Author's Notes:

Hey everyone!

After taking an extended break from writing, I'm finally back with an original piece. This isn't anything fancy or game-changing, but I had fun with it and it definitely helped knock some of the rust off of my writing gears.

Thanks so much for checking it out!

“So, Spike…” Smolder said whilst stirring her straw around in her beverage. “There’s kind of something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Spike looked up from his now finished plate of food. “Okay, what’s up?”

“Okay, so listen up,” Smolder said, leaning over the restaurant table. “We’ve been going out for a while now, right?”

“Yeah.” Spike nodded vigorously. “Like three months, I think.”

“And it’s been pretty great, right?”

“You know it,” Spike responded.

“Well,” Smolder continued. “I kind of think we should take a break.”

Spike borderline choked as the words came out of her mouth. “Take a break? Like, stop seeing each other?”

Smolder slowly nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking.”

Spike let out a sigh. “Alright, but just for my own curiosity, Is there any particular reason why?”

“Oh, it’s nothing about you, really,” Smolder said, waving her arms. “Well, I mean it kinda is, but it’s more about us honestly.”

“Us?”

“Yeah, you know what I mean? We don’t really have that many shared interests, we go to the same restaurant for every date and I dunno. Things have just gotten kind of stale for me.” Smolder shrugged and laid back in her seat. “I don’t blame just you because, I mean, I’m not exactly making things better, but I think we should both just move on and meet some other creatures. Sound fair?”

Spike mulled it over in his head for a moment. To be honest, she had a point. Things had been getting rather stale and neither really seemed to put in the effort to fix it. Not to mention having an adult conversation between them was like having to mow your lawn with a pair of claw clippers.

“Yeah, I guess I see your point. No harm, no foul.” Spike leaned back in his chair as well.

“Alright then,” Smolder said with a small smile. “This was easier than I thought! But, that’s not to say I never wanna see you again or anything. It’d be awesome if we could still be friends. So, what do you say? Can we still be friends?”

Spike froze like a Cro-Magnon hunter caught in the worst part of the ice age. “Friends?”

“Yeah,” Smolder replied. “Like we could still hang out sometimes and have fun when we want to, just without the strings of a relationship attached to it.”

Spike rose a claw to say something, an answer of any kind, but nothing came out. Just friends? With the girl that broke his heart? Well, breaking his heart is a bit too strong, but she did inconvenience him quite a bit.

“Hmm…” Spike rubbed his chin in thought. He was gonna need some help in figuring this one out. “Is it cool if I drop by your room at the school later to give you an answer? I just need some processing time if that’s cool.”

Smolder nodded. “Yeah, no worries. I’ll be there.”

Spike smiled and nodded, but on the inside confusion was gnawing away at his brain like a beaver trying to take down a redwood tree. Luckily, he knew exactly who to talk to!

Spike darted into the castle room of his best friend, unfortunately unannounced. “Starlight!”

“Ahh!” Starlight screeched and immediately gave Spike a glare that could send an Ursa Major running for cover. “What do you want, Spike? Have you ever heard of knocking? In case you couldn’t tell, I’m trying to do my makeup and you just made me smear eyeliner all over my cheek.”

The dragon walked a bit closer to her and was immediately able to see the long black streak going across her right cheek. “Uh… oops?”

Starlight shook her head. “Oops? Is that all you have to say?”

The dragon shrugged. “Oopsy daisy?”

She rolled her eyes. “Ugh, just be glad you’re you, Spike, because nobody else on this planet would get away with seeing me in such bad shape like this.”

“Fair enough.” Spike cleared his throat as Starlight began walking back toward the mirror she was once standing at. “But look, I need your help with something. It’s important!”

“This isn’t about watching the Power Ponies movie, is it?” she asked. “I promise we’ll still watch it together on Thursday, but I’m pretty busy until then.”

“No, no, no, it’s not that Important.” Spike shook his head. “Look, Smolder broke up with me today and I need your help in figuring out what to do.”

Starlight immediately stopped donning her makeup and turned to him. “Aww, Spike, I’m so sorry to hear that. Look, what you’ll need are tissues, ice cream and a comfy blanket. And I’ll tell you what, once I’m done with my paperwork for the day, I’ll hang with you all night if you want and we can just have a depression party.”

Spike chuckled lightly. “Thank you, Starlight, I appreciate that. But, the thing is, I’m honestly not sad about being broken up with. What I need help on is whether or not her and I can still be friends, you know?”

“Still be friends?” Starlight raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Spike replied. “She asked if we could still be friends and I honestly don’t know what to say.”

“Still be friends…” Starlight shook her head. “That’s like, gosh. Being friends with someone you used to date is practically an abomination against nature itself! I mean, it’s doable, but it just seems so wrong.”

“Yeah, you see?” Spike said. “It’s not as easy as just saying yes or no. That’s why I had to come to you first.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.” Starlight meandered over to her bed and sat on it, motioning for Spike to come sit next to her, which he gladly did. “Okay, so tell me: how do you feel about all this? Like, what do you want?”

Spike shrugged. “I dunno. I mean, it’d be nice to be able to see her still, but on the other side of things I have enough friends already. What I wanted was a girlfriend, you know?”

Starlight rubbed her chin. “Dang. That’s not very ‘friendship is magic’ of you.”

“Hey, the times change and I can only keep up with so many creatures in my life.” Spike let out a sigh. “But at the same time, it’s like, I might hurt her feelings if I say that I don’t want to be friends. I honestly don’t know what I should do about this. That’s why I need your help. Knowing you, you’ve probably been broken up with plenty of times before. How do you handl— Ouch!”

Starlight bonked him over the head with a free hoof. “You deserved that. And anyway, look, to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t think it matters what anyone else says. This was your relationship, not mine. You need to decide what’s best for you moving forward and not worry about other opinions. If you still wanna be friends with her, great! If you don’t, that’s great, too.”

“Really?”

“Mhm,” Starlight replied with a quick nod. “And I’m sure whatever choice you make, Smolder will understand.”

Spike reached his arms around Starlight and pulled her into a tight hug. “Thanks a bunch. I owe you one!”

“…So, long story short, Smolder,” Spike said, finishing his explanation, “I don’t have any interest in being friends moving forward and I propose we simply go our separate ways.”

Smolder looked him directly in the eyes. “Wow… you suck, just sayin’.”

Spike was about to defend his honor but lost the opportunity once the door slammed in his face.

“Damn.”