//------------------------------// // Epilogue: The New Arrival // Story: Fleeting Romance // by Sketchy Changeling //------------------------------// It had been three months since Fleetfoot took her leave of absence from the Wonderbolts. The public was still saddened at the fact that she decided to take a break, and they were even more saddened, when Rapidfire announced his “break” two days afterward. By “break,” he meant “suspension”. It didn’t matter now, though, because Rapidfire’s suspension was now over and he was back on the team. Meanwhile, Spitfire chose one of the Wonderbolt Academy recruits to stand in for Fleetfoot. Speaking of Fleetfoot, after she left the Wonderbolts, she found a cheap place in Canterlot that was close to Cory and Gaffer’s house. As you can imagine, the two lovers visited each other often. Cory had remained in constant contact with Eric and even visited his house a few times. Even Azure and Fleetfoot started hanging out. The first time Cory visited Eric and Azure, the house was in total disarray thanks to a certain neighbor of theirs. It was a Sunday afternoon, and Cory was at Fleetfoot’s apartment having lunch with her. “So, a little birdie told me that Crazy Colt Games is paying you for your time, now,” said the mare. “You heard right!” the human smiled. “With the money from there on top of my job at the comic book store, I’m a lot better off, now. They still pay Gaffer more than me, though.” “Speaking of Gaffer, is he still working on developing that trading card game?” “Actually, they just finished developing it. They’re having a sneak peek at the comic book store next week, and then the official release will be the week after.” “Sounds exciting! Soarin will probably want me to pick up some cards for him,” Fleetfoot sighed. “Man, I sure do miss those guys, even Rapidfire.” “How have you two been, lately?” “It took a while, but we’re on good terms now, but Soarin and Spitfire are on even better terms, if you catch my drift.” “Oh, right,” said Cory. “They got back together. I forgot.” “You tend to forget a lot, don’t you?” the mare teased. “Anyway, they’ve decided to keep it hush-hush like us.” Cory paused in thought for a moment. “You ever thought of revealing our relationship one of these days, Fleetfoot?” “A few times,” she admitted, “but I think we should wait until our relationship becomes strong enough to handle all the attention. Thankfully, everyone’s stopped caring about that photo of us that got out all those months ago.” “That’s definitely a relief,” Cory chuckled. Just then, his phone rang, and he was surprised to see who it was. “Hey, it’s Eric!” he said. “I haven’t heard from him in a while.” Cory answered the phone and put it to his ear. “Hello-” “THE BABY’S HERE!” Cory jerked the phone away from his ear reflexively. “Whoa, whoa, calm down,” he urged. “So what happened?” “Azure Gem just had the baby!” Eric shouted excitedly. “We just got home and we’re having a party to celebrate!” That was all Eric said before he hung up. “No need to tell me what he said,” Fleetfoot told Cory. “I heard him from here.” “Well, we’d better go and see the new baby,” he said. “You remember where the house is, right?” “Of course I do.” Eric and Azure’s house was a short ten-minute walk from Fleetfoot’s place, but Fleetfoot opted to fly Cory to their destination, which would cut the time in half. Once they got to the house, they knocked on the door and Eric promptly answered. “Great, you’re here!” the new father said. “Come in, come in!” “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were excited about this,” Cory joked. “That would explain why you forgot to tell us if the baby was male or female, or whether it was a pony or a human,” Fleetfoot chimed in. “Fine, that was my bad, but can you really blame me? I’m a dad, now!” Eric, Cory, and Fleetfoot walked up to the master bedroom, where Azure was lying in bed with the baby. “Hey, you guys made it,” the mother said softly. “Of course we did,” Fleetfoot replied. “Why would we miss this?” “I’m sure Eric forgot to tell you what the baby looked like, huh?” Azure joked. “Well, it’s not like me to keep others in suspense, so gather round and take a look.” Cory and Fleetfoot waked to Azure’s side, with Eric following close behind them. Azure held the baby closer to her friends so that they could have a better look at it. Cory and Fleetfoot almost gushed at what they saw. The baby was a beautiful unicorn filly that had her mother’s coat. Her mane was the same color as Eric’s hair. “She’s so adorable!” Fleetfoot said quietly. “Did you name her, yet?” “We decided to give her a human name,” said Azure, “so we named her Erica, so her name would resemble her father’s.” Eric nervously chuckled at his fiancé’s remark. “She arrived just in time for your wedding next month,” said Cory. “Yep. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect,” Azure agreed. Erica started to stir in her mother’s arms, and then she let out a yawn, which made Cory’s eyes widen in surprise. “Her teeth are in already,” he said in astonishment, “and they’re human teeth.” “It’s another trait she inherited from me,” Eric chimed in, “although the doctors couldn’t explain why her teeth were already in.” “That’s not the last thing she got from you,” Azure commented. Erica opened her eyes, which were a dark brown, just like her father’s. She smiled up at Cory and Fleetfoot and started to giggle. “See, Erica? That’s your Uncle Cory and Auntie Fleetfoot,” Azure told her daughter, who continued to giggle. Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared, followed by the sound of nosemakers. Everyone turned their attention to the smoke cloud as it cleared, and a large draconequus was standing in it, holding a noise maker in his mouth and balloons in his paw and claw that all said. “It’s a boy!” “Congrats on the baby!” the draconequus said loudly. The loud noises made Erica start to cry, and her voice filled the room, making everyone stare at the sudden guest in annoyance. “What did I do?” he asked. Everyone continued to glare as they shouted: “DISCORD!!!” THE END