~ VI ~
Steadfast Coffee
“Spike?” Ms. Cake said. “Why, it's been so long! It's such a delight to see you.”
“And you as well, Ms. Cake.” I nodded my head. “Hope you don't mind, but I took over the shop for the last hour or so.” I sighed. “Pinkie wasn't feeling well, so I figured I'd help out.” I clenched my left eye. “That isn't a problem, is it?'”
“These floors!” Mr. Cake drew my attention with his exclaiming. He was sliding a hoof across the wood like he was going to skate across it. “Did you do this yourself, son?”
“Mostly.” I exhaled with relief. “We didn't have too many ponies come in today, so I figured I'd get some cleaning down. Floors and tables have been mopped and wiped down. Most of today orders have been cooked.” I pointed a thumb over my shoulder toward the doors of the kitchen. “You still have another batch of cookies in the—“
“Already taken care of!” I turned around to see Pinkie backing through those doors, two trays balancing on her back and rump. She looked happier than the last time I saw her. “Got 'em to the perfect tempura too! These look delicious.”
“And they smell delicious too!” Ms. Cake said, and when I turned back, she was smiling up at me. “I knew you were a chef, Spike, but I didn't know you could handle a kitchen all by yourself.”
“And neither did I,” I replied, surprise catching in my voice. “Didn't know I could do something like this until I... actually did it, I suppose.”
The praise rendered my body hollow.
“That's just how most things in life work, my boy.” Mr Cake walked back to the counter. “You can only know how well you're at something by giving it a try!” He smiled at me—it was genuine, that I was sure, but for whatever reason, it all felt so... fake. “Perhaps you'll be willing to try this again sometime soon? We could sure use the help later in the season.”
“I'll... have to see what Twilight says about that.”
“I understand completely.”
“Boy, that was weird.”
Pinkie stared up at me. “There was a boy? Why was here weird?”
“I didn't mean it like that.” I shook my head as we walked side by side. We were heading down the streets of Ponyville. We'd passed the town hall. I stared at it for a little while. It was a cool, neat thing to look at. “I mean that having the Cakes walk in like that and, y'know, compliment me and all that.”
“Compliments are weird?”
“They are for me.”
“You're weird.”
“Rich, coming from you.”
“I'm rich?”
“Never mind.”
It's safe to say most of our conversations were pointless. They teased my brain alright. Sometimes, they were complex questions disguised as simple ones, and they threw me for a loop once or twice. I felt as smart as Twilight when I could answer them.
Sometimes, I didn't even know what the answer was until I answered. It felt like I was pulling words out from under my tail, but then again, I don't know of any other way to answer things. Just the way I go about things, I suppose—I don't know.
“Mind if we hold up a second?”
Pinkie walked a few steps ahead. She stopped. She turned around. She looked up at me not annoyed or confused but smiling with an arched eyebrow. “Okie-Doke. What's up?!”
“That building over there?” I pointed to City Hall behind us. “Did you get a look at it while we passed it?”
“Of course I did, silly!” Pinkie came before me. “I see it every day on my daily strolls. It looks super-duper cool!”
“But have you been inside of it?”
“Once or twice. There was when we first met Twilight, and then when we gave Applejack that award—we've been inside there plenty of times, now that I think about it.” Pinkie tilted her head. “Why? Do you wanna go inside there now?”
“I don't think we're allowed inside of there.”
“Says who?”
“The government.”
“Yeah, sometimes they can be pretty mean.”
Pinkie turned and stared at the building.
I did so too.
“It's weird how many cool buildings we come across in life, but never check inside.” I exhaled heavily as my eyes focused on the building's windows. “There's gotta be stuff going on in there, y'know? Ponies working. Going upstairs or across halls. Must be a lot of stuff happening inside those walls that we don't see.”
“I guess so.”
“It always feels like I'm going to explore building like those one day.” I blinked. What the heck was I going on about? “Kinda like an adventure, y'know? For whatever reason, there's going to be a time when I have to go inside those buildings, explore everything inside, and then meet with someone important to discuss... important things.”
“Sounds super important.”
I chuckled. “You're telling me.”
“So how about we go inside?”
I looked down at Pinkie. She was standing at my side, closer than any friend should be, but not touching me, as a proper marefriend should. It boggled my mind of how close and how far we both were to each other. It still seemed fake, but reality cared not for what I thought.
“We can't just walk inside of there,” I replied. “We need to have a reason or something.”
“Silly dragon.” Pinkie walked forward, glancing over her shoulder at me. “You don't need a reason to go anywhere—you just go!” She continued forward, with or without me, so I caught up to her. “And if ya want, you can find a reason for the trip along the way!”
“I don't know, Pinkie.” We stopped before the double doors. My heart pounded. “Still feels wrong to walk inside there with nothing.”
“Then let's get them something!” Pinkie narrowed her eyes and started looking around, stopping when her head stopped right. Her puffy mane bounced along with her movements. “There! We'll get 'em that!”
“Get who what now?”
“Everyone gets coffee!” Pinkie walked along the rim concrete of the building, coming along its side until she stepped off and onto the grass, approaching a stand along the road. “You coming or what?!”
“Yeah yeah!” It's always movement and momentum with Pinkie. Either you're sitting still and talking fast, or you're silent and walking fast. Constant exercise and cerebral exertion were consistent with her. “I'm coming! Don't walk so fast!”
This wasn't any different from being with Twilight—only if you had to always be on a treadmill while talking to her. She didn't get much out either.
“Say Mr.,” Pinkie started to say when I arrived, “do you know how many ponies work in that office? I need you to be super-duper accurate, okay?”
“Miss, do I look like I work in city hall?”
“I don't know,” Pinkie replied. “Do you?”
“No, I don't.”
“Oh.”
I stepped in front of her. “Pinkie, what are you trying to do?”
“Buying coffee for everyone in City Hall!”
“And why are you doing that?”
“Because you want to explore and meet ponies!” Pinkie threw her hooves into the air. “And Fluttershy said that kindness is the best reason to do both of those reasons!”
“So we're going to help those workers?”
“Yup!”
“By buying coffee?”
“Yup!”
“Coffee from strangers?”
“Strangers are just a friend you haven't made yet!”
“You're bound to make some strange friends that way.”
“And a stranger drakefriend too!”
That right. I forgot. When I got too caught up in life, I was prone to forget how pathetic I was—my lot wasn't much different from bums on the street. I was weird and strange. Only I disguised it as wit and charm, which was better than most.
But underneath it all, I was the same as them—whoever they were.
“Alright, buddy.” I turned to the stand, leaning on the counter with my elbow. “Level with me. How many ponies with suits order from you?”
“I beg your pardon?” The stallion shook his head. “Listen, pal, if you and you're mare ain't ordering—“
“We're ordering,” I interrupted, my eyes narrowing. “And if we're trying to order for an entire building, then that means a whole lot of bits for you.” I let a sigh slip through my lips, making sure my claws did not curl. “So help us out? We're paying customers, after all.”
“If yer so keen on numbers, then try ordering ten.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Only ten?”
“I'm in the business of makin' and not wastin'.” He nodded toward City Hall. “They got more than that in there, but not everypony there works everyday. Fewer actually drink coffee.” He glanced back but only to look at Pinkie. “Yer marefriend's nice. Whole lot nicer than you. Two of 'em are free since Y'all are being kind.”
I tucked my lips inward, repressing my anger by stabbing my fangs into them. Once done, I leaned in closer to the booth, my voice becoming a whisper, “Listen, buddy, I can be kind too!”
“Yer choice of words says otherwise, buddy.”
“Oh yeah?” I went to reach for my waist. “How about I pay for all those drinks, all ten of them, twelve even—one for you and one for me.”
“I don't drink coffee.” My claw tapped against my bare waist. “And paying ponies off don't make you kind either. Only makes ya more of a tool.”
“Ya callin' me a tool?” My lip lifted to expose my fangs. “How about you and I meet at the bar tonight? Show you just how good my claws are—“
“Is everything okay, Spikey?”
My world shattered. My focus broke away from the stallion, his body becoming blurry as I stepped away. I was breathing heavily, swallowing my anger. “P-Perfect, Pinkie.”
“You kids paying?”
“Of course we are!” Pinkie reached a hoof into her mane, pulling out a small pouch, something I rarely saw happen in my life. As she poured bits onto the counter, I wondered how many things she had stored away in there—and if it ever weighed her down. “Ten coffees for twenty bits. Right?”
“You got it.” The stallions swiped the bits into his booth. He disappeared inside of it, the sounds of machines roaring from within. “I don't know how those fancy folk takes their Joe!” His voice was distant and echoed off the wood. “I have a near empty carton of cream ya can take. Help yourself to the packets of sugar.”
“Thank you, mister!”
I stood around, silently, hating myself per usual. I had gone to pay only to realize I'd left my pouch and bits at home. This was my first date, and for whatever reason, I was letting my partner, my mare, pay for everything.
Any pride in being a male died.
“Almost done now!”
Someone cleared their throat.
It was Pinkie. She glared at me. “What are you waiting for?”
“What do you mean?”
“Say thank you!”
“What, to that guy? I hate him!”
“He's kind to us!” Pinkie slammed her elbow into my waist. “You're supposed to say 'thank you' when ponies are kind!”
“Hey! You just touched me.”
“The first trial is that you can't touch me.” Pinkie pulled back her hoof. “And say it! Ponies don't have to be kind, so we thank them when they are.”
“He wasn't kind to me.”
“Nopony's perfect!”
The stallion returned. “Here's yer drinks. Hey, tool? Try usin' yer claws to hold the trays.” He had two trays, four in each, resting on his back. I lifted both of them all, fighting the urge to lift him by his throat instead. “I reckon the mare doesn't need a tray for the last two.”
“Yup!” Pinkie leaned over the counter, curling her forelegs around the two cups, lifting them not to her back but her mane, letting her curly strands hold them in place. “My hair is a natural cup holder!”
I glanced back at the stallion. “Does that violate any health codes?”
He leaned in. “I reckon it's fine until the flap opens.”
“Suppose you're right.” I took a moment to catch my breath, hold the trays up, and then stare into the stallion's eye. “About everything. Sorry about what happened.”
“You ain't my worst customer.” After he had said that, he used his hoof to reel me closer, which I did. We both watched pinkie as she collected packets of sugar, stuffing them into her pouch. “But ya better hope ya ain't her worst coltfriend. She's too good for that, ya hear?”
“We're not really dating, to be honest with you.”
“Are ya out together on a date?”
“Sort of,” I replied. “But we're making a game out of it.”
“A date is a game, son.” The stallion tapped my shoulder, causing me to look at him. “That mare is testin' you in her way. All mares do it—they just do it differently.” I patted my back. “Now go show her ya can be kind. Grumpiness will make you a loner fer life.”
It seemed like everyone had advice for me.
“Guess you're right.” I pulled away from the counter and stood tall. “The name's Spike. And I forget your name?”
“Steadfast.”
“Well Steadfast, I wouldn't shake your hoof even if my claws were free.”
“And I feel the same.” For whatever reason, we both smiled at each other, our humor somehow the same. Was I not the only strange one in these parts? “Say, you breathe fire and all that, don't ya?”
“Met three little piggies and a wolf once,” I replied. “Ended up eating the wolf while the pigs hid inside a house. Went to blow it down, but I blew flames instead—ended up sending them up to the mountains somewhere.”
“So your fire can send objects to far off places.”
“Something like that.” I arched an eyebrow. “Why the interest.”
“I got a reason.” The stallion nodded to the right, where Pinkie was approaching us both. “And you got a date to be kind to.” We turned and smiled at Pinkie. “You find some free time tonight, and you pay me a visit, all right?”
“I'll see what I can do.”
“What'cha talking about?”
“We're trying to figure out if the moon is made out of cheese,” I replied, stepping forward. “It would explain what Princess Luna ate for a thousand years. But it doesn't explain how there's still a moon left after that.”
“Maybe she used her magic to make more cheese!”
We started walking away from the stand, with me waving the back of my claw—I felt important when I did that.
“Can magic even do that?”
“Can Twilight do that?”
I shook my head. “But Twilight's on a different level when it comes to magic.”
Pinkie stepped to my side again, her fur an inch from my scales. “Are you saying Luna isn't as powerful as Twilight?”
“I mean, Nightmare Moon got beat for a reason...”