The Six Habits of Very Friendly Ponies

by Ponygon

Chapter 2: Laughter

Envision a mountain. On the side is a brilliant white confectionary of a city: all alabaster spires, colourful roofs, and stained-glass windows like glistening lollipops made from solidified rainbows. This city hangs there, on the side of the mountain, impossibly light.

Listen!

You hear music and laughter; it is faint, but just clear enough for you to tell it is joyous. It is possible to laugh bitterly, but the notes you hear are light and sweet—airy even—like freshly made meringue.

How do you get there? How do you join those that live and laugh?

You could climb up the steep sides, grey granite as sharp as knives. You could give up, say it is impossible, and stay at the bottom, lonely forever.

What you need is a map to guide you, as discussed previously. Perhaps the world is the grey mountain, but near the top is where you will find happiness. The city on this metaphorical mountain is Canterlot, the City of the Sun, which represents the glorious daylight at the end of the Overturn.

Don’t misunderstand me, though; I am still talking in metaphors. Even though Princess Twilight has brought much of Equestria into reality, the Grand World Peace has no capital, and she has not yet built a city on the side of a mountain.

I may not be talking about a physical Canterlot, but its ideals are very real. You can still feel the light from this metaphorical City of the Sun, a light that is warm but not so warm as to boil your flesh into gas, a light that is not so bright that you can see your own bones. It is a comforting light that you would instinctively seek out like a plant stretching out towards the life-giving rays from above.

So how do you grow into this happiness?

How does one become happy?

Do you part your lips and pull back the corners of your mouth with your facial muscles? Is that how to become happy?

No, of course not. Happiness is a frame of mind.

Yes, it can be an uphill struggle to achieve happiness. It may not be easy, and it may not be comfortable. Think of the struggles in your life, those times you set out to achieve something, and the elation you felt upon completing it.

For example, remember the time a pipe burst in the underground bunker you lived in. The water gushed out like blood from a severed artery, and every bit as threatening, for clean water was—and still is—very precious. You sought the shut-off valve, nestled—for some strange reason—behind pipes, and nigh inaccessible to the large adults that were around you at the time. But you were small enough, and you squeezed through, reaching out. They called for you. “Alice, don’t, it’s dangerous!” they shouted. “Let the adults handle this,” they said. Yet you were adamant that you could reach. You asked them to trust you. It was a hard struggle, but you were sure you could do it. And you did! You shut off the valve, but not before accidentally scratching yourself against the sharp metal.

The adults applauded you. “Three cheers for Alice!” they said. You were young at the time, and really, they just wanted to distract you from the pain, as they sought to treat your wound. You knew that; you said as much to your friend with the gap-toothed smile, but you let them praise you, and you smiled anyway, the pain almost forgotten.

That is, if your name is Alice and such an event happened. Obviously, if your name is different—perhaps it’s Derpy Hooves or Elvis Presley—and if no such event happened to you, you must imagine something else. Remember that event, a time when you struggled to achieve something.

The point is that you may not have been happy or even comfortable toiling, but the hardest things are always worth fighting for.

Now, say to yourself, “I may not know the way, or the how, but I shall strive to learn, and do my utmost best.” Say it out loud. Say it confidently.

This is the way of the optimist. The pessimist would say, “I’m terrible at making friends; I’m angry all the time. You might as well take me straight to the Advanced Studies Lab.” Do not say that out loud. You do not want to go to the Advanced Studies Lab. Do not think about who has been sent there. Do not think about what goes on in there and the sounds that you might hear within.

No one needs to go to the Advanced Studies Lab.

Now say, “I may not know the way or the how, but I shall strive to learn and do my utmost best.” Smile. Now say, whilst still smiling, “What I learn on these pages will set me free. Friendship shall set me free.” Repeat that last word, “Free.” Say it again, “Free.” What a funny sounding word. Notice how your mouth forms a smile when you say it.

To smile only gets you a part of the way to happiness. If only your lips smile, it is not a true smile. It must reach your eyes and fill your chest.

Do you remember a time when you were happy? What was it? What made it a happy moment?

Be careful now. Is that a tear? Do not worry. Sometimes, happy moments can turn sad. It is the way of things. Emotions are not necessarily clear cut. Do not forget that tears can be of joy as well as sadness. Besides, no one will judge you for this; it is, after all, only normal for you to feel this way. You are not the first inpatient to go through this, and you will not be the last.

Think of your muscles. Feel the muscles of your chest and near your shoulders. It’s tight, isn’t it? You are coiled like a spring, which can be good, but only if the situation requires it. If, however, there is no way for you to release that potential energy, to transform it into kinetic energy and be unsprung, then you are only putting unnecessary strain on yourself. It won’t do your body any good.

Here is an exercise for you, should you find yourself stressed with no outlet.

Clear your mind of all thoughts. With back straight, inhale through your nose. Draw one of your arms towards your chest as you do so. Breathe in. Focus on the air, as it goes into your lungs. Feel it swirl up through your chest, up behind your eyes, and into your mind. Feel it pass down, through your lungs, into your stomach, down and into your legs, into your feet, beneath your feet and below into the ground.

Now breathe out, through your mouth. Extend your arm out as you exhale. Feel the bad air draw up from your limbs, through your stomach, back into your lungs, and out through your mouth.

Breathe in again. Feel the air rush in. Breathe in until you feel as if you are about to burst. Keep the air inside of you. Imagine it filling you so full that you rise from the ground. You are outside now. Slowly, but surely, you ascend into the clear sky above, where the pegasi roam free with measured flaps of their wings. Rise, slowly now, until you are high above the Friendship Institute.

It is a white building, all angles, and branches. The Friendship Institute is laid out much like a snowflake, with six arms radiating out from the centre, more arms branching out from those. There are many rooms inside it, with your fellow inpatients, security nurses, and wardens living and working within. From up here, they are indistinguishable, like the individual cells of a body.

Your room is in a small corridor adjoining the major arm that points south. There are five doors to the right of your room, as you leave it, on the wall opposite. Count them as you move from your room: one, two, three, four— Stop there. The fourth door is important.

Focus on your room now. Imagine seeing your room through the roof, seeing yourself seated on the bed, or the chair, wherever you chose to read this book. You can see the shelf, on which it is presumed you place this book when you are not reading it. You can see the distance between you and the barred window. You can see your thin clothing, white as innocence, and the slippers you wear on your still human feet. These are slippers that are fine for walking inside the Friendship Institute, but are entirely unsuitable for dirt tracks, forests, rivers, and roads.

Read these words carefully. Pay attention to what you cannot see.

You cannot see what you might, or might not, be keeping underneath the bed; is there something there? You cannot see the space underneath your chair. Believe it or not, you also cannot see who may come in to your room, or go out, within one metre of your door.

Remember this.

Now turn your head away from the Friendship Institute. Gaze out over the land. A single road leads away from the Friendship Institute, snakes its way through the forest like a black river of tarmac towards a grey smudge. It is a city. Ponies live there and go about their day much like our ancestors used to do. There are no humans there. All humans are sent to the Friendship Institute to be converted to ponies. No griffons, no minotaurs, Princess Twilight desired all to be ponies, to fit within the three tribes she carefully crafted to depend on one another.

Breathe out. Let the air leave your body now. Feel yourself lower. The Friendship Institute grows larger now, its snowflake structure showing slate tiles and billowing smokestacks. Breathe out. You touch the roof, and dissolve through it. Breathe out. Drop lower. Go past the floors, past the Friendship Institute until you are in the loamy ground comprised of soil indistinguishable from that where you once lived, where white rabbits may live.

Remember. Comprehend.

Practise this breathing exercise regularly in the privacy of your room. If you get stressed outside of your room, it is best to undertake an abbreviated version of the exercise where you keep your mind clear of all thought throughout. Stress is no good for you, if there is no peaceful outlet for it.

Now that we have covered this breathing exercise, it is time to discuss one more aspect of happiness. For this, think of Pinkie Pie.

It doesn’t matter which one—the cartoon version or our ever-smiling Minister of Laughter—they are both, for all intents and purposes, the same.

Have you heard the stories about Pinkie Pie? She is happiest when she brings a smile to others. Her life goal is to make other ponies happy.

Is there someone you can make happy?

Can you remember the happy times you spent with that person, together in the bunker deep within the loamy soil?

You were full of energy back then, as perhaps you still are, but it never showed. There was very little space where you could exercise it, so you channelled it away into books and learning, until you were like your very own version of Princess Twilight. In those days, eyes watched you fondly, as you scratched away at scraps of paper with whatever writing implements you could salvage, a curtain of black hair enveloping you in the world of those books. Yet those eyes did not judge you, the fondness they showed did not wane because of that. Friendship does not need the burst of laughter and words that accompanies Pinkie Pie; some of the strongest bonds can bloom in the silence of one another’s presence.

That is not to say that there was no laughter, that there was no mirth. Times were harsh, but even under the ground, away from the life-giving sun, you found things to be happy about.

Remember that time you played a prank on the bully, Eric Mitchell? He was wont to take things without asking, because he wanted them. Eric thought that might made right. He did not live in the Grand World Peace. If he did, he would be here, in the Friendship Institute, one of your fellow inmates. Perhaps, he would not even have been the bully he was. But he lived in the bunker, a human, and took things like a precious teddy bear that once belonged to… your friend, or at least, I hope you saw her as a friend.

Did you see her as a friend? And if so, why did it take you so long to leave the bunker to go find her? Perhaps you had your reasons. Let us not dwell on that further, and turn our focus back onto the prank.

You found an empty peanut can and filled it with springs covered in fabric. You recreated an age-old prank, long since lost with what passed as the innocence of our species. Eric took it, of course, as he thought was his prerogative. The look of surprise on his face…!

Unfortunately, it didn’t work quite as well as you hoped, but you wore that black eye with such pride. And of course, it helped that the adults saw his fist connect with your face.

Do you remember?

Be grateful for the little moments. Make the most of your little moments. Happiness is in the grateful enjoyment of what you have.

Are you happy still?

Why not?

I do not ask you to be obliviously optimistic. Blind positivity is as bad as negativity. Know your limits, as well as your strengths. You, as a human (if you are a human) are not as strong as an earth pony, whom are—on average—the strongest of the three races. Unicorns are most adept at magic. Pegasi, of course, can fly, and are very quick; they are also quite resistant to electric shocks. All three are much faster than a human being; you cannot outrun them.

What do you have that a pony does not? What are your strengths? Yes, your handstands are impressive, and it would be wise to continue practising them, but let us focus on other things for now. How else can you improve on yourself?

If you are a human, that is what the Friendship Institute is here for. All humans are converted to ponies in the Conversion Unit, one level above the Advanced Studies Lab. It is a painless procedure, but admittedly one without choice; you cannot choose which race to become, as that choice is limited by your biology.

If you are a human, you may have already received your bloodwork results. Are you to become a unicorn? Are you to become an earth pony? Perhaps, you are to become a pegasus with beautiful feathered wings, capable of taking you high into the sky. It is possible that you will be able to soar free and feel the wind beneath your wings. Each pony has unique traits; the Grand World Peace cannot thrive without one or the other.

Princess Twilight has seen to that.

This is the end of the second chapter. What follows are five exercises. You will not be scored on these.

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Exercise 1: Consider a moment in your life when a negative event led to positive consequences that you did not expect.

Exercise 2: Offer to help a security nurse. You will not be able to do so now, but when the time comes, offer to help. You will know when the opportunity arises.

Exercise 3: What do you know about breakdancing? You can incorporate your handstands into that, you know.

Exercise 4: Look for the white rabbit.

Exercise 5: Remember to breathe.

Comments

[StarsWillAidInHerEscape]

That is so interesting! Is this supposed to be like the 7 Habits if Highly Effective Teens? I really like how you had that style back plot if humans becoming ponies!

[Ponygon]

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Glad you thought so. However, the story is only partially based on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People written by Stephen Covey, the father of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens's author, Sean Covey. The major inspiration, however, was the podcast Within the Wires.

[StarsWillAidInHerEscape]

Cool! Will there be more chapters?

[Ponygon]

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Oh definitely! Look at the story cover. It too contains information about what is to come.