//------------------------------// // 29. Friendship Lessons // Story: My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// Another day in Ponyville began. Since the defeat of Discord, Star Twinkle didn't take his friends for granted anymore. The whole thing showed him that his friends could be taken away at any time. But he didn't want to think about that. His friends want to spend time with him because they can and not because they are afraid to lose that any second. He decided to make up the best of his current situation. After all, he had to catch up a lot of time. But he was also aware that he didn't quite understand everything about friendship. And the only way to understand it is to spend time with his friends. Star Twinkle preferred to call this: The circle of friendship. By spending time with his friends, he will understand friendship a little better. And by understanding friendship better, he becomes a better friend for everypony. As usual, whenever he is thinking about stuff, he realized that he is maybe overthinking everything a little too much. "I think, I am putting way too many thoughts into this...I am probably the only pony in the world, who takes friendship this serious..." he thought. He then heard how somepony was knocking on the door repeatedly. It almost sounded nervous. As if it was some kind of emergency. Realizing that this could maybe possible, Star Twinkle rushed to the door and opened it. After opening the door, he saw Twilight, who had a joyful smile on her face, like she didn't saw Star Twinkle for several years. Star Twinkle couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. "Hey, Star Twinkle!" Twilight greeted with a joyful smile. "Um...yes?" Star Twinkle replied, wondering about Twilight's visit. "I was just in the neighborhood and wondered if you might need help with something?" Twilight asked digging in the ground with her front hoof. "Help with what?" Star Twinkle asked back. "Oh, I don't know...nothing special...maybe something like a friendship problem?" Twilight asked shyly. Star Twinkle noticed how Twilight seemed a little pushy. He had no problems in terms of friendship right now. Although that could be considered as a problem too? But even if he had, chances that he would flat out tell them to somepony were very slim. "What is this all about, Twilight?" Star Twinkle asked confused. Eventually, Twilight behaved like her usual self and explained the situation to Star Twinkle. "I'm sorry..." Twilight apologized. It's just that I'm behind writing the princess a letter about friendship," "So? That doesn't sound too bad," Star Twinkle said boldly. Twilight reacted in shock after Star Twinkles response. "What?" Twilight replied shocked. "Doesn't sound too bad?" She said getting close up to Star Twinkles face. "Of course, it's bad! I've sent a letter to the princess every week and I still need to send her a letter by the end of today!" Star Twinkle had problems understanding her troubles. If what she said is true and she had sent a letter every week since she was sent to Ponyville, then it will probably be no problem if she misses out one week. Learning something about friendship every week seemed almost impossible from Star Twinkle's point of view and the princess is probably not expecting her to learn something new every week too. "I'm sure she will understand if you miss out once," Star Twinkle said. "I'm afraid I'm not taking that chance," Twilight replied. "Now if you excuse me, I have to find a friendship problem," she said before she turned around and walked off. Star Twinkle kinda admired her determination but at the same time, he thought that it was a little too rushed. Off course, he was not the right one to judge her. After all, he was the one who wanted to find out something about friendship. He should be the one who should put more effort in this matter. After thinking about the situation a little more, an idea was growing inside of his head. "If I help her solve a friendship problem, then maybe I can benefit from that too..." Star Twinkle thought. It was the perfect opportunity to learn something about friendship. If Twilight was so determent to find a problem, then she eventually would find one. And if Star Twinkle was right by her side, then he would learn something too. "Alright, let's do this!" He thought determent. "Wait, Twilight!" He exclaimed, causing Twilight to turn around again surprised. How about I help you find a problem to solve?" Star Twinkle offered. Twilight seemed happy to hear that and grinned excitedly. She accepted Star Twinkles help and they both left for a walk through Ponyville. "So, who have you visited already? So that I know where we can start?" Star Twinkle asked. Twilight reacted a little embarrassed at this question. "Actually, you're the first one. I thought that from all ponies, you would be the most likely one to have a problem..." Twilight said embarrassed. "Ouch..." thought Star Twinkle offended, though he couldn't exactly blame her since it was pretty much true. They then walked around Ponyville to find somepony who needs help. While it did seem a little desperate to look for somepony to help, Star Twinkle followed Twilight without mentioning anymore that the situation was not that bad. "So, what exactly is a friendship problem?" Star Twinkle asked. "What I learned in my time in Ponyville is, that anything can be considered a friendship problem, even the smallest things," Twilight explained. While Star Twinkle listened to Twilight's explanation something sounded very similar to him. "Isn't that exactly what you are going through right-" But his words were interrupted by a scream that came out of Carousel Boutique. It was undoubtedly Rarity. Of course, Twilight recognized Rarity's voice too and became strangely excited. The closer they got to the boutique the louder her screams became. She must be in some great trouble if it causes her to scream at the top of her lungs like that. Twilight kicked the door open and entered the boutique along with Star Twinkle. "Don't worry Rarity, I'm here," Twilight said after entering the boutique. "...and me too," Star Twinkle added, who appeared right behind Twilight. Rarity laid on the ground, crying out of frustration. "WHYYY?! Why? Why? And of all things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" "Wow. She really seems to be in great trouble," Star Twinkle said. "Yes! I know!" Twilight said excitedly. "Shouldn't you be a little more concerned abou-" But again, before Star Twinkle could share his thoughts, Twilight rushed to Rarity's site in order to help her and of course, Star Twinkle followed. They asked her what happened to make her cry like that. "I've lost my diamond-encrusted purple ribbon! I have searched high, and I have searched low. Low and high! High and low! But I can't find it anywhere! Anywhe-e-e-e-ere! How can I possibly finish my latest creation if I can't find it?!" Rarity explained before she used her magic to pull a couch right next to her, where she was laying down while crying. Twilight already said that even little problems could be considered a friendship problem but Star Twinkle had a hard time believing that this was such a great problem. Rarity does have a boutique to run and it will probably hinder her to continue her work if something is missing but it still didn't seem that bad. Despite that, Star Twinkle started to look for the ribbon. Twilight made sure to assure Rarity that she will find it too. Star Twinkles eyes then noticed how a ribbon, that fit Rarity's description was laying on the ground right next to him. "You mean this ribbon?" Star Twinkle said, pointing at the ribbon at the ground. Rarity quickly recognized that ribbon and her sadness turned into happiness in almost an instant. "Yes! That's the one! Isn't it always just the last place you look? Thank you, darling," she said relieved. "No problem, I guess..." Star Twinkle replied, who didn't feel like he had done anything to help. He then returned to Twilight, who didn't seem to be too happy with the outcome of this situation. Twilight asked Rarity if there was anything else what she needed and Rarity actually had something else in mind. Twilight was excited to hear that and offered her help straight away. "I think I left my measuring tape under the fabric over there. Could you get that for me?" Rarity asked. Twilight was expecting something more...important, judging from the frown that she was making. She did levitate the measuring tape right next to Rarity on the ground and left. Star Twinkle followed her outside and noticed how Twilight was a little upset. "So, what kind of lesson are we suppose to learn from this?" Star Twinkle asked. Twilight took a moment to think about an answer but it was difficult to come up with one. "I guess, you could say...that...a friend...should always offer his help...even if it's not that difficult to solve?" Twilight replied, doubting her own words. "So you want to write to Princess Celestia how you gave Rarity her measuring tape?" Star Twinkle asked. Twilight sighed."Of course not," she said depressed. It really did seem to bother Twilight. She always takes her studies seriously and her friendship lessons were no different but that it would bother her that much was still surprising. But Twilight managed to pull herself together and tried to motivate herself again. "No need to panic. Rarity is just one pony. I'm sure one of my other friends will need me," she said in confidence. They decided to go to Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe Applejack needed some help on the farm. But before they even arrived at the farm a piece of wood came flying towards the two ponies, barely missing them. They looked in direction of the farm and noticed how Rainbow Dash destroyed a barn while Applejack was hiding from the destruction. "Now this looks like a real friendship problem, don't you think?" Twilight asked. "Yeah...I guess..." Star Twinkle replied confused. "Rainbow Dash must have gotten in a fight with Applejack. She must hate her guts...wonderful," Twilight said happily. "Wonderful?" Star Twinkle asked. "I'll go and talk with Rainbow Dash, you'll talk with Applejack," Twilight ordered. While Twilight stopped Rainbow Dash from destroying the barn any further, Star Twinkle approached Applejack in order to find out why they were fighting. "Um...Applejack?" "Howdy, Star Twinkle. How are you doing?" Applejack joyfully replied. Considering the situation, Applejack was surprisingly relaxed. "So...um...why is Rainbow Dash destroying your barn?" Star Twinkle asked directly. "Because I told her to," Applejack replied. "Oh...wait what?" Star Twinkle wondered. "I need to build a new barn but first the old one needs to go down," Applejack replied. "So you're not in a fight with Rainbow Dash?" "Nope," Applejack replied. That whole situation was just a misunderstanding. Star Twinkle was relieved to hear that. He didn't want to see how his friends fight. He had enough of that when they confronted Discord a short while ago. "You heard that, Twilight?" Star Twinkle shouted. Judging from Twilight's frustrated reaction, she did. She let out a frustrated sigh and Star Twinkle felt like it was directed to him. Moments later, Applejack asked Rainbow Dash to continue her “work” and advised the two ponies to take cover. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash flew high up in the air and the two ponies panicked and hid themselves from the incoming impact. When Rainbow Dash dived down again, the entire barn was destroyed in an instant, leaving only behind a rainbow-colored explosion. Star Twinkle and Twilight were buried by dirt and rubble, caused by the explosion but they both managed to get it off of them. “Who would have thought that learning something about friendship is that difficult and dangerous?” Star Twinkle thought. Once again, they were back to square one. No pony who needed help and no problem to solve. While Star Twinkle wasn't bothered by it that much, Twilight seemed to be more and more frustrated. "Hey, don't worry," Star Twinkle said, trying to comfort Twilight. "We still have plenty of time to find somepony with a problem," he added. But Twilight's sad expression didn't change so Star Twinkle tried again to cheer her up. "Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are usually very independent and know how to deal with their problems. So we just have to find somepony who has to deal with problems on a more frequent basis," Star Twinkle suggested. It kinda felt like he was describing himself, though. It suddenly clicked in Twilight's head and her frown turned into a bright smile. "Of course!" She exclaimed before she ran off. She was running towards Fluttershy's cottage. It suddenly made sense to Star Twinkle too. Fluttershy always has problems to speak up for herself or fears to overcome. It was more likely that they would find a problem with her. Star Twinkle took a peek inside of Fluttershy's cottage through the window but she didn't seem to be home. She was probably outside, taking care of some of her animal friends. They found Fluttershy behind her house. As it turns out, she actually was having a problem. A bear was standing in front of her and growled at her. But instead of running away, Fluttershy ran under the legs past the bear and kicked it. She then slammed the bear to the ground and jumped on his back, causing the bear to scream in pain. Star Twinkle and Twilight looked in shock, how the fragile and kind pony fought against the bear. It was already hard to believe that she was winning but why she, of all ponies, was doing it was beyond them. After all, Fluttershy loves animals. So why would she hurt one? The fight came to an end after Fluttershy knocked out the bear by twisting his neck, which sent down fear though Star Twinkle's spine. “Note to myself: Never get in a fight with Fluttershy...” Star Twinkle thought worried. Shocked by what the two ponies just witnessed, they both left. They both found themselves on a bench, where they rested for a moment. Twilight's state was getting worse every second and she was acting really strange, to the point where Star Twinkle got scared a little. He also just remembered that he, Twilight and his friends were all appointed for a picnic later this day. "With the picnic coming up shortly there is not much time left. I'm sure she is aware of that too," Star Twinkle thought before looking at Twilight. "It'll be all over soon. My time here in Ponyville. My advanced studies," Twilight said depressed. "Yep, she is...I just hope she is getting a hold of herself soon..." Star Twinkle thought worried. But Twilight's mood seemed to change in an instant as she continued to talk with herself. "No no. You're a good student. But what if I can't? You can! You just have to keep it together! Keep it together!" Twilight shouted at her own reflection in a puddle of water. "...this is getting really scary..." Star Twinkle thought with a very worried look on his face. He then noticed how Spike was approaching the two ponies with a box in his claw. "Hi, Star Twinkle" Spike greeted. "Hey, Spike," Star Twinkle replied. Spike quickly noticed Twilight's strange behavior, who still kept talking to her own reflection. "Is she talking to...herself?" Spike asked. "Yeah..." Star Twinkle replied. "Anyway, I'm just here to bring you some homemade sweets for the picnic," Spike said, giving Star Twinkle the box he was carrying. "Thanks. I sure hope that a picnic with her friends will calm her down a li-" "The picnic!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed while sticking her head between the two of them, scaring them in the process. She then grabbed the box with her magic and ran off again. Star Twinkle couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh. He was at his limit. Running after a clearly stressed Twilight all this time was beginning to get on his nerves. "I don't know what she is up to but I better follow her..." Star Twinkle said annoyed. Spike waved Star Twinkle goodbye, who followed Twilight. He could tell that she was running to the place where the picnic was. The rest of their friends were already there, setting up the picnic. Twilight stopped in front of Rainbow Dash, who laid on the ground wearing sunglasses. Rainbow Dash got up after noticing Twilight, who greeted her with a wide creepy smile. "Hey, girls," Star Twinkle greeted in a surprisingly normal tone in his voice, despite Twilight standing next to him with a wide creepy grin. Needless to say, everypony noticed how Twilight was looking a little stressed. "You alright, hun?" Applejack asked worriedly. "No!" Twilight shouted as a reply, startling everypony. "I am not alright..." Twilight admitted. Twilight informed them about the situation. About how she was late to send Princess Celestia the letter and how her whole future depends on it. Just like Star Twinkle, nopony saw a problem there, much to the shock of Twilight. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought something really awful had happened," Fluttershy said relieved. "Something awful has happened! If I don't turn in the letter on time, I'll be tardy! TARDY!" Twilight exclaimed very frustratedly. "No offense, sugarcube, but it looks like somepony's gettin' themselves all worked up over nothing," Applejack said, trying to calm Twilight down. But Twilight refused that and tried to let everypony see how important it actually was. "This is not nothing. This is everything. I need you guys to help me find somepony with a problem I can fix before sundown! My whole life depends on it!" Twilight exclaimed, staring at Pinkie Pie frustrated, who just laughed at Twilight's behavior. "Oh, Twilight, you're such a crack-up!" Pinkie Pie said amused. Twilight couldn't take it anymore and teleported herself away from the place. It was a little relieving that Star Twinkle wasn't the only one who thought that Twilight was overexaggerating a little too much. "I never seen Twilight this upset before," Fluttershy said. " What a drama queen," Rarity said. Relatively speaking..." She added after noticing that everypony stared at her. "Tell me about it..." Star Twinkle said. She is just over exaggerating things. I'm sure there will be no problem at all if she missed out one letter," Star Twinkle added. "Yeah! Especially, since everypony knows how dependable she is," Pinkie Pie added. "Once she realizes how minor her problem is, she'll probably come back to spend some time with us," Applejack assured. "If you don't mind, I would like to rest for a while. It was a little too stressful for me today," Star Twinkle said. They understood and Star Twinkle took a nap for a while. But his nap was interrupted by some noises, that caught his attention. "Do you hear that? He asked. Applejack was next to him when he woke up and focused on the noises too. They came from a bunch of ponies not far away. They all fought over for something that looked like an old doll. Star Twinkle recognized some of the ponies who ran after the doll, like the mayor, Big MacIntosh and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He wondered why they were fighting over a doll. For some reason every time he laid eyes on it, something felt weird. “Why are they all chasing this doll?” He wondered. “And why do I begin to really like its mane all of the sudden?” Star Twinkle's vision became a little blurry after looking at the doll for a few seconds but he snapped out after Twilight covered his eyes all of the sudden. “Don't look at it!” She exclaimed, still covering Star Twinkle's eyes. “Don't look at what?” Rarity asked before Twilight covered her eyes as well. “My Smarty Pants doll! I enchanted her and now everypony is fighting over her!” Twilight explained stressed. Of course, everypony didn't understand why she would do something like that. Star Twinkle knew that she was pretty desperate but he never imagined her to do something like that. "Why would you enchant your doll?" Fluttershy asked confused. "I had to do something! I had nothing to report to Princess Celestia! I thought if I couldn't find a problem, I'd make a problem! The day is almost over!" Twilight replied “And what are we suppose to do now? There are like twenty ponies, fighting over that doll!” Star Twinkle exclaimed. But Twilight was more worried about how the sun was going down in the distance. Eventually, the commotion was stopped after a familiar voice was heard. “Twilight Sparkle!” The Voice exclaimed angrily. It was Princess Celestia, who was engulfed in a bright light. She didn't seem happy at all. The princess was using her magic to remove the spell, that was on the doll, causing everypony to come to their senses again. After they realized what they were fighting over, most of the ponies left the scene in embarrassment, except Big McIntosh, who grabbed the doll when nopony was looking. Still, Princess Celestia was not happy at all. It was almost, frightening to see the usually calm and soft ruler of Equestria like this. “Meet me at the library,” she said to Twilight in a very serious tone in her voice. The princess then left and left a bunch of confused ponies and a sad Twilight behind. “Goodbye, girls...Star Twinkle. If you care to visit I'll be in magic kindergarten, back in Canterlot,” Twilight said depressed before she walked away with a sad face. Everypony was shocked to hear those words. Star Twinkle was sure that Twilight was over exaggerating a little but judging from Princess Celestia's behavior, maybe it was true... Suddenly, Star Twinkle felt really bad and responsible for this whole situation. Maybe he should have taken Twilight's problem a little more serious. But what could he do now? Everypony else seemed to realize it too now. “Magic kindergarten?” Fluttershy said. “Canterlot?” Rainbow Dash said. “We're never gonna see Twilight again!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed shocked. “Uh, what are we gonna do, y'all?” Applejack asked. “Of all the worst things that could happen, this is... THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” Rarity said again shocked. She realized how everypony was looking at her weird. “What? I really mean it this time!” She added. “This is all my fault! I should have taken her problem more serious...Maybe then it wouldn't have come to this...” Star Twinkle said depressed. “No, it was not only you, Star Twinkle,” Applejack assured. “Yes, we all should have paid attention to Twilight's problem,” Fluttershy added. While those words calmed him down a bit, it still didn't change that the Princess was angry at her. Star Twinkle refused to her to take away Twilight. “Then let's go and talk to the princess! Maybe she changes her mind if we talk to her!” Star Twinkle suggested. Everypony agreed with that idea and followed Star Twinkle to the library. When they arrived at the library, Princess Celestia was still there. Everypony took the opportunity to explain the situation to the princess. “I'm listening,” the Princess said, waiting for everyponies explanation. They then each took a moment to defend Twilight. “Please, your Highness. We all saw that Twilight was upset,” Fluttershy said. “But we thought that the thing she was worrying about wasn't worth worrying about,” said Rainbow Dash. “So when she ran off all worked up, not a single one of us tried to stop her,” Applejack said. “As Twilight's good friends, we should have taken her feelings seriously and been there for her!” Rarity said. “Please don't take her away from us just because we were too insensitive to help her,” Fluttershy said. “Yes. If there is somepony, that you should punish, then it's us...” Star Twinkle said. The princess carefully listened to the words of her subjects and took them all to heart. She noticed their regret and decided to not punish Twilight after she realized how sad Twilight's friends were. “Very well. I'll forget Twilight's "punishment" on one condition,” Everypony agreed to that without hesitation, not even awaiting the condition. “From this day forth, I would like you all to report to me your findings on the magic of friendship when, and only when, you happen to discover them,” the princess said in her usually gentle voice. These words were a big relieve to hear from the princess. The princess left for the balcony and prepared to leave again but Twilight stopped her and asked how she knew about the whole incident with the doll. Apparently, Spike has written a letter to the princess because he got worried. Princess Celestia then left, saying that she was expecting a letter. Everypony knew what they had to do now. They all sat down and wrote the letter together Applejack started. “Dear Princess Celestia, We're writin' to you because today we all learned a little somethin' about friendship,” Followed by Fluttershy “We learned that you should take your friends' worries seriously,” Rainbow Dash followed. “Even if you don't think that she has anything to worry about,” Rarity continued. “And that you shouldn't let your worries turn a small problem...” Followed by Pinkie Pie. “...into an enormously huge entire-town-in-total-chaos Princess-has-to-come-and- save-the-day problem,” And Star Twinkle finished it. “And before it ends out like that you, as a true friend, should try to help your friend out, before she tries to do something...extreme. Signed, your loyal subjects,” Spike finished writing the letter but tried to add some message from him into it. “P.S. Obviously Spike did not have to learn a lesson because he is the best, most awesome friend a pony could ask for. Unlike everypony else, he took things seriously, and-” But he stopped after everypony else was looking at him and removed it right away, making everypony laugh at that. Star Twinkle was happy that everything turned out alright and let out a relieved sigh. He wanted to learn something about friendship and at the end of the day, it was exactly what he wanted. From now on every time, when he discovered something new about friendship, he can write it to the princess. He didn't know how to feel about that but eventually, his time will come. As long as he is together with his friends...