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The next day, Falcon did her usual routine of waking up, stretching, and prepairing for training. When she walked into her bathroom, the mirror reminded her that she hadn't removed any of her piercings or accessories after coming home the previous night. Her sluggish, sleepy mind finally caught up with the present. She had a date with that cute unicorn tonight! How had that happened?
No, she reminded herself, it wasn't a date. She pulled the bracelets from her hooves, and the piercings from her left ear. She was just going to show her around Gallup, and go have dinner at Bertha's tonight. "Don't get all excited over nothing," she told herself.
Despite her self-criticism, she still found her thoughts wandering as she went about her morning jog, and on through training that day.

That afternoon, Falcon left her home wearing her usual piercings again. She tried to keep her mind busy with thoughts that didn't involve comparing what she was about to do with going on a date. She trotted towards the fairgrounds.
There had been one young mare, Snowflake, who had always wanted Falcon to just come strait to her house, before any date. She was insatiable….
Falcon shook the memory from her mind, and focussed on the present. Nothing like that was going to happen tonight. She was just going to go and have an oatburger with a new acquaintance.

Chakra Gem waited in her tent. As she had guessed, business was drying up and she hadn't had any customers since before noon. She had already trotted between her tent and a convenient sundial a few times, and knew that it wasn't far past three thirty in the afternoon. She was fighting the urge to pace back to the timekeeper again. It surely hadn't changed much in the time she'd been sitting in the tent.
She fiddled with the gemstone clasp on her cloak that matched her cutiemark. She had washed the cloak since arriving in town, but still didn't look forward to wearing it out. More than once she had wished that she had some normal clothes, like other ponies. However, there was always something else that took priority of her funds. Besides, she didn't socialize often enough to justify dressing up for it. She didn't really like dressing at all to be honest, there was just one thing she'd rather cover up.
She had always been insecure about her tail, and didn't like it to be very visible in public. At least not when she wasn't performing. When she had first started travelling, she had expected to meet many other unicorns with the same features that she had. However, after some time she had come to understand that it was more rare than she had originally guessed.
Her shoulders slumped and her eyes travelled down to the shabby cloth she had spread out to form the floor of her tent. Surely her real father must have had the same looks as her. She had gone over these thoughts a thousand times. That's what had gone wrong with her family. Her mother and father were happy once, before she had come along.
She didn't look anything like the roan stallion her gray-palomino mother had married. They both had very natural coats, and even earthy-colored eyes. However, she had come out covered in blue spots, with bright pink eyes. Clearly not the daughter of the two earth ponies she called her parents.
This is why she had never been close with her father. Not because of something she had ever said or done. Not because of any choice or option she ever had. He just could never see past his loathing of his unfaithful wife, and could never accept another stallion's foal as his own. He always knew that they didn't share any blood, and after her mother died…. He had never seen her as his daughter, but just a pony who lived in his house. Chakra believed that was why…when she was barely more than a filly….
She cut off the thoughts there. It was too painful for her to continue. Sometimes she thought to herself, "At least we never really bonded before that… at least it was easier to walk away from that house, even if I was still so young." Now, she had lived on the road longer than she had ever lived in that house. It would have been a distant memory, if not for the real, present agony of the turmoil those memories caused.
She finally stood up, ridding herself of the memories by stepping out of her tent, and walking over to the sundial again. She knew that she dwelled on the negative too much. It was better to focus on the now.
The thin shadow on the dial's surface was finally almost touching the number four, carved into the stone. She felt nervous, and immediately questioned why. It wasn't uncommon for friendly ponies to invite her out to dinner. She already knew just what to say to keep them from getting too hopeful, too clingy, too intimate. She tried to convince herself that she was getting a good meal, and some socializing that didn't involve a glow-in-the-dark crystal ball.
Just as she was trotting back to her tent, again, her ears flicked involuntarily to catch the sound of heavy hoofsteps. She turned and noticed that it was that large, dark stallion from the day before, Raceway. Her face automatically shifted into the smile she gave her customers.
"Good afternoon," she said pleasantly.
"Hi," he said back while appraising the cloak she was wearing, "planning on going somewhere?"
"Perhaps." Her face didn't change as she thought through her options. That pink-haired earth pony would be here sometime soon, but she felt…surprisingly nervous about seeing her. She didn't even like mares, yet she was all jittery about going out to dinner with her. She would be much more comfortable spending time around a stallion like Raceway, they were easier to her, or at least less complex and unpredictable. "Of course, now that you're here, I might just have to change my plans." It was a line she had delivered several times, a non-commital phrase that make ponies feel special.
"Well, since you're a fortune teller, I guess you'll already know that I came to ask you back to my place," he said with a confident grin. Chakra could tell that this pony usually got his way, and though he might not expect an outright "yes" he did expect her to come with him.
"Of course, and I'll have to think about that," she said, coyly turning to the side and facing away from him. Despite her cool exterior, there was a prick of worry within her. She simply couldn't be alone with a stallion of his size and strength. He was probably perfectly nice, but she had been in this situation too many times, and couldn't take the chance that things might go wrong again.
She turned back towards him, with an apologetic look on her face. "Well, while I would enjoy sharing your company, I'm afraid there's somepony else I've already promised to meet tonight." She didn't need to tell him who it was, the less details the better.
"Well, what about tomorrow night?" he asked, unshaken.
Chakra started thinking of other excuses, but was distracted when a bit of pink caught her eye. It was the mare, from yesterday, whom she'd been waiting for. She chuckled uncomfortably, knowing that she couldn't work either pony to her advantage now. Best to just get out of this gracefully, with as little conversation as possible.
"I'm so sorry my dear, but it seems my escort has come to fetch me."
Raceway looked over his shoulder, and saw Falcon approaching. Chakra Gem may be new in town, but Raceway had known Falcon their whole lives, and had seen the way she operated. His suspicions immediately rose. So, Falcon had gotten to something before him again. Why couldn't that backwards little mare ever just let things be the way they should be, and let him have what he deserved?! His face did not betray the true depth of his annoyance, but seemed to just grow cold and pinched. He stiffly looked back at Chakra, who's smile seemed more hesitant, more forced, now. "Fine," he muttered before swiftly trotting away.
"Hi Race…" Falcon had started to say as he made eye contact, but she trailed off when she saw his expression. She saw him turn back to Chakra, then turn and walk away, which all kind of puzzled her.
She finally reached Chakra, and nodded her head towards the retreating stallion. "What's with him?"
Chakra considered the sneered word Raceway had just thrown at her. She had wanted to believe that the earth pony mare wasn't something to worry about, but the way Raceway had just reacted to her…. No, he must have just been annoyed at something else, something Chakra didn't know about.
"He has a grudge against you, doesn't he?" Chakra asked.
"Yeah, seems like it." Falcon knew that Raceway usually did a very good job of hiding this, and being polite, to the point that she often thought it was forgotten. Maybe Chakra did have some skill at reading ponies. "Did you tell him that I'm taking you to dinner?"
"No, not really." Just then, something occured to Chakra. "I'm afraid I don't remember your name."
Falcon paused before blushing slightly under her creamy fur, "oh, I don't think I ever mentioned. It's Falcon," she said, turning her body to show her golden falcon cutiemark.
A chuckle bubbled up through Chakra's lips. It was always comforting to see that she wasn't the only pony who forgot basic social skills from time to time.
Falcon smiled, and lifted one foreleg, turning towards town. "C'mon. I promised to show you where to find the best oatburgers in town."
Chakra Gem continued smiling as Falcon lead her into the collection of businesses. She was happily surprised at how quickly her earlier nerves had fallen away.

Upvotes at import: 14 | Stars at import: 10
Posted previously at: 2017-04-10T07:13:55 | Posted previously by: Mildgyth