“Our final presenter for the day is...Ocellus. Please come to the front of the classroom, Ocellus.”
The changeling bit her lip as she stood from her desk. Studying and putting together essays were her specialty; public speaking was not. A quick look to the side treated her with a reassuring smile from Smolder. That was enough to spur her onward. She made her way to the front of the class, giving a little nod to Rarity as she turned to face her classmates. She cleared her throat, lifting her paper up to begin reading.
”The definition of generosity is the quality of being kind and generous. The definition of generous is a readiness to give more of something, as money or time, than is strictly necessary or expected. One of the most important aspects of displaying friendship is a willingness to be generous, to show generosity, often with little to no concern about what you may gain from it in return. For the true reward of generosity is the happiness that comes from those to whom you are generous.
Our class was given a simple assignment: provide a service for your friends, utilizing your own unique abilities. Based on this given task, and with inspiration from a certain pair of friends, my solution to this assignment was obvious. I would offer my services and abilities as a changeling to my friends who had difficulty admitting their feelings to somecreature whom they admired, accomplishing this task by transforming into that somecreature and allowing them to take their confessions on a test run.
It started off perfectly. The first few confessions went without a hitch. Not to say that the later ones didn’t; I like to believe that I helped every single creature who came to me, and if their thanks were any indication, they were satisfied. But as the day went on, it started to take a toll on me, one that I never expected.
I ended up learning a valuable lesson about generosity by choosing this particular route for my assignment. It is important to be generous, and sometimes that means giving of yourself beyond what is strictly necessary. But at the same time, it is important to pay attention to your own mental health. It is important to give, but not so much that you have nothing left.
In the end, however, I think my idea worked out well. It had its low points for sure, but it had more than its fair share of positives...”
Ocellus looked up from her paper to her closest friends in the class. Yona and Sandbar were sitting next to each other, shooting little smiles in each other’s directions. Silverstream had surreptitiously snuck her talon into Gallus’s, and he seemed quite okay with the whole situation. And finally, she looked to Smolder, who gave her a wink and a thumbs up. The changeling sighed happily, returned the wink, and looked back to her paper.
”...And a final resolution far greater than any I could have asked for.”