To Love a Pet

by Creative Charmer

Chapter 6 - 1/2: A Grand Day Out

Sweetie Belle and Lester's grand day out was indeed the fun and exciting time they had both hoped it to be. After leaving the clubhouse, the two headed to the lake for a swim, splashing about in the water, diving to the bottom, and just plain swimming all around. Sweetie was surprised that Lester was such a decent swimmer, but that didn't bother her one bit. After their dip in the lake, Sweetie began to feel hungry, as did Lester, so Sweetie found an open field and the two friends had a nice lunch of apples from Sweet Apple Acres. During this lunch, one of the apples next to Sweetie Belle had rolled away from her, and Lester chased after it, grabbing it with his mouth. Sweetie Belle thought it was so cute the way Lester was holding the apple in his mouth. Just then, Sweetie got an idea from this. After Lester had coughed the apple from his mouth, Sweetie whistled to him. She was waving an apple around in the air for him to see, which his attention was firmly locked onto. Seeing he was now looking, Sweetie Belle tossed the apple up in the air over Lester's head, and, with the use of all his strength in his little porcupine legs, Lester had jumped up in the air and caught the apple with his teeth! Sweetie cheered for her little friend's victory, feeling ecstatic that he was able to perform this feat flawlessly, and Lester was feeling joyful, too. With lunch finished, Sweetie and Lester began a game of tag, with the two of them playfully chasing after and tagging one another over and over(although Sweetie accidentally tagged Lester's spines a few times). However, their little game was apparently tiring for Lester, who let out a yawn, as did Sweetie Belle soon after, so the two of them went over to the tree they were near when they had lunch and took a nap against it, with Sweetie Belle lying against the tree and Lester curled up right next to Sweetie Belle. Both drifted off to a sound and pleasant slumber.

Sweetie Belle and Lester awoke from the nap one hour later, and the nap proved refreshing for the two friends, as after they had both woken up, they felt energized and ready to have some more fun in the day that still awaited them. Sweetie pondered on what game they could play which they had not previously. She then swiftly proposed that take part in a game of "hide-and-seek". Lester agreed wholeheartedly with another merry bit of nodding. The two then ran off towards the nearby forest area so as to have better places to hide. Sweetie Belle chose to hide first, and she told Lester to close his eyes and count while she found a place in which to hide, and then he would come and try to find her.

After Lester started counting, Sweetie Belle trotted away a short distance and looked frantically for a spot that would be perfect for her to hide in. When she did not find any place on the ground where she could conceal herself from Lester, she looked upwards towards the trees, and considered hiding in a treetop to be the perfect plan. Unfortunately, getting up into the tree proved to be quite difficult, as Sweetie Belle quickly realized that climbing a tree with hooves is not a simple task. Every time she attempted to ascend the tree trunk, she found herself sliding back down to the bottom again and again. Sweetie was worried that Lester would find her before she even got a chance to hide, so she knew she had to get up into this tree now. And with that, Sweetie readied herself, and swiftly jumped onto the tree, grabbing the trunk, and without a moment's hesitation, she commenced in moving her hooves as fast as she possible could, and now she started to move upwards. Executing such a task was clearly not so simple, as doing such took all of the little filly's strength to scale the tree—but even all of her strength would not be sufficient for this task.

As soon as she had made it over halfway up the base of the tree, Sweetie felt her strength start to give out, and she was feeling quite tired. However, before she was entirely sapped of strength, Sweetie Belle noticed a branch just to her right, and, using the last of her clout, the exhausted filly made a leap onto the top of the branch, grasping it just in time and holding herself in place atop the limb. Now that she had made it high enough into the tree, Sweetie elected to take a much-needed respite before continuing further up into the tree so as to gain better coverage for hiding herself from Lester. Sweetie laid herself down on her stomach, sweating profusely and taking constant deep breaths. While Sweetie rested, she glanced downwards towards the ground to see if Lester had begun his search for her hiding spot. As soon as she looked down, she had ceased her heavy breathing in surprise of what she beheld: Lester had indeed started his search for Sweetie Belle, and he was now currently standing right near the base of the tree, looking straight up at Sweetie Belle. Sweetie was very astonished that Lester had located her so quickly, but at the same time she was not surprised, since she stuck out like a sore hoof on the branch she was lying on. Sweetie Belle was a bit discouraged to have been found so speedily, but she still congratulated Lester on being so fast to find her.

After she slid down to the bottom of the tree, Sweetie told Lester that it was his turn to go and hide while she counted. Sweetie turned around and pressed her head against the tree, covering her face up with her front legs at the same time as she began to count. As soon as she had started her counting, Lester hurriedly skittered away to find his own hiding spot. A short time after this, Sweetie Belle had completed her counting, and commenced her searching for her furry little friend's area of concealment. Sweetie checked behind every bush and rock as she crossed through the forest, but to no avail so far. She even looked up towards the trees for any sign of Lester, because if she was able to climb a tree, then why not him? Unfortunately, she was unable to locate her companion within the surrounding foliage, but she pressed on further, determined to find him. After a short while longer, Sweetie began to wonder if she could ever discover the hiding place of a minuscule creature like Lester—until she heard a sneeze come from nearby. The sneeze was sudden and unexpected, but quite audible. Sweetie turned her head in the direction that it had come, and saw a lone bush between two oak trees. She trotted over to the bush, pushed apart the branches, and found Lester sitting on the inside of the bush, rubbing his nose with his paw. Upon hearing the rustling of the bush, Lester looked up at Sweetie Belle, surprised to see she had found him. As Lester walked out of the bush, he appeared rather dejected over having been found so easily due to his sneeze, and he felt that he had ruined the game because of it. Sweetie Belle could sense that this was the reason for Lester's gloomy appearance, and, not wanting him to continue with his troubled state of mind, she told him that he was still a great hider, and that if he had not sneezed, she might have never been able to find out where he was. Hearing such encouragement did well for Lester's self-confidence, lifting his spirits and getting him back in the proper mood for more merriment. However, even though Lester was feeling better now, Sweetie Belle was afraid a repeat of his previous unintentional actions may damper his morale once more, and she didn't want him to feel so badly all over again if that did indeed occur. So, instead of continuing with their game, Sweetie Belle suggested the two of them go do a more relaxing activity: one where winning and losing were not factors. Lester agreed with no opposition, and both he and Sweetie Belle left the forest, heading back to the spot where they had lunch earlier.

While Sweetie Belle was contemplating on what noncompetitive activity she and Lester could do together, she looked up at the sky, and saw it full of clouds. She became entranced by the passing clouds, and slowly came to a stop, with Lester doing the same(although he wasn't sure what Sweetie Belle was doing). Staring at the slow-moving clouds formations filled Sweetie with a sense of peace, making her forget her troubles of the recent past and care only about the harmonious activity of watching the clouds for the time being. Sweetie Belle then laid herself down on her back and looked up the sky, with Lester imitating her precisely. Such a passive avocation proved to do well for both the filly and the porcupine, them both being encompassed by the good thoughts and feelings brought with the serenity of this simple yet enjoyable pastime. During the period of time in which the cloud watching took place, Sweetie Belle conversed her thoughts to Lester, remarking on the great day they had together, and how it was one of the best days she ever had. Lester nodded gleefully, showing his agreement, since he had never had a day like this in his entire life, and sharing this day with Sweetie Belle made it even better than it ever could have been with anybody else. After articulating her feelings to Lester, Sweetie Belle decided to take it easy and lay back while watching the sky, which she and Lester both did for some time longer.