A sad and dejected Flash walked down the streets as he made his way home. Given how many times he had been rejected before, you’d think he’d been used to this feeling. But each rejection had made Flash all the more determined to try again. Though it’s not to say that the feeling of rejection still didn’t hurt him. Along his way, Flash could spot several other couples enjoying themselves; a boyfriend and girlfriend were sharing spaghetti with each other like that one Disney movie, another couple was cuddling close for comfort, even an elderly couple were walking together, holding hands.

“So many people have found their own true love,” Flash sighed, “It’d be nice if I could find true love too. But alas, I’m just… not meant to have it.”

A two-story mansion stood proud among many other houses on the street. This was the humble home of Flash’s rather eccentric, adoptive parents. Down in the greenhouse was a rather lovely woman tending to some plants. She had sapphire eyes, long, wavy black hair, and wore a gothic, dark green gown. This was Orchid Nightshade, an expert botanist, and lover of exotic plants. At this moment, she was humming a cheerful tune as she was feeding her plants meatballs for lunch.

“Open wide, Audrey,” she said, holding up a meatball on a fork. “And don’t forget to chew. We don’t want you to choke.” The flytrap in question opened its pod, allowing Orchid to put the meat inside. Satisfied with its meal, the plant chomped happily, allowing Orchid to pet it as if it were a cat. “Oh, such a good girl.”

She then went over to the next plant. “You’re turn, Seymour.”

The second plant, Seymour, opened its pod, and was just about to be fed when another vine snatched the fork away, revealing a much bigger flytrap intending to steal the meatball for itself.

“Shame on you, Orin!” scolded Orchid, “You’ve already had your lunch. Let the others have theirs.”

The plant, Orin, reluctantly gave the meatball back, and folded its vines up as if it were a child throwing a tantrum.

“You’re such a bully, sometimes,” sighed Orchid as she went about with her feeding.

Once the plants had all been fed, Orchid went into the living room where her husband was reading the paper while standing on top of his head. He was a rather dashing fellow with dark hair, wore a blue, chalk-striped suit with a red tie, and sported a pencil-thin moustache. This chap was none other than Parry Ordinance, zillionaire lawyer and fencing master.

“Anything interesting in the paper, darling?” Orchid asked.

“Ah, same old, same old,” sighed Parry. Quickly raising his hand, he flipped through the pages before setting his hand back to keep his balance. “Ooh, looks like the deli’s having a special sale on roasted chicken.”

“Oh, how delightful,” smiled Orchid, “The plants have been getting a craving for poultry lately.”

Parry then flipped to another page before frowning.

“And that Abacus Cinch is having an article retaining the new rules and regulations for anyone applying to Crystal Prep,” he said.

“You mean she’s still alive?” Orchid asked disappointedly, “Oh, phooey…”

Just then, the door opened up, and Flash walked in.

“I’m back,” he called.

“Welcome home, dear,” Orchid greeted,” Have a good time with your friends?”

“It could’ve gone better,” Flash sighed. His folks could tell by the tone in his voice something was wrong.

“What’s the matter, kiddo?” asked Parry

“I got rejected,” said Flash, “Again.”

“Oh dear, another rejection?” gasped Orchid, “I swear, the girls of Canterlot City have absolutely no idea what a wonderful boy they’re passing up.”

“Why don’t you join me in a little Zen Yogi, and tell us about it?” Parry offered, “It’ll do a world of good, and it’ll help with sore feet.”

With nothing to lose, and a quick “Alley Oop!”, Flash flipped onto his head like his adoptive father. Though it was clear he was struggling.

“How are you able to do this and keep such a good balance?” Flash questioned, trying not to fall over.

“Years of practice, my boy,” said Parry, ”But you’ll get the hang of it someday. Now what happened?”

“Well,” said Flash, trying to keep balance, “it’s like what happened with every other girl I asked out. I told Starlight how I felt about her, I listed the things I liked most about her, and asked her out.”

“And what reason would she have to turn you down?” asked Parry.

“Said her heart belonged to her best friend, Sunburst.”

“That wizard boy from the Astrology Club?” asked Orchid.

Before Flash could answer, he lost his balance and fell onto his back.

“The very same,” he groaned, rubbing his head as he was helped back to his feet by Parry, who was back on his own feet.

“Unless I’m mistaken,” Parry added, “his mother, Stellar Flare, has a thing for younger men.” A concerned look then spread on his face. “She hasn’t tried flirting with you, has she?”

“Not that I know of,” insisted Flash, causing his adoptive parents to sigh with relief.

“Good,” Orchid said firmly, “Because if that uptight cougar even thinks of trying to seduce my sweet little angel, my plants may find themselves with a new meal!”

“Querida!” Parry gasped, sounding alarmed, “How could you even think of such an idea? Feeding Stellar Flare to your plants. She’d give those poor things severe indigestion.”

Realizing her mistake, Orchid snapped back to her senses.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Mon cher,” she apologized, “It’s just that the idea of someone wanting to take advantage of Flash puts me in a blind rage.”

“It’s perfectly alright,” her husband comforted delicately, “It’s natural for a parent to be so protective of their child in unexpected events.”

It warmed Flash’s heart to see his adoptive parents hold such a loving bond with each other. Yet at the same time, he felt sad that he would never get to experience that himself. But before he could say anything, he noticed an opened letter on the coffee table. The envelope had the official Crystal Prep wax seal on it, out of the corner, Flash could see that it was an acceptance letter.

“I… take it you want me to attend Crystal Prep once Summer’s over,” said Flash, willing to accept his fate. Hearing this caused Parry and Orchid to look at Flash as though he had said something completely ridiculous.

“Crystal Prep?” asked Orchid, “Why on earth do you think we’d ever send you there?”

“Well,” Flash admitted, “It’s just that you guys used to attend Crystal Prep when you were my age. So I assumed you wanted me to carry on the tradition.” He gestered over to some pictures above the fireplace. Two pictures showed Parry and Orchid, both teenagers, in the official Crystal Prep outfits. Teen Perry was holding a fencing sword and posing for the fencing team while Teen Orchid proudly held a large plant in a pot with a blue ribbon for a gardening contest.

“Yes, but things were different back then, Flash,” Parry explained, “When we were your age, Crystal Prep was a much nicer school. The teachers and headmistress all taught us to play fair, and treat others with the utmost respect, whether they were upper class or lower class.”

“But all that changed when that… Abacus Cinch took over,” Orchid frowned. Just speaking the name made her feel ill. “Once she was in charge, fair play and good sportsmanship became a thing of the past. She had practically turned the school into a re-education center, where students were taught that victory and being the best was more important than acting like decent human beings. You are far too good a boy to be bullied and looked down on by those entitled, elitist snobs, Flash.” To prove this, she tore up the Crystal Prep letter, and tossed it in the fire.

“So instead,” Parry added, “we’re sending you to a school with a much friendlier atmosphere - Canterlot High. Might not be as fancy as Crystal Prep, but the staff are nice people, and you’re sure to make tons of new friends there. And the best part is… your parents used to go there.”

“My biological ones?” Flash asked. Parry simply nodded before showing another picture. This time, it was teenaged him and Orchid engaged in a friendly chat with two other teens. The boy had Flash’s eyes while the girl had his sapphire blue hair. “Oh wow…”

“If they were here,” Parry smiled, “I’m sure they’d be proud of the young man you’re turning into.”

“Yes, dear,” Orchid added, “You might not be our biological son, but you’re still family. And good families look out for each other.”

“Thanks, guys,” Flash smiled, embracing his adopted family in a hug. He’d known for years he was adopted, and hadn’t felt comfortable enough to call them ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ until he was about 7 because he was afraid of betraying his real ones. Though thankfully, that was in the past.

“Oh, I’d almost forgotten,” Parry realized, “This parcel came for you in the mail.” He handed a small box to Flash. It was painted white with golden trimmings along the side. Oddly enough, there was no tag revealing who it was from.

“That’s odd,” murmured Flash, “I’ll look at it a bit more after dinner.” With that, he went upstairs to put the box in his room.

That evening, when dinner was over, Flash was in his room, getting ready for bed. While he was still bummed at being rejected, he was at least glad he’d be going to the same school his friends were going to.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he announced proudly, “Flash Drive lives on!” He then began playing air guitar with his fingers. A playful bark interrupted his solo as he noticed his dog, Bananas, on his bed. Bananas was a brown and white Boston Terrier with a little sweater on him.

“How could I forget Flash Drive’s biggest fan?” Flash chuckled, giving the pooch some much deserved pets, “Big things are shaping up, Banana. I’ll be going to a new school. Hopefully, it’ll be my chance to finally find true love…” Flash’s thoughts were interrupted again by Banana’s barking. “What’s up, boy?”

Banana then started pointing with his left paw to something on the desk close to the bed. Flash turned around and noticed the little box he’d gotten was glowing. Feeling curious, he opened the box, and noticed a pair of dice with little red hearts in place of the usual dots.

“Cute,” Flash chuckled, picking the dice up, “Looks like a little novelty leftover from Valentine's Day.“ He looked back down at the box, and noticed a card glowing. He picked it up, and noticed something written on it in golden letters.

‘Make a wish, and roll the dice’.

Flash blinked in confusion as he looked at the dice in his hands. Were these dice really magical enough to grant wishes? He looked back at the card only to watch it vanish in a flash of gold. Flash rubbed his eyes, trying to make sense of it all. Perhaps he was merely hallucinating about that card, and what it read. And yet… What if he hadn’t hallucinated? Could this finally be the chance he needed to end his rejection streak once and for all? With nothing left to lose, Flash closed his eyes, held the dice firmly, and made his wish.

“I wish to find true love!” With that said, Flash tossed the dice onto the floor. The dice rolled a bit before stopping on the value seven - a three and a four. After a few seconds, nothing seemed to happen.

“Guess it was just a joke…” Flash sighed. Banana, meanwhile, sniffed curiously at the dice, trying to see why it would play such a joke on his human. Suddenly, the dice began to glow as gold dust began to swirl up from them, causing Banana to bark urgently and hide under Flash’s bed. This caught Flash’s attention as he saw the gold dust cyclone grow bigger, and the glow became brighter, causing him to shield his eyes. After a few seconds, the glowing had died down. Slowly, Flash lowered his arm and opened an eye. There, standing before him, was a young man he had never seen before, dusting gold dust off his sleeve. He had red hair and green eyes. His outfit was complete with a red vest over a white, long sleeve shirt, a pair of black trousers, golden shoes, and a green hat. This chap seemed to be a card dealer with a very poor fashion style.

“Flash Sentry,” the stranger declared with an Irish accent, “Yer wish has been heard, and yer wish has been granted.”

“A-are you… a genie?” Flash asked in bewilderment.

“Genie?” the stranger scoffed with a laugh, “Ye mean those big fellers who live in wee little lamps and grant wishes? No no no, I’m somet’ing far better than a genie.” He then tipped his hat as he bowed his head slightly. “Blackjack Razz at yer service.”

“Well what are you then?” Flash asked, “And more importantly, how do you know my name if we’ve never met before?”

“Oh, I know all about ye, Flash,” Blackjack insisted, “Been watchin’ over ye since the day ye were born. As for what I am, though…” he grinned playfully “...oh ferget it, ye won’t believe it.”

“What?” Flash asked, “You can tell me.”

Blackjack smirked and turned away with his arms folded. “No no no, ye’ll just t’ink I’m silly.”

“Oh, come on!” Flash begged, sounding like a child who wanted to open his Christmas presents early, “Pretty please?”

“Alright alright, ye’ve convinced me,” Blackjack chuckled, “I… am… yer Guardian Angel!”

“Guardian Angel?!” Surely this had to be some sort of joke. But Blackjack had predicted this response, and was well prepared to prove himself. He opened his vest to show a golden badge pinned to his shirt with the words ‘Guardian Angel’ printed in the middle.

“This is mainly a placeholder till I’ve officially earned me wings,” he explained, closing his vest back up, “But let’s get to the true reason I’m here - to help ye out.”

“Help me out?” Flash blinked.

“Aye,” said Blackjack. “Me boy, yer undeserved back luck in the romance department ends here. From the moment ye enter Canterlot High, ye’ll be on the path to finally findin’ true love.”

True love? After all the rejections he had put up with, was Flash finally fated to find true love? No. Surely this had to be some sort of prank.

“Riiiiight,” said Flash sarcastically as he nodded, looking around the room, “Is this supposed to be an entry for ‘Canterlot’s Captured Crazies’? Where’s the cameras at?”

“This is no joke, Flash,” scolded Blackjack, “T’is written in the stars. If there’s one thing we Guardian Angels never joke about, it’s when we tell people when they’re bound to meet their destined soulmates.” Flash could see that Blackjack wasn’t fooling around. He then had another question.

“What’s a soulmate?”

“A soulmate is the kindred spirit who was chosen for ye before ye were born,” Blackjack explained, “The ideal romantic partner of yer dreams.”

Ideal romantic partner… Flash thought in amazement. This could, in fact, be the real deal. But suddenly, a realization dawned on him. “How will I be able to tell who’s my soulmate, and not just a one-sided admirer, or scammer trying to manipulate me?”

“Not to worry, me boy,” said Blackjack, taking his hat off and pulling out a silk sheet from it, “There be a very simple way of deducin’ that.” He laid the silk on the ground, tapped his foot twice, then with a quick tug, he pulled the silk away, magically summoning a blackjack table in its place. Flash wanted to question how Blackjack pulled this off, but then he remembered who he was talking to, and let his new magical friend do his job. From there, several playing cards flew out of Blackjack’s right sleeve and landed into his left hand, forming a full deck.

“Now pick 3 cards,” he advised, fanning the cards out, “Then lay them on the table without lookin’ at ‘em.”

Flash did so, picking three cards at random, and laying them face down on his side while Blackjack shuffled the rest of the deck and set it on his side of the table.

“Here’s how this works,” Blackjack explained as he flipped the top card of the deck onto the table. The card showed two figures unintentionally walking towards each other as a clock is shown above them. ”At specific points in their lives, soulmates are fated to meet up with one another.” He flipped over a second card, showing the figures making eye contact with each other as an electrical spark forms between the two bodies. “When they first make eye contact wit’ each other, a sudden shock, known as a Zing, runs through their bodies. Ye ever pull on them gag gums that shock ye?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“That’s how strong a Zing feels,” said Blackjack. He then flipped a third card, this time showing the couple from the previous card had become completely infatuated with each other. “This here Zing causes the soulmates to feel an immense passion fer each other, instantly fallin’ head over heels, and experiencin’ the phenomenon called ‘Love at First Sight’.” From there, a fourth card flipped, showing the female figure holding her heart as she swoons while her male lover, on the bottom half of the card, stands cluelessly around as a clock on the wall spins. “In many situations like this, the ladies often recognize it the moment it happens while the fellers may need a wee bit more time to realize that the love bug’s paid ‘em a visit.”

Flash was rather puzzled to hear that bit. “How come guys take longer to figure this out than girls do?” he asked curiously.

“No one knows fer sure,” Blackjack shrugged, “Though in me own personal opinion, some fellers are just plain eejits.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Flash nodded. He knew from personal experience that some people weren’t all that bright.

“Truth be told,” Blackjack admitted, “I’m not really supposed to tell ye about all this. See, Guardian Angels are supposed to let people find their soulmates on their own. But seein’ as ye’ve had it rather hard with all the rejections, I felt ye deserved a little slack.”

“What about all the people who spend their whole lives single?” asked Flash.

“Well not everyone gets to have a soulmate,” explained Blackjack, “Especially since there are some rather nasty people out there who don’t even deserve ‘em.” That was another fact Flash wholeheartedly agreed with. He hated that there actually existed people who were so cruel and selfish, that they would actually abuse the people they’re meant to love for either their own gain, or just for the sake of control and dominance.

“Now the ones who do have soulmates are rather blessed,” Blackjack continued before smirking, “But those with multiple soulmates… now they’re even more blessed than they could ever imagine.”

“People can have more than one soulmate?” asked Flash.

“It’s a pretty rare moment,” said Blackjack, “But it’s happened before. And it’s guaranteed to happen again.”

“It is?”

“Aye,” Blackjack nodded. He then gestured for Flash to turn over the three cards from earlier. They were a Seven of Hearts, an Eight of Hearts, and a Six of Hearts. “Ye see, Flash, ye won’t be just meetin’ one soulmate when ye join Canterlot High. Ye’re destined to meet twenty-one soulmates!”

“T-T-T-T-Twenty-one?!?” Flash gasped. His eyes widened so much, he thought they were gonna pop out of his sockets, and roll onto the floor.

“Ye heard me right,” confirmed Blackjack, “Somewhere out there are twenty-one lovely ladies lookin’ fer that special someone to share an eternity of true love and happiness with. And they’re all yer’s, me boy! They’re all yer’s!” He then spread the cards about, causing them to magically float on their own, and take the forms of twenty-one ladies, all silhouetted in glowing light.

“Oh wow…” Flash gasped in amazement, “21 girls all for me… after all this time of being rejected. I… I can’t believe it…”

“Ye’d better believe it, Flash,” Blackjack grinned as the magic women disappeared, “Ye’re a very lucky young lad. From this moment on, all yer dreams will become realities.” He then picked up the dice, and handed them to Flash. “And if ye ever need me guidance again, just roll a Lucky 7, and I’ll come faster than ye can say ‘Four-Leafed Clover'.”

Flash stared at the dice for a few seconds, then turned his head up to Blackjack.

“Thank you,” he said in complete gratitude.

“Trust me, Flash,” said Blackjack, shaking Flash’s hand, “Great things are comin’ yer way.” And with that, he turned to gold dust, and disappeared. Banana slowly poked his head out from under the bed, wanting to see if everything was safe again.

“Well how do you like that, Banana?” Flash chuckled, petting his dog, “After all those rejections, I’ve finally hit the Jackpot.” He walked over to his window and opened it, looking out at the rest of the world. “Somewhere out there, my destined soulmates are waiting for me. I can’t wait to meet them, and finally live the life of true love I’d always dreamed of.” A happy tear trickled down his cheek. “Fate is finally smiling on me…”

Author's Note

Well it looks like Flash is finally going to find the happiness he was looking for. Let's hope this Guardian Angel wasn't pulling his leg for the lols, though.

Fun Fact: The characters Parry Ordinance and Orchid Nightshade were inspired by the 1960's versions of Gomez and Morticia Addams. There's also a fun Musical-Related Easter Egg in this chapter. See if you can find it.