//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Lectures and Lies // Story: Fleeting Romance // by Sketchy Changeling //------------------------------// NOTE: For those that read and liked Chaos Next Door, I think you'll like the beginning of this chapter. “I’m headed off to class, Gaffer,” Cory said as he got ready to leave the house. “Alright,” the unicorn said. “I have work today until six, so I won’t be home when you get back.” “Got it,” Cory said, relieved that his roommate would be gone for practically the entire morning AND afternoon, so he’d be able to get home before Gaffer. “Later,” he said as he left the house and stopped a taxi carriage. “Hopefully, if all goes well, Gaffer won’t find out about this.” he thought. When Cory got to Canterlot University, he made his way to the lecture hall where his class, Writing 101, was being held. He got there with a few minutes to spare, so there were only a few students there. “I guess I can catch up on some reading,” he said to himself. He found a seat and got himself comfortable before taking a book out of his bag. As Cory read it, the time seemed to pass by, and before he knew it, everypony arrived to class and the professor was standing at the lectern. He was a human, one of the few human members of the faculty, at that. He was a middle aged, light-skinned man with brown hair and a beard, and a stocky build. The professor cleared his throat before he began to speak. “Good morning, class,” he said. “As opposed to my normal lecture, I have brought in a visitor to speak to you, instead. He is a recently published author, and he’ll be telling you about his experience in the field of writing.” Cory looked up from his book when he heard this. At that moment, another human walked up to the lectern. He was pretty skinny, like Cory, and had fair skin and medium-length black hair. He couldn’t tell his eye color from where he was sitting, though. They looked to be brown. But Cory wasn’t sure. “Please welcome Mr. Eric Quincy,” the professor said as the class applauded for Eric. Cory recognized his name and looked down at the book he was reading, and sure enough: “Chaos Next Door, by Eric Quincy,” he mouthed to himself. “Thank you, Professor Gordon,” Eric said as he took his place at the lectern. “This is my first time presenting to a college class, so bear with me if I mess something up. I’m looking at a lot of you, and you’re not that much younger than me. I’ve been a published writer for six months now, and it’s been a really interesting experience. When I was growing up, I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Even through high school, while my classmates were talking about what they wanted to be, I had no idea in the world what I was going to do.” If Cory’s interest wasn’t piqued already, it certainly was now. Eric went through the same identity crisis that Cory was going through. “I wonder how he got out of it,” he thought. “By the time I went to college, I was an undeclared major, and I was totally lost,” Eric continued. “I felt like I was wasting my time as well as my parents’ money. “I know that feeling,” Cory thought. “Then one day, I had to do a creative writing project for a class I was taking, and when I started writing it, the words seemed to just flow, like I had a natural talent for it. By the time I had finished the story, I felt the need to write more, so I did just that. I ended up declaring my major in Creative Writing, and the rest was history.” Eric went on to talk about his experiences in the writing business, but Cory’s mind was stuck on Eric’s backstory. They both went through the same struggles with trying to figure out what they wanted to do, and it gave Cory hope. Maybe he’ll find his purpose soon enough. By the time the class was over, it was eleven-o-clock, and Cory worked up the bravery to go up to Eric and ask him something. “Excuse me, Mister Quincy,” Cory said. “Just Eric is fine,” he said. “Eric,” Cory corrected himself, “I’m kind of going through the same rut that you went through, and I’m not entirely sure what to do about it. So I was wondering-” “If I could help you figure out what to do?” Eric said for him. “What’s your name, kid?” “Cory?” “And how old are you?” “Nineteen,” “Well, Cory, here’s my advice to you:” said the author. “When I found my passion for writing, I didn’t search for it; I let it come to me. You’re still young, man. If you spend your time searching for your passion, you’ll end up more lost than ever. Just relax and let it come to you. You’ll know it when you see it.” Cory let Eric’s advice sink in for a moment, and then he looked up at him with a smile. “Thanks, Eric.” “No problem,” he said with a smile. “Want me to sign your book?” Cory blinked, then looked at the novel in his hand. “Oh, yes. Thank you,” he said gratefully. “Don’t mention it,” said Eric as he signed the book and handed it back. Cory smiled as he received the book back from Eric. At that moment, he finally felt at ease about his future. It wasn’t because he found his purpose, but because he knew it would come to him eventually. Meanwhile at Canterlot Fitness Center, the Wonderbolts had just finished their training session. Fleetfoot purposely took it easy that day so that she wouldn’t be too exhausted and fall asleep during the movie she’d be watching later. She was hoping that nopony would notice, but… “Hey, Fleetie.” Spitfire said as she and the other mares on the team left the changing room. “Yeah, Spitfire?” “I noticed that you weren’t at the top of your game today,” said the captain. “Something the matter?” “I dunno,” Fleetfoot lied. “I guess I just wasn’t feeling it, today.” “Alright then,” said Spitfire. “I’m sure you’ll get it out of your system by the time the competition comes.” “Right,” Fleetfoot said, letting Spitfire believe what she wanted to believe. “Well, I’ll see you guys later. I gotta go,” “Go where?” Rapidfire asked out of nowhere, frightening Fleetfoot and the other mares, but mostly Fleetfoot. “Oh, well… I’m going to do that thing I told you about last night,” she said. “Well, you didn’t actually tell me,” he corrected. “You just told me you were busy.” “Yes, I am very busy, so I’m gonna go now before I’m late for that thing I’m doing,” Fleetfoot said in a hurry before rushing out the gym. Spitfire sighed as her teammate left. Fleetfoot was normally an honest mare that rarely kept secrets, but now she’s doing nothing but keeping secrets. Something told Spitfire that it had something to do with this Cory guy that Fleetfoot mentioned, but it was still too early to tell. “Man, Rapidfire. If you were thirsty, you could’ve just asked for some water.” “Shut up, Blaze.” Meanwhile, as Fleetfoot left the gym, she decided to walk back to the hotel instead of flying. She had just finished an intense workout session; the last thing she wanted was to injure her wings. When she made it back to Garden Ridge, she tossed her workout bag next to her bed and looked in the mirror. She was wearing a white tank top and sweatpants. While she wasn’t going on a date, she still wanted to look decent. She decided to exchange the sweatpants for some jeans. Fleetfoot then looked at herself again, and noticed that her mane was a little messy. Nothing would be wrong with combing it a little, right? “Why am I fussing over my appearance?” Fleetfoot thought as she combed her mane. “Cory and I are just friends, and it’s not like he’s expecting me to make myself look pretty.” After deciding that she looked decent enough, Fleetfoot let her mane down, put in her contacts, put on her fake glasses, and headed out to meet Cory at the movie theater. “Why am I so concerned with how I look?” Cory thought to himself. He was in the restroom at the movie theater, giving himself one of many once-overs in the mirror. He had on a hoodie with a T-shirt underneath it and a pair of skinny jeans, and he was debating on whether or not he was underdressed. “Fleetfoot and I are just friends. She shouldn’t care how I look, so why do I feel like she will care?” After finally deciding that what he had on was enough, Cory washed his hands (despite the fact that he was only looking in the mirror) and walked out of the restroom. He made his way back to the ticket counter, where he saw Fleetfoot walk in. Both of them were looking at the clothes the other was wearing. “Thank God. She went for the casual look, too,” Cory thought. “Hey,” she said as she met up with Cory. “How goes it?” “Pretty good. Can’t complain,” he said. “So why don’t we look and see which movie we want to go to?” “Sure,” she said as they perused through the list of movies. While Cory was looking up at the list, Fleetfoot’s eyes wandered over to him. “Thank Celestia. He didn’t dress up too well,” she thought, and then she noticed the skinny jeans that he was wearing. She couldn’t help but look at how they hugged against his legs, not tight enough to suffocate him, but tight enough to give the mare a rough idea of his shape. Her eyes trailed from his ankle all the way up to his butt, and her wings started to twitch a little before slowly opening up. Despite the busy scene, Cory heard the soft sound of Fleetfoot’s wings opening and turned to see what it was that brushed his shoulder. Realizing that she was at full mast, the mare averted her eyes before Cory could turn and look at her. He saw her looking up at the movie list nervously, arms crossed. He gave a questioning look and asked a question that Fleetfoot was not expecting. “Are you cold?” he asked. “What?” she asked back, surprised at the question. “Your arms are crossed, and your wings are stiff,” he said. “That’s what pegasi do when they’re cold, right? I can lend you my jacket, if you want.” Fleetfoot gave him an incredulous look. “Is he serious?” she thought. “Does he really not know what a wingboner is? Well, he’s only lived in Equestria for two months, and his roommate is a unicorn, so it’s not like he had anyone to tell him…” Rather than tell him the real reason her wings were spread stiff, she nodded her head and accepted Cory’s offer, taking his jacket and putting it on. “Thanks,” she said. “No problem,” he said. “So, what do you think about the movie in theater four?” Fleetfoot looked up at the movie in question. “Kick-Flank 2?” she asked. “I remember the first one, and it was pretty good, so I think it’s a good idea.” “Alright then,” Cory said as he and Fleetfoot walked up to the ticket counter. “Two for Kick-Flank 2, please,” he said to the stallion at the counter as he handed him the money. Without even looking up, he pressed a button to dispense the tickets and handed them to Cory. “Enjoy the movie,” said the stallion. As Cory and Fleetfoot walked to theater four, Fleetfoot chuckled to herself. “Well, the guy at the counter didn’t raise an eyebrow at my disguise.” “That’s because he didn’t even look at you,” the human retorted. “Whatever, Cory,” the mare said with a grunt. “My disguise is awesome.” “That’s debatable,” he chuckled. Fleetfoot playfully shoved him as they entered the theater their movie was playing in. The movie turned out to be pretty good. They laughed at the funny bits, got pumped during the action sequences, and felt emotional at the sad scenes. By the time they left, they were convinced that the movie was pretty awesome. “Wasn’t expecting to like the movie that much,” Fleetfoot admitted. “Yeah, it was better than the original,” Cory agreed. “Say, have you ever been to the mountainside spire?” she asked. “Mountainside spire?” he asked back. “You mean you haven’t heard of it?” she asked in disbelief. “It’s got the best view in Equestria! I went there the last time the Wonderbolts came to Canterlot and I gotta tell you, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen that view.” “In that case, I’ll make sure to go there when I have free time,” said Cory. “Well, if you want, I can take you there right now. It’s still three thirty in the afternoon,” Fleetfoot offered. “If you insist,” the human accepted. The mare smiled and positioned herself behind him. “Wait, what are you-” Before Cory could finish his sentence, Fleetfoot wrapped her arms around his midsection and spread her wings. “I promise not to drop you,” she said before taking off. “Wh-WHOA!” Cory said as he and the pegasus holding him flew through the air towards their destination. Naturally, he was scared at first, but he eventually got a little comfortable with the feeling of flying through the air. While he didn’t like being up that high with the only thing keeping him from falling being Fleetfoot’s arms, he did like the feeling of the wind on his face. When they reached the mountainside spire, Fleetfoot slowly lowered herself to the balcony and let go of Cory once both his and her feet were on the ground. “So, did you enjoy your flight?” she asked him. “Not at first, but I thought it was pretty nice by the end of it,” he answered. “You could’ve warned a guy, though.” “I’ll keep that in mind next time,” the mare chuckled. Cory looked out to see the view, and he saw that Fleetfoot was right about it. He could see across most of Equestria from there. Granted, he didn’t know the names of the cities and towns since he’d never been outside of Canterlot, but the view was spectacular nonetheless. “You should be here during the sunset,” Fleetfoot commented, snapping Cory out of his mind. “It’s even more beautiful then.” Cory looked at Fleetfoot to thank her, but then he noticed something about her. “Hey,” he said, pointing to her mane. “Your hair’s back to the way it was before.” “Really?” she asked, checking her mane. “Must’ve been from the flying. Oh well, it’s not like there’s anypony here, anyway.” Fleetfoot took off her glasses and removed the contacts from her eyes. Once they were removed, though, Cory noticed how her green eyes shone in the afternoon sun. Even though Fleetfoot wasn’t all dressed up, somehow she still looked… well, pretty. His face slowly started to turn red at the sight of her. “Why are you blushing?” she asked. “I dunno,” he lied. “It must be because I’m so high up.” “That’s not a thing,” she said with a smirk. “I didn’t know you were a doctor,” he retorted. “Oh, whatever,” Fleetfoot said. “Well, I’d better be getting back. My teammates are probably wondering what I’m doing.” “You didn’t tell them?” Cory asked, receiving a shake of the head as a response. “I don’t blame you. I didn’t tell my roommate about our day, either.” “Want me to fly you down, or do you want to walk?” “Meh, I don’t feel like walking down this huge tower.” Fleetfoot smiled and stood behind Cory again, getting a good grip on him and taking off into the air. As they flew to Fleetfoot’s hotel, they both took in the sight of Canterlot passing below them, and they couldn’t help but smile. They landed at the hotel’s front entrance, and said goodbye, parting ways for the day. That night, Cory was in his room, thinking about what had happened at the mountainside spire, when he blushed at the sight of Fleetfoot’s eyes. He had seen them before, so why did he react that way? On top of that, something in his gut told him that the mare’s wings didn’t go stiff because she was cold. He was filled with mixed emotions, and he wasn’t sure what to do. After pondering it for a while, he decided to call Fleetfoot. Gaffer was asleep in his room, so Cory walked out of the house to the back porch and looked for the mare’s number, just as he was about to call her, however, his phone started to ring. “Heh, she beat me to it,” he said to himself.