Stout Hearts and Dragonflies

by Lightoller

Chapter 7

Stoutheart figured it was five minutes, give or take, before he and Flitter arrived at the Food Court, which dominated the mall’s south end. Like everywhere else, stores surrounded it on the upper level and the eateries that made up the court’s lower level were a cornucopia of franchises. Burger joints shared space with shops that prepared and served sandwiches, Sardegnian pasta, Kirinese cuisine, pretzels, and ice cream. There was also the juice bar that Stoutheart remembered from his lunch breaks over the summer.

Last but not least was a vegetarian place that always seemed to be busy and today was no different. Among the crowd standing before it, Stoutheart recognized Sunset Shimmer, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Their backs were to him, and their body language made it obvious they were eying the menu board hanging above them and behind the counter.

“So,” came Flitter’s voice, which helped jolt Stoutheart out of his observations, “what are you going to have?”

Stoutheart scratched his chin, hummed softly, and did a quick look around before making his decision. “I’m hankering for Burger World today.” He pointed to a structure off to his left. “Hadn’t been there in a while. You?”

“Mile High Subs,” said Flitter with a hint of finality. She nodded to the sub shop a few feet ahead of them. “Always liked their chicken and bacon ranch melt.” She reached into her hoodie pocket and produced a wallet with a dragonfly stitched on it. “Got enough here for two,” she said checking the bill pouch. “I think I’ll get Cloudy something too.”

“Well that’s awfully nice of you,” said Stoutheart in mild surprise.

Flitter shrugged. “Mom and Dad made sure I had enough cash in case the two of us were hungry. We both like Mile High and Cloudy’s a creature of habit anyway.” She gave a wink and a smirk. “I know what she likes.”

Stoutheart smiled back, silently admiring her thoughtfulness. “Well,” he said taking a breath. “What say we order?”

“Sure thing,” acknowledged Flitter with a nod. The two of them split up and headed for their desired eateries. Approaching the counter for Burger World, Stoutheart studied the menu laid out in front of him before looking at the employee behind the register.

“Can I get a number two combo, please?”

A few minutes later, Stoutheart had a double bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a large Burple Classic placed in front of him on a tray. He paid, grabbed a few napkins, filled a tiny paper cup with some ketchup turned away to seek out a seat. He quickly found one—or rather four: all of them tucked into a square table in the middle of the food court. Carefully, so as not spill his drink, Stoutheart walked over to the table and claimed it. Sitting down, his eyes caught sight of Rarity, Fluttershy, and Sunset sitting three tables away, each of them getting ready to dig into a salad. The trio caught sight of Stoutheart, smiled and waved. He waved back before looking in the direction of Mile High Subs.

He was just in time to see Flitter tapping on her phone before picking up her own tray and looking around for him. He waved to get her attention and watched as she headed over. Even though she was burdened with the tray of food, Flitter moved about the maze of tables gracefully, like ink on a sheet of glass. Stoutheart prepared to eat, but he could feel himself getting warmer now so he unzipped his bomber jacket and, without getting back up, shed the garment and draped it on his chair’s backrest.

“Hope, this is good enough,” said Stoutheart gesturing to the table before dipping his first fries into the ketchup and eating them.

“Perfect,” replied Flitter as she sat down and took her sub off the tray, along with a large drink and a bag of barbecue flavored chips and placed the other sub, chips, and drink on a vacant area of the table.

“What did you get your sister?” asked Stoutheart nodding at the untouched food.

“Turkey breast and ham, with lettuce, tomato, onions and honey mustard,” answered Flitter as she unwrapped her sub and picked up half of it. “Got her some salt and vinegar chips and a peach iced tea on the side.” Flitter took a bite of her sub and moaned in delight. “I forgot how good these are.”

Stoutheart ate a few more fries before washing them down with his drink and took a bite of his burger. It may have been fast food, but the beef, bacon, and tangy barbecue sauce tasted heavenly. “She on the way?”

Flitter nodded as she sipped at her own drink. “Texted her while waiting for my order. She should be here soon.” She then looked down at Stoutheart’s chest. “What’s Jubilee Line?”

“Hmm?” asked Stoutheart as he swallowed another mouthful of burger. Only when Flitter gestured to the front of his sweater did he understand. “Oh, this! Well, the Jubilee Line was a steamship company founded in the mid-nineteenth century and lasted until the 1930’s. It was the company that owned the Excelsior.”

“Excelsior,” hummed Flitter in thought before the realization hit her. “That’s the ship that sank a hundred years ago right? Hit an iceberg I think.”

Stoutheart nodded. “Bingo. You’re…familiar with it?”

Flitter gave a sheepish look. “I saw the movie on TV a few times.”

At least a dozen films had been made about Excelsior’s maiden voyage over the decades, but Stoutheart knew exactly what film Flitter was talking about. “Ah,” he began. “Good flick. The romantic stuff was silly but the director did a damn fine job recreating the ship.”

“Judging from the sweater, I take it you’re a fan?”

“Of the ship and her history,” clarified Stoutheart. “Ever since I was in elementary school.”

Flitter arched an eyebrow in interest before taking another bite of her sub. “Elementary school? How exactly did that come about?”

“Simple really,” answered Stoutheart with a shrug. “Back in the sixth grade, my class had to do a history project about famous disasters. One day while at my grandparent’s house, my grandpa overheard me talking about my assignment with my grandma and gave me a book to read. It was about the Excelsior’s last night afloat. I read it front to back and by the time I was finished, my mind was made up.” Stoutheart picked up another fry, dipped it in some ketchup, and ate it. “Grandpa ended up helping out with the research phase of my project, loaning me books from his own collection and pointing me to other books at the library.”

“Did you pass?” inquired Flitter.

Stoutheart beamed with pride. “Got an A Plus. Gave a good report and backed it up by bringing in photos, hand drawn maps and diagrams; the whole shebang.” He sighed wistfully before going on. “I figured that would be the end of it, but it wasn’t. From that moment on I was hooked. Started reading every book I could find on the ship, watched every film and TV documentary I could. Some of them I own now.”

“I take it you’re grandpa’s interested in ships?”

“Yeah, but then again he served in the Navy so I suppose it was kind of a given,” admitted Stoutheart with a sly smile.

“Get out,” said Flitter. “Really?”

“Yep,” confirmed Stoutheart with a nod. “During the Cold War he was a torpedoman on a nuclear attack sub called the Amberjack.”

“Holy cow,” murmured Flitter. “Did he…did he help sink any ships?”

Stoutheart gave a laugh. “Just some floating derelicts during fleet exercises. Some of the patrols he went on are still classified; however I can tell you he went to the North Pole on one voyage. My mom even has a photo of him with some of his shipmates standing on the ice.”

“That is so cool,” said Flitter in awe. “My grandpa was a Sarkhan veteran. He was army though, like my dad. You know those guys who sat inside those helicopters with the machine guns—”

“Door gunners,” interrupted Stoutheart knowledgeably.

“Yeah, door gunners. He was one of those. Served two tours over there. He got wounded a couple times too, but nothing severe.” Then a solemn look came over her and she looked down at her food. “He died of cancer a couple years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” said Stoutheart, mustering as much sympathy as he could.

Flitter looked back up at him, gave a sniffle, and smiled appreciatively. “Thanks.” She then sighed. “Sometimes I still see him laid out in that hospital bed, tubes sticking out of him, his body frail, and his face all…”

She trailed off, but Stoutheart took up the conversation. “Aunt Redheart once told my mom that when someone you loved dies, it’s better to remember them in happier times. Take all those good memories you have of them, hold onto to them, and don’t ever let go of them.”

Flitter studied his face, as if trying to detect any hint of sincerity. Then her mouth curved up into a slight smile. “Sounds like the kind of thing you’d see on a sympathy card.”

Stoutheart returned the smile with one of his own. He wasn’t offended in the slightest. “Maybe,” he offered with a shrug. “But I like to think it helped my mom out.”

“Who did she lose?” asked Flitter, all trace of sadness and regret replaced with curiosity.

“My dad,” answered Stoutheart in a low tone.

The curiosity vanished and was replaced with shock. “Your dad? Was he in the military too?”

Stoutheart shook his head. “No, he was a cop with Canterlot PD.” He began playing with the straw of his drink. “Thing is, mom was pregnant with me when it happened so I never knew him.” He then added dryly, “I suppose someone’s got a sick sense of humor.”

“How…how did he die?” The hesitation in Flitter’s question was plain to hear.

“My mom didn’t go into details when I was younger,” explained Stoutheart, “but eventually she showed me some newspaper clippings that filled in the blanks. One night, my dad stopped a car on the freeway just outside of town. A bunch of students from Everton were in it, coming back from a party or something. Taillight was burned out, I think. My dad was sitting in his squad car writing up a ticket when a big semi roared up from behind and plowed into his car. The momentum carried the car into the one the Everton group were riding in. He was killed instantly. The people in the other car were injured, but pulled through.”

“Oh my gosh,” muttered Flitter as she shook her head in dismay. A few moments passed before she spoke again. “How did it happen? Was the truck driver drunk or something?”

Stoutheart shook his head. “He fell asleep at the wheel. Apparently he had been on a long haul from Las Pegasus with little rest.” He sighed. “He ended up with a manslaughter charge and some prison time. Five years I think it was.”

“Five years?” blurted Flitter incredulously.

Stoutheart gave another nod. “From what mom told me, he was extremely remorseful. Poor guy even tried to kill himself in hospital once he found out. He served the full sentence and got paroled. Dropped out of sight after that.” Stoutheart paused to wet his whistle before continuing. “About a week after the funeral, mom went into labor and, well…” he threw up his hands. “Here I am.”

“Must have been hard growing up like that,” Flitter ventured quietly.

“I got by,” Stoutheart replied flashing smile that was a faint but assuring. “My grandparents took care of me when my mom couldn’t. Even Aunt Redheart did too when she wasn’t busy with her nursing. I had it pretty good, but as I got older I couldn’t help but notice my mom getting sad from time to time, especially whenever my dad’s birthday or their anniversary rolls around. I don’t have to be a shrink to know it still eats at her. Best I can do is give her a hug, tell her I love her, and keep my nose clean.”

The sound of soles slapping the mall floor brought both teens out of the somberness. Stoutheart looked up and ahead while Flitter turned around in her chair, coming face to face with her sister. “About time you showed up,” she teased.

Cloudchaser, her own bag in hand, stuck her tongue out at her. Stoutheart could see that she still wore her denim jacket, but this time it was over a plain white T-shirt. She also wore jeans, but Stoutheart could tell from their intactness they were not the same ones from yesterday.

“Stoutheart? What’re you doing here?” asked the newcomer in surprise as she took a seat next to her sister and set the bag down by her feet.

“Costume shopping, just like you and Flitter,” Stoutheart answered. “We uh…ran into each other in Bookopolis and, well…”

“He looked lonely so I invited him to have lunch with us,” announced Flitter cheerfully. Cloudchaser looked over at Stoutheart. As far as he could tell, she didn’t seem suspicious at all to her sibling’s reason so he shrugged again. “Hope you don’t mind,” he added, his voice slightly uneasy.

“Nah, I don’t mind,” Cloudchaser said with a smile and a shake of her head. She looked down at the tray of untouched food and turned to Flitter. “You get me my usual?”

“Mmm hmm,” nodded Flitter as she sipped at her drink.

“Good,” said Cloudchaser with a relieved sigh. “I’m starving, and this’ll help me forget that weirdo I put up with in the music store.”

“Weirdo?” asked Flitter.

Cloudchaser’s mouth was full with a bite of her sub so she settled with a nod before swallowing. “Kept giving me looks while I was browsing the DVD section,” she explained with disgusted tone before sipping at her iced tea. “It was almost like he was checking me out but trying not to make it look obvious.”

“Did you recognize him?” asked Stoutheart with mild intrigue. “Was he a Canterlot High student?”

Cloudchaser scrunched her face in contemplation before giving a shake of her head. “Don’t think so. He looked like he was our age, but I’ve never seen him at CHS.”

“Probably from another school then,” guessed Stoutheart.

Now it was Flitter’s turn. “What’d he look like?”

Cloudchaser ate a couple of chips before beginning. “About Thunderlane’s height I’d guess. Wore a black hoodie, dark blue jeans, and had reddish hair.” She took another bite of her sub. “It’s no big deal anyway. I just avoided eye contact and minded my own business until I was done.”

“Did he follow you out?”

“No, once I was back in the mall, I checked my six and didn’t see him. Maybe he got bored with me after I gave him the cold shoulder.” She picked up her drink and waved it dismissively before taking a long pull of it. “Anyway, let’s forget it and chow down. No point in letting this gourmet spread go to waste.”

Stoutheart and Flitter smiled at the girl’s remark and began attacking the remainder of their meals and losing themselves in chit chat. They started with their respective costumes before moving onto a variety of topics. They each compared their favorite bands before Cloudchaser went on about this year’s successful run for Wondercolts.

Being a neophyte to sports, Stoutheart merely listened and offered little comment, but there were a few times his mind wandered. That vision of him and Flitter kissing at the Halloween dance re-emerged to taunt him. Hot on its heels was the vision of him garbed once again as The Wraith, standing in a dark Bridleton alleyway, unloading his pistols at an encroaching group of criminals while Flitter stood behind him, hands on his shoulder and terror etched on her face.

His eyes wandered too, but not to Flitter though. He suppressed the urge to look her over lest she catch on and feel uncomfortable at his gawking. That was the last thing he wanted today. Instead, his eyes darted around the food court. Looking to the right, he spied Sunset, Fluttershy, and Rarity at a table, with bowls of salad laid out before each of them. Whereas Fluttershy ate normally, Rarity, who sat off to her left, seemed to be consuming her meal more daintily, while Sunset devoured her salad as if she had not seen one in months.

“What about you Stout?” Flitter’s voice made him shift his view back toward the siblings.

“Huh?”

“We were talking about Daring Do,” explained the girl. “You a fan?”

Stoutheart quickly collected himself and nodded. “Not a diehard fan like Rainbow Dash is but—”

“I doubt anyone is as diehard a fan like Rainbow,” interrupted Cloudchaser with a wry smirk.

Stoutheart laughed. “You’re probably right,” he said with a snort before finishing off the last of his drink. Then he looked at Flitter. “In answer to your question, I’ve dabbled in a few books. I like the movies too.”

“What’re your favorites?” pressed Flitter who leaned in curiously, arms folded on the table.

“As far as books go, Wake of the Appleloosa. For movies, it’s a tossup between The Iron Phoenix and The Slaughterers Chalice. Phoenix has terrific action, especially that scene where Daring fights the Teuton soldiers aboard the armored train. As for Chalice , it has the best ending. I mean Daring, her mom, and her friends riding off into the sunset was perfect.” He emphasized that last statement with a chef’s kiss.

Flitter rolled her eyes teasingly. “Leave it to a ship nerd like you to prefer a novel featuring a long lost ironclad.”

Stoutheart grinned smugly. “What can I say? I know what I like.”

“Ship nerd?” asked Cloudchaser in puzzlement.

“I have a thing for ships and sea disasters,” Stoutheart explained. “Also I found Sundowner to be a well written companion. Better than some of the others Yearling has written that’s for sure.”

“Like the whiny nightclub singer who tagged along with her in The Sanctum of Fire,” said Cloudchaser with a visible shudder.

“God, don’t remind me,” groaned Stoutheart. “I would have preferred Appleloosa becoming a film over that book. Even so, it had its moments.” Then he made a face, as if he had just had a spoonful of the nastiest tasting cough medicine shoved into his mouth. “At least it wasn’t Chariots of the Gods.”

“Oh c’mon, Chariots of the Gods wasn’t that bad,” countered Flitter.

“The warehouse scene at the beginning kicked ass, I’ll give you that. But the movie just felt like a big heaping pile of meh.” He was going to gripe about the infamous ‘fridge scene’ but something caught his eye up ahead, past Flitter and Cloudchaser’s heads. There, in the distance just outside the food court, stood a teen boy.

He was about six feet estimated Stoutheart but that was not what made him stand out amongst the crowd. It was the black hoodie, jeans covering black and white soled sneakers and the unruly mop of orange-red hair. It fit Cloudchaser’s description almost to a tee. Below that hair, a pair of periwinkle eyes set into an ivory face ignored Cloudchaser as if she were invisible and looked directly at Stoutheart menacingly, like a wolf hidden in a tree line eying the biggest, plumpest sheep in a field.

Stoutheart was more perplexed than concerned. His brow furrowed slightly. What’s his deal? he wondered to himself.

A few seconds later, Stoutheart saw newcomer walk towards his table, his demeanor never changing. “Crap,” he muttered.

Cloudchaser heard him. “What’s up?”

“You’re admirer from the music store is coming toward us.”

“You’re joking,” deadpanned the girl.

“I wish I was,” said Stoutheart wearily before nodding up ahead. “See for yourself.”

Cloudchaser turned in her seat, followed a fraction of a second later by Flitter, who then looked at her sister. “What does he want?” she asked with an edge in her voice.

“Not your sister, that’s for sure.” The two girls heard Stoutheart’s proclamation and looked back at him quizzically.

“I think it’s me he wants to have a word with,” he said with a grimace.

Comments

[DeffBwade]

NO! CLIFFHANGER!

[Lightoller]

11170088

MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!