For a long time after Sunset had left the place, the music room had been abuzz with the clear sounds of electric guitars. Together, Rainbow and Flash both played as well and as loudly as they could, producing quite a good sound. With her usual competitive streak, Rainbow was, naturally, more inclined to try harder, while Flash seemed more in it for the purpose of simply enjoying the music. However, given everything that had been happening, Rainbow's mind was, understandably, elsewhere. Not only was she trying hard with every moment to avoid thinking about the more mature aspects of her situation, but her condition also meant that, frankly, she was getting pretty hot. Sweat beads were rolling off her forehead more and more as time went on, and eventually, it all became so much that she became fairly distracted. Needless to say, this lead to slipped fingers and off-notes.

"Argh! Shoot!"

The poor-sounding music caused her to frown at her guitar, which, in turn, led to Flash stopping what he was doing. The boy regarded his playing companion, watching as she took off her instrument and tried adjusting her strings a bit. A look of slight concern crossed his face as he looked to her.

"Er...you okay there, Rainbow?"

Realising that her outburst had been witnessed, Rainbow took on a look of embarrassment, followed shortly by one of her forced laughs.

"Heh...um...yeah, sure. I'm fine."

Needless to say, Flash was far from convinced, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"It's just...you looked like you've got something on your mind."

But the girl looked away, in an effort to keep herself from looking at the guy directly, before speaking up again.

"Oh. It's...it's nothing. Just...just girl stuff. You know how it is."

Flash raised an eyebrow at that.

"Er...okay then. If you say so."

Turning to his own instrument, Flash did not resume his music, but rather got on with a few adjustments of his own. In the meantime, Rainbow kept looking away, seeming more than a little angry with herself. As she grumbled, she did her best to stay as quiet as possible, just on the off-chance that Flash could hear her.

"Ugh! Keep it together, Rainbow! You can't just keep thinking about stuff like that! Gotta keep up appearances and stuff. Can't let him know."

Every once in a while, she'd look over her shoulder, over to Flash, always looking away again if he looked like he was turning in her direction.

"I...this is ridiculous! I'm Rainbow Dash! The awesome one! That's my whole thing! I can't just go all googly-eyed cause some guy is here..."

Slowly, she turned to him again.

"...even if it is Flash."

Once again, Flash looked over to her.

"How's your guitar coming along?"

To that, Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

Then realisation struck her.

"Oh! Right! Um, well, er, you know, its fine, I guess."

Nodding, Flash gave her a friendly smile.

"Great. I'll just tweak with mine for a bit, then we can get right on back to belting out some music."

Forcing a smile of her own, Rainbow gave the boy a thumbs up. But, as she turned from him again, she took on a look of nervousness, putting her thumb into her mouth and biting it in a clear display of worry.

"I'm not gonna be able to do this! Not while I've got this...this...this stuff on my brain."

Immediately, a frown grew onto her face.

"It sucks! Having to just go nuts like this because of hormones, or magic or whatever. How do ponies cope with this kinda stuff? I mean, yeah, they probably...well...do that, but I can't just..."

Slowly, Rainbow's angry look turned into one of concern again.

"But...what if Sunset can't find anything to help us? What if we're stuck like this until our two weeks are up? Never getting a moment's rest until we're...we're...satisfied? What if...what if it never stops at all?"

Horror now gripped her as that thought sank in further for her. As for Flash, he'd long since finished tweaking with his own guitar, and now looked over to his music partner. Here, he noted, briefly, as she gave a short turn-around, that she was looking quite upset at something, and so, naturally, put his instrument aside for one moment and took a step closer to her.

"Rainbow?"

Spinning in place, Rainbow looked to him with surprise in her voice.

"What?! I mean...yeah?"

Flash raised an eyebrow.

"You've...well...you've been acting kinda weird since we started practise. Are you sure everything is okay?"

Again, Rainbow forced a smile.

"What? With me? Of course everything's fine! I'm Rainbow Dash, remember? Ain't nothin gonna get me down!"

But Flash still seemed concerned about her, bearing a sympathetic look as he folded his arms.

"Rainbow...I know you probably don't consider yourself as close to me as you do to Sunset and the other girls, but...well...I like to think that we're still friends. If there's anything you need, I'm...well...here for you."

Rainbow looked at him, at the honesty and sincerity upon his face, and knew that he'd meant every word of that. But, rather than seeming charmed or happy about his words, she turned away again, looking, if anything, even more worried than before, keeping her voice as quiet as possible.

"Shoot, Flash! Why do you have to be so...so...ugh, nice?! You're not doing yourself any favours here, buddy!"

Slowly, the athlete turned back into his direction, again trying to force a smile and let him know everything was fine.

"Heh. Thanks for the offer, Flash old buddy, but I'm pretty cool right now. So thanks, but no thanks."

Trying to look as composed as ever, Rainbow put a hand on her hip and used her other free hand to sweep aside some of her multi-coloured hair. However, when she did so, something happened on Flash's side of things. He looked at her, almost as if he was confused by something, which, naturally, led to Rainbow looking back at him in a similar manner. The boy tilted his head to the side for a moment, in the kind of manner one would when trying to make sense of something. After a while of this, Rainbow, understandably, started to become a little nervous.

"Er...Flash? You okay there, bud?"

Flash's eyes blinked a few times, and he eventually shook his head ferociously, as if trying to get himself out of a kind of trance.

"Er...yeah. It's just..."

He seemed hesitant about something for a moment, but eventually, he just blurted out what was on his mind.

"Rainbow. Are you...are you doing something different with yourself? Maybe styling your hair in a new way or something?"

Rainbow was taken aback by such a question, but nevertheless looked herself over briefly.

"Er...no. Why do you ask?"

Again, Flash seemed confused.

"I'm not sure. It's just...there's something about you today. You wouldn't happen to be using that magic of yours right now, are you?"

Again, Rainbow shook her head.

"Not right now, no."

Raising a hand, Flash scratched the side of his head.

"It's like...I dunno, like you have a glow about you."

But, rather than seeming confused by those words, Rainbow, perhaps as a result of her current state, instead took on a slight blush, lifting her hand and gently sweeping aside a stray hair that had fallen in front of her face.

"Well...thanks. I mean, I have been doing more exercise lately, so maybe its showing?"

Flash nodded, though still seemed a bit unsure about all of this.

"Well, it's...nice. I mean, you're looking pretty awesome at the moment. And I don't mean that in a weird way or anything, just...you know."

Despite herself, Rainbow chuckled slightly at the awkward manner in which the boy had offered his compliment.

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself these days."

Like her, Flash blushed slightly and gave a laugh, and together, and together, they smiled to each other. But, as time went on, Rainbow looked away, again seeming nervous about something.

"He...he did offer to help. And it's not like he's under any magic and stuff. So..."

She looked deep in thought for a moment, her eyes darting left and right, as if she were mentally debating with herself. Eventually, and after much consideration, she turned to face him once more.

"Um...Flash? We're friends, right?"

Flash was a little confused by that, but even so, he gave a nod.

"Sure."

Hesitantly, Rainbow took a single step closer to him.

"And if one of your friends was in trouble, you'd do what you could to help them, right?"

Again, Flash nodded.

"Of course I would."

Another step from Rainbow.

"So...would you, say...help a friend, who just happened to be a girl, with...well...a girl problem?"

Flash was a little unsure of that one, but still, he gave another nod.

"Sure. I mean, I said I would help, so...I guess I'd help no matter what the problem was."

Rainbow smiled a little, though bit her lower lip as she did so. She took another step closer to him, and then another, and another, all the while looking at him with a look in her eyes that could almost be described as hunger. But, before she could come any closer than a foot towards the boy, both she and he were taken aback by the sudden and loud sound of the music room doors bursting open. They turned in unison to see a very concerned, not to mention exhausted, Sunset Shimmer. The former unicorn panted furiously as she stood in the doorway, looking to both of them, before getting out her words in about as clear a way as she could.

"DON'T DO IT!!!"

Needless to say, Flash was confused by his ex's sudden appearance like this, but as for Rainbow, she stood there, thinking over what had just happened, and at the way Sunset was looking at her with concern. It took a few moments, but soon, her eyes widened with shock and realisation, and her head snapped back in Flash's direction.

"GAH!!!"

Immediately, she jumped back away from him, leaving the boy even more nonplussed about what was going on. Rainbow, spinning around, clasped her face with both hands, bearing a look of extreme guilt as she did so."

"I...I...I...I...what did I just do?! Oh God! I almost became a man-stealer!" she called out.

"Wait, what?" Flash added.

Sunset, having caught her breath, walked closer to her friend, with the latter turning to face her, moving forward and placing her hands upon Sunset's shoulders.

"Sunset! I...I almost..."

But Sunset did not look upset or angry with her. Rather, she just looked relieved. And her tone was reflected in the calm way she spoke.

"Its okay, Rainbow. It's your first time going through this. The fault is mine. I shouldn't have left you here."

But Rainbow still seemed upset at this point.

"What am I gonna do?! We've got two more weeks of this!"

Sunset nodded, giving a sympathetic look to her athletic friend. But, before she got the chance to say anything, she was distracted by the sound of somebody clearing their throat. Turning, she saw that it was Flash, who still retained that confused look of his.

"I don't mean to interrupt. But...can somebody please explain what's going on?"

Sunset hesitated for a moment, but, after feeling a tap on her shoulder, turned back to Rainbow, who looked to her with certainty in her expression.

"Sunset...after what I just did...we gotta tell him."

The former unicorn considered that for a moment, after which she let out a deep sigh. She smiled at her friend, giving her a brief nod, before looking back to Flash with utter seriousness.

"Flash, take a seat. This is gonna be a long story."

To that, Flash looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh.

"It always is, isn't it?"