Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve just... sat down with a daffodil sandwich and a friend, let my mane down a little and just smiled? It feels like it’s been decades although it hasn’t even been ten years since Twilight came to be Ponyville’s live-in librarian. There’s usually not much reason to turn off the poofy mane and the popping out of random places because it’s fun as hay.
But you know, all that’s happened in the last month, the tragic loss of a couple mutual friends, Dash losing Gilda, has made me realize something: laughter isn’t any good if you don’t believe in something deeper. I can’t throw a party and make tears go away for a couple parent ponies who just lost their little foal and are hurting so I can’t really believe in just laughter. But joy? Yup, joy’s something I really believe in.
And not just the sort of explosive joy that I can fire with a party cannon but the really good kind of joy, the little touch of joy you can give back to somepony. Maybe I don’t go insane and bounce all over the place for hours... maybe I do what I’m doing with you, sitting here with a sandwich and talking about the bad times.
Maybe I help you remember what it was like in the very best moments, and you feel happier and you can smile again. Because that’s what joy is to me--something you give to ponies, sometimes with parties and color, sometimes with a kind smile and holding their hoof while they talk.
And have you ever just sat around and thought about joy? Because it’s a really special thing. It’s part of why I can do all those weird things I do, because I’m all about joy. Joy’s one of those things you can’t put in a box and confine in a bunch of rules. Joy appears in the most unexpected places, explodes completely out of nowhere and nothing’s ever the same afterwards. Joy can walk on the ceiling, play eleven instruments at once, pop out of an oven it shouldn’t fit into, and get itchy knees to warn of misfortune.
I love having joy, believing in joy, being joy. I think I make my five closest and best friends better because I’ve got joy.
This I believe more than anything else.