With the sudden surge of fury raining from three of his friends, Valiant ends up offering a whole day to each of his friends. Namely Ocellus, Smolder, and Silverstream respectively. The Hippogryph Silverstream was the first one he made plans with after much discussion between the three. He still has no idea how he was dragged into this nor how Gallus was able to escape their rage without so much as a comment. There’s so much he doesn’t understand about friendship, he suspects.
Those were merely details of how all of this escalated. Today was just Silverstream and Valiant wearing a casual green sweater with blue jeans to have full comfort. Silverstream brought with her a paper bag to which Valiant had no idea of what the contents within were as she led him to their destination.
Upon arrival, Valiant looks up to see a simple pizza parlor. Inside had simple faux leather cushioned booth tables one would expect to see at simple dineries. The two sit down at the table with Valiant looking around, bewildered that Silverstream didn’t want to go someplace fancier.
“Um… Is this restaurant alright with you?” Valiant asked. “I understand you were upset with me because I went to a lavish restaurant without you.”
“Well, I was pretty upset, yes,” Silverstream admitted. “But after last night, I think I was pretty unfair about it. I… know we won’t always have time to spend together like we do in Ponyville. And holding you up on it wouldn’t be nice when there really isn’t anything you can do about it.”
“Oh...”
“But I just want to spend more time with you! Being with you is really fun, and no other creature can pull off that adorable face you have!”
Valiant’s cheeks become rosy as they puff with a light frown at her description of himself. “It’s not adorable.”
The two laugh before a waitress comes by to take their order.
“Hello you two! What can I get ya today?”
“Can I have a pizza with mushrooms, olives, bell peppers, and onions?” Silverstream requested.
“And I’ll have the truffle supreme,” Valiant added.
The waitress smiled and wrote down their orders before heading back to the kitchen. Silverstream looked back to Valiant, still curious about the photo she saw yesterday.
“So, who was that griffon?” Silverstream wondered.
“Her name was Ima,” Valiant explained. “She was a friend of Snowy Trails.”
“Snowy Trails?” she repeated the name with a raised eyebrow. “Who’s Snowy Trails?”
“She’s a pony Gallus and I met.”
“Oh? So you spent some time with her before meeting Ima, then?”
Something about what Valiant had said felt as if his own words had betrayed him. Silverstream didn’t look as mad as yesterday, but there was something in her eyes that casted disappointment to the human boy. He soon realized that he probably should avoid talking about Snowy with the others when their turn comes up. Before Silverstream could press on any further, the waitress returned with their orders. Two hot pizza pies were served onto their table, bringing a glimmering excitement to their eyes as the feast was given to them.
Silverstream and Valiant take out a slice of pizza onto their plate. The smell of cheese and various toppings waft towards them, having them get quite excited. They lift the slice and ate them in synch, elating a delightful reaction to watch upon their faces. Both of them were quite adorably expressive with their big eyes and wide smiles.
Admittedly, Valiant finds his meals much more enjoyable with Silverstream. Despite meals ranging from simple fast food diners to upper class eateries, Silverstream gave them a lot more fun and life.
“The cheese is a little hot,” Silverstream pointed out. “But it’s really good!”
“The toppings flavor seeps into the cheese as well,” Valiant noted.
“Look at us! We’re like those restaurant critiques!” She joked.
“Hmm… Eight out of ten stars: need bigger slices.”
Silverstream laughed at Valiant’s impression of a critic, not expecting him to do something like that. “I don’t usually hear you make jokes like that!”
“I guess I’m gaining a sense of humor.”
Silverstream then remembered the paper bag she brought along with her and placed it on the table. “I almost forgot! I brought this over since we have time to make one now!”
“What are you hoping to make?”
She revealed the bag’s contents to be the Friendship bracelet making kit she bought from the store the other day. Opening the box shows off the various beads, strings, and colorful attachments each in their own organized compartment. “Friendship Bracelets!” she announced.
“These represent our friendship?” Valiant assumed based on the name. “How are we supposed to design them?”
“You can make them anyway you want!” Silverstream told him. “Once we’re done, we trade them with each other!”
“I see, so I’m making one for you?”
“That’s right!” Silverstream confirmed, sliding the kit closer to Valiant to give him access to the pieces within. She got out a string to begin the process. “You ready?”
Valiant nodded and the two began putting together the bracelet. Silverstream dug her claw into the box and carried out a handful of colorful beads shaped like gems and spheres. She was putting together an assortment of colors and shapes making it look quite decorative and eye catching with its sporadic pattern. She was taking out a lot of pieces at once, inevitably dropping some on the table as she pulled them from the kit. Valiant was a lot more selective, picking out specific colors and round beads.
Silverstream’s claw dives into the kit and extracts more beads to create a second bracelet to tie together with the first. Valiant carefully checks the string and beads to see if he had the right size made for his bracelet partner. The moment the hippogryph finished, she raised it up to Valiant’s face to show him a bracelet with an assortment of colorful beads in different shapes, triangles, stars, some were shiny or glittering gold or even looked like gems.
“Finished! Do you like it?”
“It looks wonderful,” Valiant told her. Silverstream took his hand and placed the bracelet around his wrist. “A nice fit. You really did great on your first try. You even made two of them tied together.”
“Thanks!” she said, happy knowing her work was praised by him. “Okay, now you!”
“Well, it’s not as good as yours, but I hope you still like it.”
He showed his work to Silverstream. A bracelet consisting of round blue and pink beads. A simple selection picked out that doesn’t stand out too strongly, but is quite nice in its simplicity.
“This looks great!” she tells him. “What made you think of this?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure what to make, honestly. I decided to try and make something that would compliment that necklace you always have on.” Valiant explained.
Silverstream smiled at him for his thoughtful approach. “Thank you, I’ll really treasure this!”
Valiant equipped the bracelet Silverstream made for him and looked at it. “I’ll treasure yours as well.”
Silverstream giggled before grabbing another slice of pizza. “Well, this was fun! Let’s not our food go to waste though!”
“Agreed,” Valiant told her as he pulled out another slice. As he took a bite, Silverstream placed the bracelet around her wrist and looked at it in the lighting. She looked to Valiant and asked, “You think it looks good on me?”
Valiant’s response wasn’t what she was expecting. He began to cough before hitting his chest. His face was all red with an expression of discomfort. He was hacking out in short wheezes, but not saying anything coherent. Silverstream was confused for a moment until one of the waitresses shouted, “Oh Celestia! I think he’s choking!”
Valiant’s face began to turn purple as he nodded in confirmation. Silverstream gasped and rushed over to his side, pulling him out of his seat and wrapping her talons around Valiant’s waist. She pressed his ribcage in short but forceful thrusts. At this point, she felt Valiant’s physique as she held him close. She can feel his abs and chest that were harder than she would have thought from the first time she saw him without a shirt. After a few thrusts, Valiant finally spat out the pizza from his mouth. The pizza turned out to have beads fallen into the cheese. Valiant gasped for air as Silverstream still had her talons wrapped around his waist, feeling his torso.
“She saved him!” one of the customers cheered. The ponies were giving praise while the staff were relieved that Valiant was okay. The human looked to the Hippogryph and was about to thank her.
“Silverstream, you saved my life. Thank-”
Silverstream suddenly squeezed Valiant some more, just to get another feel. Valiant grunted in surprise by her sudden action. Silverstream found his body to be even more intriguing. She was checking his upper body once more, which didn’t go unnoticed by him or the other ponies. Valiant had no idea what was going on, but he found it to be embarrassing.
“S-Silverstream, please stop,” he told her. “I’m okay now.”
“Huh? Oh! Right!” She said, backing away from him. She started patting Valiant on the back and said, “Phew! That was a close one, wasn’t it?”
“Y-Yeah...”
After nearly choking to death, the staff checked on Valiant to make sure he was alright. The day continued off as normal, but Valiant was somewhat bothered about what happened earlier.The way she acted was peculiar, but not enough for Valiant to question it. Perhaps there was something he didn’t quite understand about Hippogryphs or certain aspects about friendship. This sort of thinking kept him from pressing on the matter with Silverstream. He did feel oddly in comfort with Silverstream embracing him, something he didn’t quite understand himself.
Silverstream brought Valiant to a museum, one which had caught her eye. The museum was about various pieces and relics of Equestria found and kept here. The two climbed the many steps before reaching a grand entrance with an archway carved in decorative patterns and pillars surrounding the door up ahead. They enter and see the building really open up with a high ceiling and glass displays of artifacts of the past for everyone to see.
“This is so exciting!” Silverstream squealed, grasping Valiant’s arm. “What do you think we’ll see? What do you WANT to see!?”
Suddenly, there it was again. Valiant’s chest constrains a bit, and he starts to feel warm. It was a strange sensation that was completely unfamiliar to him. Despite being startled, he didn’t want to alarm Silverstream and regained his control of himself quickly.
“Anything you want to see is fine by me.”
Silverstream nodded to his response, failing to notice his cheeks becoming slightly pink. She looked to see one of the guides handing out flyers. They approach the guide who gives them a sheet mentioning the new anniversary of an exhibit, offering free food for the special occasion. Silverstream gasped in delight at the news. “Whoa! What kind of treats do you think they’ll be serving!?”
“According to this, it’s something special they’ve made back in older times of pony tradition.”
“We have to see it!” Silverstream urged him, tugging on his arm. His heart skipped a beat and once again caused him unease. He merely nods and has her move forward to the exhibit. As they walked with the crowds of tourists and museum goers looking upon ancient pots and tools of old and paintings of lives past, Silverstream notices how long Valiant has been holding onto her claw, yet his face was looking away from her. She can’t help but think hopeful thoughts between the two of them and remains quiet until they reached their destination.
They look up to see two statues of ponies in gowns. One stallion and one mare, both holding hooves and looking at each other. The guide was standing in front of the statues with two rows of tables beside her. Silver platters were placed on the tables, supposedly being the food that was promised to be served. Valiant and Silverstream were among the crowd, looking to the guide as she garnered everyone’s attention.
“As you can see, this is the statue of the royal duke and duchess who founded one of the cities in the olden days. It was them who celebrated everything with their citizens to spread not only their own happiness but to create new cultures birthed from their passions. Among them was their famous anniversary where they would share a very special meal together before the recipe was revealed sometime by the end of their rule.”
The guide signals her peers to open the silver platters and reveal their contents: cups of ice cream, each having two strawberries on top and whip cream swirling around the base.
“This ice cream may seem normal, but underneath is actually a scrumptious cake with fried batter within to pack an unexpected flavor!”
“That does sound good,” Valiant admitted.
“But this cake was only meant to be eaten in one way: As a couple!”
Silverstream and Valiant jumped a bit as the crowd merely awed at the concept.
“We highly encourage every pony to participate in this treat with a partner you know and trust! Just like our pony ancestors did!”
Valiant and Silverstream didn’t have to do much as they were pushed forward by the ponies around them, eventually being given a cup of ice cream for the two to share by one of the employees of the show. Valiant and Silverstream looked at the icy cold treat in front of them before looking back at each other with a slight chuckle.
“Well, since they gave it to us for free, I suppose we could… you know, eat it together?” she suggested.
“W-well, only if you’re okay with it...” Valiant told her.
“Oh! I’m fine! Sure! Totally!”
Valiant scooped a spoonful of ice cream and fed it to Silverstream. She sang in delight, having such a wonderful treat come to her by Valiant. Following the other ponies and Valiant’s example, she scoops some of the ice cream and feeds it to him. Valiant was doing his best to keep himself from behaving irrationally, but his head was practically sizzling from what they were doing. When taking the dessert in his mouth, he looked into Silverstream’s eyes and became totally red. He quickly turned away as Silverstream saw it. Valiant’s usual composed and relaxed self suddenly loose and flustered.
“Valiant? Are you okay?” she wondered.
“I’m just getting hotter than usual is all,” Valiant told her.
“You are wearing a sweater.”
“... You’re right!” Valiant realized. Perhaps if he took some layers off, he could cool himself down a bit. He grasped the clothing are began to unequip the green sweater. As he lifted it up, the shirt underneath lifted as well, revealing his abs packed in six to Silverstream who jumped at the sight but reveled in the physique. Valiant felt the breeze pass his stomach and he instantly knew that he made a mistake. The sweater was still stuck on his head before it finally released him and he quickly pulled his shirt down. His face became as red as rubies before turning around.
“Ah! Don’t worry! I didn’t see anything!” she told him.
Valiant wasn’t convinced at the hippogryph who tried in vain to hide her obvious giddy smile. The rest of the day felt like it would continue to have episodes of him and his strange behaviors acting up. This happening while promising to two more days to two different individuals made this feel like some sort of bad dream.
What was wrong with Valiant?