Spike stepped into Sugarcube Corner. Twilight had asked him to place the order for the food they needed for the festival. He walked up to the counter, where Mr. Cake was putting cherries on top of cupcakes.
Luckily, Mr. Cake only had two more to put on. After that he said, “And there we go! They’re good to go sweetie!”
Mrs. Cake placed the cupcakes in a box. “Thanks for taking care of this order honey. I would’ve done it myself, but I already had three other orders to work on.”
Mr. Cake smiled. “No problem, sweetie!” The skinny stallion gave his wife a peck on the cheek.
Awww. Spike thought to himself. They’re such a sweet couple. Mr. Cake is clearly a great husband. Hmmmm….
Mrs. Cake left the bakery to deliver the box of cupcakes, leaving only Spike and Mr. Cake at Sugarcube Corner. “Hi Spike,” the skinny stallion stated, “What can I getcha?”
Spike handed Mr. Cake a sheet of paper. “I’m here to place an order for catering for the Spring Fling Festival.”
Mr. Cake started reading the order as he said “Ah yes. Pinkie told Cup Cake and I that Princess Twilight and friends would be in charge of the festival this year. Do you need anything else? I just whipped up a batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!”
Spike shook his head. “No thanks. I’m good. Although, I do need something else….”
“Oh, what do you need?”
“I need to know more about you and Mrs. Cake.”
Mr. Cake blinked. “Uh… what?”
Spike sighed. “There’s this pony I like, and I’m thinking about asking her out. But…..I don’t have a great track record with the ladies. So I’m trying to get advice on how to properly pursue a relationship, and I figured that since you have such a great relationship with your wife that…you know….you could help me out.”
Mr. Cake chuckled. “Ahh, to be young again. Very well Spike. I met Mrs. Cake….over sixteen years ago, when we were still in High School. Of course, back then she was known as Cup O’Flour. She was very sweet and very easy on the eyes, so I took notice of her right away.”
“So you knew right away that you two were soulmates?” Spike asked.
Mr. Cake shook his head. “I wouldn’t go that far. I certainly knew that I liked her. A lot. But I had been in enough messy relationships prior to know that things wouldn’t work out automatically just because I liked her. So, to see if we were a good match, I took her out on a practice date.”
“A what?”
“That’s where you take somepony out on a date without telling them it’s a date.”
Spike blinked in confusion. “How do you do that?”
“Well, in my case I just asked her if she wanted to hang out and grab a milkshake or something. She agreed and we grabbed some grub at
that old retro-style diner. I think it closed down a few years back. Anyway, while we ate we got to know each other, talked about our interests and ambitions; that kind of stuff.”
The young dragon tilted his head slightly. “Huh. So you asked her on a date?”
The skinny stallion chuckled. “Well, yes and no. We did go out on a date, but I didn’t call it a date. I just asked Cup if she wanted to hang out, maybe get some food. That way, there would be less pressure on the both of us, and it would be more causal, more natural. Anyways, during our conversation, I discovered how much we had in common. I told her about my dream to one day own a bakery and she told me how she wanted a career that would let her work with food. We also shared a favorite band, The Sandy Horseshoes.”
“…The sandy what now?”
“Their music sounded kind of…. ska-punk meets post-grunge, with some hip-hop influence.” Mr. Cake explained. “They were before
your time. Anyways, after that conversation, I knew that Cup was the mare for me, so a week later I asked her to be my date to the school dance. And we’ve been together ever since.”
Spike smiled. “Wow, that really worked out for you, didn’t it?”
Mr. Cake smiled. “Yeah. So if I were you, I’d ask out this mare you like on a practice date. Ask her if she wants to chat over coffee or grab some burritos and hang out.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Thanks Mr. Cake!”
The skinny stallion responded. “No problem, hope things go well with you!”
Mr. Cake then took a look at the clock. “I’d like to talk more, but I’ve got more baking to do. Be sure to let me know how your practice date goes.”
Spike waved goodbye to the baker and left Sugarcube corner.
Twilight sighed in relaxation, grabbing a book off the shelf in her library.
“Finally, I get a chance to sit back, sip some tea and read the latest volume of Daring Do.”
Unfortunately, right after the Princess of Friendship said that, Starlight opened the doors to the library. “Hey Twilight, can I talk to you about something?”
Twilight shut the book she picked up. It looked like reading about Daring Do’s latest adventure would have to wait. “Sure thing Starlight, what’s the matter?”
Starlight looked slightly to the right. “I’m concerned about Spike. He’s been feeling pretty glum recently.”
Twilight nodded. “Indeed. Ever since Spike found out about Rarity he’s definitely been more….of a downer.”
The pink unicorn nodded in agreement. “And on top of that, Spike’s been acting…weird around me recently.”
One of Twilight’s eyebrows raised slightly. “What do you mean?”
Starlight sighed. “Well, you see….”
Earlier that morning Starlight was going through the castle, labeling the rooms by posting sticky notes over the doors. Granted, it would probably take her a week to do the entire castle, but in the long run it would prevent Starlight from getting lost.
She opened a door and saw an oven. “Here’s the kitchen.” She then used a quill to write kitchen on a sticky note and stuck it over the doorway.
Starlight trotted over to the next door and opened it to reveal Spike, in a bath-towel, attempting to comb his head-crest. The young dragon’s eyes traveled slightly to the right and noticed the pink unicorn looking at him.
“AUGH! DON’T LOOK AT ME!” Spike yelled, covering his body with his arms.
Starlight quickly complied with his request, covering her eyes as she shut the door.
Twilight blinked. “So Spike was shocked and slightly embarrassed because you saw him in a towel?”
“But that’s not the weird part.” Starlight explained. “I’ve seen Spike in a towel before; last time it happened though, he didn’t care at all. Now, it seems like he doesn’t want me seeing him half-naked.”
Twilight blinked. “But you see Spike naked all the time.”
“I know”, the pink unicorn responded, “That’s why I said he’s acting weird.”
The Princess of Friendship sighed. “Clearly, he’s taken Rarity’s rejection far worse than I thought he would. And I was aware it was gonna be rough for him! If only there was a way we could help him move on…”
Starlight put her thinking cap on. “Hmmm…well, Spike did tell me he could almost deal with being rejected when he wasn’t around Rarity. Maybe he needs some time away from Ponyville.”
Twilight gasped. “Starlight! That’s it!”
“What’s it?”
“I’m leaving for Canterlot tomorrow! I was originally planning on going there just to hang out with Moondancer, but I can bring Spike along, and he can get some time away from home. A chance to have fun in his hometown and clear his head!”
Starlight smiled. “That is a good idea!”
Twilight then got another idea. “Say Starlight, would you like to come along with us? I mean, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to but...”
“I’d love to come.” The pink unicorn responded.
“I’m grateful you brought up this problem.” Twilight told her student. “And I’m glad we were able to come up with a potential solution. But now…I’d like to be able to read in peace.”
“Oh! Of course!” Starlight responded “I’ll leave you to your Daring Dude book.”
“Her name is Daring Do.” Twilight corrected.
Starlight chuckled as she left the library. “Sorry, not familiar with popular novels.”
Twilight sipped her tea as she opened her copy of Daring Do and the Strange Rubber Chicken McGuffin. “Hmm…. Wait, is Daring Do teaming up with who I think she’s teaming up with?”