Chapter 6: Meet the Team Part One - Introductions
Cory woke up at seven-thirty the next morning to the sound of his phone ringing. “Ugh!” he said to himself, exasperated. “I swear to God, this better be important.” Without looking to see who was calling, he answered the phone and put it to his ear.
“Hello?” he said. Cory wasn’t expecting to get the response he got.
“HELLO, STUDENT OF CANTERLOT UNIVERSITY. WE ARE SENDING YOU THIS AUTOMATED CALL IN ORDER TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR CLASS, ‘Equestrian Philosophy’ SCHEDULED FOR ‘9:00 AM’ WILL BE CANCELLED TODAY. GOODBYE.”
“I thought schools sent e-mails when classes were cancelled,” he said groggily as he got out of his bed. “Well, there’s no going back to sleep now. I might as well head downstairs and get something to eat.” Cory went downstairs and cooked up some waffles for breakfast. Once they were ready, he got some juice, plopped on the couch in front of the TV, and turned it on.
“Really? News again?” he said as the logo for the Equestrian News Network showed up on the screen.
“This is Steamy Scoop reporting live from Vanhoover field, where preparations for the Annual Equestrian Flying Competition, where the best flying teams from all over Equestria will compete for aerial supremacy.”
“Talk about exaggeration,” Cory said to himself.
“With the competition less than two months away, teams across the country have already claimed cities to train in, the first team to do so being the Wonderbolts when they claimed Canterlot, which has the best training facility in the country,” said the newscaster.
“So Gaffer was right,” said Cory. “Canterlot’s gym is pretty good, not that it would matter to someone like me.”
“With the best gym already claimed by the Wonderbolts, other teams that were en route have now changed course to Las Pegasus, whose gym ranks just below Canterlot’s,” Steamy Scoop continued. “Currently, there’s no word on which team made it there first, but you can be sure that Equestria News Network will keep you updated as the story develops.”
“Man, I guess this flying competition is a big deal,” Cory said as he swallowed a gulp of juice. Just then, his phone rang again. This time, he checked who was calling, and was happy to see that it was Fleetfoot.
“Hello?” he said with a cheery voice.
“Hi, Cory,” said Fleetfoot. “Sorry for calling you so early in the morning, but do you have a minute?”
“Sure, what’s up?” he asked.
“Well, I was wondering, since we’re kind-of together now, that I could introduce you to my teammates,” she explained. “Are you free today?”
“Actually, classes are cancelled for today, and I don’t have work until three, so yeah,” said Cory.
“Okay, great,” Fleetfoot said with a mixture of relief and nervousness. “We’re going to be at the Canterlot Fitness Center at nine AM. I’ll wait for you outside and when you get there, I’ll take you to meet the team. Sound good?”
“Sounds great,” he answered. “I’ll see you then.”
“Alright then. Bye,” she said as she hung up.
Cory felt a little glad that he was going to meet Fleetfoot’s friends. Sure, he was nervous that they wouldn’t like him, but that’s a common fear when meeting your significant other’s friends, right? Cory finished his breakfast and looked at the clock.
“Seven-fifty,” he said. “I got about an hour before I have to leave to meet Fleetfoot. That’s more than enough time to get ready.” Cory headed upstairs to get ready, looking forward to meeting the rest of the Wonderbolts.
Fleetfoot, on the other hand, was as nervous as she could be; more nervous than she was at her first ever professional race. At the moment, she was leaving the breakfast buffet at the hotel and heading back to her room, thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong. She knew that Cory wasn’t the kind of guy Spitfire thought he was, but what if she found some other reason not to like him? What if some of the other Wonderbolts found a reason not to like him?
“No, I’m just psyching myself out,” she thought. “Cory’s a nice guy. Why would they not like him? Sure, Spitfire’s a little suspicions of him, but she won’t be after she meets him, right? Right?”
“Hey, Fleetfoot. You alright?” somepony asked. The mare turned around to see Soarin catching up to her with a concerned face.
“Oh, I’m fine,” she said. “I was just… in thought.”
“Nervous about the competition?” the stallion guessed.
“Uh… yeah! That’s it, the competition,” Fleetfoot said, thankful that Soarin unknowingly gave her an alibi. “I’m a little nervous.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “The competition is less than two months away, and we have Equestria’s best gym to train in. Those other teams won’t even be able to touch us when the big day arrives. Don’t worry so much, Fleetfoot. It’s not like you.”
“Thanks, Soarin,” said the mare. “With an attitude like that, it’s a wonder why you and Spitfire split.”
“Oh… right,” the stallion said, his demeanor suddenly taking a turn for the worse. Fleetfoot, quickly realizing her mistake, tries to fix it.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Did I cross a line?”
“No, no. It’s fine,” he said. “Anyway, we’re going to be leaving in a few minutes, so make sure you have your gym bag and whatever else you need.”
“Thanks for the heads up,” said Fleetfoot. “See ya.”
“See ya.”
Fleetfoot made her way to her room, which was empty, making her assume that Spitfire was already downstairs and ready to go. With that in mind, Fleetfoot quickly changed into her flying suit, got her gym bag and left the room the fast way: off the balcony. Of course, she did make sure to lock the doors before leaving. Once she met her teammates at the hotel entrance, they all set off for the Canterlot Fitness Center.
As they were walking, Spitfire and Fleetfoot hung back and talked amongst themselves. “So when do we get to meet this guy?” the captain whispered.
“He’s going to meet us at the gym shortly after we get there,” Fleetfoot whispered back.
“Alright, then,” said Spitfire. Fleetfoot could tell by her tone that she still wasn’t looking forward to meeting Cory. Hopefully her attitude will change after she meets him. Just then, she got a text, and when she checked her phone, she saw that it was a message from Cory:
“I’m on my way :)”
The mare wasn’t sure how she should look forward to the inevitable introduction. Should she be worried, or should she be optimistic?
When the Wonderbolts arrived at the gym, Fleetfoot stayed outside to wait for Cory to arrive. She felt her heart stop when she saw him round the corner of the block, but she was somewhat relieved to see a smile on his face. “At least one of us is happy,” she thought.
“Hey, Fleetfoot,” said Cory.
“Hi,” she said, trying to hide her apprehension.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you in your flying suit. You look nice,” he said.
“Oh, thanks…” said Fleetfoot.
“You alright?” the human asked.
“To be completely honest, I’m a little nervous,” said the mare. “I don’t know how my teammates will react.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he said. “I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”
“It’s not like you to be this relaxed.”
“Well, it’s not like you to be this nervous.”
Fleetfoot chuckled at Cory’s sudden sense of humor. “Touché,” she said. “Well, let’s just get this over with, then.” The two of them walked into the gym, where the other Wonderbolts were waiting. Varying looks of surprise appeared on each of their faces, even Spitfire. Despite the fact that she knew Cory was human, she didn’t expect him to look so… so…
Is there a nice way to say “wimpy”?
Fleetfoot cleared her throat and began to speak. “Guys, I’d like to introduce you to someone,” she said. “This is Cory, and… he’s my boyfriend.”
The mare flinched in anticipation of the collective “WHAT!?” from the others, but instead she heard nothing. She took a look at their faces, and most of them were neutral, with the exception of Misty Fly and Blaze. Misty seemed almost ecstatic and Blaze had a smirk on her face.
“About fucking time,” said Blaze. “I was starting to think that you were into mares.”
“Aww, I’m so happy for you!” said Misty. “I think it’s great that you have a colt- I mean boyfriend. I didn’t know you were into the exotic types, though.”
Cory began to blush. He never considered himself to be “exotic,” but when you’re a human in a world of ponies and other magical creatures, you’d be considered exotic no matter what you looked like.
Fleetfoot’s nervousness started to disappear, but only a little bit. While Blaze and Misty obviously had no problem with Cory, she was still waiting for what Rapidfire, Soarin, and especially Spitfire had to say.
“Well, that explains why you’ve been so out of it,” said Soarin with a smile.
“Yeah… That does explain it…”Rapidfire said, but… was that a hint of lament in his voice? Nah.
Spitfire remained silent, still skeptical about Cory, but then the human decided to speak.
“Well, I didn’t mean to cause Fleetfoot to be so distracted,” he said with a semi-nervous chuckle. “I didn’t even know I had that effect on her.”
The other Wonderbolts started to laugh. Well… except for three of them. Fleetfoot was busy looking at Spitfire, Spitfire was still looking at Cory with an unamused face, and Rapidfire was still taking in the fact that Fleetfoot was now spoken for. As she stared at him, Spitfire noticed that Cory looked a little… young. She had imagined a large, athletic-type guy. Cory, on the other hand, looked nothing like that. He didn’t even look the least bit threatening, but that only made her wearier of him.
“Excuse me for asking, but… how old are you?” the captain asked.
“Nineteen,” Cory answered.
There were varying degrees of surprise on the Wonderbolts’ faces, particularly on Rapidfire. It was a crushing blow; not only did Fleetfoot not want him, but she chose to be with a nineteen-year-old human instead of him. Meanwhile, Spitfire was starting to think that she may have been wrong about Fleetfoot’s new beau. She let out a sigh and began to speak.
“It was nice meeting you, Cory,” she said. “Would you like to join us for dinner later tonight? It’d be nice to get to know you a little better.”
Fleetfoot let out a sigh of relief when she heard this. “Thank Celestia,” she thought.
“Sure, I’d like that,” said Cory.
“Okay, then. Once we work out the details, I’ll have Fleetfoot call you, ‘kay?”
“Sounds good!”
To Fleetfoot, this meeting couldn’t have gone better. All her teammates had accepted Cory as her boyfriend. Sure, some took more time than others, but she was still happy that they all liked Cory.
At least… she thought they all liked him.
After Cory had left, Rapidfire went to lift weights with his wings with Blaze as his spotter. “I can’t believe it,” he said to her. “For Fleetfoot to like somepo- somebody else is one thing, but the fact that it’s some wimpy kid is just adding insult to injury.”
“I understand why you’re upset, Rapid, but don’t be a jackass,” Blaze said, half-scolding him. “So what if he’s younger than her? At least Fleetfoot’s with a nice guy.”
“How can you be so sure about that, Blaze?” the stallion asked.
“Did you not see him five minutes ago? The kid’s harmless!” said the mare.
“That’s exactly what he wants you to think,” Rapidfire argued. “Fleetfoot needs to watch herself around him.”
“That’s just your jealousy talking,” said Blaze. “Don’t start meddling, Rapidfire, ‘cause you’re gonna end up regretting it, mark my words.”
The stallion stubbornly grunted. “What are you, a soothsayer?”
The mare grunted back. “No, but I’m surprised the word ‘soothsayer’ is in your vocabulary.”
Meanwhile, Soarin and Spitfire were doing wing-ups together while Fleetfoot and Misty Fly were flying laps around the gym’s outdoor field.
“So, Fleetfoot has a boyfriend now,” Soarin said in a hushed voice on the off-chance that the mare he was talking about would hear him despite the fact that she was flying at a fast pace.
“What of it?” Spitfire said, but then she realized how cold she sounded. “Sorry…”
“It’s fine, but… I noticed that you were looking at him funny for a while,” said the stallion.
“Well, I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t some scumbag,” the mare explained. “Fleetie’s my best friend, and I didn’t want her to waste her time with some scrub.”
“So how do you feel about him now?” he asked.
“He’s not what I thought he’d be, but I still don’t like the idea of Fleetfoot dating someone while she still has commitments to the team,” she explained.
“What’s so bad about her dating?” Soarin asked.
“Didn’t you notice that she’s been off her game lately?”
“Well, maybe that could be because she was afraid you would bite his head off,” Soarin said before looking at Fleetfoot fly around the field. “Besides, now that everything’s out in the open, Fleetfoot’s been doing much better lately.” Soarin stopped talking for a moment and pondered his next statement.
“I know you want to say something, so just say it.” Spitfire said.
“Well, I was just thinking that if Fleetfoot doesn’t seem to be affected by her relationship, then maybe you and I could-”
“No,” she interrupted. “It’s different for us, Soarin. We can’t get distracted from our commitments.”
“I thought that our relationship was a commitment,” Soarin argued while still maintaining his hushed tone. “I was committed, you know. I even convinced the others that our breakup was mutual when it was actually you that broke it off.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t have to, because I wanted to do it. I didn’t want the others to think badly of you. That’s how far I’m willing to go for you.”
“Look, Soarin. This isn’t the time or the place for this,” the mare argued. “Just drop it, okay?”
“…Fine.”
Spitfire sighed, relieved that Soarin finally stopped harassing her. Why couldn’t he understand that there was just no room for a relationship? Maybe after they retired, they could try again, but right now, between public appearances, competition, and the added annoyance of paparazzi and celebrity gossip, a serious relationship was simply impossible. The mare shook her head. Even thinking about getting back with Soarin was distracting her. Hopefully her mind would be at ease once dinner comes around.
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Dinner is served! Lets see how that works out!
Question: What is Equestria/Pony stance on Carnivores? There are humans in it so something has to be done...
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I'll explain it (or at least attempt to explain it) in the next chapter.
Getting better and better all he time!!!
Cory's in the house... Unless Rapid fire clocks him out.
Shit is about to hit the fan Cory and Rapidfire are gonna throw down like a Denny's grandslam!!!!!
Where is Surprise? She's best Wonderbolt. And according to the card game, she's canon now.
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Depending on Equestria's drinking age, she'd probably insist on taking him out and treating him to car bombs.