To Love a Pet

by Creative Charmer

Chapter 9 - 2/3: Let the Healing Begin

Sweetie's parents were nothing but dumbfounded after being informed of the happenings that had taken place over the course of the last several weeks. Both of the ponies had to sit down on their couch in order to take in all that they heard.

"I can't believe all this has been going on and we never even had the slightest clue to any of it..."

"Was she really that afraid that we would tell her she couldn't keep Lester as her pet?"

"Yeah. She really loved Lester a lot, and didn't want to risk you saying no tuh her keepin' him."

Sweetie's dad groaned dejectedly. "Now I feel like this is all our fault."

"Don't say things like that," Sweetie's mom responded. "This wasn't anypony's fault. It was a terrible misfortune that nopony could have seen coming, and we can't change what happened, no matter how much anypony wishes we could."

"...yes, you're right, dear."

"You're right I'm right. And what else I'm right about is that the most important thing for us to do now is to get our little angel back to the way she was," Sweetie's mom stated, resolute in fixing this matter posthaste.

"But how? She won't even talk to anypony."

"There must be somepony who she'll talk to."

Just then, there came a rapping at the front door. Sweetie's dad walked over and opened the door, revealing Applejack and all her friends(minus Rarity).

"Oh, hello there, girls."

"Howdy, mister...Rarity's dad. Do yah mind if we come inside?"

"Oh, not at all," he replied as he stepped to the side, letting the girls all come into their humble abode.

"What are you girls doing here?"

"We came here to see if we can't give ol' Sweetie Belle a helpin' hoof in getting' back to her ol', chipper self again."

"You all heard about it, too?"

"Applejack gave us the whole story from what Apple Bloom and Scootaloo told her."

"Well, she really just gave us the gist of it."

"And because of that gist, we came here to make Sweetie Belle happy in the biggest, most funnerist way possible!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with intense joy.

"Actually, Pinkie, it's not 'most funnerist', it's just 'funnerist'," Twilight said, correcting the erroneous mare, who promptly thanked Twilight for her backing.

"Uhh, Twilight?" Applejack said as she leaned over to Twilight.

"I know, I know; but if she's going to use made-up words, she should at least be grammatically correct," Applejack shot Twilight a cynical look, then turned the focus back onto Sweetie Belle.

"Anyways, as we'd been sayin', we all want tuh do what we could to help Sweetie Belle."

"The way Applejack described what happened was so sad..." Fluttershy added upsettingly. "I know I would be devastated if anything ever happened to any of my animal friends..." just having these thoughts floating about in Fluttershy's psyche generated the very feelings she just described as if she really had just lost one of her animal companions, and her eyes began to well up with tears, prompting the crestfallen pegasus to excuse herself outside, as it was easier to mollify her emotions when alone.

"Sorry 'bout that. Fluttershy's a pretty big animal lover. More than all of us put together. Though I'm pretty sure Sweetie Belle's heart for Lester would match Fluttershy's pretty darn closely."

"Yes, I understand," Sweetie's mom replied. "And I just want to thank you all for caring so much about our dear little Sweetie Belle. I couldn't think of kinder ponies to have as friends to Sweetie. Ohh...it just hurts me so much to see her so upset..."

"It always hurts when somepony is feelin' down."

"But we'll cheer her right back up again!"

"She'll be so up she'll be flying through the air!" Pinkie blasted off like a rocket as she sped around and around the walls of the vestibule, shouting out "zoom" on each pass before ceasing her bustle and skidding to a stop next to Twilight.

After that bit of Pinkieness, Twilight asked if the she and the others could go upstairs to begin assuaging Sweetie Belle's damaged psyche, to which Sweetie's mom granted wholeheartedly. However, they ponies didn't get far, as just before they reached the stairs, they found themselves halted by the interceding of Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

"Ah'm sorry, but nuthin' any of ya'll can do is goin' tuh work. We've seen it."

"And heardit," Scootaloo added, rubbing her ear.

"Ah just don't think that anything any of you can say or do will help. She's just too torn up about Lester to even hear anypony out."

"That doesn't mean we can't try!"

"Yeah! I even brought all of my top-of-the-line party gear! Nopony can be sad after seeing what I've planned!"

Pinkie picked up one of her party horns with her mouth and blew it joyfully, but then Twilight responded to Pinkie's comment with her own, "Hold on, Pinkie. I think they may be right," the noise of Pinkie's party horn fizzled out as the noisemaker drooped as a show of dejection. "Anything we try might just push her further away. We can't just go up there and expect her to let us try and help her."

"But we can't just do nuthin'!"

"I know...but there has to be some proper way of dealing with this problem," as good as Twilight was at ascertaining solutions to onerous dilemmas, this was one quandary which she found herself struggling to resolve. Difficult problems obviously would not be so simple to solve, but a remedy was needed, for every second that passes, further into the pit of despair would the filly slip. However, even with all of Twilight's proficient thought processing, there existed one thought that had yet to come across her mind, or the mind of anypony else—until now, that is.