Sweetie Belle's eyes sprang open as she awoke. She instantly sat upright, and, after looking around, was astonished to see it was almost sunset. Sweetie had unexpectedly fallen asleep while cloud watching, and had been asleep for several hours. She looked to her side at Lester, whom was still snoring away. Using her hoof, Sweetie gently nudged Lester, and Lester soon became awake, albeit gradually.
Lester yawned as he blinked several times to clear his vision, and then he turned his head towards Sweetie Belle, wondering as to why she woke him up.
Sweetie Belle apologized for having to wake up her furry companion, but she swiftly informed him about the extent to which the day had gone by, that it was nearing the end of the sunset, and that they both needed to head back to Sweet Apple Acres before it got dark out, so Sweetie's parents would not be worried about her.
Lester had no tribulations with his owner's request, and made haste to flip himself back on all four legs. The two then raced off to the farm, as the gradient of the mutual evening and night sky lessened in yellow and orange and gradually shifted into the dark blue of nighttime.
A fairish breeze swept through the many acres of the Apple family farm, with every tree swaying in the unremitting windy night as they were caressed by the wind. Sweetie Belle felt all too well the oncoming boreal draft, and wanted to get to the clubhouse as swiftly as she could so Lester would be contained from the chilly conditions of outdoors. The two eventually made it to the clubhouse, and took shelter inside the joint dwelling, feeling much warmer and more comfortable now that they were indoors. Once Sweetie had felt composed, she said her goodbyes to Lester, once again apologizing for having to leave her pet behind and all alone.
However, Lester did not react in the same fashion as the other night. Because of the swell time he had today, and because he actually got to spend a whole day with just him and Sweetie Belle, he felt fulfilled, and not so empty inside. For these reasons, Lester did not make the slightest attempt to resist Sweetie Belle's decision to leave him in the clubhouse overnight, and Sweetie was in higher spirits than ever before because of it. Lester felt quite overjoyed himself to not have to see her be saddened as she was before, and this experience showed Lester that the things he wanted couldn't always come first. After all, he was not just her friend, but also her pet, so he knew he had to trust Sweetie Belle to know what was right for him, and to show her that he accepts her trust. Sweetie Belle couldn't be happier with Lester's acceptance of her difficult choice, and in response she bent down to nuzzle her snout against his, which showed vibrantly the faithful companionship these two friends shared so deeply.
Unfortunately, this mutually happy moment had to be cut short, as when Sweetie Belle glanced out the window, she saw there was but a mere splotch of sunlight shining over the horizon, and that if she didn't get home immediately, she would get into very big trouble for being out so late by herself. Sweetie quickly petted Lester's head one more time, said her goodbyes, and dashed out the door, back towards her place of residence.
Once she had left, Lester walked over to the still open door and pushed it shut with his muzzle. He then walked over to the carpet in the middle of the floor, and situated himself in the most comfortable spot. He laid himself down on the floor, emitted a small yawn, and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
Sweetie Belle had arrived home just before the last smidgens of sunlight had disappeared, and the wave of the dark nighttime sky cascaded into place. Luckily for the little filly, she did not receive punishment for getting home late, because, as it turns out, her parents weren't even home. Sweetie was bewildered by this situation, but then she found a note on the living room table. It read:
Dear Sweetie Belle,
Your father and I have stepped out to visit our next-door neighbors for dinner. I left you some leftover daisies on the kitchen table for you to have for your own dinner, dear. We'll most likely arrive back home after you've gone to bed, so have a good night's sleep, my little angel.
Love, Mom
Sweetie Belle breathed a great sigh of relief, knowing that she avoided being caught, and Lester would continue to be her secret pet. However, even though she was able to slide past this near calamity, she knew she would have to be more careful the next time she and Lester spent a day together. But for now, Sweetie was awfully tired, and didn't feel like mulling over this any longer, so she carried her worn-out body up to her room, and flopped right into bed. As Sweetie pulled the blanket up, she smiled, knowing that this night, unlike the previous one, would go much more serenely, with all her troubling thoughts about leaving Lester vanished from her mind.
Sweetie Belle awoke fresh and full of vigor the next morning. After a quick breakfast, she raced off to meet Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, so they could all spend the day searching for their cutie marks again. She was also looking forward to telling her friends all about her day with Lester, and how much great fun it was.
As she was heading towards Sweet Apple Acres, Sweetie Belle reflected further on the time spent with Lester the previous day. So much fun was had between the two of them, that Sweetie felt like doing it all over again. Unfortunately, this idea did not form without the inclusion of some quandaries: Even though Sweetie Belle knew that Lester would be more than eager to spend yet another day with her, she didn't like the idea of abandoning her friends to hang out with her pet instead; it made her feel like not only a bad friend, but a bad crusader. What was a pony to do?
Sweetie decided to stop and contemplate these thoughts before continuing her venture to the clubhouse. Such ideas would not be easy to come up with a solution for, but it was necessary that she conjure a resolution so as to ascertain the correct choice for her to follow. Which seemed like the best choice? Hanging out with her longtime friends, or her shorttime pet? Sweetie concentrated as hard as she could on who she felt deserved her time the most. Sure, Sweetie loved Lester a lot, and loved every second they were together, but that didn't mean that they could be together all the time—it's important that she make time for all her friends and family. But, on the other hoof, Sweetie has only known Lester a few days, and she has known everyone else she knows a lot longer than that; and that especially goes for Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, since she has spent so much time together with them, searching for their cutie marks and even just doing regular friend stuff. But with Lester, they have only had a single full day spent with one another, which is considerably less then everypony else she is acquainted with. With that logic in mind, Sweetie Belle leaned towards the notion that Lester was the one more deserving of her time at this point, and that she owed it to him, considering that she was his owner and all, and that in part decreed a level of responsibility for her to adhere to, which she willingly accepted.
Thusly, Sweetie Belle retrieved Lester from the clubhouse, and the two friends spent yet another glorious day with one another, having fun and loving every second they were together. After this day had been completed, Sweetie Belle again chose to hang around with Lester for yet another full day, and she did just that. With each passing day, Sweetie Belle found herself palling around with Lester every single day, with their bond growing ever closer from their invariable new way of sharing their friendship together.
In addition to the activities they had performed before, and even repeated in the days after, Sweetie and Lester got some new ideas on how to have fun together: instead of merely walking down the paths in the forest, they merrily bounded together, hopping one after the other in the shimmering light of day; when it was windy enough, they flew a kite Sweetie kept in her room(which was shaped like a regular kite), and enjoyed watching their aircraft sway back and forth as it was caressed by the breeze; Sweetie's favorite thing to do with Lester is where she lays herself down on her back with her hooves up in the air, and Lester would stand on her hooves. She would proceed to toss Lester straight up into the air, and she would catch him with her hooves when he came back down. They performed this avocation repeatedly, and had a blast whilst doing it. As the days passed, things went splendidly for these filly and porcupine companions—however, things were not so joyful with their fellow crusaders.
Though they did not mind so much back on Sweetie and Lester's first day out, having a CMC member absent had been getting to them every day afterwards. Apple Bloom contained feelings of concern that their friend had been absent for so long, and she really missed her, whereas Scootaloo had grown more and more perturbed, thinking that Sweetie Belle was flat-out ignoring her and Apple Bloom just to spend all her time with Lester. Well, after seven days of absence, enough was enough for Scootaloo. She elected that both her and Apple Bloom were to go out and find Sweetie Belle to let her know how bad of a friend she's been to them.
After a bit of searching around Ponyville, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo located the two of them in the area of the park where the other ponies come to have their pony pet play date every week, although today was not the day when they would come, so Sweetie Belle knew she was safe playing with Lester here. Scootaloo was raring to go and give Sweetie belle a piece of her mind, but was suddenly halted by Apple Bloom. Feeling perplexed, Apple Bloom told her to look at Sweetie and Lester, and how much fun they were having jointly. They were happy to be together, and could such genuine happiness really be interfered with—even by Sweetie's best friends? Apple Bloom believed well that real friends would not want to ruin the contented friendship between Sweetie and Lester, and Scootaloo gradually came to acceptance of this credence. If Sweetie Belle wanted to play with Lester instead, then her friends need to be accepting of what she chooses to do, and be faithful that she'll know that her friends miss her and return to them, which she indeed did only two days afterwards. She had felt like spending time with her friends again, and Lester was eager to go along with when she let him know, and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were elated to have Sweetie back. Now that the trio had reunited, they(and their mascot) could go out and do their crusading as a team, just as it was meant to be.
Things were looking up even more for Sweetie Belle and Lester in the days that followed, now that they nopony had to be left out, and their friendship remained solid because of it. Times got better and better for the filly and her pet, as each new sunrise was the mark of another day for them to be happy together, with everything always going swimmingly; however, on this most recent day, there would come a sudden and monumental shift—one which nobody was prepared for—especially Lester.