"Excuse me sir, but we are out of seats at the moment. Would you mind if I sat this fellow next to you? I promise we will find him his own place soon enough."
Tribot turned his head from the menu he was reading to face to waiter. He was barely into the appetizers section and they already had a problem he had to deal with. Glancing around, he did notice that every seat that could be a seat had been taken. The food here was good, but not that good. One of the better restaurants must have been taken.
"Yes, I do mind, however...from the looks of things, I don't have much of a choice." Tribot responded coldly. he wasn't going to respect them if he himself didn't get some respect. There was an order to things. No reason to break those rules. If there wasn't space, kick him to the curb.
"Thank ya bud. Haven't gotten a chance to eat their cherry cobbler here yet. Heard it was to die for." The pony across from him had a pure white coat with a pitch black mane and tail. His mane was perfectly done in a comb-over. His horn was broken off, for whatever reason, but honestly, Tribot didn't care. He had better things to think about. He turned back down to his menu
"Ya know, most ponies ask about the horn."
Tribot didn't glance up, "You make it seem like I care."
"Ooh. Cool cat. I see. Okay, let me try." using his magic, somehow, he brushed his hair down and leaned back into a slouch. "Hey. Wassup?"
Unamused Tribot lifted an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"
This strange pony shrugged and said, "Nothing. Just hanging."
"Okay, stop that. That's not how I talk."
Returning his hair back into it's proper place this unicorn asked, "Well how do you talk? All I'm getting right now is a monotone and frankly..."he sucked the air through clenched teeth, "You're making a terrible first impression."
Tribot groaned and returned to his menu. Of course he got the weirdest pony in the world to sit across from him. The forces that be must not give a sh...
"The One and the Only."
Tribot glance back up to see the white pony with an extended hoof. "What?"
"My name, we didn't introduce ourselves. My name is The One and the Only."
Tribot shook the hoof hesitantly, "The One and the Only what?"
"That's it."
"Your name is literally 'The One and the Only'?"
'One' nodded his head vigoursly. "I think my parents had the one thing parents never have: too much imagination. I'm lucky they didn't give me a title. Something like 'the Awe Inspiring' or 'The Great and Powerful' would have been too much honestly." Tribot chuckled at the quiet reference. "What about you?"
"Hmm?"
One picked up a menu and quickly scanned over the items, "Your name."
"Oh." Tribot cleared his throat. "Tribot. Tribot Three Thousand."
One looked at Tribot for a moment wide-eyed. Tribot expected laughing, perhaps even a few smart remarks. What he got, was not what he expected to say the least. "That. Is so. COOL!!" A few ponies glanced in their direction, but quickly returned to their own business. One didn't seem to notice. "Is it spelled out? Like Three Thousand, or is it 3000 like the number?"
"Spelled out." Tribot looked back to the menu before looking back to One. "You don't think it's strange?"
"What!?" One threw his arms up flabbergasted, "How could I think it's strange? You're talking to a unicorn whose name is literally a pretense to a name. At least your name sounds..." he snickered, "...advanced" then started laughing. For whatever reason, Tribot began to laugh to. They both just laughed, laughed until the waiter asked for their food, for which they both ordered the cherry cobbler. Tribot didn't even like it, and he knew it before ordering, but there was something about just ordering it without hesitation the way One did. One had never had it, yet he had no doubts about it. Tribot gave him his serving of course.
"Hey, you ever hear of that TV show My Little Human?" I nodded, "They've got an online site for writing stories and stuff. Ever heard of it?" At this Tribot remained silent. He wasn't sure whether to tell this stranger or not. He knew that most people assumed that the majority of fans of the show were gay, he knew he wasn't gay, but he didn't know this guys opinion on the matter. Then again, he wouldn't be asking the way he did if he didn't visit the site regularly. Tribot took the risk.
"Yes, I've heard of it. They've got some great stories." He waited, and much to his relief, One smiled.
"Cool. Maybe we should make a couple of accounts. I've got some ideas for stories we could make. Imagine this, a man who has a save point, so every time he dies he regenerates at that spot? Eh?" He waggled his eyebrows, and Tribot couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
"Yeah, One. We'll do that." Tribot looked at the time. Oh, he was late. "Look One, it was great to meet you and everything but I need to get going."
One stood up as well, his own food finished, "No problem dude. Oh and here." He hoofed out a piece of paper with a spell on it. "In case you ever want to just talk or something. Bye!" One exited the building with a spring in his step.
Tribot stared at the piece of paper One had given him. It would be an easy enough spell for any unicorn, he could ask his brother to send it. Tribot smiled and put the paper in his pocket. This was new, this was better. He knew someone, someone who wouldn't immediately get bored of talking with him. Someone who didn't really understand why he thought the way he did, but who didn't care and would still be kind.
Today was right. Today was good.
Author's Note
This is based off of how One and I actually met.
Tribot sat in the restaurant where he had met his best friend. The very friend that had taken him over so many adventures across Equestria. The very friend that helped hi discover harmony. He learned how to laugh, trust, and believe from that one friend who was there for him always. Now that friend was gone.
Tribot remembered the message he was given. It told him everything he'd ever need to know. He kept it close to his heart. It was a part of the soul that was possibly standing by him telling him that he should get up and do something already.
He smiled. He was going to smile whenever he thought of something pleasant, and One was that pleasant thing in his life. Feel your emotions and show them to the world. That's all he needed.
Tribot stood up and went outside. He could see Celestias sun begin it's descent. Night time was soon to come. Tribot continued walking until he came to one of the many churches in the little city. There he found a grave. He read the words aloud.
A son, a cousin, a friend.
The One and the Only:
"Keep making jokes,
Know when to be serious.
I care about you,
Because you are my friend.
You are my friend forever.
"You're my friend forever."
