“This is going so great!” she thought to herself. “I finally made an animal as a friend! Maybe if I get to know him better, I may even get the pet I’ve always wanted…”
Sweetie Belle took her hoof off of the porcupine, much to his dismay, as she now wanted to talk with him a bit more. “So…” Sweetie Belle remained silent for a moment, unsure of what to say first. “…do you have a name?”
The porcupine shook his head no, and suddenly sneezed right afterward.
“Awww,” Sweetie Belle said, seeing his sneeze as a very cute display. “You’re so cute. I’d give you a hug if I wasn’t worried about getting poked by your needles.”
The porcupine felt bad that Sweetie Belle could not show her affection the way she wanted, and he wanted to make her happy. He walked over to the filly and began nuzzling her leg with his head. Sweetie Belle adored this act of affection from him, and she indeed felt quite happy because of it.
“Oh, you are just the sweetest wild animal a pony could meet,” without much thought, Sweetie Belle bent her head down next to the porcupine and rubbed part of her face against his, which he was a bit surprised by at first, but then did the same in return, gaining more of a liking to his filly friend.
“Your family must love you a lot for being so nice,” Sweetie Belle said as she lifted her head back upright. The porcupine’s pleasant disposition instantly faded from his face, leaving only a blank expression.
“Are you all right?” Sweetie asked, bewildered by the porcupine’s actions, although he gave no response, as he was deep in thought about what Sweetie Belle said. His blank expression suddenly permutated into one of despondence, and the porcupine hung his head down, greatly distraught over the remembrance of his family.
It was then that Sweetie Belle realized why her furry friend looked so gloomy. “Oh…do you not have a family?” The porcupine shook his head in response, sneezing right afterward. Sweetie Belle shifted into her own downcast feelings in knowing she inadvertently triggered these unhappy memories in the porcupine’s psyche. The filly now wished to make amends for what she had caused. She wanted to do something to make the little guy feel better: something that would make him feel like he was part of a family again—but what? That was when she was struck with a brilliant idea, which would not only make him happy, but simultaneously do quite a bit good for her as well. “Hey, I’ve got an idea,” the porcupine looked up at her. “How about you come live with me?” the porcupine was taken aback by this sudden offer. “It’ll be great! You’ll have a place to live, where I’ll feed you and take care of you!” her rodent friend was unsure of how to react to her proposition. “And best of all, you’ll be part of my family, and I couldn’t imagine a better pet to have as part of my family than you.”
Now was when the porcupine was able to form up a reaction. He felt incredibly touched by Sweetie Belle’s loving words, gaining a sense of happiness in knowing she was be so willing to accept him as a pet and part of her family. He had not been part of a family in so long, and knowing he now has an opportunity to be part of one again made him feel the type of bliss he thought would never return to him again. The porcupine looked up at Sweetie Belle’s pleasantly smiling face, and smiled lightly himself back at her.
“So you want to be my pet?” she asked, her eyes gleaming.
As there was no reason for doubt in his mind, the porcupine cheerfully nodded, with Sweetie taking it very well indeed.
“Woohoo! I did it! I finally have a pet!” the excited filly shouted as she hopped in a circle around the porcupine. Watching her bounce around with such glee made the porcupine eager to do the same, and he began to merrily hop around as well, following Sweetie Belle along as they bounded together—until the porcupine was halted in his leaping by yet another sneeze, with Sweetie Belle stopping herself so she could remark on how he was so incredibly cute.
“Hey, you know what? We should go to the clubhouse me and my friends have! I was already going over there to see if my friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were there. They’d definitely want to meet you!” The porcupine looked more than happy to go along with Sweetie Belle to meet and make some new friends. “Okay! Let’s go!” the two then began their saunter off to the CMC clubhouse, looking forward to a long and happy friendship together.
“I know you’re going to love our clubhouse! My friends and I fixed it up to be the perfect place to learn how to get our cutie marks! And I know you’ll love my friends, too! Once I introduce you to them,” it was then that Sweetie Belle realized something, which caused her to stop in her tracks, and the porcupine did so as well. “You know, I just thought of something: we need to come up with a name for you, so you’ll be an official pet!” The porcupine never had a name before, being just a wild animal, and felt a bit unsure of the idea, but if it was what Sweetie Belle wanted, he was more than willing to receive a name from her.
“Now let’s see, what would be a good name for you?” Sweetie Belle pondered over what name would be most fitting for her porcupine friend.
“How about Pokey?”
The porcupine shook his head, not being too fond of that name.
Sweetie Belle thought some more. “What about—Spiny?” He did not care for that name, either.
“Prickly?”
“Fuzzy?”
“Thorny?”
“Bristly?”
The porcupine turned down each and every one of Sweetie’s name choices, showing her was pickier than would be thought of a wild animal.
“Boy, I never thought you would be so picky. Now I’m not sure if I can pick out a name that you’ll like,” Sweetie Belle looked at her furry friend’s face, as he was looking at her with an expression saying “don’t give up”. As selective as he was, he truly wanted her to give him a name, as receiving a name given by her would broaden that already growing bond of friendship between them. Sweetie Belle could see how he felt, and regained her tenacity.
“You’re right. There has to be a name that’s good for you. I just have to figure out what it is,” Sweetie Belle began to think harder than before, fueled by her determination in choosing the perfect name for her perfect pet. “Okay, let’s see…Let’s see…letssee..lestee—Lester!” her eyes perked up at the saying of that name. “That’s it! Lester! That’s the perfect name! Isn’t it?” she asked as she looked down at the porcupine. This time, he did not look repelled by her choice of name. The porcupine smiled big, excitedly nodding in response, showing his eager acceptance of gaining the name of “Lester”.
“Yes!” Sweetie gleefully shouted as she hopped into the air. “I knew I would find a perfect name for you!” she looked down at her smiling pet, feeling a prodigious amount of elation in making herself and her pet so happy. She then bent down and rubbed her head against his. “The perfect name—for the perfect pet,” Lester was heartened by Sweetie and her continuously sweet things to say about him. He rubbed his head against hers in return, with a mutual feeling of owner-pet love between them, which would only grow more over each passing day, they both believed.
Now that the name-choosing situation was completed, Sweetie Belle and Lester continued on their way to the CMC clubhouse, with Sweetie Belle as eager for her friends to meet Lester as he was to meet them.