Crafter sat at a table inside the bakery around the corner from his home, nervously shifting about in the seat. He had every right to be nervous; he had asked a very close friend of his to meet him for lunch and was afraid she wouldn’t show up. He was starting to make himself sick.
“Hey Crafter, what's up?” a light brown unicorn mare greeted in a warm stalliongrad accent as she walked in, brushing aside her long, chocolate mane out of her eyes with a hoof.
“Hey Cocoa,” Crafter replied, signaling her to have a seat across from him “I’m glad you could make it.”
Cocoa took the seat without hesitation, glad to be out of the St. Petershoof weather. “Yeah me too, it’s freezing out there.” she greeted warmly. “Well, more so than usual.” She added with a chuckle.
Crafter chuckled too, he loved her since of humor, it was a rare trait in the industrial city.
“Anyway,” she said after they had both finished enjoying the joke “what did you want to talk about?”
Shifting about in his seat again, heart pounding in his chest with fear, Crafter steeled his nerves and spoke. “I-I was just wondering if you had a special somepony for H-Hearts and Hooves Day.” He asked, blushing slightly.
Her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. “I…uh….” Cocoa stammered. The look of hope in his eyes was unbearable. “Well I don’t… but….”
When Crafter heard Cocoa say ‘but’, his fragile heart shattered. “I'm sorry I wasted your time…” The bitter cold of the arctic air was nothing compared to the pain in his chest. Getting up from the table, Crafter slowly walked out into the raging blizzard.
***
Crafter’s eyes shot open, bloodshot and full of tears. He could still recall the dream --or nightmare in his case-- quite clearly; it was the last time he allowed a crush to develop, the last time he had his heart torn to shreds. It was a Semi-regular nightmare; one that would only come if Crafter was reminded of how miserable he was being alone in the world. He looked at the clock on the nightstand, it read 5:23. His biological clock saved him from the rest of that horrible memory.
He groaned as he got out of bed, all four of his knees letting out audible cracks as he rose. Crafter stretched his back, earning more loud pops. He had found memories of tormenting his younger sister by cracking his knees, hooves, back, and just about every other joint he had.
Allowing a small, nostalgic smile to form, Crafter made his way to the kitchen for his coffee. Oh yeah… he mentally grumbled, he still didn’t have a coffee maker OR food. He opted that Sugarcube Corner would suffice, remembering the blissful muffin, the warm coffee, Ditzy’s wonderful smile… wait… As that last thought entered his brain, Crafter took the dart, again, and launched it at the board. This was the most he’s had to use the board on one mare, but no matter how hard he tried, his mind would always float back to her smile.
After locking his house, Crafter turned to start the trek to the bakery. He was instantly greeted by the sight of the mare herself, Ditzy. She was sporting her mailmare uniform, which consisted of the signature post hat and a rather large mailbag. “Mail call.” She happily chirped, her voice having reverted to its natural ‘loopy’ tone. Ditzy reached into the bag with a hoof and pulled out a few letters and held them out to Crafter.
“Good morning Ditzy.” Crafter managed, taking the mail with his magic. “How-” He covered his mouth with a hoof as a yawn was let loose. “How are you today?”
Ditzy’s eyes, albeit crooked, glowed with pride. “I'm doing fantastic! I delivered all the mail to the correct houses for once!”
“That’s-” Another yawn. “That’s great.” Crafter replied honestly. It concerned him that she said ‘for once’ but decided not to ask about it. The last thing he wanted to do was bring up painful memories, he had his fair share as it was. “Sorry if I don’t sound interested, I'm still-” A third powerful yawn escaped his mouth. “Still a bit sleepy.” Crafter said, letting his eyes wander for emphasis.
Ditzy let out a giggle, then yawned herself. “Stop yawning darn it, it’s contagious.” She playfully complained.
Crafter proceeded to let out the most obnoxious, fake yawn he could muster. He was rewarded with the desired reaction, a playful shove and that wonderful laugh.
“I assume you’re going to Sugarcube Corner. Mind if I tag along?” Ditzy asked innocently.
“I wouldn’t mind at all,” Crafter happily replied after he yawned again “but what about your mail roots?”
Ditzy blushed again, which as usual, went unnoticed by Crafter. “I start early on Saturday’s so I can be home when Dinky wakes up. I also made sure to deliver your mail last so we could… you know… spend some time together.”
“Oh ok, shall we-” Yet another yawn interrupted him as he spoke. “Get going then?”
Ditzy nodded shyly. “Yes.”
They wasted no time making their way to Sugarcube Corner for breakfast, both eager to get some food in them. It didn’t take long to reach their destination; Crafter didn’t live that far away from the bakery. When they reached the front door, each of them slammed into the door frame, Crafter was beginning to see this as a regular event.
“Are you two alright?” Mrs. Cake asked, rushing to help them up.
“Yeah I'm fine.” Crafter said, rubbing his sore nose. Luckily it wasn’t bleeding this time.
“And you know I'm alright.” Ditzy said casually, brushing off the collision entirely.
Mrs. Cake just sighed; it worried her that Ditzy didn’t feel the pain anymore. “Well let me know when you’re ready to order dears, I have to take care of the Twins.”
“Twins?” Crafter asked Ditzy after Mrs. Cake entered the kitchen.
“She had foals not too long ago,” She clarified “a unicorn and a pegasus.”
Right on cue, a khaki pegasus foal burst out of the kitchen and started buzzing around the main room, giggling like a maniac.
“Pound Cake!” his mother called. “You get back here this instant!”
The tiny colt ignored her, and instead focused on the face he had never seen before. He slowly ‘flew’ over to Crafter, full of curiosity.
Crafter just gave a warm smile and waved, inviting the foal closer. “Hey there little guy.” He said softly.
Pound smiled back and imitated his wave. Without hesitation, the small pegasus foal landed on Crafter’s back and started to climb all over him.
Mrs. Cake came in soon after to find that Crafter had become a living jungle gym, displaying infinite patience. Once Pound had expended his excess energy, he hovered in front of him and outstretched his arms.
Understanding the universal gesture of ‘please hold me’, Crafter sat down on the floor and let the foal land in his arms. Ignoring the ‘Awwww’ from the mares behind him, Crafter slowly rocked the foal to sleep.
Ditzy walked around to get a better view, not wanting to miss a single second of it. “That was amazing.” She whispered.
“I’ve always had a way with foals,” Crafter replied, offering the sleeping colt back to Mrs. Cake “makes me wish I had one of my own.” He added with a sad undertone.
“I’m sure you’d make a great father dear.” Mrs. Cake said reassuringly, taking her son back. Ditzy nodded in agreement.
“I’ve heard,” Crafter said with a chuckle “been told that since I was a teenager.”
As Mrs. Cake took Pound upstairs for a nap, Crafter and Ditzy looked at the selection of baked goods in the counter display case. “What are you going to get?” Ditzy asked.
Crafter scanned the pastries, none really stood out. “I might get what I had yesterday.”
“And what was that?” she asked, curiosity rising.
“A blueberry muffin,” Crafter said, mouth starting to water “it was soooo good.”
“Ohmygosh, I LOVE blueberry muffins!” Ditzy exclaimed, her wings flaring up in excitement.
“I can see that.” Crafter chuckled, having barely avoided being slapped in the rib cage by her wings.
Ditzy slowly folded back her wings, blushing horribly. “Sorry…”
Crafter gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it.”
Right then, Mrs. Cake came down from upstairs. “Are you two ready to order?”
“Yes! Give us two Blueberry Supreme Muffins!!!” Ditzy excitedly ordered, placing her bits on the counter. “Oh, and two medium coffees please.” She added more calmly, blushing slightly.
“Do you want it to-go dears?” she asked, turning to prepare their order.
Ditzy turned to Crafter expectantly.
“Wait you’re ordering for me too?” Crafter asked after he realized why she was looking at him. “Um, we can eat here I guess.”
“Then no thanks Mrs. Cake, we’re eating here.” Ditzy said to the baker.
Mrs. Cake nodded and entered the kitchen to make their breakfast.
“Why did you pay for both of us? I had no problem paying for my half.” Crafter said, taking a seat at a booth with Ditzy.
“Because I wanted to…” she answered, shrinking into herself and folding her ears back slightly.
“But won’t your husband find it odd that you’re being so nice to another stallion?” Crafter asked, slightly nervous at the thought of getting the tar beaten out of him by an angry stallion.
Ditzy’s ears perked back up instantly, losing any sign of shyness she previously had. “What made you think I was married?” she asked bluntly.
“Um… your daughter?” Crafter was starting to get very confused.
“Oh…” Her ears folded back completely this time and a single tear dripped down her cheek. “Well I-I'm… n-not married… I-I never have been.”
Crafter felt as though he had been slapped across the face, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what she meant. “I'm so sorry, I didn’t mean to--”
He was silenced by Ditzy holding up her hoof. “Don’t worry about it, you didn’t know.” She said, giving him a forced smile. “But Dinky means the world to me; I can’t imagine my life without her.”
“Here’s your breakfast dears.” Mrs. Cake said, placing the food on the table. “Enjoy.”
After she left, the two just sat in silence. Crafter felt horrible about bringing up dark memories and sank into his seat in shame. In an attempt to distract himself, Crafter decided to open his mail. Bringing the letters up to his face with his magic, he read the return address of each one. “Looks like somepony bought my old house, I have some money now.”
“Wait you’re broke?” Ditzy asked in shock.
“Well… not anymore.” Crafter said, sinking further into his seat.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were struggling? I would have gladly lent you some spending money.” Ditzy asked, trying to recover what was left of their conversation.
Crafter shook his head. “It would feel weird to me, asking for money from a mare I just met.” This was partially true, the other reason was his political alignment, but he dare not tell her about that.
“I guess that makes since.” Ditzy said, a little disappointed. “What other mail did you get?”
Resuming where he left off, Crafter looked at the rest of his mail. Most of it was junk, pointless advertisements for things he had no interest in. One letter however, had no return address. “This is odd…” Crafter said, putting the other letters down.
“What is it?” Ditzy asked, curiosity peaked.
Opening the mystery letter, Crafter slowly pulled out its contents. In all honesty, he was expecting a threatening letter, most unmarked ones were. To his surprise, he pulled out two coupons to a free movie at the theater. “A free movie?”
“Can I see the envelope for a second?” Ditzy asked, holding out a hoof.
After turning it upside-down and shaking it a few times with his magic to make sure there wasn’t a letter inside it, Crafter sent over the now empty envelope.
“…No I got the address right, it’s definitely for you.” She confirmed.
“I’ll have to remember to use these.” Crafter said, placing the coupons on the table next to the rest of his mail and taking a sip of his coffee.
Ditzy removed her mail cap and twisted it nervously in her hooves; she was obviously debating something with herself. She took a sip of her coffee to clear her mind. As the caffeine took effect, she made up her mind. “P-perhaps we could s-see a movie this evening?” She asked nervously. “Dinky has a sleepover tonight and I don’t like being alone.”
Crafter thought about his plans he had for the day, which didn’t include much. “That sounds fun, probably better to use these sooner rather than later. I would forget I had them if I waited too long.”
“Great.” She replied, seeming much happier. “So what do you do for a living?” Ditzy asked after taking a bite of muffin.
“I do repair work mostly; it was pretty handy in an industrial city like St. Petershoof, never a time when I didn’t have something to work on.” Crafter replied after swallowing his own bite.
Ditzy tilted her head in confusion. “If you always had work, shouldn’t you have had more money?”
OH BUCK I FORGOT ABOUT THAT PART!! Crafter’s ears pinned back as far as they could go and his eyes shifted about as he frantically tried to come up with a believable story. “Um… it was… for charity?” He said, unsure of his own words.
At first it didn’t look like she was going to buy it, Crafter could feel the suspicious stare Ditzy gave him digging into his mind, searching for any sign of deceit. “Well that’s very noble of you.” She said, instantly returning to her normal, bubbly attitude.
“Yeah, I guess it is.” Crafter agreed after heaving a sigh of relief.
“But how did you get by? Surely you did SOMETHING for money.” Ditzy asked, propping her head on her hooves as she rested her front knees on the table.
Luckily, Crafter could easily answer this one. “I'm a writer. I had a deal with the library where I got paid a percentage of the rental money.”
Ditzy perked up instantly. “You’re a writer?”
Crafter nodded, taking a bite of his muffin and another sip of coffee. “Self-published, but St. Petershoof doesn’t exactly have the highest literacy rate.” He said sadly. “Everypony there is too busy either working in the mines or factories to read.”
Just then, the clock tower chimed 6:00. “I’d love to stay and chat,” Ditzy said hesitantly “but Dinky will be up any minute now. If it weren't for those cartoons I'm sure she’d sleep later.”
“Hey, Saturday morning cartoons are quality programing.” Crafter defended, sticking his nose in the air.
“You and Dinky would get along wonderfully.” Ditzy giggled. “Well I’ll see you this evening?”
“Sounds good,” Crafter confirmed “see you then.”
Ditzy nodded, saying one last goodbye to her friend. Crafter remained at the table, calmly sipping his coffee and finishing his muffin. It was still early so he could enjoy the calmness of the morning for a little bit longer.
Then it dawned on him. “Did I just get a date?”