Chapter 1
Adventures In The Law Of Attraction
Canterlot High. It was the middle of the school year, and everyone was busy. It was also the time when nerves can get frayed, and some people would get depressed. That normally wouldn’t be Fluttershy, who would find something to be cheerful about, especially when it comes to nature. With all the hectic activities in school though, the pressure can just about get to anyone. She sighed as she walked through the hall, book in hand.
“I wonder when would it ever end,” she said loudly to herself as she walked and stared at the long corridor ahead. People were about her, going from one class to the other. She tried her best to dodge them and keep a low profile. Of all the members of the Rainboom, Fluttershy was the most reserved though in normal times she could also be cheerful and energetic. This was not one of those days though.
“Hey, ready for the next class?” A perky voice said behind her. Fluttershy turned and smiled at Pinkie Pie, the drummer of the band. Pinkie was known to have boundless energy and was often upbeat. At that moment she was beaming widely as she walked beside her.
“Don’t you ever feel overwhelmed by all this?” Fluttershy said in her small, quiet voice.
“Not at all!” Pinkie exclaimed, her big smile never leaving her face. Fluttershy just shook her head.
“I don’t know where you get all that optimism,” she exclaimed to Pinkie.
“It’s easy—just think that things will be well!” Pinkie replied enthusiastically.
“If only that would be easy…” Fluttershy said as her voice trailed off.
“Sure it is!” Pinkie said without missing a beat. “You just have to put your mind to it!”
“What would you put your mind to?” A voice asked, and both of them turned to see Sunset Shimmer walking close behind them. She smiled as she went in step to walk beside them.
“Oh, we were just talking about how to be positive,” Pinkie said to her.
“If there’s someone who is an expert in that, it’s got to be you, Pinkie Pie,” Sunset shot to her.
“Sure,” Pinkie said. “That’s the basis for the law of attraction.”
“Law of attraction…I think I might have heard of that before,” Sunset said, wondering where she might have encountered the term.
“It’s basically where what you think is what you attract,” Pinkie explained to her briefly. Sunset nodded thoughtfully. Fluttershy had a doubtful look on her.
“Is it all that easy?” she said, her voice small and quiet.
“Sure,” Pinkie said. “I’ll teach you how it’s done after class.”
“I’d like to join in as well, just to see what it’s all about,” Sunset said. Pinkie jumped happily at that.
“Wow, there would be more of us then!”
“Just three, Pinkie,” Sunset reminded her, though by then she was beginning to see where the enthusiasm of Pinkie was coming from.
After classes, the three of them met in the music room. Sunset arrived first. She went to her seat, quietly musing on things. Fluttershy arrived next. She smiled at Sunset when she came in, though she didn’t sit down. Instead, she paced about the room, also musing quietly as she did so. Pinkie was the last to arrive, though as her usual way, she arrived with a flourish.
“Well, here I am,” she announced to them, but the way she did it made it seem more like she was announcing it to a room full of people.
“Do you think this will work?” Fluttershy asked, and Pinkie smiled widely.
“Of course it will! You just have to trust in yourself,” she said as she grabbed a chair to sit close to them. Fluttershy sat next to Sunset, while Pinkie set herself up facing them. “It all begins with affirmation.” Sunset nodded as Pinkie said that.
“What is affirmation?” Fluttershy said.
“It’s where you make positive thoughts about yourself,” Pinkie replied to her.
“And how do you do that?” Fluttershy continued to ask.
“Here, I’ll show you,” Pinkie said and then got a paper and pen. “You just write down anything positive you would want or have about you. Like, say you could start with, ‘I am happy.’” She then wrote that down on the paper. “Then you write down another positive thought, and so on. She then began to write more, and after a few seconds stopped to show them what she wrote.
“Ah, so that’s how it is,” Fluttershy said.
“Yes, and then you read it daily,” Pinkie explained. She then looked at Sunset. “You really don’t need this, do you now?” Sunset just smiled as she shook her head.
“I really need to learn how to eternally be positive like you, Pinkie,” Sunset remarked to her.
“Well, you’ve always been positive,” Pinkie observed.
“Not as much as you are,” Sunset countered. Fluttershy continued to study what Pinkie wrote.
“So I have to write something positive about myself?” she wondered.
“Even positive traits you’d like to have,” Pinkie said. Sunset nodded. She understood what Pinkie was saying, as in some way she was already doing it daily herself.
“You have to make a list like that, and then read them daily until you feel them become a reality for you,” Sunset added in.
“That’s right,” Pinkie agreed. Then she looked at Sunset once again. “I don’t think you really need all this,” she said at that point.
“There’s always time to learn from someone,” Sunset merely replied.
“I think I’ll get used to doing this,” Fluttershy then said to them.
“Just do that daily, and you’ll see changes in no time,” Pinkie assured her.
“The principle of affirmation is to make you see yourself in a more positive way. When you see yourself in a positive way, positive things will happen as well,” Sunset explained further. Pinkie was flustered when she heard her speak.
“Wow…yeah…I guess you said that very well,” she stammered, but quickly regained her composure. “You’re really good at this!” Sunset smiled sheepishly.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what to call I until you told about it,” she just said.
“So I’ll just do this daily?” Fluttershy wanted to clarify. Pinkie nodded enthusiastically.
“Absolutely!” she replied, nodding her head so much that made Sunset a bit dizzy. “Just try it for a week, and see how it works.”
“Okay…” Fluttershy said, still not sure how it will all turn out.
“And after that, we’ll go on to the next stage!” Pinkie then announced. Fluttershy was aghast when she heard that.
“You…you mean there’s more?” she practically gasped.
“Well, of course, that’s what the law of attraction is all about,” Pinkie informed them both. “Don’t worry, you’ll get into it in no time.” As she said that, she looked more at Sunset’s way.
“I’m sure Fluttershy can handle it easily,” Sunset said assuredly. “Besides, we’re here to back you up.” Fluttershy smiled.
“Thanks for the help,” she said quietly to her and Pinkie.
“We’ll see how things turn out in a week,” Pinkie smiled widely as they parted ways. They said their goodbyes then as they headed home. Sunset thought about Fluttershy on the way home. She was quiet and quite introverted, so learning about affirmation could help boost her confidence. She also needed to know more about the law of attraction herself, she figured. She thought that she might need it eventually to get to her goals much faster.
For the rest of the week Fluttershy tried to follow affirmation as Pinkie taught her. Every now and then she asked her and Sunset about it, and both of them encouraged her to continue.
“Do you think I’m doing well so far?” she asked Sunset on Thursday while they were on their way to the cafeteria.
“You’re doing well so far. I can see that you’re having more confidence,” Sunset observed. “It will still take time, but you’re getting there.”
“I can see that you don’t have any problem with it,” Fluttershy noted.
“Well, that’s because she’s been real confident already,” Apple Jack joined in as she caught up with them.
“I know. I wish I have that confidence also,” Fluttershy said shyly.
“We’re all different, and you’ll be able to show your confidence in your own way,” Sunset said to her as encouragement.
“So what does Pinkie have for us now?” Fluttershy wondered. Sunset wondered about that as well. She had to know more about the law of attraction, and Pinkie had her curious about it. They reached the cafeteria and slid into their usual place.
“I’ll go over the counter and get us some food,” Apple Jack volunteered while the two waited for Pinkie to come.
“Do you think the next would be hard?” Fluttershy again wondered.
“I don’t think that it would be,” Sunset reasoned. “The first one wasn’t that hard, so the next one should be fairly easy as well.” She then saw Pinkie heading over to their place and waved at her.
“So, you’re ready for the next one?” she said when she sat down. Fluttershy nodded while Sunset just looked intently at her. Apple Jack came back just then with the food she ordered.
“So I see y’all are here,” she said as she set the tray down and sat beside Pinkie.
“Want to join us?” Pinkie asked her.
“Do I have a choice?” Apple Jack shot back.
“It’ll be fun!” Pinkie declared to her loudly.
“Well, I don’t know about that,” Apple Jack said hesitantly. “I think Rainbow Dash will have something to say about it.”
“Oh, she already did,” Pinkie informed her. “She said that she’s also interested in it.”
“She is? Well, that’s a first,” remarked Apple Jack, though she was very much surprised that Rainbow Dash would take much interest in the law of attraction.
“So, let’s begin the second part,” Pinkie then said to Sunset and Fluttershy.
“Shouldn’t you recap some of the early ones first for AJ?” Sunset suggested to her. Pinkie blushed, but quickly got into stride.
“Of course,” Pinkie began. She then recounted all about affirmation. Fluttershy listened attentively so she could have a better understanding of it. Apple Jack though didn’t show much signs of interest, or at least she tried not to show any sign of interest.
“Right,” she finally said after Pinkie finished her recap. “So, what will you be discussing now?”
“Next would be changing one’s attitude,” Pinkie said simply.
“Yes, I figured that would be the next step,” Sunset said.
“Why would that be?” Fluttershy said in her quiet voice.
“Well, after affirmation the next logical step would be a change in one’s attitude,” Sunset explained to her.
“That’s right,” agreed Pinkie. “The affirmations should be making you see yourself in a more positive way. That would then make you change in the way you handle things.”
“A shift in attitude then, in short,” added in Sunset.
“I don’t know if the affirmations have worked with me…” Fluttershy said softly, still a bit unsure about it all.
“Nonsense, it’s working on you now,” Pinkie said positively. Sunset’s eyebrows raised but she didn’t say anything. She could see that Fluttershy was working hard on it, but it would take some time for her to really be more open. “Not that you need it, though,” Pinkie had to add that in, looking over at Sunset.
“What do you mean?” Sunset was a bit surprised at that last sentence.
“I mean you’re already outgoing and positive,” Pinkie clarified.
“Like I said, there’s still much to learn from people,” Sunset merely replied.
“So this is all exciting?” Apple Jack finally spoke up. Pinkie Pie nodded, her enthusiasm never going down.
“It is,” she said. “That’s why I call this as the adventures in the law of attraction.”
“Sounds dull to me,” deadpanned Apple Jack.
“So we have to work on more with you, Fluttershy,” Sunset turned the discussion back to her. Fluttershy nodded.
“I really want to be more outgoing, like you,” she said.
“If you’ve been keeping up with your affirmations, that should come in no time,” Sunset said, prodding her on as encouragement.
“And what about your affirmations?” Pinkie asked Sunset.
“I think I’m on track so far,” Sunset said to her. She drank her iced tea as she said that to Pinkie.
“I mean what are they?” Pinkie wanted to know. Sunset just shrugged.
“I affirm to myself that I am successful, that kind of thing,” Sunset said simply.
“Well you already are, aren’t you?” Pinkie could tell that there was more to what Sunset really wanted, but she didn’t try to prod too much. Sunset didn’t reply to that one though. Pinkie went on to explain a bit more about changing one’s attitude, though by then Sunset’s thoughts had already been more focused on her own affirmations.
Later, that night, Sunset took out her diary and opened it on the affirmations that she wrote. It had been a long time since she thought about those things, but now she realized that she was on a crossroad and that she needed to really find out where she would be going. She read her affirmations quietly:
I am successful.
I am great.
I am the best.
I am famous.
She shivered as she read each one of them. Those were thoughts that had not crossed her mind in a long time, but now she realized that she still wanted them all along. She sighed as she closed the diary.
Where is all this taking me? she wondered as she looked out her window, deep in reflection as to where it was all leading.
“Well, this is the last part of the process,” Pinkie said eagerly in the music room. It had been another week that had gone by, and at that time there had been some progress made with Fluttershy. While still mostly introverted, she had gained a bit more confidence. At least that’s what Sunset saw. Pinkie seemed to agree on her assessment as well, though Fluttershy wasn’t still quite sure yet.
“I don’t feel like I have changed much,” she said as she sat down.
“Most people don’t really feel that they have changed over time, but others would notice,” Sunset pointed out to her. “I do see that you’re a bit more confident.” Which was true for the most part, since she was more open now and would speak up more although she was still quiet many times, and her voice was still just as quiet. Still, Sunset noted that it was an improvement.
“And you also have changed much,” Pinkie said, turning to Sunset.
“In what way?” Sunset asked her.
“You’re even more confident than before. You seem to hold your head high now, even more so than ever,” Pinkie observed of her. That was true though, as Sunset had been practicing how to have a bold, confident stance and even stride. She was also trying to get Sonata to have the same poise, though she thought that it would be better to have her be the more relaxed person that she was, like Pinkie.
“Well, I have been changing some things…” Sunset began, though she didn’t continue with her explanation.
“So, we’re now on to our last step, which is to visualize what you want,” Pinkie then told them. “By now you should be more comfortable with being positive. That should make visualization much easier, since what you want to achieve should be equally positive.”
“That’s right. If you are confident, then it won’t be hard for you to see what you want as you know it will all happen,” Sunset reasoned out. Pinkie nodded at her explanation.
“When you know it will happen, you can see it already even before it does,” Pinkie added.
“And it will become reality because you can already see it happening,” Sunset further elaborated.
“Wow, you really know all this,” Pinkie said, rather amazed.
“I’ve been researching,” Sunset simply said.
“So anything that I would want will happen?” Fluttershy asked them. Pinkie affirmed that.
“It will happen when you believe in it,” she said. “That’s the power that our mind has.” Fluttershy wasn’t still too sure, though so far she had been trying her best to follow whatever Pinkie and Sunset had been telling her. And she could also see some changes in her as well.
Well, if you say so…” her voice trailed off, though Sunset knew that she would still give it a shot. As for her, she both anticipated and dreaded where it was all taking her, though she hadn’t told it to anyone what her plans would be. She wasn’t yet too sure herself, though she knew that she would have to do it at some point in time.
“For this one then, you have to picture clearly what you want to happen, like say passing the exam,” Pinkie then explained. “The law of attraction is simply then being positive about yourself, and then being positive as well about what you want to have.”
“That’s a rather simple way of putting things, but I like it,” Sunset agreed with her.
“And that finishes up the whole process?” Fluttershy said.
“Yes, that’s very much how things are,” Pinkie replied to her.
“And I thought it would be complicated,” Fluttershy said with relief.
“What’s needed is to practice all of the process, daily until you get the results you want,” Pinkie informed them.
After that day, Sunset pondered about all that Pinkie had taught in her bedroom. All that time she had held back, trying to be less the center of attention after what she had done before meeting Twilight and the Rainbooms. Now though she wasn’t so sure about it. She had always been in the forefront of things. She went to the drawer and took out her diary and opened it again to her affirmations. She took a moment to read them, then added in a few more.
I am powerful.
I am a leader.
I have great power.
She shuddered again as she read all what she wrote. Those were declarations that weren’t too far from who she was. She closed her eyes, picturing in her mind how she would be once she was successful. She knew she wanted it. She knew that, sooner or later, she would have to get it. It was a journey that she would have to take. After a few minutes, she added:
I am special.
I am unique.
I am extraordinary.
Because I am Sunset Shimmer, and I am the best.
She went back to the drawer and put her diary back into it. Then she went to the window and pulled back the curtains.
Was the past all behind her? She wondered as she looked out the window. She couldn’t answer that just yet, but she knew that her future has to be something bigger, and she was already taking those steps…