//------------------------------// // Ponyville Classifieds // Story: Cheerilee's Date for the Grand Galloping Gala // by Blackbelt //------------------------------// A lone pegasus sat outside of the Ponyville Schoolhouse, his back resting against the wall of the building itself. He wore a look of pure undivided focus. Featherweight carefully studied the newspaper in front of him, his hooves flipping through the pages as fast as he could manage without causing the pages to rip. Local News, World News, Comics (he set that aside to read later) Sports, and Editorials. “Where are the personal ads in this thing!?” he yelled, frustrated at his inability to locate something so simple in something he read so often. “ummm....it’s right there” Featherweight’s laser like attention was suddenly ripped away from the newspapers by a very soft, nervous voice. Alula flinched away the moment Featherweights gaze was upon her, her wings instantly pinning to her sides, and she immediately, once again, gave more thought to letting her mane grow out so she could hide her horn. That, or a getting a giant hat. But she was happy when the piercing gaze instead locked onto the scrap of paper that Alula had been pointing at. He immediately grabbed the errant article and focused upon it. “um....what are you doing?” “Scanning the personal ads to see if there’s anyone in here that would like to be Miss Cheerilee’s very special somepony.” Featherweight snapped. Alula hated talking to Featherweight when started reading the newspaper. He always got so.....snippy. “You’re looking at those ads where ponies are trying to get dates?” Featherweight nodded, his eyes still on the paper. For once, Alula felt uncomfortable because somepony wasn’t staring at her. “...is there anypony in there that looks like they would be good for her?” Silence. Alula shifted her hooves uneasily as Featherweight his search. She began to walk away. And he said he was gonna take me to take pictures of birds today...why does he have to be so- “PERFECT!” Featherweight’s sudden outburst shocked Alula so much that she had to stop herself from tripping over her own hooves as she spun around to face the photo obsessed colt. “huh?” Featherweight cleared his throat and read. “Single, energetic stallion seeks fun loving companion. Like working out, hard work, and traveling to various locales. Must be willing to get dirty and be willing to try new exciting things. If interested, please send a letter to the following address.” A wide smile came to Featherweight’s face as he looked up at Alula. “And the best part about this is that he’s right here in Ponyville! We could set them up today! Isn’t that great!?” “That actually sounds...nice.” Alula muttered. Featherweight stood up. “Now all we gotta do is talk to this” he looked once more at the newspaper. “Caramel guy and then everything will go perfectly.” He began to walk away from the schoolhouse, until he noticed Alula wasn’t coming with him. “Hey Alula, aren’t you coming?” “Um....” Alula was unsure of how to respond. “I mean, we’re still on for bird watching right?” Alula locked eyes with her friend for a moment, before she felt a smile come to her face. “Sure. That sounds fun.”