. With Twilight and Sunset, I thought I was in love, but with you, I know I am. Because I can't help but smile when I so much as think about you, and when I see you, it's like invisible strings are pulling me towards you."
"Well that's good to hear, but how do I know you haven't used those lines on Sunset and Twilight?" K-Lo teased.
"A man can lie with his mouth, but he can't lie with his lips," Flash said before kissing her so passionately, she couldn't help but believe him.
"I suppose you have a point there," K-Lo said. "Did you think that point up all on your own?"
"Yeah I did, K-Licious," Flash answered, to which K-Lo couldn't help but groan.
"Still not a big fan of that?" K-Lo shook her head.
"I don't know, it just doesn't click."
"Whatever you say, sexy princess."
"Now that one I still like, my knight in flashing armor."
"Wow, that was a good one."
"Thanks," K-Lo said before they kissed again.
Day 14
"Wow, the last day," Flash said as he soberly woke up. "I can't believe it's here already," he said as he wearily sat up. Suddenly, he picked up something in his tent that he’d gotten the other day and clenched it in his fist. "But I'm going to make the very best of it." Flash got dressed and quickly made his way to PostCrush’s bus, where again, K-Lo was already out and about, and like Flash had been, was behaving rather somber. Flash came up to her and gave her the most passionate kiss he could give at the moment.
It cheered her right up.
"Wow, you really know how to cheer a girl up."
"I got you something too," Flash said as he retrieved a necklace that looked quite similar to the ring he’d given her a week ago from his pocket.
"It's beautiful," K-Lo said.
"It's nothing compared to you." Flash then put it around K-Lo's neck as she turned around so he could fasten the two ends of the necklace around her neck. Flash then began to kiss her gently on the back of her neck which made her moan a bit.
"That feels rather nice." Flash then hugged K-Lo from behind and kissed her neck as well as her cheek more passionately. "And that feels better." Flash then turned K-Lo around and she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for yet another kiss. "You're feeling quite romantic today, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I am."
"You're making me quite romantic too."
"That's good," Flash paused, taking on the melancholic look he’d had before coming here. "Because it's the last day of the Starswirl Festival, and the last day of us," Flash finished as he held K-Lo's chin with his hand and moved her head up so he could look into her eyes.
"Yeah," K-Lo said, also feeling sad again. "If only this festival could last forever."
"But since it can't, what do you want to do today?" K-Lo looked away from Flash to think for a moment, then looked back at him with a sparkle of joy in her eyes.
"If this is going to be our last day together, then let's go out with a bang. A musical bang."
"What?"
"Come with Su-Z and I on stage," K-Lo said with excitement. "We have one last performance here and it might not be perfect, but we want to make it the very best that it can possibly be. With you helping and playing music with us, it'll make it all the better. What do you say?"
"You know what? That sounds like a great idea. The idea of playing with you on stage sounds like a dream come true."
"So I take it that's a yes?"
"It's more than a yes, it's an ‘I'd be honored to,’ K-Licious!"
"Still not feeling that."
"Right, forget, sorry, princess."
"That's better," K-Lo replied with a smile.
***
The day slipped by quickly, like all the others had seemed to have. Flash wasted no time in helping PostCrush with their final performance. Not just with working on the music with K-Lo and Su-Z, but he also helped clean up the bus a bit and moved some of the equipment to make it a bit more organized. "Wow, he's really organized and clean for a guy," Su-Z said, clearly impressed.
"Yeah, he is," K-Lo said, impressed as well. Suddenly, a look of realization crossed K-Lo’s face. However, she didn't vocalize what it was, because she still had a few things left to do before the show started.
"Well I'm just about done on my part," Flash said as he went over to his guitar. He sat down and began practicing a bit to help him get ready. "This is going to be so awesome."
"Yeah, it is," K-Lo said as he sat down next to him. "Did you ever imagine that you'd get the chance to play with the person that inspired you to play music, and her friend."
"I'd like to think I'm a bit more than a ‘friend,’ but okay," Su-Z commented, but didn’t seem to have taken that much offense from the statement.
"No, I didn't. Two weeks ago, I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to talk to you, much less date you."
"Listen, Flash, I had an idea, do you think-"
"Kiwi, where did you put my drumsticks?"
"I didn't put them anywhere."
"Well then where are they?"
"How should I know!?" K-Lo then got up to help Su-Z find her sticks, and before K-Lo could return to her conversation with Flash, they all had to get ready for the show.
***
It was a rocking success. Flash showed off a few new guitar moves that K-Lo’d taught him, and the crowd loved it. The crowd went nuts when he and K-Lo played as a guitar duo, and Su-Z, not wanting to be left out, did a crazy drum solo. When the song came to an end, Flash grabbed K-Lo and kissed her, surprising the entire crowd, well almost the entire crowd.
"Wow, way to go Flash," Sunset shouted out.
"He's gotten quite unpredictable," Pinkie said. "Think he learned a little bit of that from me?"
"That might be a safe bet."
When the show came to an end, Flash went backstage with K-Lo to be with her for what he thought would be the final time.
"Well, K-Lo, I guess this puts an end to our time together. In all honesty, I don't want it to end."
"It doesn't have to."
"Huh?"
"Come on the road with us. Be our roadie."
"Roadie."
"You're organized, so you can keep the bus and our things in check. Plus you're talented with the music, you can join in on a song once in a while. Su-Z and I still want it to just be a duo for the most part after all. I know this is rather sudden-" K-Lo was cut off when Flash suddenly picked her up and spun her around several times before bringing her down enough to kiss her again.
"I'd love to. Whatever it takes to stay with you, K-Licious. Sorry, forgot again."
"You know what, if you like it that much, you can go ahead and keep calling me that."
"Really?" Flash then put K-Lo down and kissed her again. "You really are a princess, this is going to be great. Being on the road, seeing all new places, and with this, I can move out of my parent's house."
"I thought, or rather hoped, that you'd like this idea."
Day 15
The Starswirl Festival had finally come to a close, and Flash was helping K-Lo and Su-Z load everything onto the bus. "Well, this sure was fun, wasn't it?" Su-Z asked.
"The absolute best," K-Lo answered as she looked at Flash pack the last of the things before getting on the bus. "Ready for the next journey?"
"As long as you're there with me, I'm always ready." Flash then gave K-Lo a kiss, an act which prompted K-Lo to return with a kiss of her own. Each one feeling like they were a bee receiving sweet nectar from a beautiful flower.