//------------------------------// // Kindness // Story: Flora Spectrum // by Flora Spectrum //------------------------------// Flora ran outside of the schoolhouse to catch up with Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. She already had her cutie mark, meaning she technically couldn’t be a crusader, but she still got to hang out with them a lot. They even invited her to their sleepovers in the clubhouse and occasionally she would go with them on crusades. “Ooh, look!” Sweetie Belle said as she ran over and picked a rose from a nearby bush. “Rarity loves these! Hmm, hey Flora! Can you make this purple for me?” Flora nodded before sending a quick burst of magic, instantly changed the flower’s petals to the same color as Rarity’s mane. “Alright crusaders!” Apple Bloom announced gaining everyone’s attention. “What are we gonna try today?” “How about stunts?” Scootaloo offered. “Stunts?” Sweetie Belle asked unsure. “Yeah! We could get daredevil cutie marks!” “I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle replied cautiously. “Why don’t we go bake with Pinkie Pie again today?” “We already tried cupcake baking, remember?” Apple Bloom asked. “We could try other sweets! Or we could help Pinkie plan her next party!” “Party planning would be cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Yeah!” Apple Bloom agreed as the three hoof-fived each other. “Flora, you wanna come along?” “Sorry, I have lessons with Twilight today,” she replied. Three days a week, Flora would go to the library after school and Twilight would help teach her magic. With the help of Twilight, Flora could now change an object’s color without touching it with her horn. It had taken a while to learn, but Flora was making great progress. “Hey Flora.” The four fillies turned as two more walked up. Flora could instantly sense the crusaders change in mood and noticed their smiles had been replaces by glares. “Hello Diamond Tiara, Hey Silver Spoon,” Flora greeted nevertheless. “We’re going to the spa to get hooficures, want to come?” Diamond Tiara asked, while blatantly ignoring the glares. “Sorry, I already have somewhere I have to be,” Flora apologized. “Okay, maybe another time,” Diamond Tiara said as if she understood. “Bye girls,” Flora said as the two began to walk away. They stopped to turn and give a quick wave before continuing on their path. She turned back to the crusaders whose jaws were practically touching the ground. “Um, are you guys okay?” Scootaloo was the first to answer. “Are you crazy! Why would you hang out with them?!” “Um, they invited me to hang out with them, which was rather nice. Is that a problem?” Flora asked confused. “They’re not nice!” Sweetie Belle shrieked. “They’re always bullyin’ us, and makin’ fun of us fer not havin’ our cutie marks!” Apple Bloom cried as she joined in. “I’ve never seen them be mean to you,” Flora said confused. Were these two girls really that bad? “Whatever,” Scootaloo scoffed, as her and the other two crusaders began to walk away. “See ya later Flora.” Flora sighed and began walking towards the library. Can I really only be friends with certain ponies? }i{ Flora sat on the floor by the small coffee table in the living room while working on some of the homework Twilight had sent with her. She had been assigned different pages each with a large shape printed on it and tasked with changing the color of only the shape and not the whole page. She took a break and looked to Fluttershy who was taking the curlers out of Angel Bunny’s tail. “Um, Fluttershy?” “Yes Flora?” She replied as she gave the tail one last fluff. The bunny looked behind him and gave his nod of approval before bouncing out of the room. Upon noticing the look of uncertainty Flora wore, Fluttershy asked, “Is something wrong?” “What if you wanted to be friends with somepony, but your friends didn’t like that somepony and the idea of you being friends with that somepony made your friends mad because they don’t want you to be friends and they even want you to be mean to that pony?” “Well,” Fluttershy brought her hoof to her chin as she pondered her answer. After a few moments, she lowered her hoof and returned her gaze to the patient filly and answered, “Growing up, I never really had many friends. I was bullied quite a bit, but Rainbow Dash always stood up for me and we instantly became great friends. I’ve found that you’re not going to make any friends being mean and that you should always treat others with kindness.” }i{ The following day, Flora walked out of the schoolhouse with the crusaders after the bell rang signaling the end of the school day. “Hey Flora,” Scootaloo asked, “wanna come crusading with us?” “Not this time, I already have plans,” she answered as she walked next to her orange friend. “But you’re classes with Twilight were yesterday,” Sweetie Belle protested. “They were, today I have plans with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.” “WHAT?” the three fillies cried in unison. Scootaloo was the first to recover by complaining, “Come on Flora, we talked about this yesterday.” “Them two are nunthin’ but a bunch of bullies!” Apple Bloom added. “Why do you even want to hang out with them?” Sweetie Belle asked. “You guys are great,” Flora answered, “but I want to be friends with lots of ponies.” Flora stopped walking and looked over her shoulder at the sound of her name being called. She noticed Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon on the other path waving at her. She waved back before turning back to the crusaders and adding, “Not only are you not going to make any friends being mean, but you should always treat others with kindness.”