• Published 19th Oct 2013
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Fleeting Romance - Sketchy Changeling



A human college student meets one of the Wonderbolts. Can they hit it off? Will it last?

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Chapter 10: Where Do We Go From Here?

“Hello?”

“Hey, Cory. It’s Gaffer.”

“Oh, hey, man. What’s up?”

“Not much. I saw the news this morning. You and Fleetfoot okay?”

“We’re fine. Fleetfoot texted me earlier saying that she made it to her hotel without any trouble.”

“That’s good to know. Have you two figured out what you’re gonna do?”

“Not yet. I’m not sure how we’re gonna get through this.”

“Well, I’m sure you two will figure something out. When I get back, I’ll help you out in any way that I can.”

“Thanks, G.”

“No problem, C.”

Cory hung up the phone and sighed deeply. “Man, I am deep in it,” he said to himself. “It’ll only be a matter of time before ponies start stopping random humans on the street to see if they matched the picture on the news.” Just then, Cory’s phone rang, and when he checked the ID, he saw that the call was coming from Fleetfoot’s phone.

“Hello?” Cory answered.

“Hey, Cory. It’s Spitfire,” said the mare on the other line.

“Hey, Spitfire,” said the human. “How’s Fleetfoot?”

“She’s doing fine,” she said. “She’s not in the room right now, so I wanted to call you while she was gone.”

“Really? Why?” Cory asked with a raised eyebrow.

Spitfire sighed. “I don’t know if you know this, but I was in the same position as her once upon a time. I used to date Soarin,” she explained. “Unlike you and Fleetfoot, though, we were open about it. Eventually, I felt like I was forced to choose between him and my career, and I think that’s what Fleetfoot is going through right now.”

While Cory did know about Spitfire and Soarin’s relationship, he never directly heard about it from either of them. He immediately understood what Spitfire was getting at. The recent exposure to the press backed Fleetfoot into a corner, and she was in a state of helplessness.

“The more I think about it, though, the more ridiculous my ‘dilemma’ sounded,” the mare continued. “I think the reason why I made such a rash decision and ended the relationship was that I was too afraid to talk to Soarin about how I felt, and I ended up making a decision that didn’t benefit either of us.”

Spitfire suddenly realized that she was beginning to vent and redirected her train of thought.

“What I’m saying is that you have to help Fleetfoot so that she doesn’t make the same mistake I did,” she explained. “With you there to straighten her thoughts, there’s a smaller chance of her doing something that she’ll regret.”

“I get it,” Cory said softly, realizing what he had to do. “There’s one problem, though. I’m sure that the ponies in Canterlot are wondering who the ‘mysterious human’ is. I’m worried that somepony might stop me on the street or something.”

“Well, you don’t have to talk to her now,” Spitfire clarified.

“I know, but judging from what you told me, I think it’s better to deal with this now instead of later,” said Cory.

The Pegasus thought for a moment and said “You’ve got a point. In that case, how about I call a cab for you?”

“That’d be great, Spitfire,” the human said gratefully.

“I’ll let you know when it’s coming for you,” she said.

“Sure,” said Cory. “And Spitfire…”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for telling me all this,” he said. “Fleetfoot’s lucky to have you around.”

The mare let out a chuckle. “She’s lucky to have you around, too.”

After hanging up the phone, Cory looked at the clock. It had been an hour since the newscast, and he had already showered and changed since he saw it, so he was ready for the cab, whenever it’d show up.

“I hope Fleetfoot doesn’t decide anything rash before I get to her,” he said to himself hopefully.


Meanwhile, Fleetfoot was walking down the hallway of the hotel floor. She wasn’t really going anywhere; she just felt like she needed to just walk, regardless of whether or not she had an actual destination. She made sure to let her hair down, put in her contacts and put on her fake glasses before she left. Fleetfoot continued down the hall, lost in her own thoughts, when suddenly…

“Um… Fleetfoot?”

The mare flinched and spun around quickly to see who said her name. She sighed when she saw who it was.

“Oh. Hey, Rapidfire,” she said. “I thought that you were some fanpony.”

“Nope, just me,” said the stallion. “Can I talk to you?”

“Well, Rapidfire, I’m not really up for talking right now, considering all that’s happened,” Fleetfoot explained. “I’d rather be alone right now.”

“I know, I know, but I swear this is really important,” said Rapidfire.

Fleetfoot sighed and said “Okay, what is it?”

Rapidfire hesitated for a moment. “Well… I… It’s just…”

“Come out with it already,” the mare said exasperatedly.

“Sorry, this is just really hard to say,” he stalled. “The thing is… I was the one that ratted you out to the press.”

Fleetfoot’s heart skipped a beat in shock. “…What…?” she barely managed to say.

“I got Inkblot’s contact information yesterday and tipped her off,” Rapidfire explained. “After that, I started filling Cory’s head with fears so that he’d want to break up with you.”

“Why would you do that?” Fleetfoot asked fearfully, feeling more and more hurt by the second.

“Because…” he hesitated, “because I like you too, and I was jealous that you were dating him instead of me.”

“So that’s why you never said a word when Cory was around,” she said.

“Yeah…” he admitted. “But I-”

THWACK!

Before Rapidfire could get another word in, Fleetfoot’s fist collided with his muzzle, sending him flying a few feet before landing on the ground.

“I deserved that…” he said weakly as he sat up.

“You sure did,” said Fleetfoot as she gave him a deathly stare. She would have been crying had she not used up her tears mere minutes ago.

“Fleetfoot, the reason why I’m telling you all this is because I’m sorry,” Rapidfire explained. “I heard you crying in your room and I felt terrible about what I did. I never wanted you to be so miserable. If I knew this would happen, I never would’ve told Inkblot anything.”

Fleetfoot continued to stare coldly at the stallion as he spoke.

“I know that it’s too late to change anything, and I’m not expecting you to forgive me,” he said, “but I just needed to get it off my chest and let you know that I really regret what I did.”

The mare closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “I don’t know if I can forgive you just yet,” she said.

“I understand,” Rapidfire said as he got up and walked past Fleetfoot.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I’m going to tell Spitfire that this was all my fault…” he explained, “and I’ll accept whatever punishment she gives me.”

Rapidfire walked away without another word, and Fleetfoot looked at him in surprise. He actually owned up to his mistake and was about to face the consequences like a real stallion. It almost made her want to forgive him right then and there.

Almost.

Fleetfoot continued to walk aimlessly down the hall, when she spotted another familiar face.

“Cory?” she asked in disbelief.

“Hey, Fleetfoot- OOF!”

Cory was interrupted by an unexpected half-tackle/half-hug from Fleetfoot, who buried her head into his shoulder. “You’re here!” she said happily. “What are you doing here?”

“I caught a cab,” he said. “You might not want to go down to the hotel lobby, though. It’s crawling with paparazzi. Thankfully the hotel staff doesn’t allow them up here.”

“How did you get past ‘em?”

“When I got there, they were all at the concierge desk clamoring to get permission to go up to the rooms. I just stuck to the walls and stayed out of their sight.”

“Not that I’m not happy to see you or anything, but why did you risk coming here?”

Cory smiled. “Something told me that you needed me to be there for you and help you through this.”

“Heh, something…” he thought. “More like somepony.”

“Thanks,” Fleetfoot said with a soft smile, and then she remembered something important. “Before I forget… I found out who told the press that we were dating.”

“Really?” Cory said in surprise.

The mare nodded her head. “It was Rapidfire.”

“How did you find out?”

“He admitted to it just a minute ago,” Fleetfoot said. “He said he felt guilty because of how miserable I was, and that he tried to fill your head with fears.”

“That explains what he told me yesterday after I left the Mountainside Spire.”

“What did he say?”

“He said that our relationship would force you to choose between me and your team, and that I would be a distraction.”

“So that’s why you were acting so insecure last night…”

“Pretty much,” Cory paused for a second. “Where’s Rapidfire at now?”

“He’s telling Spitfire everything,” said Fleetfoot. “I think he really is sorry for what he did, but that’s beside the point. What I’m really concerned about is what we’re gonna do to get through this. I don’t want this to end between us.”

“Neither do I,” said Cory, “but I think we’ll be able to figure something out.”

“Well, we can’t stay out here,” said Fleetfoot. “One of those press ponies might sneak their way up here. Let’s see if Blaze and Misty will let us crash in their room.”


Meanwhile, in Fleetfoot and Spitfire’s room, Rapidfire had just finished confessing what he had done to the captain.

“So it was all you, huh?” she asked for confirmation.

“Yeah,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done it, and I’ll take any punishment you give me.”

Spitfire pondered the idea for a second. It went without saying that there needed to be repercussions for Rapidfire’s actions. What he did not only put a lot of emotional strain on Fleetfoot and Cory, but it also created a bother for the other Wonderbolts, too, because of the press exposure. Spitfire was also personally offended because of how much this affected Fleetfoot, her closest friend, and she felt a little bit of personal resentment toward Rapidfire just for that.

So the question wasn’t whether or not Rapidfire would suffer any consequences. The question was what the consequences were going to be.

After further consideration, Spitfire finally decided on a suitable punishment.

“I really should boot you off the team for this,” she said, then she looked up at him, “but since you were honest, and since you seem to have already gotten a beating from Fleetfoot, I’m gonna be generous. I’ve decided to suspend you for three months, but since we need all our members for the competition in Vanhoover, your suspension won’t start until afterward.”

Rapidfire let out a sigh, relieved that his punishment wasn’t as bad as he thought it’d be. “Thank you, Spitfire,” he said gratefully.

“You’re welcome,” she said back. “Now, I need to tell Soarin about this, since he’s the only one that doesn’t know, according to what you told me.”

“Okay,” said the stallion as he and Spitfire left the room.


“So you DID spend the night at Cory’s house!” Blaze said. “I knew it!”

“Okay, okay, I did,” Fleetfoot said. “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“Sorry, my bad,” said Blaze.

“So, did you two… well, you know…” Misty sort-of asked.

“Don’t ask them that, kid! That’s personal!” Blaze said. “But since it’s already out there, did you?”

“Nah, we didn’t do anything except cuddle,” Fleetfoot half-lied. There was some cuddling, but only after the main event.

“I call bullshit~” Misty said in a singsong voice.

“Whatever,” Fleetfoot said.

“So have you two decided what you’re gonna do about your relationship?” Blaze asked.

“We’ve thought about it a little,” Cory said, “but we haven’t made a full decision yet. What we did decide was that we’re going to tough this out and stay together for now.”

“How romantic!” Misty swooned. “You’re both sticking it out till the end and battling all the odds in the name of love!”

“You’ve been reading too many romance novels, kid,” Fleetfoot said with a chuckle.

“Seriously,” Blaze added.

Everyone had a good laugh at that. Despite all that happened that morning, Cory and Fleetfoot still had a reason to laugh. Things were starting to look up after they had reached their lowest point, and there was hope for a future together.

Author's Note:

We're reaching the end, people. There's going to be one chapter left, plus an epilogue. If the final chapter is over two thousand words, then the epilogue will be a stand-alone chapter.

Don't worry, I'm already fleshing out an idea for my next story, and I plan on posting a synopsis on Saturday after I do my review of the Season 4 premiere.

Speaking of Season 4, you can read my Season 4 countdown blogs by copying and pasting the links below:

Day One: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/248046/mlp-season-4-blogs-part-i-my-brony-origins
Day Two: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/248510/mlp-season-4-blogs-part-ii-favorite-and-least-favorite-characters
Day Three: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/248923/mlp-season-4-blogs-part-iii-favorite-and-least-favorite-episodes
Day Four (a.k.a. today) will be up later this evening.