"Hop, skip, jump! Hop, skip, jump!" Pinkie said as she moved forward, leaving Cheese a few paces behind. The warm afternoon sun was beating down on the two, a slight breeze stirring around them.
Pinkie stopped hop-skip-jumping and turned around, meeting Cheese's eyes. "How long until we're there, Cheese?" She asked, shyly looking down after a few seconds.
Cheese chuckled. "Pinkie, we have to go to the other side of Equestria. It's going to take about two weeks."
Pinkie's eyes widened. "Two?!"
Cheese looked to her. "Yes? It won't be too bad."
Pinkie shrugged. "Oh well. It will be worth it!" Pinkie said, bouncing again. She internally was extremely happy. This would mean that she would get to spend more time talking with Cheese. And she loved talking with Cheese. She loved it just as much as she loves eating fresh cupcakes.
She tried to think of a conversation starter, considering she would need a lot of them the next few weeks. As her mind raced, a question came to her mind that she had been wondering about for the past few days. She looked at Cheese, who was now walking right next to her.
"Hey, Cheese? I got a question."
Cheese looked down to her. "What is it, Pinkie?"
Pinkie scanned the ground in front of her, hoping she wouldn't bring back any bad memories for him. She took a breath in. "What exactly happened with you and Surprise?"
Cheese's right ear flicked; not in irritation, but from surprise. "What do you mean?"
Pinkie fumbled with her hooves. "You know... why exactly you ended the relationship so fast. I mean, she said that you said that something didn't feel right, but... why, exactly? Sorry for being so nosy, I've just been a bit confused," Pinkie replied, starting to turn warm from embarrassment. Cheese shook his head.
"Don't be sorry, I understand," Cheese said, smiling down at Pinkie. "I guess it would make more sense if I started from the beginning, wouldn't it? It was a few months ago..."
Cheese excitedly looked up as he rose on a hot air balloon. His Cheesy Sense was telling him that there was a party that needed to be thrown at the Wonderbolt compound, and he was excited. He had never thrown a party for a Wonderbolt before!
He lowered the balloon when he reached the compound. Luckily, it was okay for earth ponies and unicorns to walk on, so he didn't need to get a cloudwalking spell like the last time he threw a party in Cloudsdale. He stepped out, looking about the compound, smirking. He was gonna find the lucky pony, and he was going to throw them one heck of a party.
After finding out it was Captain Spitfire's birthday, he immediately got to work, turning a spare gym inside the compound into a gigantic party room. Orange balloons were everywhere, and a gigantic cake was in the center of the gym. There were also many lights and a piñata that had the appearance of the Wonderbolt symbol. Cheese smirked as the Wonderbolts entered, starting to party.
A little later, he went to get a drink of punch. As he downed it, he heard a voice next to him.
"This is great!" The voice said. He looked down to see eager purple eyes matching his own. He saw that this pegasus was a mare with a white coat and yellow mane. She smiled. "I'm envious of your party planning skills!"
Cheese raised a brow. "Oh? Well, I'm flattered! Are you a party pony?"
The mare nodded as she showed him her flank, which had three purple balloons for a cutie mark. It reminded him of Pinkie Pie's cutie mark. The thought made him smile and feel bubbly. Why? He decided to not worry about that. He was focused on talking to this mare.
"I sure am! I plan parties for the Wonderbolts!" She said, bouncing. Cheese smiled.
"Cool! I'm Cheese Sandwich. And you are?"
"Surprise!" She chirped, fluttering her wings a bit. She looked up into Cheese's eyes. "Hey, you're cute," she said suddenly, her wings folding out a bit.
Cheese felt his cheeks turn warm. "Um... thanks?"
"Do you maybe wanna go out sometime? It's not every day I meet a cute party pony!" She said.
Cheese's brain stopped working. He was just asked out by a mare he met only twenty seconds ago. But... why not? She seemed nice and was pretty, and Cheese had to admit that some company, even for only a short time, would be nice.
"...Sure!" He said, his voice a bit awkward. Surprise smiled.
"Great! We'll figure things out when the party's over!" She said, flapping her wings and hovering in the air. "See ya, cutie!" She finished as she flew over to a few other Wonderbolts, immediately starting up conversation.
Cheese just stood there, still in shock. He had never been asked out by anyone before. He shook his head to clear his thoughts before going back to the party and enjoying the fun times.
After the party, the two had met up and decided to have a nice picnic together the next day. They did so, and Cheese found out that he was starting to like Surprise. She was just so fun to be around, and optimistic about everything.
Surprise asked him to be her coltfriend before he left, much to his surprise. Cheese agreed, feeling he wanted to spend more time with Surprise. Also, having a marefriend would be nice.
The two occasionally met up, though Surprise was always too busy to go to a party with him. So, they saw each other once every week or so, and were content and happy with that.
The relationship continued like this for about two months, which is when Cheese started to feel different. He felt like he didn't actually love Surprise like he originally thought. He-
"Why did you start feeling like this? What caused you to change?" Pinkie asked, interrupting his story. Cheese shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know, really. They just started... diminishing over time. Now, after I realized that..."
Cheese immediately felt awful as he felt himself thinking less and less of Surprise. The thought of her didn't make him all warm and fluttery like it used to. He decided to maybe tell Surprise, since he wouldn't want to hurt her by not reciprocating the same intensity of feelings which he was certain she still felt.
The next time they got together, he decided to go for it.
"Huh?" Surprise asked after he finished his statement. Cheese nodded, his ears back.
"Yep. I'm so, so, so sorry, Surprise. I wish I could feel for you like I did originally, but-"
Surprise cut him off with a hoof to his lips. "Cheese, it's okay! Honestly, I'm kinda the same way too."
Cheese's eyes widened. "What? You too?"
Surprise nodded, sighing. "Yep. It's a relief we feel the same way, huh?" She asked, smiling. Cheese nodded.
"It sure is." He looked down to the ground. "So... what exactly do we do now?"
Surprise shrugged. "Well, maybe we can meet up a few more times. We may just need to spend more time together to strengthen our feelings again."
Cheese nodded. "That's a good idea. So... meet up more frequently?"
Surprise smiled. "Yep! Sounds good!"
So, the next few weeks, the two hung out a bit more. However, Cheese's feelings didn't strengthen liked he hoped they would.
The next time Surprise appeared was when Pinkie first joined Cheese on the trip to Vanhoover. Cheese tried talking to Surprise more in hopes of feeling for her again. However, he felt a burden on his chest when he talked to her. He felt like, somehow, he was hurting Pinkie. He didn't want to hurt her. Pinkie was too kind, too sweet, too-
"Awww!" Pinkie cooed, interrupting him for the second time. Cheese slightly blushed.
"Hehe... yes, I have thought highly of you for a while," he replied, looking away.
Pinkie grew a warm smile. "That's so sweet!" She said, earning a smile from Cheese.
"Well... thanks! So, anyways..."
As Cheese juggled between talking with Pinkie or Surprise, he was also a bit unsure about his feelings for the party pegasus. He felt like his feelings for her were no longer there at all. Like he just saw her as a good friend. He knew he couldn't hurt her anymore. So, he decided to pull her to the side and tell her what he was really feeling. Surprise felt the same way, to his relief.
"...We split up there, which I'm sure you remember. It's been very nice to not have to stress over that anymore, hehe," Cheese finished. Pinkie looked to the ground.
"Wow... So, are you two still friends?" She asked, turning her glance back to him. Cheese nodded.
"Of course! She's a great friend, but I don't think I can ever see her as anything more again."
Pinkie snorted. "I would hope so, or else we would have a problem," she said before giggling. Cheese chuckled as well.
"Yeah, that would be... problematic." He said, looking ahead of him. "So, basically, I'm a bit hesitant about jumping into a relationship again for the reason that relationships can be difficult, even if we are soulmates, y'know?"
Pinkie nodded. "That does make sense. You did just finish dealing with a stressful relationship, so I completely understand."
Cheese smiled, looking down at her. The sight of his smile made Pinkie all warm and fluffy. "Thank you. Though, I promise I will tell you as soon as I'm ready to start a relationship with you." He then looked ahead of him, a smirk climbing his face. "Let's get off this serious stuff. Say... you wanna race to that big rock?" He asked, gesturing to a huge rock about a half a mile away. Pinkie nodded.
"You're so on!" She said as the two immediately started running. Pinkie enjoyed feeling the wind blow through her mane, giving her a very refreshing sensation.
In her peripheral vision, she saw Cheese pull ahead of her, so she made sure to pump her legs even harder. She zoomed past him, getting closer and closer to the rock. When she reached it, she slammed her hoof on it, smiling victoriously.
"Ha...ha! I win!" She exclaimed in between pants as she tried to regain her breath.
"Actually, I believe I got here a lot earlier than you did," Cheese said. Pinkie whipped her head to the right to see him reclining in a chair, drinking fruit punch. She looked around, confused.
"Huh? What?"
Cheese started laughing, causing Pinkie to puff up her cheeks.
"Oh, come on!" She yelled, earning even more laughter from Cheese.
The sun had set a while ago, and the two were getting a bit tired. Pinkie climbed into her sleeping bag, feeling the warmth and comfort of the bag wash over her. She smiled as she got comfortable, her eyes quickly becoming tired. She looked over to Cheese.
"Goodnight, Cheese!" She said, her voice sleepy. Cheese turned to face Pinkie, his eyes also tired.
"Goodnight, see you tomorrow!" He said with the most optimistic voice he could manage. Pinkie let out a comfortable sigh as her mind started drifting.
She remembered how Cheese had mentioned he had cared for her for a while. The thought made her happy. Heck, the thought of Cheese even harboring some feelings for her turned her all warm and fuzzy.
"I love you..." Pinkie whispered, only realizing what she said a second later. She immediately blushed, hoping Cheese hadn't heard that. It just slipped out.
"Did you say something, Pinkie?" He asked, his voice dull. Pinkie hid her face, certain that ponies would confuse her for Big Macintosh if they looked at her face.
"Nope! See you tomorrow!" She quickly responded, feeling her heartbeat pick up speed and force. She rolled over, facing the wall of the small cave they were sleeping in.
That was a close one... She thought to herself as her heartbeat started to return to normal. Soon, her eyelids grew heavy, and she felt herself drifting off to sleep.