Story
A loud chime rang out through the air as Spike dragged his feet through the door of Sugarcube Corner. His head and shoulders hung low and each step he took seemed to further curve the edges of his mouth into a deep frown.
He climbed up into one of the chairs and slumped his head into his palms. He took a lengthy glance around the empty restaurant. With the exception of Mrs. Cake working in the kitchen, it was empty.
Usually on an afternoon such as this, the seats would be littered with the fillies and colts from school, buying milk shakes, trading sports cards, talking about the latest gossip and the like. But not today.
Today, everypony was getting ready for the back-to-school dance held annually for all the students at City Hall.
So, of course, all his friends were there, either with dates or serving as chaperones, leaving him by himself once again. He had learned to deal with the ‘being left out’ thing some time before, but this time… this time was different.
Any further thoughts of self-pity that were going through his mind came to a sudden halt as the door chime rang its familiar tune out, breaking the silence.
The small gray filly that walked in was not one Spike had expected to run into tonight. Or any night for that matter.
Silver Spoon didn’t even bother addressing the room with her gaze, opting instead to stare at the immediate ground in front of her, causing her silver braided mane to droop to the floor. She slowly climbed her way into a seat on an adjacent table to Spike and laid her head on it, not making a sound.
Spike couldn’t take his gaze off the mare. From what he knew of her, she was normally confident, outgoing and a tad obnoxious. Not to mention she was rarely seen away from her friend, Diamond Tiara. Now, however, none of those conditions seemed to be being met, but were instead replaced by a sad filly who was obviously going through something.
At this point, Spike realised he had three options:
Option one: Stay put and sulk about his current problems like he had been.
Option two: Sneak out before she notices his presence and avoid the situation entirely.
Option three: Attempt to talk to her and see what was going on.
Although his mind was tugging him in different directions, he knew that option three was the only acceptable one. Besides, as psychology would have one believe, helping others is apparently a great way to help yourself.
Spike let out a breathy sigh and hopped out of his seat. He cautiously made his way across the short gap separating himself and Silver Spoon’s table. She still had her face pressed into the table, and if he wasn’t mistaken, he could hear tiny sobs coming from her.
Trying to avoid any shock, he gently placed his claw on her hunched back. “Um, hey, Silver Spoon?”
She immediately jumped at the contact, her face darting around before coming to a rest on Spike. “Oh, hi, Spike,” she said, trying to brush a few stray tears away from her cheeks. “What do you want?”
“Well, it’s pretty lonely in here, so i was wondering if I could take a seat?” Spike asked, gesturing to the vacant room.
Silver Spoon opened her mouth as if to object, but after a quick glance to the table in front of her, she gently nodded her head.
Spike wasted no time in taking a seat across from her. Up close, he realised she seemed to be a lot worse off than he thought. Her mane was filled with split ends and random knots; her cheeks were wet and stained with tear streaks; her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. She looked like a wreck.
“So, how are you?” Spike immediately mentally face palmed at his question.
Silver just frowned in response and slumped her head back to the table.
“Sorry,” Spike replied, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “I guess what I meant was are you okay? You seem really upset about something.”
“Upset? That doesn’t even begin to describe it…” she said, not bothering to lift her head from its home on the table.
“Well, maybe I could help?” Spike said, attempting a smile. “If nothing else I’d be happy to listen.”
Silver tilted her gaze up to the dragon sitting opposite of her and let out a sigh. “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt.”
The two were interrupted suddenly by the appearance of Mrs. Cake by their table.
“Hello, you two,” she said in a cheery voice with a bright smile. “Can I get you anything?”
Spike looked over at Silver and then back at Mrs. Cake. “Yeah, we’re gonna be here awhile. Can we get two chocolate milkshakes? Put it on my tab.”
“Absolutely, deary. I’ll be right back!”
She returned in no time with the drinks and gave them each one, to which they both thanked her.
“Thanks, Spike,” Silver Spoon said with a small smile.
“No problem,” he replied with a goofy grin. “Anyway, you were telling me about why you’re so upset?”
“Well… it’s a long story. But, you know about the dance thing tonight, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, there was a particular colt I wanted to go with. I just, I don’t know, I didn’t quite have the courage to ask him, so I asked Diamond Tiara for help.”
“Okay. What happened? Did he say no?”
“No,” she replied. “He never even knew I wanted to go with him. Diamond, after I asked for help, went and betrayed me. Apparently, she had similar feelings for him and didn’t want the competition, so she said some nasty things about me to him and…and… and she asked him out instead!” A few fresh tears leaked out from her eyes despite her best efforts to maintain control.
Spike wanted to say something, anything to make her feel better, but he couldn’t find any words except one.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” she said, fighting through the cracking in her voice. “I suppose I had it coming for trusting her with my feelings.”
“No, no. You didn’t deserve that. I’m so sorry,” Spike said. “You know, I originally came here just to sulk about my own issues, but now, I really don’t think I had anything to complain about in the first place.”
Silver turned her attention back to Spike. “Issues? Yeah, now that I think about it, you’re here by yourself, too. What’s wrong?”
“Well, it’s kind of stupid now that I think about it. Just, I had wanted to go the dance tonight as a date with one of my friends, but it didn’t happen.”
“Which friend?” Silver asked. “Oh, sorry. You don’t have to tell me.”
“No, it’s fine. It was Sweetie Belle. But, well, by the time I asked her, she had picked somepony else to go with. If anything, I just have myself to blame for waiting too long.”
“Oh, well, I’m sorry,” she said with a frown. “It looks like we’ve both had a rough night.”
“Heh, yeah,” Spike said with a slight chuckle. “Now, here we are, drowning our troubles in chocolate milkshakes in an empty restaurant like a couple outcasts.”
The two both couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. It was random, awkward, and yet somehow comfortable and sweet feeling. Just what they both needed.
“Well, there are much worse ways to spend an afternoon, I suppose,” Silver said with a smile.
“Very true,” Spike replied with a grin.
Silver looked into his eyes for a brief moment, and she could feel her cheeks start to heat up. On the other side of the table, Spike was undergoing a similar feeling. However, they were interrupted once again.
“Hello once again!” Mrs. Cake said in a delightfully cheery voice. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I thought you two might like to have these fortune cookies I just made?” She dropped two of the small cookies on the table. “On the house, of course,” she said with a wink before walking off.
“Ooh, fortune cookies. I love these!” Spike said with a chipper grin.
“Me too,” Silve replied.
The two cracked their cookies open in unison and removed the small, printed fortunes within.
“What does your fortune cookie say?” Spike asked.
“It says: ‘New friends are always knocking at the door. You just have to let them in.’” She looked up at Spike with a grin and slyly winked at him. “I think I’ve seen direct proof of this one. What does yours say?”
“Hmm, mine says: ‘Potatoes are ponies. They both have skin.” Spike frowned and tossed his fortune aside. “Darn. Why do I always get the dumb ones?”
The two new friends erupted into a fit of laughter with wide grins, something neither of them had imagined would be possible that night.
“Hey, Spike?” Silver asked, looking into his eyes.
“Yeah?” he replied, returning the gaze.
“Thanks for being sad with me, tonight.”
“Any time.”