I was alternating between jogging and running on one of the parks near Ponyville. I couldn't stop moving. I was too motivated when I left Sug’s house. I wanted to keep pushing my limits more and more until my body was left lifeless on the soft grass. But experience told me to not overdo it. Smart training is good training. When I started feeling exhausted, my road back home begun.
Besides… they may be in my sports bag, but I didn't want to leave Sug's cookies exposed to the wilderness much longer.
Once I finished my routine, I got into the nearest convenience store I could find. I searched for the biggest bottle of water my money could spare at the moment, and decided to buy some snacks as well. Just when I was about to grab my pack of crackers, my hand clashed with another.
“Sorry, I…” My surprise at seeing my rival for the crackers made me give away a chuckle. “Sparkle.”
“Oh! I’m so sorry! If you want the crackers…”
“They are yours, girl. I have others snacks in my bag here.”
The cart she was carrying had a lot of stuff worthy for a party. Seeing her pathetic struggles in carrying it out, I decided to help her out. I paid for my water and left the store without delay. My bottle didn’t last long. As soon as I passed the park again, the plastic stuff was already on the trash bin. I gave a quick look at my phone and noticed that it was still early. Eight with seventeen in the evening was a good time to relax on a bench and admire the stars.
Nit and Oak loves to do this… and I can see why now.
Calmly breathing into the night, I thought about what kind of dinner I should do. Grandpops devoured the last of the burritos we bought last night and the fridge had only the basics for a decent food. “Tomorrow I must do the groceries…” Or perhaps I could barge into Nit’s house and steal some of his rare cereals he manages to find in the stores. “Heh! He won’t mind!”
“Mind what?”
“Me stealing of his cereal, of course!” My brain’s engines started working. “Sparkle.” I didn’t look at her.
“Hi!” She said friendly.
If I started talking soon, somehow I knew that Sparkle would assume that her presence was welcomed in my time of privacy. I wasn’t the type of person to be comfortable in the spotlight she was giving me. With small sips taken through her soft-looking lips, the ex-brightest student of the academy was taking her sweet time in drinking her beverage and whatever else she was planning to do. I glanced at her quickly and something was off about her. Trying to ignore her, I just rested my arms on the bench and kept breathing slowly.
Eventually, my patience came to an end.
“What do you want?”
“Oh, nothing! I just wanted to think things for a while before heading to Rarity’s home! We are going to have a slumber party and I’m just killing time before the girls arrive!”
“Good for you. What do you really want?”
“Why do you think I want something from you?” She said weakly.
I opened my left eye and stared at her straightly. “You may be smiling, but clearly you are anxious.”
She sighed heavily. Her hands were squeezing in vain the little cup of hot chocolate milk she was carrying. After a moment of reflection, she just said, “I was wondering if you could help me with something.”
“Me?” I was dubious. “Whatever it is, I can’t help you. Ask one of your friends to do so.”
“You are the only one I could ask this!” She said with a bit of remorse. “You know Rainbow Dash better than I do!”
“Ah… Well, ask Fluttershy then. She knows Rainbow Dash far better than I do.”
“No, she simply won’t do!”
Now I was curious. “And why not?”
“Because…” She started playing with her fingers, finally deciding to drank her beverage in one go. “I don’t think Rainbow Dash is someone who needs tender comfort when her mood is down.”
“Sparkle…!” I laughed in praise. “I have seen many storms in my life. But you are the funniest yet!”
“This is a serious matter for me!” She angrily said. “I don’t know what to do! I just feel this slumber party won’t help at all in the long run! Ever since I met Nitty’s friends, I have been feeling very doubtful on what to believe!”
“Believe in what?”
“In… how to make friends.”
“How to make friends, huh? You already have some, don’t you?”
“Yes but… Today when Rainbow Dash was being attacked by Lightning, I couldn’t do anything! She was rude, nasty, and when Rainbow tried to put a strong face, I could see that… she was hurt on the inside…”
“…And how do you feel about that?”
“Oh! I felt many, many things! I was stressed for not helping Rainbow! I was desperate for my friends to help her out! But more importantly… when Dust had that face of mockery, when she was laughing on the inside while humiliating MY friend on public, to be honest…” Her glasses seemed about to crack from her piercing gaze at me. “I was angry.”
Colder by the passing seconds. Stronger by each breath exhaled. A strong wind appeared out of nowhere, like a warning to the people, saying that doom was coming. Her delicate fingers were crushing her cup, almost giving the sensation that she could tear the earth apart. A burning aura of malice was manifesting from her tiny body.
It felt god-like.
“I don’t even know why I thought this was a good idea.” She breathed heavily and exhaled softly. The ominous aura was gone. “You clearly aren’t interested on helping me.” She stood up, ready to leave. “Sorry for bothering you.”
Nit asked of me to aid her when my turned arrived… and I had the feeling that my time to help has come. Damn him!
“Do you feel stressed? Why don’t you come here and let me rubber your shoulders! Not joking, honest!”
After giving a long look at me, she just said with a smile, “Thanks.”
My finger did a gesture to make her come in front of me. Her long and smooth hair tied with a ribbon made it easy for me to do my task. But for a strange reason, I felt that untying it would be better. I put her ribbon inside her sweater’s bag. “Aren’t you hot using this?”
“It became windy and chilly when night fell, Gilda! I’m surprised that you aren’t freezing!”
“It’s chilly now? I didn’t notice! On the Motherland, I survived at eight Celsius degrees with just a sweater!”
“No wonder you aren’t feeling cold.”
I gently made my way to her back. It was stiff, full of bad mojo. I made my massaging movements. “Oh!” She said with a tone of pleasure, her gestures slowly relaxing his muscles. “It feels like Dean Cadence…” Sparkle’s head fell at my leg.
“Yeah, don’t get used to it. Now, vent your frustrations, complain and bitch until you feel better!”
“No… I can’t.” She said almost asleep.
“Girl, you are building up stress yourself! Or perhaps the reason you are angry at Dust isn’t because what she did to Dash… are you reflecting on your old life’s lack of confidence?”
I stopped my motions and the little genius’ breathing sulked in quietness. Her gaze locked with my eyes, giving me a sense that I hit the nail on her dilemma. “Will you help me?”
“Only when you are in a better mood! Come on, stand up!”
“What are we going to do?”
I showed her my hands wide open and slowly put my fingers together. I assumed a training position, my hands serving as training mitts. “Hit my hands with your best shots!”
“WHAT!? No! I c-couldn’t possibly do that!”
“It’s okay! You help me train a little and you unleash your fury! It will be a trade!”
“No… I…”
“Come on! If you plan to help Dash with a sullen face and sad eyes, you’ll only depress her more!” I clapped my hands with sheer force. “Show me how far you’re willing to go for her!”
Trembling in fear, Sparkle raised her fists in the lamest position I’ve ever seen since Fluttershy’s lessons of karate when we were kids. With a half-assed motion, she made contact with my hands and a weak ‘Pffff’ was being heard just between us.
“That was lame, Sparkle… Try again.”
A second punch was made, but this time it was less pathetic ad more confident. Slowly but surely, she took the hang of it. Echoes of her struggles were getting stronger for each punch she made. “Imagine now that you are hitting Dust!”
“What?”
“Just do it!” Her assault became weak again. “Remember the nasty things she said to her!” Her motions became faster. “Imagine how hurt Dash is because of her!” Stronger. “IMAGINGE HOW SAD SHE IS RIGHT NOW!”
‘Slam’
“Angry!?”
“YES!”
“KEEP GOING!” Her anxiety soon became a barrage of punches. Her fists were soft, but the intensity… full of kept struggles and regrets. “EVERYONE AT SCHOOL THOUGHT YOU WERE A LOSER!” Her fist made another echo. “EVERYONE THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE A SOCIAL FAILURE WHO WOULD NEVER MAKE FRIENDS!” A louder echo soared through the wind. “THAT YOU WERE A DISGRACE FOR CAPTAIN SHINING ARMOR!”
‘SLAM’
“That felt good!” I said. Her breathing became faster and her eyes were closing from exhaustion. “Feeling better?”
“Just a little.” She panted heavily. “But I believe I understand! I must give her my best comfort!”
“Your best comfort? Like this? You got to be kidding me! There’s still doubt in your mouth! Your eyes are looking at the floor while lamenting that you could possibly fail without even trying!”
“But this is the best I can do for now!”
“No matter how much you try, you’ll never help her. Forever damned to watch from afar and witness how other people stomp on her pride you are! Wimps can’t help wimps become stronger!”
“Are calling her a wimp?” Sparkle was angered. “She will get out of this, Gilda! I know she will! Even without me!”
“AHAHAHAHA!” I couldn’t help in amusing myself with her intentions, and I shouldn’t have laughed at her like that… but perhaps, if I push a little more… maybe! “The only thing you are showing me is that you don’t believe you have what it takes to raise her mood! With your clear lack of backbone, you’ll just make Dash feel like utter crap with your stupid charades!”
“They aren’t charades!” She clenched her fist while looking at the floor in helplessness. “I-I will find a way to help her! A miracle will happen if I don’t give up!”
“Miracle!? You mustn’t wait for fate and hope to come to your aid, girl!” I clenched my fist in front of her. “You take it! Steal it! You get what you want with effort and constant struggle! Hope untested with zero hard work is nothing! Tell me something! Does she still takes her naps after practices are over? Does she still get full of herself when she wins on something? Does she still bark like a stupid dog whe-!”
“Stop insulting Rainbow Dash, Gilda!” Part of her face was shrouded in a darkness that not even the streets lights could reach. “You are making me angry…”
“Excuse me? Did you say something? My bullshit detector was turned off without my notice and I didn’t hear you! HOW MUCH ARE YOU WILLING TO FIGHT FOR YOUR FRIENDS, WIMP!?”
“I want to help her!” Her voice turned into an ominous echo in my mind. “I‘ll help her… no matter what!”
She managed to make me retreat one step. HOW DARES SHE!? I wouldn’t let myself be intimidated by Twilight Sparkle! “Heh, really!? You want to help her out? HA! You want to help Rainbow Dash in raising her spirit when you are like that? Whining like a stray dog? Give me a break! You don’t even know the real struggle that Dash is having now, and I do!”
“Tell me, then…” A dark, thin aura emanated from her. “TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW!”
In a flash, she grabbed me with incredible strength on my arms. Her teary eyes weren’t enough to hide what I saw. Desperately panting for air and answers, her eyes took a magenta neon-like shade and gazed deep inside me. For a moment… she scared me deeply. But at the same time… I hungered for another challenge!
She looked dangerously challenging today!
“Tell you what! I’ll tell you the secret on how to comfort Dash IF you manage to land a punch on my face! Fight for the things you love and prove your worth to me!”
“A punch on your face? Sure… I will do!” She said eerie confident.
I don’t know why… but my instincts screamed to me to run away in that moment. Bullshit! My griffonian pride was more than enough to calm them down. I assumed my favorite all-out boxing stance. At the same time, I firmly clenched my fists and tried to put less weight on my body. My intention was to test her courage and determination, not hurt her.
Nit would never forgive me if she is injured by me.
I back dashed and gave her plenty of space to maneuver. “Good! Start when ready!”
As expected, Sparkle ran to me in a very simplistic fashion. Her posture was full of openings and she was slow as hell compared to even Oak. Her fist made a wide arc and I dodged it easily. Her assault continued and I just simply moved from side to side, avoiding contact with her.
All too easy! Now I just-
‘Slam’
She managed connect a surprise hit. But I blocked it too easily as well. There was a problem, though. It hurt.
“Oh… so this is how it is done?” She assumed the same posture as mine. Her eyes piercing the night as a merciless falcon.
“What the-!”
She dashed a little faster than before. Her movements started to get sharper, little by little. I felt like I was fighting Sug during our spars. I still avoided them easily. What made me shudder, though, were her eyes. They shinned with an unnatural glow. Like a monster slowly starting to emerge from the inside of a pure maiden.
‘SLAM’
She landed another punch in my blocking arm. “That hurt a lot…” I mumbled while rubbing it. “Come if you dare!”
She lunged to my right, almost connecting a full blow to my stomach. All of the sudden, her speed matched the pain in the ass when using a foil. “Cool.” I launched some of my jabs at her. I released a compact cross and finally a combination of the two, forming the basic jab-cross routine. All shadow boxing of course. As expected, she retreated back on the enormous space of the park.
“Mmm…” She was looking at her fist far away from me. Then… then the little fucker imitated my motions like if it was nobody’s business. “I wonder now!” She dashed at me with a daring will, and connected a full jab on my cross-guard. “SO THIS IS HOW IT WORKS!”
Her voice sounded power hungry now. My instincts screamed to me again. This time, my pride was gradually starting to support their claims. Sparkle’s presence grew in size. Her battle aura was slowly but steadily starting to overwhelm me! No… I don’t think I am dealing with the usual Twilight Sparkle anymore. Those eyes… were not human!
“More!” She said while slowly walking towards me. “I NEED TO KNOW MORE OF THIS!”
Like lighting, her basic punches were given me a run for my money! Even if primitive and still amateurish compared to us, she was making me sweat like an actual spar with Nit. That was... Awesome! “I’LL GIVE YOU HELL, SPARKLE!”
I launched several deadly jabs at her but sweat and panting stopped me for moments. She blocked my assault right away and retaliated with another heavy blow on my guard. The exchanges were mostly punches from me against one punch she barely managed to launch during some intervals. But it finally hit me. The reason of my sup-bar performance manifested through my heavy breathing. I was already burned out from the soccer match and my recent routine of today. But she…!
“I’LL SAVE RAINBOW!”
She simply wouldn’t stop!
I couldn’t hold much longer. If she burns what’s left of my fuel, I’ll be done for good. I just hope she can take it. Just when she dashed to me again, I broke my self-promise to not hurt her and made a full swing on her chin. My uppercut felt the bone of her jaw and she was sent flying to the bench.
“OH SHIT!” I ran to her aid and inspected her for any damage. “Sparkle!” I showed her two fingers in her face. “How many fingers do you see?”
“Two.” She said dizzy with hilarious eyes.
“That’s a relief but I’ll call the ambulance!”
“No… wait! Before that, could you please get closer to me?”
“Yeah!” I looked at her in the face and softly rubbed her forehead. “What is it?”
She quickly raised her fist and punched me on the nose. It didn’t hurt at all like her previous punches, and she was smiling with a victorious attitude. “I punched you in the face!” She recovered like if I hadn’t hit her and sat correctly. “I win!” She said it like the sweet, innocent girl I spoke to before the fight, raising her arms like if she had saved the world.
“You son of a…” My anger quickly turned into amusement. “Hahaha! You are funny… but I hit you badly on the jaw! Are you sure you are okay?”
She rubbed her chin and then chuckled. “Yeah! I am fine! It hurt but somehow I’m fine!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! I feel fine! Believe me!” She stood up with zero damage. “See? I’m just fine! Thank you for worrying about me!”
“Yeah…” I sweated cold drops for a moment. Not only she was clean from my best punch in my current condition, the pain in my arms reminded me that the fight did happened. Nevermind, she was good. “Just making sure you were ok!”
“Thank you…!” She said tenderly while looking at me. “Now… will you help me out?”
“Of course! YOU WON! Let’s take a seat and relax for a while, if you have time.”
She inspected her pockets and looked at the hour of her phone. “I still have plenty of time! Spike says that only Pinkie Pie has arrived at Rarity’s place!”
“Good… wait! Spike!? Are you having a dude in your slumber party!!?”
“What!? NO! It was my dog who texted-” She quickly shut her mouth.
“Your dog texted you? Are you sure you are ok? I can take you to the local clinic right now.”
“Yeah, I-I’m fine! What do I need to do to prove it to you?”
“Jump.” She jumped. “Spin around three times.” She did. “Jump again. Run around me five times. Now another five times on the opposite direction. Hit my hand!” A half-assed sound echoed weakly. “THAT WAS WEAK, SPARKLE!”
“I’m sorry!” She jumped scared like a cat.
“Seriously, where did that strength and savage aura from before go?”
“Savage aura? Did I really hurt your nose?”
“You-!”
‘Mentally speaking, she is a very unstable person.’
Sug’s words echoed. So this is what she was talking about long ago. Hmph… It would be best to no longer bomb her with questions. Perhaps she was finally letting go of all of her past frustrations, and when she finally calmed down, her mind just forgot. Like if she denied that her anger in her life existed, trying to be always good for the sake of it.
Ha! You are something else, girl!
“Ok, Sparkle! You hit me, you win! Let’s take a seat and I’ll say what you need to do to help Dash!” She made a big smile while sitting on the bench. Her hands were shaking with the rhythm of her legs. I took a deep breath and only said, “Pep talk to her.”
“What!?” She was angrily disappointed. “That’s it? All this trouble for just that!?”
“Yeah! Pep talk to her strongly. Rainbow Dash needs from you the validity of your friendship to raise her spirit up.”
“B-but we tried to encourage her after the defeat she had during the afternoon. Lightning Dust said a lot of ill-spirited things to her. I have never seen Rainbow so… lost…! I need more than that! I demand more than that!”
“BWAHAHAHAHA! You are demanding me, you little shit!? HA! Alright, just because you won! But first, let’s make something clear!” I embraced her neck and tenderly put her head laying on me. “Lightning Dust is a poor assed loser who doesn’t know when to shut up and admit defeat! She may have defeated Dash today, but it was mostly Sug and Zap giving her directions to outsmart her! Just ignore her and everything will be fine! You have proven me that you can become more than what you are right now, so believe in what I say!”
“But Rainbow-!”
“Sparkle! If this is all what Rainbow needs to feel disheartened, then she isn’t as strong as she thinks she is! I told you already! Make her remember that she is the best when she is on her own!”
“But wouldn’t that mean that I will be practically saying that she isn’t a good team player?”
“Sparkle, she wasn’t a team player before! And after the match of today, my suspicions were proven true once again! Rainbow Dash hasn’t learned her lesson like I am doing now with Sug!”
“What do you mean by that?”
“She wants to be recognized, little prodigy! Prove to everyone that she can be the best in what she does! Ever since we were kids, she had always had that kind of determination! Whenever she did a good deed, a good act, a good display of her abilities, she desired to be praised by her efforts! Why do you think her ego took a blow when Dust said all those nasty things you said she spoke to her? Because for Dash, it would mean she failed someone!”
Sparkle rested her hands on my hugging arm. “But she has nothing to prove! She is incredible!”
“But here is the problem! If Rainbow is still the girl I met long ago, then she fears to be forgotten and put aside! Think about it, how many times she has gloated that she can do everything she says and does it moments later?”
“All the time!” She smiled with a bit of jealously. “She is so daring and brave! Always giving good cheering to the students of CHS! I don’t think that the school could be this confident without her!”
“Then what would happen if someone steals the spot from her? I’ll tell you! A complete repetition of what you saw today! The Thunder Duo, especially Dust, stole the play of the game from her! She felt into despair and dismissed her team for the sake of proving she could live to their expectations! That’s not good! You can’t give your back to the people who look at you for personal reasons!”
“Rainbow Dash would never do that!” Sparkle’s eyes became transparent in expectation.
“Oh, really? I already told you my story before, so let’s change the situation for something more recent, ok? Her teammates and their tournament are perfect for this! What is the purpose of Dash on the team when the only people who could qualify to have the scholarships are the third graders?”
“Her purpose is to help our superiors to have a better chance on getting the scholarship, of course!”
“And you think Dash stealing the show would help them out in any way? You think that rushing to the enemy, leaving behind the team effort and playing impulsively would be beneficial to them?”
“No… I suppose not.”
“And what about Spitfire? Since we are touching the subject of loyalty, let’s make a little critic on her too! Tell me, what is her relationship with that Soarin guy?”
“Rainbow told me they are friends since kids.”
“And you believe ignoring your friend’s worries is something that a true friend would do? Even if he may be proven wrong later, the guy wanted to help his friend! Why do you think that he got ignored?”
“I don’t know…”
“You don’t know? Or do you think do you don’t know?”
“Excuse me?” She was confused.
“Sparkle! When you accepted my challenge, what do you felt in that moment? What made you jump recklessly against me when at first glance you didn’t have a chance against me?”
“I was… angry at you… For saying all those meanie things of Rainbow!”
“And do you know what that anger is when a person you love is being hurt in any mean? What made you move faster and stronger for the sake of your loyalty to her?” She shook her head in negation. “Your drive, Sparkle! It’s your drive that makes you push forward and don’t stop at anything to reach your goal! It gives you strength! It tempers your will and makes you unstoppable! But… it also makes you blind and vulnerable to defeat and humiliation!”
“Why? If we take your words as granted, if you have strength to win, you can overcome any challenge!”
“And that’s exactly why you would fail in the end when getting full of yourself! Tell me, without any mean spirited intention… does she still take her naps during classes or immediately after training a little?”
“…Yes.”
“You see? Dash is a prodigy in sports! And when a prodigy does a lot of amazing stuff in multiple occasions, she gets cocky! She feels invincible! And when someone better than her defeats her or the circumstances are against her favor, and loses, she takes it too personal! That was one of the many bad habits I learned from her… And it’s hard to get rid of them…”
“What do you mean?”
“As I told you before, I looked up at her! I wanted to be her! Powerful and invincible! But… you grow up and see there is a wider world out there! Even if we defeated Sug in a little test when Nit and I first met her, later on, I saw the true extent of my chances on the world!” I closed my fist, like crushing my past, foolish dreams on the process. “I had nothing to offer to world, or me!”
“But you are strong too!”
“So what? You can be a prodigy and be successful on your own! But in the end, you need people who offer you a wider point of view in the things you don’t see alone! Klum Pacini, the Saddle Arabian boxer from the eighties was strong too! And you know what? He suffered a terrible loss that cost him his life! Many factors played to his downfall, all of personal matters!”
“Like what?” She asked curious.
“Well… He had a trainer that was far older than him, who happened to be his best friend. This trainer was a retired Muay Thai Master whose techniques were unorthodox by boxing standards. Even so, they had many victories together and won four weight titles. He never trained another athlete again for sheer loyalty for him. Several years after he retired, Pacini tried to come back to the ring. Crum, his trainer, urged him to not do it! He even told his trusted doctor to make Pacini fail his examination, only for him to hate him for that and jump on the ring on his own. He lost with a heavy cross-counter and suffered an internal brain hemorrhage. He died on the ring.”
“That’s horrible!”
“Yeah…” I sighed heavily. He was my Grandparents’ favorite brute-force boxer. “But if you make parallels with his story to Dash’s soccer match, there are many similarities between one another. Except the gruesome death, of course!”
“Soarin is Crum, and Spitfire and Rainbow are Pacini!”
“Yeah! Soarin, for all intents and purposes, has a very passive attitude. I noticed that when I worked together with him during our on-going event. But during the match, according to Sug, he was right! He was offering another point of view from his perspective! And in the world of sports, you must consider every strategy before jumping blind to the enemy! But I can understand that Spitfire girl well! The desire to win when you seemingly have the advantage in a certain moment is exhilarating! But when you start to feel invincible…!”
“You lost track of the wisest choices!”
“Your genius fame is clearly well deserved.” She blushed a little happy while looking at the side. “And you know what? I could have ended up like her if it wasn’t for my friends! And today, Sug surprised me once again!”
“I don’t remember Sugarcoat speaking the first name of someone before so passionately!”
“Imagine my surprise when I have been at her side for a year now! I never felt so… empowered! Important!”
“It must feel nice…” She said with soft eyes and a little grin.
“Sparkle… what did you felt when you made your first friend?”
“I could never describe to perfection what I felt that day! An unexpected blessing? A burning joy? A part of me that I thought that it wasn’t missing? Like a spring without clouds! Like a summer without darkened rain! Like autumn without cold! Like winter without death! If it wasn’t for them, I would never have felt important and loved!”
“And you feel that they’ll never go away! You believe that you have someone beside you to the end of time! That you can soar up to the sky and reach frontiers you never imagined! Like endless power running through your heart! Like a void being filled by the sands of happiness!”
“YES! That’s exactly what I felt!”
“And then… it ends… and that feeling will never come back…”
“…Gilda.”
“Listen, Sparkle! Don’t ever be fooled by the colors of life! All people, friends included, have a dark side within them! You must learn to know the difference of who are your friends, who are your acquaintances, and especially, who are your enemies!”
“I don’t want to have enemies!”
“You will have enemies, girl! That’s how life works! Enemies that envy you! Enemies that want to crush you! Enemies who simply want to make you suffer for the sake of it! Recognizing who is friend or foe will give you an edge on whom to give your loyalty to!”
“My loyalty…”
“Yes! You can’t give yourself blindly to anyone! Just because they treat you nice at first, it doesn’t mean they are doing it with good intentions! You must take away the bandages that blind your eyes and see the world as it is; a deadly jungle! Loyalty sounds pretty on paper, but sometimes you must do things that look, uh, unfriendly to prove your love for them!”
“How could doing an unfriendly act prove your love to your friends?”
“Crum tried to sabotage Pacini’s examination because he knew too well that his friend’s time had expired! By trying to hinder his progress, he was willing to earn his hate for the sake of saving him!”
“But didn’t that intervene with Pacini’s dreams? What if he was wrong and he could have managed to make a comeback!?”
“Yeah, because a fifty-two year old boxer could match the strength and stamina of someone thirty years younger than him!”
“Oh… I see!”
“When you hamper the dreams of your friend when he clearly can manage it, you are not his friend, you are an asshole! But, when you thwart his efforts on doing something stupid, even if he gets angry with you, you are being his loyal friend! Being a loyal friend is more than being a good, helping buddy at every turn! Loyalty is to know when to fight with your friends against the lion side by side, and when to retreat and dragged him with you when the dragon is raining hell on you!”
“But when do I know I am doing the right thing?”
“By knowing your friends the best you can! It’s not enough chatting and laughing all the time! You must know as well what makes them angry! What can you do appease them! To help them! To encourage them! To teach them in the way they learn best! We may not seem like it, but there is a reason why Nit, I and the others bitch every day! We know most of our limits, and every day we still learn something new about us! Can you say the same with your friends? Have you done the extra step to learn more about them?”
“…No.”
“See? I mean, it is expected that you don’t know them very well at this point! You have only met them for a few months by now… but what will happen when a day in the distant future comes and they suddenly get angry at you? Will you cry because you don’t understand them at that moment? NO! You strengthen yourself and face the problem! But for that to happen, there is something more important you must do first before doing what we have talked so far!”
“And what is that?”
“Be loyal to yourself first!” I gripped on her shoulders. She was left speechless. “How can you expect to be truly loyal and understand what others are passing through, if you don’t love yourself first? When you said that your friends made you feel important for the first time, are you saying that your life was meaningless until now?”
“No… I…”
“Sparkle! Before you can help Dash, before you could even call someone a friend, you must learn about yourself first! What makes you truly angry? What makes you truly sad? What troubles you? What triggers your strength?” I grabbed her hands and squeezed them. “When you wanted to defend Dash from my pettiness with your immature loyalty, your fists were surprisingly heavy! You unconsciously put everything you had in them! All your spirit! All your power! For an instant, you gave everything you got! Imagine what you can do if you master your gifts!” I raised her body and made her stand on the bench. “You will fly high!”
“But what if I start gloating!?”
“Then you live with the consequences of your actions! Don’t be afraid to be you! Look at me! Half of Crystal Prep fears or hates me, and I'm just living my life as it is! This is what Nit’s is trying to tell you! As long as you are happy, and as long as you are not hurting anybody, you can be whatever you want! Learn from everyone, girl! Seize their knowledge! Steal it! Make it yours! Your bond with Dash is just starting! Right now, that stubborn brat needs you! So pep talk to her! Please her, but say that she can improve much more if she stops being lazy! And if she doesn't listens, it's not your fault!”
“You are right! I can’t make her strong if I don’t become strong myself!”
“Yeah! There are many kinds of strength! Look at Fluttershy! She is wimpy and shy, but when it matters, she uses her fangs! Be like that if you don’t seek conflict!” I took out from my bag the package of cookies that Sug made for me. I grabbed one and split it in half. “Here! Sug made this! It tastes good!”
“But Sugarcoat made this for you, right?”
“You earned it! You are more than meets the eye! I thought that you were hopeless and weak… but now… you can become kinda cool in the proper time! So here, eat it!”
She smiled with a radiance I have never seen before from her. Her eyes shimmered like little stars as she took the little piece of cookie. She put the whole deal in her mouth, and crumbled it with her white teeth. “WAH! Peanut cookies!” Her face brighten.
“Shit! This will ruin my diet of today!” I looked at the cookie and chuckled with defeat. “Well, can’t say no to her!” It tasted good. “Well, have fun in your slumber party!”
“Wait!” She ran at me and took out her phone. “Give me your phone number! I want to have it!”
I can safely say that my face was full of stupefaction at that point. An undeniable presence moved my lips and gave away my number. We parted ways and I thought about what we discussed. “What I have done to prove my loyalty to her?” Sug has helped me several times in the past. Even when busy, she managed to raise my scores and keep me on the school. She even visited me at home when I felt sick and couldn’t assist school. I texted her…
-Gilda: I’ll help tomorrow… as a part-time Champion. See you at the usual hour.
I didn’t receive an answer. When I got back home, I took a shower and ate my cookies with some milk and called it a day. Next day, I woke with a sore body. I made lunch and quickly changed to go to school. Before I walked to the Champion Lounge, I received a message from an unknown number. Seeing how it was written, I knew right away from who it was and saved her number.
-Twilight: I pep talk to her the best I could… she laughed and we had fun. Rainbow Dash is a little better now! Thank you for yesterday!
“Heh! Another good deed for my karma!” I got inside the room, and to my surprise, and horror, she was there with a mountain of documents that Nit used to read.
“October 27th! Monday! An historic day for Crystal Prep Academy has arrived once more!” Sugarcoat said while recording her voice note on her phone. “A new Champion has been chosen by the grace of democracy! A poll I submitted yesterday on the school’s page was made public! And with positive results for her, ruining the sleep hours of hundreds of students worried for the future of this prideful institution, I, Candie Sugarcoat, I’m pleased to welcome her with open arms!” She ended her recording and glanced at me with her stupid, arrogant smile. But, her eyes were her brightest and joyous yet. “Welcome to your new hell, my sister! Let's start your training for your duties of today!”
…Shit.
