It was a miserable day.

One of those days where it felt as though absolutely nothing could go right. One of those days where, no matter what you tried, it would never get better. Oh, it could absolutely still get worse, but getting better would require nothing short of a miracle.

I sighed and slumped forward into my lonely table, resting my head on its cold, uninviting surface. The cafeteria was as chatty and crowded as ever, with ponies talking about who-knows-what that happened who-knows-when. I sat alone – something that hadn’t happened since the second grade when Moonlight didn’t come to school for a day because of a cold. My eyes drifted across the barely familiar faces to a table that stood out from the rest: the table we had “claimed” at the beginning of the year as ours.

From where I sat, I could get the perfect view of Moonlight’s face whenever a few other ponies moved their heads. Every now and then I would catch her looking my way, but I don’t think she ever noticed I was looking back. Or if she did notice than she didn’t seem to mind that much. A few of the other girls would do the same from time to time and it’s how I knew whenever they were talking about me. Then they would likely change the subject to try and distract themselves or just move on to a more pleasant topic.

Moonlight would never laugh with them though. Honestly I wasn’t sure whether to feel hurt or relieved. On one hoof, I was relieved that she was feeling just as lost as I was. On the other hoof, I’m the reason all of this happened to begin with. I sighed again and forced my eyes to pull away from that side of the room. Why did it all have to go like this? I spent so long waiting for my dream stallion to come along and carry me off into the sunset, so why couldn’t I have been happy when the opportunity finally came? Instead I had to go and make my closest friend shove me away as far as she could.

Suddenly most of my vision was obstructed by thick fur. I looked up and was met by the gentle smile worn on a familiar face. “Is this seat taken?” he said, nodding toward the empty seat across from me.

“N-No, go right ahead.” I replied, attempting to sit up straight and pull myself together. He smiled again and set his tray down to take one of eleven other open seats. His food tray was set between us, sporting the same disgusting yet oddly enjoyable food as it had been for years. He tapped his hoof against the table and took a deep breath before looking me straight in the eyes, a completely different behavior compared to the last time we spoke.

“Listen, I… Wanted to apologize. For being such a nervous wreck yesterday, I mean.”

“Oh? Oh, right! That…” I stammered, having mostly forgotten that whole event had even transpired thanks to what had happened last night. I tried to force a smile, “I probably would have acted the same way. If anything, I should be apologizing for running off on you like that…”

If he noticed the strain behind my smile, he didn’t show it. “Well if you want to focus on that, than I should be thanking you!” he said, his smile growing and voice suddenly full of life. He was like a totally different pony now. “I’ve always been kinda shy, especially when it came to mares.” He rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled bashfully. “It took my cousin a solid week to convince me to even think about talking to you after I told her how I felt. But now that I finally have, I just feel a lot better about myself. I feel like I can take on the world now!” He leapt up out of his seat and stood tall and proud before blinking a few times and coughing into his hoof as she slipped back down. “Though, uh, you’re still the only mare I’ve convinced myself to talk to…”

I giggled quietly to myself. It was relieving to know that he had taken rejection so well – far better than I had. And now here he was helping me - a stallion whose name I still didn’t even know - even if only a little. “Well, it’s definitely a good start.”

“Speaking of,” he replied, “I came to ask if perhaps we could start as friends? You’re the only mare I’ve been able to talk to, and, well…” His eyes drifted toward the deserted sides of the table to our left and right. “It seems like a friend is what you need right now.”

I sighed as my posture sunk lower, my heart shaking. I had managed to forget about it all for the briefest of moments, but it was bound to come back no matter what. “I… I don’t know… I…” I tried to pull myself together, the words choking together in my throat. Did he really need to know about what happened? He kind of started the whole thing and a part of me wants to be mad at him for it, but I know that’s not fair to him. Besides, it wasn’t like I had many ponies to confide in anymore…

“You weren’t the only one to make a confession last night…”

He nodded, quietly eating his lukewarm food as he waited for me to get everything out. “I’m guessing he didn’t take it too well?”

“No, she didn’t…” My eyes trailed off of him toward Moonlight’s table once again. Had she looked my way again? Had any of my old friends thought to come and talk to me? I could just barely see the open seat to Moonlight’s right; the only vacancy.

His mouth formed an “Oh” as his eyes followed mine. “Makes a little more sense now, I think.” He tapped his hoof against his chin, probably trying to think of some way to try and change the subject. Or perhaps he was trying to figure a way out now that he knew the truth about me. I sighed and fell back into a slump, my head resting on the uncomfortably cold surface of the table. I closed my eyes, giving him the chance to leave without needing to come up with an excuse if he wanted and hoping I would never need to open them again.

Instead I felt his hoof rest gently on top of mine. I opened my eyes and was met once again by that little smile that just felt so genuine. “Are you busy tonight? I think I know someone who’d love to talk to you.”

Author's Note

Ugh this took far too long.

This chapter and the next were meant to be one, but the massive block I've been having has just refused to let up and I needed to get something out, even If I'm not 100% happy with it.

Thank you for reading and let me know your thoughts!