“Fleetfoot!? You had lunch with Fleetfoot!?” Gaffer exclaimed in disbelief. It was the day after Cory met the aforementioned mare. He was at work at the comic book store, and he had just told Gaffer who his lunch companion was.
“Will you be quiet?”Cory said with a hushed yell. “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you the first time you asked me. I didn’t want to spend my time answering all your questions.”
“I only have a few,” said the unicorn.
“Well, make it quick,” said the human.
“What was she like?”
“Not what I was expecting. She was really relaxed, almost too relaxed. She was also pretty smart, too.”
“Did you get an autograph?”
“No. I didn’t want to bother her.”
Gaffer looked at Cory with an unamused face. “I swear to Celestia, I almost jumped over this table and punched you in the face.”
“Don’t be such a fanboy,” said the human. “I was lucky enough to have her offer to eat with me and cover the bill out of her own pocket. I didn’t want to push it.”
“Well, you got a point there…” said Gaffer.
Meanwhile, Fleetfoot was walking through the city, undisguised, talking to somepony on the phone. “Remind me again of the name of that book you wanted, Soarin?”
“C’mon, Fleetfoot. It’s not that hard to remember,” said the stallion on the other line. “Kick-Flank 3, Issue#2, Cover Variant #4-”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” the mare interrupted. “You actually care about which cover art you want?”
“For collector’s value!”
“Why not just wait for the digest edition with ALL the covers to come out?”
“IT’S NOT THE SAME!!!”
“Alright, alright, chill…” said Fleetfoot. “I’ll get you your precious comic, okay?”
“Thank you,” Soarin said, calming down a little.
“So where’s the comic book store again?” she asked. “I heard they changed locations- oh wait, never mind. I found it.” Fleetfoot found herself staring at the sign for the store. “I’ll call you back when I find it, okay?” she said.
“Alright,” said Soarin.
Fleetfoot entered the store and made her way to the checkout counter. She saw a unicorn talking to a human clerk with dark skin, short black hair, and bluish-green eyes- wait a second.
“Cory?” she asked.
The clerk raised his head and looked at her. “Fleetfoot?” he asked.
“Hey! What’s up! Who knew that you worked here?” she said.
“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t normally work on Sundays, but one of my coworkers called in sick so I had to cover his shift.”
Gaffer simply stood there in awe, his mouth hanging agape. Was Cory having an idle conversation with one of the Wonderbolts? Impossible!
“Oh, this is my roommate, Gaffer,” said Cory. “As you can tell from his idiotic expression, he’s quite the fan.”
“Oh right,” she said, turning to face the unicorn. “Cory mentioned you yesterday.”
Gaffer continued to silently stand there, so Cory smacked him across the face to get his brain working again. “Oh, he did, did he?” he said, finally getting it together.
“Yeah. He mentioned that you were a big fan of the Wonderbolts,” she said.
“Well, I’m a little familiar with you guys, yes,” he said modestly.
“Riiiiiiiiiiiight,” Fleetfoot said with a raised eyebrow. “Would you like an autograph?”
Gaffer tries and nearly failed to contain a squeal, but then he cleared his throat. “Sure, why not?” he said, trying to sound like he wasn’t about to burst with excitement. He took an autograph book and a pen out of his back pocket and handed both items to Fleetfoot. She and Cory both raised an eyebrow at the fact that Gaffer has such items on hand, but they decided not to ask. Fleetfoot signed the unicorn’s book and handed it back to him.
“Thanks,” Gaffer said as he stowed the book and the pen back in his pockets. “Well, Cory, I gotta get going. See you after you get off work, kay?”
“Sure,” Cory said as Gaffer walked out of the store. As soon as the door closed behind him, he and Fleetfoot could see the unicorn jump for joy like a colt that finally got that video game he wanted. He then ran off in the direction of the house, most likely to frame the autograph he just received.
“Your roommate is a trip, Cory,” she said.
“Who’re you telling?” he laughed. “So, what brings you to Canterlot Comics?”
“Soarin wanted me to get him a specific edition of a certain comic. Kick-Flank 3, Issue#2, Cover Variant #4,” she said.
“I think we just got those in stock,” Cory said as he led Fleetfoot to where the comic in question was.
“Can you not give it to me so I can fuck with Soarin and say that you didn’t have it in stock?” she asked. “It’ll totally ruin his day.”
“He wants the book that badly?” he asked in disbelief.
“Oh, you should’ve heard him on the phone!” she laughed. “He was whining like a foal! Before I left the hotel, he went on and on about how much he needed it for his collection.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to cause him that much distress,” Cory said as he took the comic off the shelf. “Follow me to the counter and I’ll ring you up.”
“You’re no fun,” Fleetfoot said, sticking her tongue out at Cory.
“Well, I’d rather make a sale than have you punking one of your teammates,” he said. “I have a job, you know.”
“Point taken,” she said as Cory rung her up.
“Six bits,” he said.
“So Soarin owes me six bits then,” said the mare as she handed the money to him. Cory put the comic in a plastic sleeve, put the sleeved comic in a plastic bag, and handed the bag to Fleetfoot.
“Thanks, Cory,” she said. “Nice seeing you again.”
“Same here,” he smiled.
Fleetfoot smiled and headed towards the door, but then she stopped and turned to look at Cory again. “You know,” she said, “since we’ve run into each other two days in a row, why don’t we exchange phone numbers? It’d be nice to have someone outside of the Wonderbolts to hang out with.”
Cory was a little surprised at this; yet another instance of Fleetfoot’s casualness. Even so, his only friend in Canterlot, in Equestria, even, was Gaffer. Maybe being friends with a Wonderbolt will expand his social circle.
“Uh… sure,” he said as he took out his phone. After exchanging numbers, Cory decided to take a chance, just like Fleetfoot did when she asked for his number in the first place.
“Well, I don’t have work tomorrow, and all my classes are in the morning that day, as well, so if you’re free tomorrow afternoon… you want to catch an early movie?”
Fleetfoot chuckled. “Sure, why not? I’m gonna be training tomorrow morning, so I’ll stop at noon and get ready to meet you around… one-thirty?”
“Sounds good,” Cory said. “See you then.”
Fleetfoot smiled and left the store to head back to the hotel, where Soarin was impatiently waiting for his comic.
“Welcome back, Cory,” Gaffer said as his roommate walked into the house.
“Hey, G,” said Cory. “Did you get your autograph laminated yet?”
The unicorn rolled his eyes. “No, the office supply store was closed for the day.”
“Aww, that’s too bad,” Cory said with a mocking voice. Just then, his phone vibrated in his pocket and let out a ring. He took a look at the phone and saw that he had gotten a message from Fleetfoot.
“Just checking 2 make sure u didn’t give me a fake number :)”
Cory smiled and sent a message back:
“I was just wondering if u did the same 2 me. lol.”
“Who was that?” Gaffer asked.
“No one, Dad,” Cory said sarcastically.
“C’mon, tell me,” the unicorn pleaded. “I just want to know who it is.”
“Is your life so lacking that you need to find entertainment in knowing who I’m texting with?”
“Yes, and I have no shame.”
Cory rolled his eyes and walked past Gaffer. “You’re pathetic. I’m heading upstairs,” he said dismissively.
The unicorn smirked and used his magic to take the phone out of Cory’s hands. “HEY!” he said as he dived at Gaffer, knocking them both to the ground. The two of them ended up fighting for possession of Cory’s cell phone. Eventually, Cory was able to pry the phone out of Gaffer’s hands and ran upstairs, only to be tripped by the unicorn’s magic at the halfway point. He tumbled down the staircase and lost his grip on the phone. Gaffer victoriously walked over to Cory and picked the phone up off the ground.
“You dick…” Cory said weakly.
“You should’ve given me the phone the first time I asked,” Gaffer said in a matter-of-fact manner. He looked at the cell phone and his jaw dropped for the second time that day.
“No. Fucking. Way,” he said in disbelief. “You got Fleetfoot’s number!? How? When? Where? Why?”
Cory sighed as he lied on the ground, and answered the questions in order. “Yes, she gave it to me, earlier today, at the comic store, and she wanted someone other than her teammates to hang out with.”
“And she chose you?” asked the unicorn.
“Somepony’s jealous,” the human chuckled.
“Am not!” Gaffer said defensively.
“I guess I shouldn’t tell him that I’m going to a movie with Fleetfoot tomorrow,” Cory thought as he got up off the floor. “Well, now that you know who I was texting, can I have my phone back?”
“Sure, whatever,” the unicorn said as he handed back the phone. “I’m gonna go upstairs.”
Gaffer walked past Cory and headed up to his room. Just then, Cory felt another vibration, this time coming from his stomach.
“I guess I can cook some hay fries in the oven,” he said to himself.
Meanwhile, at Garden Ridge Hotel, Fleetfoot was lying on the floor in her room, clutching her stomach.
“You bitch…” she said weakly.
“You should’ve given me the phone the first time I asked,” Spitfire said in a matter-of-fact manner. She looked at the cell phone and raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Cory?” she asked.
Fleetfoot sighed and decided to tell her. “He’s the human I met at the diner yesterday. He works at the store that I got Soarin’s comic from.”
“So you guys exchanged numbers, then…” said Spitfire. “I guess you guys will be hanging out, then.”
“That’s kinda the point of exchanging numbers,” Fleetfoot said.
“Just don’t’ get distracted, okay?” said the captain. “We have a big day two months from now, and we need to be at the top of our game.”
“I know my responsibilities more than you give me credit for, Spitfire,” the smaller mare said, feeling somewhat offended.
“I’m just saying,” said the larger mare. “I know you’ve been wanting friends outside of the team, but you can’t get distracted. I know firsthand what it’s like to lose focus on what’s important.”
“This isn’t like you and Soarin,” said Fleetfoot. “Cory and I are just friends.”
Just then, there was a knock at the door, both Spitfire and Fleetfoot looked at it with curious expressions. Fleetfoot got up off the floor and went to answer the door. The pony on the other side was a stallion with a gray coat and a white mane and tail that resembled clouds.
“Oh. Hey, Rapidfire,” she said.
“Hi, Fleetfoot,” said the stallion. “You know, I’m free tomorrow after practice, so would you like to hang out with me and walk around the city for a bit?”
“Just us?” the mare asked.
“Well, yeah,” Rapidfire said nervously. “But only because Misty Fly and Blaze are going shopping, and Soarin is gonna be reading his comics over pie, and Spitfire’s probably busy…”
Spitfire raised an eyebrow at this. She wasn’t going to be busy at all after practice.
“I’m sorry, Rapidfire,” Fleetfoot said, “but I’m busy tomorrow, too. Maybe some other time?”
“Sure, just let me know, okay?” the stallion said with a smile.
“Sure thing,” she said as he left. She closed the door and let out a deep sigh.
“So you’re busy tomorrow, huh?” said Spitfire.
“Yeah,” said Fleetfoot. “I was going to catch a movie.”
“With that Cory guy, I’m guessing.”
“No, by myself.”
Spitfire furrowed her brow. “If you’re going by yourself, then why didn’t you just take Rapidfire with you?”
“I enjoy movies better that way,” Fleetfoot said. “Besides, Rapidfire might get the wrong idea.”
“Get the wrong idea? You’re teammates, and it’s not like you guys haven’t hung out before. How could he ‘get the wrong idea’?”
“I don’t know, Spit, I just feel like being alone tomorrow afternoon,” Fleetfoot said, annoyance subtly laced within her tone. She really didn’t want Spitfire to know that she was going to the movies with Cory. If she did, then she’d assume that they were going out, and then she’d get on her soapbox and give her sermon on relationships… again. Thankfully, Spitfire dropped the issue.
“Alright, then,” she said. “We should turn in early so we can get an early start tomorrow morning.”
“Right…” said Fleetfoot. She quietly sighed to herself. I hurt her to lie to her best friend, but it was something she felt that she absolutely had to do. Hopefully her movie would take her mind off of it.