He'd been sitting on that step for so long that, quite frankly, he was starting to lose all feeling in his posterior. Nevertheless, Flash continued to look along the street just outside his home, a look of eagerness upon his face as he did so. Every once in a while, he'd see somebody, causing him to shift in anticipation. But, as soon as they drew closer, he knew they weren't who he was looking for, so he'd simply sit himself back down again. Taking a moment, he let out a sigh, glancing upwards at the bright sunny day around him. It was a pleasant enough sight, causing at least a small smile on the youth. But, as was so often the way, his enjoyment of the weather did not last long, as a voice suddenly called out to him.

"Hey there, Flash!"

Looking along the nearby road, Flash broke out into a wider smile than before, getting to his feet at long last as Rainbow Dash now made her way towards him. Placing his hands upon his hips, the boy watched the girl draw ever nearer, and only when she was a few feet away from him did he finally say something.

"Nice to see you made it."

Chuckling slightly, the rainbow-haired girl started to answer.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late. Had to finish some stuff with Mom before I left."

But Flash simply shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. So..."

He then gestured to the door behind him.

"...wanna get started on practice?"

The girl nodded, prompting Flash to turn around fully, reaching forward and turning the knob of the door. Before long, both of them were inside, and as soon as Rainbow had entered, Flash closed the door behind her. They made their way further in, and it was here that Rainbow, after looking around slightly, started to speak up again.

"So, where's Scootaloo?"

Looking over his shoulder, Flash answered.

"Out with her friends. Some new movie they wanted to go and see."

Rainbow nodded to that, and it was only moments afterwards when the two entered the living room of the house. However, before either of them had the opportunity to say anything else to one another, a third voice started to call out to them from an adjacent room.

"Flash? Is that you?"

Smiling, Flash nodded in the voice's direction.

"Yep, it's me, Mom."

A brief laugh could be heard on the other side of the door before the voice of Flash's Mother spoke out a second time.

"Has that friend of yours arrived?"

Momentarily, Flash looked over to Rainbow, then looked back to the door.

"Yeah, she's here too."

At long last, the door started to open, and as soon as it did so, the two youths realised what was going on. Flash's mother was indeed there, but in her hands was a fully-laden tray of tea cups, no doubt already filled. But, because of this, Mrs Sentry had to enter by moving backwards, using her back to push the door open as she entered the living room. Seeing this, Flash reacted instinctively, rushing to the door and holding it open for her. This allowed the older woman to turn fully, looking to her son with an appreciative smile.

"Thanks, sweetie."

Flash nodded, but said nothing as his Mother's eyes began to drift in Rainbow's direction.

"Now, how about we give your..."

She stopped, for her sights had landed on Rainbow fully. It was as if she'd only just realised who it was that had arrived here, and for just a brief moment, it was like she'd seen a ghost. Naturally, Rainbow herself was a little taken aback by this, but nowhere near as much as Flash, who stood beside his Mother and regarded her with a great deal of concern.

"Mom? Are you okay?"

His words snapped her out of it, and she returned to her prior smile as she looked to him.

"Yes, Flash. I'm sorry. It's just...you never said anything about Miss Dash being the one you were inviting over."

Flash took on a look of confusion.

"Is...is that...a problem?"

Hastily, Mrs Sentry shook her head.

"Nope! Not at all!"

Then, the woman silently gestured for her so to take hold of her tray for a short while, which he dutifully did. With her hands now free, Mrs Sentry took a few steps over to Rainbow, holding out her hand to her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Dash."

Smiling back, Rainbow took her hand and shook it.

"Likewise, Mrs S."

Scratching the back of her head, Rainbow let out a brief but nervous laugh.

"Hehe...I, er...I hope us practising guitar in the garage won't bee too loud for you?"

The other woman laughed right back.

"Think nothing of it, my dear. I've been around Flash's band plenty of times. Trust me, this old girl can take it."

Rainbow nodded in approval to that, before then looking over to where Flash was.

"So...shall we get started?"

The boy nodded, but then his eyes drifted down to the tray in his hands.

"Sure, but...shouldn't we drink this stuff first?"

Realisation crossed Rainbow's face, and she moved closer to him, taking her respective cup form the tray. Mrs Sentry did the same, and with the tray itself now lighter, Flash set it to one side, before then getting his own cup. There was a time of silence between them, during which they simply contented themselves to blow on their tea and then drink it once it had cooled off enough. But, after some time had passed, Flash looked over to one of the nearby doors.

"You mind if I head over to get the gear sorted out?"

Rainbow looked to him, nodding in agreement to that, prompting the boy to smile in response. He began to walk, his cup still in his hand, and before long, he was out of sight, no doubt going to the garage to sort out whatever musical equipment he had there. As for his Mother, she'd kept her eyes on him as he'd gone off, and now that she was alone with Rainbow, she started to take on a look of nervousness. It was something that had not escaped Rainbow's notice, but for now, the girl remained quiet. Turning, Mrs Sentry looked to her, trying to seem as composed and chipper as ever, as evidenced in her more upbeat tone as she spoke to the girl.

"Would it be alright with you if I just got a few biscuits to go with this?"

Hearing that, Rainbow smiled to her, giving a single nod. Mrs Sentry seemed to appreciate this, but then got back to the business of walking back where she'd come from, towards the kitchen. After the older woman had closed the door behind her, Rainbow was now left by herself, and after taking a further sip of tea, she started to glance around the room. There was little here that was truly remarkable. It was just a standard-looking living room. What did catch her interest though was the nearby fireplace. Specifically, there was a shelf above it that seemed to have a number of old photographs, lovingly displayed. Curiosity took hold of her, and she moved closer to them. Her first sight brought an amused smile to her face, as it seemed to be of Flash as a young child, holding a toy guitar and smiling to whoever had been holding the camera.

"Hehe...cute."

She then looked to other photos. There was another one with Flash. One depicting an older couple, perhaps Grandparents of some kind. Others had Scootaloo with her friends. One with Flash and Scootaloo beside their Mother. And then, she came to the picture at the very end of the shelf. It was Flash, looking very young, and standing in front of two adults. One was clearly Mrs Sentry, and the other was a man, whom Rainbow assumed had to be the boy's Father. And here, her smile faded. At first, she rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn't seeing things. Then, she took a step closer, her eyes fixed completely on the man in the picture. She stared at him for the longest time, before whispering under her breath.

"Is...is that...?"

Looking around, she found somewhere suitable to put her cup, and swiftly did so. Then, she reached into one of her pockets, pulling out her wallet. After rummaging around inside of it for a few moments, she pulled out a single tiny photograph. Like the previous picture, she stared at it, her eyes drifting from one to the other. After enough time had passed, her expression became one of utter shock.

"...No."

Her voice was quiet, almost meek when she'd said that, but, for the time being, she said nothing further. Because just then, she was caught off-guard by the clearing of somebody's throat, causing her to snap her head in its direction. There, right in front of her, was Mrs Sentry. How long she'd been standing there, Rainbow could not say. All she knew was that she now had a look of sadness to her. Neither of them said anything, but before long, the older woman moved closer to the girl, reaching out her hand.

"Rainbow...if I may?"

Rainbow glanced down to the photo in her hand, then looked back up to Mrs Sentry. Sighing, she handed it over, and as the other woman took it, she began to observe it just as intently as Rainbow had done not long ago. Eventually, she closed her eyes, letting out a sigh of her own, before then handing the photo back to her.

"...Of course."

Taking the photo back, Rainbow seemed to share in the inability to say anything right now. But, both of them turned just in time to see Flash re-enter the room, looking rather pleased with himself.

"Okay, Rainbow. It's all set up. We're ready whenever you want to start."

But, all that met his words were the silent stares of his friend and Mother. The smile faded from his face at seeing this, and after glancing from one to the other, his gaze settled to his parent.

"Mom? What is it?"

Mrs Sentry turned to Rainbow, who seemed to be looking at her just as expectantly as Flash was. Then, after shutting her eyes tightly, she began to speak softly.

"Flash, honey...there's something...I need to tell you."