//------------------------------// // Friendship in Practice // Story: Kindness and the Heart of Shadow // by Raven-Flight //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie shared a room in the royal castle, while Rarity and Applejack shared another. Nopony particularly wanted to be alone in this climate of danger. Except for Twilight, of course, who insisted on her own room precisely because she didn’t expect to use it much—she would be in the library, doing research. In their room, Rainbow Dash lounged on her bed reading Daring Do. The fictional battle scene between the adventurer and an ancient golem left to guard a powerful artifact gripped the reader’s attention—until it didn’t. “Ugh. I can’t wait to clobber that Sombra guy. Daring Do is making me jealous.” “Just Sombra?” Pinkie piped. “What about Chrysalis?” “Well, her too, but Sombra especially for taking Fluttershy. I’m afraid to think what he’s done with her all this time.” “Yeah...” Saying as much naturally made Pinkie Pie think it, and Rainbow Dash saw her friend deflate a little. “Hey, uh, no need to dwell on that right now!” At that moment, Rainbow Dash noticed the pile of papers and glitter markers Pinkie Pie had strewn across her bed. “Whatcha’ up to there?” “Hmm? Oh, all these! I was just sketching up some new pages to add to my party files.” Rainbow Dash walked over and had a look. And a sniff; the paper was vanilla-scented. “You mean like the file you used to bake me the perfect personalized cupcake?” “Exac-a-tac-aly!” “Wait, King Sombra?! You’re making a party file for King Sombra?” “Yep! And Chrysalis too!” “But… Why?” “I’m still holding out hope that maybe, after we all battle those meanies and smash them to smithereens, they won’t be in too many smithereens and we can try to reform them! After all, we’ve already managed to get a few of our former enemies to see the magic of friendship. Why not these guys too? And when they do decide to turn over and be good, I’m going to throw them the biggest, most amazing, most fun-tastic party they’ve ever seen!” “How very, uh, Pinkie of you.” “I just have to believe the magic of friendship is for everypony, you know? Even the ponies we don’t like.” “Yeah. Yeah, Pinkie, I guess you’re right! That sounds an awful lot like loyalty! Heh, maybe we still do have a shot at doing our friendship magic and saving the world again.” Rainbow Dash gave Pinkie Pie a light punch on the shoulder, and the two shared a laugh. “Darling, what are you doing?” “Trainin’.” “You train by… Moving mattresses around?” Rarity was sitting on the edge of her bed, using her magic to reach down and give herself a hooficure, but she watched perplexed as Applejack peeled all the sheets and blankets off her own bed and then pushed and pulled her mattress until she had it leaning up against a wall. “Well, I guess that’s kind of part of it, but what I’m really tryin’ to do is this!” She bucked the vertical mattress with force. It absorbed most of the impact, but Rarity still noticed the chandelier above their heads swinging slightly. “Must you really do this right now?” “Sure I do! I wanna be ready to fight any of those goons at any moment, just in case!” “I agree with your point, but I guess it just seems a little odd to me that when everypony else is settling in for the evening, you’re up kicking a mattress to get, well… stronger? Especially when you’re already just about the strongest pony I know!” “I probably am the strongest pony you know, and that’s why I gotta keep trainin’! Physical strength doesn’t just exist on its own; ya gotta work hard to maintain it.” “Oh, now I understand.” Rarity held up her file. “Maintenance is exactly what I’m doing this evening too!” Applejack bucked her mattress again, then cocked an eyebrow. “Maintainin’ shiny hooves?” “Why yes, darling, beauty is something that requires constant maintenance, but that’s not all. I’ve found that taking some quiet time to work on my beauty is a wonderful way to calm and focus my mind. And the more focused the mind, the better the magic abilities! I may not be anywhere near as powerful as Twilight or many other unicorns, but nonetheless, I feel like I am at my strongest when my mind is sharpest.” “Huh. Never thought of things that way. I wonder how I’d feel if I tried that.” Applejack walked over to Rarity and held out a hoof. “Would ya wanna do mine next?” “Would I ever! But listening to you, I was thinking I ought to try out a little physical training myself. Maybe you’ll help me do what you’re doing for a while, and then we might visit the palace spa together?” Applejack laughed. “That sounds like such an unusual arrangement!” “Unusual times call for unusual measures, darling. So what do you say?” “I say I’m in!” “Excellent!” Rarity hopped off the bed and she and Applejack both stood in front of the propped-up mattress. “How do I begin?” “Well, first ya gotta line yourself up about perpendicular to your target. Then ya shift your weight forward onto your front hooves like so...” Rarity lasted about fifteen minutes. She did her best to mimic her muscular friend, but more often than not, she kicked herself off balance and toppled to the ground. Eventually, she decided she had been bruised enough and let Applejack continue alone until she too was tired. They visited the spa as promised, but it was only in mimicking Rarity just like Rarity had mimicked her that Applejack finally found the treatment relaxing. By the end of their evening, the two friends were both experiencing a new and potent kind of refreshment. “Thank you for a most unexpectedly invigorating evening, Applejack.” Rarity’s voice bloomed from across their room in the warm silence of the night. “Yeah, uh, thank you too, I guess. Turns out tryin’ your way of focusing was just what this old stick in the mud needed. Goodnight, Rarity.” “Goodnight.”