//------------------------------// // Temporarily Homeless // Story: Comet Chaser - Busy for a Birthday // by CometChaser //------------------------------// “Comet Chaser! Where have you been!” His landlady had been waiting just inside the door of his apartment building. He’d been hoping to sneak by without a confrontation and was glad to see nopony standing around the front door, but apparently, it had been a trap which was now sprung on him. “You better have a pretty damn good excuse. I got called away from my party last night when a colt left his keys in his apartment. I kept my spare set of keys on me so I was able to let him back in. It was still early so I decided to wait for you before heading back but you never showed up. I missed EVERYTHING! And on top of that, you made it seem like I’d done it on purpose! Like I wanted to ditch!” Comet Chaser stared down at his hooves in same. “I’m sorry, I really am. I was unexpectedly occupied all last night.” “What could you have possibly been needed for after the ceremony? The cleanup crew didn't start till this morning. Didn’t you spend all last week making it just perfect? So this very thing wouldn’t happen?” He knew he couldn’t lie, even if he thought she’d believe whatever bullshit story he made up, he refused to violate his own moral code. “I’m sorry ma’am. I met a very nice mare and we were talking for quite awhile. Time got away from us.” His landlady's eyes widened in understanding, then swiftly narrowed in anger. “Oh now I see what this is about! You got a special somepony who’s more important than your obligations. I’m sure you two were ‘talking’ all night. Well, Comet Chaser, frankly I’m disappointed. Why don’t you pack your stuff.” “But ma’am! I give you my word. I wo-” She held up her hoof cutting him off mid-sentence. “Clearly your word isn’t what I thought it was.” She sighed with exasperation, “Just go, I want you out of here by sundown. If you need a place to stay I happen to know the Canterlot Hotel has some empty rooms now that the coronation crowd had moved on.” “I’m sorry, I’ll have my things ready to go by noon.” With that, he slowly trotted past his still upset landlady, who was watching with narrowed eyes as he passed. He ascended the stairs for what may be the last time. Walking through the narrow hallway leading to his room, he wondered how the other tenants had spent their evenings. It was pretty early but still, he should have started hearing Octavia across the hall practicing with her cello, or even her roommate Vinyl Scratch playing his… What had she called it..? Dub? Dub step? Yeah! Dubstep! He figured Octavia must be catching up on sleep missed last night since her four pony ensemble had played at the start of the coronation. And undoubtedly “DJPon3” as he was known had been out partying all night. Entering his room, he suddenly felt like his soon to be former home was incredibly bare. Compared to the house he’d spent last night in, his looked so plain. He hadn’t put up any pictures or posters on the wall, hadn’t decorated in the slightest. His furniture consisted of one mere bookshelf, his bed, and nightstand, the table he drank his morning coffee at, and the kitchen counter with stove, standard in all apartment rooms. Thinking back to Breeze Chaser’s house he remembered her huge chest of drawers, china cabinet (Although he could’ve sworn those plates were glowing), dressers, and most of all, BOOKS! Books, books everywhere. Scrolls and old tomes littered the floor next to the latest Daring Do novel. Shelves absolutely bursting with massive volumes of encyclopedias. Book towers which nearly reached the ceiling. It was nearly overwhelming to be surrounded with so much literature. Shaking his head, he returned to the task at hand. Getting his old Wonderbolt boot camp duffel bag, he started neatly sorting and gathering his things. He wanted to give away all his furniture, as well as most of what he had, keeping only the minimum of what he needed and the few objects of importance to him. He wondered how his mother would have thought about him living this way; almost nomadic. It took him maybe fifteen minutes, with only a few uniforms, and one or two personal items, he put all his belongings in a small bag which he held in his mouth. He decided to leave everything else for anyone who wanted it, maybe he’d tell Dazzle Tail about it, after all, he and his special somepony were trying to move in together, and he figured he’d need all the furniture he could get. Not wanting to have to see his landlady again, Comet Chaser opened the window. He peered down the three story drop making sure no one was below him. Having confirmed that the street below was indeed free of traffic, he chucked his duffle bag out the window. It landed with a loud thwap. He wasn’t particularly worried about his few shirts and unfinished scrapbook being damaged by the fall. He then prepared to jump out the window himself. Stepping back a few paces he galloped towards the open window. As he leaped he tucked his front hooves in and tried not to touch the window frame, but his back hoof caught on the sill. Put off balance, the dark blue pegasus started falling towards the pavement. At the last moment, he managed to unfurl his wings, catching himself right before ungracefully landing on the ground. “Damn. Back in boot camp I could’ve gone through a hoop half that size. I’m bigger than I used to be I guess.” He said aloud. He picked up his bag, threw it on his back, and started flying towards the house of the wonderful pony he’d meet last night. Thinking about it, he wondered if meeting her had been his birthday present. It certainly made up for the transgressions of Spitfire and his brother in his eyes. He hoped that he and the mare could start seeing each other more often. Maybe she could even give him the family he’d wanted so much for so long. He very much hoped Breeze Chaser felt the same. Surely she too had felt the spark of love between them, since they’d first met he knew it was destiny. With all the determination he could muster Comet Chaser started flying towards the side of the mountain overlooking Canterlot.