Friday, September 4, 2015

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): You'll meet someone today who needs a helping hand. It's in your own best interest to be a friend to this person.

Early Morning

"Hey Flash!" Pinkie says when I come downstairs for breakfast. "Tryouts for the tennis team are this afternoon. Are you gonna go for it?"

"I'm not sure yet," I say.

"Well...think it over," Pinkie says. "I was on the team last year." With a teasing grin, she adds, "It's co-ed~!"

Hmm. Cute girls in short skirts...

I guess I could use the exercise.

After School

Tryouts for the tennis team are fun, but exhausting. Pinkie is a natural, and looks really cute in her tennis outfit.

There are roughly ten guys and ten girls present. After an hour and a half of matches and drills, the coach calls a halt to practice.

"Okay! Good job, everyone! I'll put up the list of who made the team on Canterbook. Everyone who's on the team, we meet on Wednesdays and Fridays after school."

I made the team!

"That was fun!" Pinkie says. "Congratulations on making the team!"

"Thanks," I say.

"I'm gonna hit the showers," Pinkie says. "I'm all sweaty and gross. Ew!"

She hasn't broken a sweat at all...

As for me, I'm sweating terribly. I sit down on the benches to catch my breath and towel off.

"Umm...excuse me...would you like something cold to drink?"

I look up. A girl is standing nearby, hands cupped against her chest, holding a bottle of sports drink. She's very short, with pale cream skin and light green eyes. Her seafoam green hair is cut in a short, cute pageboy style, and her round, cute face is red. She's wearing a short-sleeved white shirt with a red collar and baggy red shorts, as well as white tennis shoes and red socks.

She ducks her eyes. "Umm...I'm the team manager...my name is Coco..." She thrusts the bottle at me, trembling. "Here!"

I accept it. "Thanks," I say. "You're the team manager, huh? Are you a freshman?"

"Umm...I'm a s-sophomore," Coco says meekly.

"THERE YOU ARE!" a girl's voice roars. A tall girl with pinkish-lavender skin and reddish-brown eyes storms up. Her dark lavender hair is swept artfully in front, while in the back it's tied into a long ponytail, save for three highly improbable, tightly curled knots that stick up from the back of her head. She's wearing a tennis outfit, and has three buttons sewn onto the hem of her skirt, each a different color: purple, light yellow, and pale blue-green.

Coco lets out a frightened squeak.

"WHAT are you doing standing around when there's work to be done?" the other girl snaps. "There are loose balls everywhere, the school rackets need to be put back in the equipment closet, and you don't want to keep me waiting for my mango smoothie!"

"S-sorry!" Coco stammers. "I-I'll get r-right on it!" She rushes off and starts scooping up loose tennis balls.

The tall girl turns her attention to me, flipping her bangs. "You've got pretty good skills. Been playing long?"

"First time, actually."

"Oh, really? Well, I'm Suri Polomare, and I'm the team captain." She smooths out her skirt. "I'm the ace of Canterlot High, hmhm, mmkay? Just come see me if you need any lessons, hmhm, mmkay."

"I'll...keep that in mind."

Coco trips and falls against the fence with a loud clamor. Suri turns and lets out an irritated snarl. "YOU! MANAGER! GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!"

"S-sorry!"

"Idiot," Suri groans. She heads off for the showers.

Frowning, I walk over and start helping Coco pick up loose balls. "O-oh! Y-you don't have to...i-it's alright..."

"Don't worry about it," I say. "Why do you let her yell at you like that?"

"W-well...she's a senior...and she's the team captain, and...well..."

"That doesn't give her the right to treat you like crap."

I help Coco put away the equipment. "Th-thank you for helping me," she says. "Oh! I-I'd better go get the captain her smoothie..."

"Let her get it herself," I say. "If she gives you grief, just tell her you're not her slave."

"I-I'm not...I c-can't..." Coco stammers. She looks down. "I...I'm not brave..."

"You don't have to be brave," I say. "She can't hurt you. She's just loud and bossy. Just ignore her." I smile. "And if she does try anything, I've got your back."

"R-really?" Coco asks.

"Sure." I offer my hand. "Friends?"

She smiles shyly and timidly takes my hand. "F-friends...I...I'd like that..."

---

With my help, Coco is finished and gone before Suri comes out of the locker rooms, and I shower and head home.

Evening

"Whoo!" Rainbow Dash says as she walks into the dorm, stretching. "Three day weekend!" She flops on the sofa in the lounge and turns on the TV. "Time to veg!"

"You're not planning to waste the whole weekend doing nothing, are you?" Rarity asks.

"Of course not," Rainbow scoffs. "I'm gonna have fun!" She changes channels. "But tonight, I'm gonna chill in front of the TV."

Rarity raises an eyebrow. "Well...I suppose relaxing on a Friday evening after a stressful week of school is appealing..." She looks up at me. "What about you, Flash? Any plans?"

"Just the usual," I say. "Reading, guitar practice...might go out and buy a tennis racket tomorrow." I grin. "I made the team."

"Awesome!" Rainbow cheers.

I go upstairs and get in a little guitar practice before dinner. After dinner, I sit in the lounge with the girls. Fluttershy has her little white bunny rabbit, Angel, in her lap. Rarity's fat, grumpy cat Opalescence is curled up in a basket in the corner, glaring at the room at large. Spike is curled up by Twilight's feet.

Rarity has a sketchpad in her lap. That jogs my memory. "Hey Rarity?"

"Yes?"

"I've come up with an emblem. Well, more or less. I may need a little help with the finishing touches."

"That certainly won't be a problem," Rarity says. "Would you like me to help you add it to some of your clothing?"

"That'd be great. If you have the time, I mean."

"I'm not especially busy this weekend," Rarity says.

"Awesome, thanks." I run upstairs and get my own notepad, then come down. I show the cleanest, best sketch I've got to Rarity. "It needs to be...a little more even than this...this part should be blue, this should be very light yellow, almost white..."

Rarity examines it and nods thoughtfully. "Yes...I see. I believe I can even this out for you."

Once she's finished cleaning it up, it looks almost exactly like what I saw that night.

"Looks great," I say.

"Let me see!" Pinkie exclaims, grabbing the notepad from Rarity. "Mm-hmm...uh-huh...nice!" The others take turns looking at it. Fluttershy offers to make a Canterbook icon out of it for me.

The rest of the evening passes quietly. Rarity asks me to lay out a few (clean) clothes to put the emblem on in the morning, and Fluttershy e-mails me the finished Canterbook icon.

I'm uploading the icon to Canterbook when I get a new message.

I reply, then head up to bed.