//------------------------------// // The Extremely Short Day // Story: A Sweet and Shy Summer // by Treblebeat //------------------------------// I jumped awake when I heard a large thump. I looked over and saw Fluttershy wasn't in her side of the bed. I went over to her side and saw her lying on the ground panting. I guess she accidentally fell out of the bed but it still wouldn't hurt to ask. "Whoa, what happened Flutters?" I asked. She blushed again, “Nothing… Uh... Just a nightmare…” she said. I could tell she was lying, she's such a bad liar. She slowly stood up and started to stretch. "That’s no good Flutters!” I said, jumping out of the bed. I walked around the bed and wrapped my forelegs around her and hugged her tight. “Nightmares are never fun,” I said as she hugged me back. She said nothing. After we broke the hug, Flutters went to make the bed as I went downstairs. I saw Angel sleeping in his little bed. I will admit, if you saw Angel like this and only this, you would think he was the cutest thing in the world. I went and sat down on the couch and saw the animals gather around me again. I couldn't talk about my feelings this time because I knew Flutters would be down any minute. I started talking about parties and other random things that they didn't seem interested in hearing. Flutters came downstairs as if right on cue and trotted off into the kitchen. Now that I knew she would be a while, I started to talk to the animals about things that really mattered, "Last night was amazing, we were so, so, so, so, so, close to each other, I just wanted to snuggle with her the whole time! I still knew my boundaries and kept to myself though. Still, I just feel that we are growing a relationship!" I said to the animals. While I was talking, I heard Flutters singing. She had such a beautiful voice, I wanted to get closer to hear her, however I still stayed and knew she would come out soon. After half an hour Flutters peeked her head out the door and asked me to help her out. I walked into the kitchen and saw some pancakes and two plates. She didn't have to do this for me! I thought, It was still sweet of her though... I grabbed the two plates that were for us and I walked out of the kitchen to the dining room and put the plates on the table, putting hers down first, then mine. Flutters followed shortly after, flying through the door. I saw her turn though and knew that it was gonna be bad... The pancakes started to wobble in their stack and Flutters was trying to keep them balanced. She clearly wasn't watching where she was going and was about to run into the wall with a bunch of newborns. I ran over and bit on her tail and tugged tightly. She stopped suddenly and the pancakes flew off the plate. She went back on her feet and turned around. She looked mad... “What happened? Why did you grab my tail Pinkie?” she asked, she didn't seem mad though. I let her tail out of my mouth and I pointed towards the wall, “I just didn’t think you wanted to hit that…” I said. She turned around and saw where she was going. “Oh… my… I’m so sorry for snapping at you and thanks for catching me…” She apologized, she turned around and looked like she was on the verge of tears. I didn't even realize she snapped at me. She hugged me tight and I hugged back. She really felt bad and I could tell. “It’s fine Flutters! I understand! I’ve been in that position before; you don’t really pay attention to those around you,” I said honestly. It's true, being in the service industry, you do sometimes drop food and you do forget there are others around you. I broke the hug and smiled. She still looked like she was going to cry. “I’ll get started on those pancakes again…” she said and started to walk back to the kitchen. I put my hoof in front of her and stopped her. “I have a better idea!” I said, “Let’s just go out to breakfast! My treat!” “Oh… I have not gone out to eat in a long time… Where would we go…?” she asked. I smiled and said, “Oh, just to the local diner.” "Alright..." she said. "Great!" I said and started to bounce out the door. Flutters followed me and I stopped when she went to lock the door behind her. We walked around town and I could see that she was obsessed with looking around the town. She really did love nature, however Ponyville after rain was kinda boring. No one really wanted to come out and there was normally no pony to talk to. We got to the diner and Flutters snapped back to reality. “Here we are! This is my favorite place ever to eat breakfast!” I said and bounced into the door. We sat down at the only open booth. This place was always packed. The food always smelled great and I was intoxicated every time. I didn't even open the menu when the waitress came by to give it to us, I knew what I wanted. I wondered what Flutters would want, she seemed to be cycling through that thing a lot. The waitress came by and asked us if we wanted something to drink, I got a water, meanwhile Flutters got a coffee. I never knew she was a coffee drinker. She finally decided what she wanted. When the waitress came by she placed her order, waffles and toast, a very simple order for a very complex pony. I meanwhile ordered my usual pancakes and hay bacon strips, with extra hay bacon strips. We waited at the table and we just started to chat. We talked about the weather, yesterday, and other random things. After some time, the food came out and we started to eat, there was a rapid decline of discussion. I ate my pancakes and my hay bacon strips in a good 10 minutes. Flutters was still munching away at her waffles and toast. She finished her meal in 5 minutes or so. She wiped her face off and said, “That was really good Pinkie! Thanks for letting me know about this place.” “You’re welcome! I’m happy you liked it! Anyway, where is that check? I’ll be right back!” I said. I got up and walked along the diner's hall and went to the cash register to talk to our waitress. "That'll be 20 bits," the waitress said. I handed her the money and went back to our table to see Flutters staring into space, deep in thought. I tapped her shoulder again, “Ready to go?” I asked. “Oh, yeah I’m ready,” she said and she got out of the booth. We left the diner and we stayed outside for a while. We decided to chat for a few moments. “What were you so deep in thought about?” I asked, genuinely curious as to what she was thinking about. She blushed again. Why was she so cute when she blushed? “Oh, uh... Just thinking about if I have plans today…” she lied. Seriously, what a bad liar. Still, I want her to like me, so I don't want to appear mean. “Oh? And do you have any?” I asked. “Not really.” “That is super duper fantastic! I’m glad cause I have nothing going on either!” I said with another big dumb grin on my face, regardless, I'll still do anything to spend time with Flutters. “Want to hang out?” I asked. "Oh… Sure, for a little while…” she said. “Hooray! Where should we go?" I asked. I thought about it for a minute when... "OH! I know! Let’s just walk around downtown!” “Oh, alright…” We started to walk downtown and I decided to say something so I stopped dead in my tracks. “You know, I wanted to thank you,” I said. “Thank me for what?” she asked as she turned around. “I want to thank you for letting me stay at your house last night.” “Oh, that was nothing. I was just concerned for you and I didn’t want you to get wet.” “I also wanted to thank you for that. You are so kind and caring and just… You’re really great…” She blushed again “It’s only because you’re my friend Pinkie, my best friend even.” “That’s another thing! Thanks for being my friend.” "I..." she said. I walked forward to her and quickly hugged her. I was holding back the tears I was feeling welling up inside me. I wanted to tell her how I felt, but I just felt like I couldn't. I felt Fluttershy hug me back and I had to fight harder to not cry. I just wanted to stay like this forever. Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end and I had to end the hug. I put on a big smile and ended the hug. “Ready to go?” I asked with a smile. We went all over downtown, we went to a few places for Flutters like the hat shop and the boutique. We even ate lunch at another one of my favorite restaurants. Then we went to my favorite place... Tokens the arcade pony's Arcade While we were there, we played so so so so many games. One of the last games we played was a fighting game. I'm not very good at them sadly. Although, I wasn't gonna tell Flutters that. We started to play the game and she beat me. I couldn't believe it although I was happy for her. The time went by fast and before I knew it, Flutters had to go. I was sad, but I understood. I escorted her home. “Do you really have to go?” I asked. “Yeah… Sorry Pinkie… But I had fun!” she said, smiling. I smiled as well, "I'm glad." We got to her home and she went up the stairs to her door and she turned around and looked into my eyes. "“Thanks for the really good time; I hope to do it again,” she said. “Thanks for spending the day with me! It was a lot of fun!” I said. Flutters went inside and shut the door. When I assumed she was out of earshot I finally burst into tears, getting on the ground and lying there sobbing. Why am I such a coward? Why can't I tell her how I truly feel? I thought to myself. Why does she spend time with me? Why does she call me her best friend?! I kept thinking these dark thoughts for a good 20 minutes and even longer still as I was running home still crying. I got to Sugar Cube Corner and plopped onto my bed and sobbed still. That's it... I can't be like this, I thought as I wiped away my tears, I need to get my act together. Tomorrow, I'm telling her. No matter what happens. I'm telling her I stood up and started shouting "Tomorrow! I tell her how I REALLY feel! Or my name isn't Pinkamena Diane Pie!" as I said this, the entire house began to vibrate due to the volume of my shouting. "I really have to stop that..."