//------------------------------// // But Words Can Never Hurt Me // Story: Carpe Diem // by Beta Code //------------------------------// I paced in front of Pandas house for several minutes, stopping every now and again to knock on the door only to quickly draw my hoof away and start pacing again. It also didn’t help that my subconscious was at a total war with itself. ‘Oh come on it’s just one mare, you can talk to her.’ ‘Yeah but this mare also just happens to be Panda Doll.’ ‘Oh stop being such a pansy! You’re a soldier!’ ‘I’m not being a pansy I’m being realistic you plothole!’ “Can you two be quite? I’ll question my mental stability later.” “Um, can I help you?” A voice asked, startling me. I fumbled the cupcake box for a moment trying to prevent them from falling. With them safe I sighed and regained my composure. “Oh, hi Panda.” “Can you tell me why you’ve been pacing in front of my house for the past ten minutes?” “I, um...I just want to talk. These are for you by the way.” I said, offering her the cupcakes. “Can I come in?” “Sure.” I followed her inside and sat upon one of her couches while she went to get some drinks.   “I hope you like tea.” she said handing me the mug. “Thank you.” I actually would have preferred coffee over tea to be wholly honest. But if it meant staying on her good side, I’d chug down a barrel of cyi- Ok maybe not that... The air thick with ill at ease. Saying my guts were in knots would have been an understatement. The silence was finally broken when Panda chipped up. “So, how have you been?” “Good. Had some time off so I’d thought I would pop up and say hi while I was in town.” “I didn’t think you would come for a visit, to be honest.” I was silent for a moment, trying to think of what to say. With a heavy sigh I said, “I’ve grown up a lot since then Panda. Not a day goes by that I think about what I did and regret it. And I want to apologize, so badly. But I know that no matter what I say or do that just saying sorry won’t be enough. But it's the only thing I can do...So I’m sorry.” She’s quiet. Oh Celestia, how bad did I just mess up for her to be quiet? I get it, if you want me to disappear off the face of Equestria I get it. But please just say something! Nothing. “I’ll...I’ll just see myself out.” I give her the same kind of smile a foal would when in a toy store and are told they could get anything they wanted. “That’s all I want Panda.” An idea pops into my head. “Hey, I heard that there’s a little coffee shop in the park. You want to go and just hang out?” “You know what. I’d like that.” -0-0-0-0- “Here you go, a mocha latte for you and plain black for me.” I chimed handing Panda her coffee, sitting beside her on the park bench. “Thanks.” She goes to take a sip but quickly retracts sticking her tongue out. “Careful, it’s hot.” I chuckled. “I notithet. Ow...” She takes another sip but is more careful this time. “You know this is actually rather nice.” “Yeah.” “So how has been the guard?” I shrugged. “Alright I guess. Not much has been going on since that whole changeling scare a little while ago. Been mostly drills and what not since then.” I nod. “Yeah. During a drill I blackout and broke my wing. That was a couple months ago and it still hasn’t healed properly. Doctors say I’ll be lucky to fly again.” “Sorry to hear that. I know you pegasi hold that dearly.” “It’s fine. It’s not your fault. By the way, how did you meet Moon Flower?” She laughs a bit. “It’s bit of a funny story. I was trying to work on one of my books and I was reaching the deadline for the chapter. I had one of my worst writers blocks at the time, I hadn’t been able to finish this chapter I’ve been working on for about a month and a half. One night I sat down in a Star Buck shop, completely pulling my mane out might I add, and one of the patrons comes up and sits with me. She asks me what's wrong and I told her that I had no idea how to write this chapter. After some discussion she actually had come up with a few ideas I could use. We’ve been friends ever since. That was a couple years ago.” I playfully shake my head. “I’ve heard odder I suppose. She definitely seems like the kind of pony to do that though. She’s actually the one that convinced me to talk to you.” “Yeah she’s a bit odd at times, but she has a good heart. “ “You find friends that are actually helpful while I find the ones that are borderline insane.” I laugh. “I like Mixmatch but I really worry about him sometimes you know. Did you know he actually strapped a shopping cart to a giant slingshot just for the yucks?” Panda starts to laugh hysterically. “Oh my Tia, are you serious?!” “Dead. He even managed to convince me to hope in it. Launched us all the way across Ponyville and into someponys barn.” She starts to laugh harder, almost spilling her coffee. “Whoa, careful there. You dont want to spill that on yourself.” “Thanks.” She squeaked, wiping the tears from her eye as she handed me the cup. “I bet Applejack wasn’t all that happy about that one.” “Furious! She chewed out our plots for almost an hour. I could barely understand her accent. And I’m the one with the thick accent!” She finally manages to calm herself down, taking back her coffee. “Good princess, that’s just ridiculous!” “You’re telling me. I swear that pony needs ritalin or something.” “Thanks for hanging out with me today Silver. I needed an excuse for a break.” “Thanks for giving a second chance.” We smiled at each other. For the rest of the day we hung out, just enjoying each others company. We talked, got some lunch, I even bared shopping with her. But if it meant being friends again… I was happy.