Friendship is Magic

After catching her breath and her composure, Rainbow climbed to her feet. “Thanks for that.  Looks like I bit off a little more than I could chew.”  She noticed her savior.  She couldn't see much of him with his hood up but he bore a striking resemblance to...”Soarin?”

He laughed as he shook his head and pushed back his hood. “Sorry.  They call me Descent.”

She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that her savior wasn't her idol. “I thought you might be Soarin of the Wonderbolts.”

“You know them?”

Her eyes lit up as she started in on her favorite topic. “Do I?  There's Spitfire, who's unmatched in speed and reflexes.  Fleetfoot is beyond flexible.  She can slip through even the narrowest gap.  Soarin, oh God, Soarin is so strong.  He can clear gaps like you wouldn't believe.  It was him who made me fall in love with Parkour.  I mean he-”

“I get it.  I get it, Rainbow,” Descent replied with a laugh. “You love the guy.”

“Wait a sec.  How do you know my name?”

“Well, even if your hair wasn't a dead giveaway, I'd still know who you were.  Everybody who's anybody in extreme sports knows you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I'm talking about that near-victory at the Wonderbolts competition three years ago.  It was incredible what you managed to do at only ten years old.”

“That's not how I remember it,” she confessed. “I lost.  I just wasn't good enough or I'd be studying at the Wonderbolts Academy.”

“To be honest, I'm kinda glad you didn't get in.”

“What the-?  How dare you?” She snapped.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't mean it like that.  If you managed to get in, I would have never had the chance to tell you about my team, the Shadowbolts.”

“Shadowbolts?  I've never heard of that academy.”

“We're not academy nerds.  We're pros and each of us has multiple championships to our names.”

“No way!  Is that why you're so awesome?  What's a champ like you doing in a dump like Ponyville?”

“We're recruiting for a tournament in Moscow.  When they asked me who I thought we should bring aboard, I immediately thought about you.  You have real potential to be as good as any one of us, maybe even better.  All you need is a little bit of polish.”

“I was kinda hoping to train with Soarin.”

“Why?  You already proved that you're as good as any one of them and I know you've been training like crazy since then.  You're the best, plain and simple, and we want you.”

“But, it's always been my dream to compete with Soarin.”

“Wouldn't it be better to compete against him?  You consider him to be your trainer right?  What better way than for the student to surpass the master in combat?”

“You really think I'm as good as Soarin?”

“I know you are.”

Rainbow stared at Descent with new found respect. “Alright.  I'm in!”

He smiled. “Excellent.  I want you to meet me here after school tomorrow.”

Rainbow remembered the promise she made to Fluttershy. “Can't we do it at this same time?  I kinda made a promise that I really want to keep.”

He shook his head. “You need to showcase your talent before the rest of the team if you're going to join.  As such, I want to teach you some sick moves to impress the others and we'll need as much time we can get.  I'm sure your friend will understand.”

She nodded. “Yeah.  Yeah, she'll be alright.  After school, right?”

He pulled something out of his pocket. “I knew you wouldn't disappoint me.  Take this.  My trainer gave it to me.  Think of it like an all-access pass.  Security won't give you grief if they see that.”

She slipped the necklace around her neck and inspected the pendant.  “Sweet!  You're trainer gave you this?”

“Yeah.  Her name is Luna.”

“Is she an extreme athlete like you?”

“She's the best.”

x----x

I found the note from Rarity on my locker telling me to meet her in the Home Economics department after school.  I went there, down the silent empty halls, wondering what it was Rarity wanted me for.  When I opened the door, a really strange sight greeted me.

“Rarity, what is Pinkie wearing?”

The one-piece body suit was bright pink and extremely form-fitting.  On her thighs, were the tattoo usually appeared, were three balloons, exactly like her tattoo.  The boots, gloves, and cowl all matched the suit and were finished it all off with a pair of pink ears mounted on her head.

“It's an example of our new battle suits.” Rarity exclaimed, applauding herself.

“Told you she'd like them.”  Pinkie squealed.

“Why do we need battle suits?”

“Oh, please.  Everybody wears suits, cops, firefighters, soldiers.  Besides, yesterday's battle left me doing laundry for nearly two hours.  I will not be doing that again.”

“Have you forgotten that Faust told us that we would have more complete transformations when we find all of the Element Bearers?”

“Right and, until then, we can wear these.”

“These creatures could appear at any time.  Do you think we're going to have time to change into those?”

“We can wear them under our clothes.  Besides, Pinkie really seems to like hers.  Don't you, Pinkie dear?”

Pinkie was curled on her side, on the floor, with the suit's fluffy pink tail in her mouth.

“What on earth are you doing, Pinkie?”

Pinkie gave an embarrassed giggle and stood. “Sorry.  I was just thinking about how much that tail looked like cotton candy and then I realized how hungry I was and when I realized how hungry I was I began to wonder-”

Rarity held up a hand, “Enough, I get it.  Just be sure to wash it.”  She picked up another suit, dark purple with a star burst markings, “Twilight, this one is yours.”

Oh no.  I would have none of that.  Without another word, I turned and left, leaving my two stunned friends behind.

“Twilight, where are you going?”

x----x

“Ponified humans, of all the nerve.  Only Rarity could think up something that ridiculous.  I mean, really, absolute nonsense.” I ranted under my breath as I left the school and crossed into the park across the street.  Standing near one of the fountains, I could see a willowy girl with light-pink hair holding a bulky bag.  She was wearing filthy coveralls and seemed to be waiting for someone.

Something about this girl seemed very familiar.  I knew I had seen her before and was pretty certain I had a class or two with her but, for the life of me, I couldn't remember her name.

Since beginning this little quest for friendship, I had found that making friends was a lot easier than I had anticipated.  Pinkie was a lot of fun and Rarity was a wonderful person.  I wondered if this girl might like to be my friend, as well.  If not, it might still be nice to know a classmate that I partner up with for group projects and lab work.

“Hello,” I said.  She started a bit at my voice and watched me shyly from the corner of her eye. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

She mumbled something.

“I'm sorry.  I didn't quite catch that.”

Somehow, she managed to mumble even more softly.

“Okay.  I still didn't quite hear you.”

The girl turned a glowing red and let out something of a multi-syllabic squeal.

“Hey, Twi.  Have you seen Rarity?”

I turned to find Spike standing right behind me. “She's inside with Pinkie, working on some kind of project.”

“SPIKE!” The girl squealed with enough volume to make me wince before rushing forward and wrapping my brother in her arms. “How are you?  Oh, it's so good to see you!”

“I-I'm fine, Fluttershy.  How are you?  Didja get home alright?”

“Wait, wait, wait one second,” I said.  Spike didn't even go to the same school as me. “How do you two know each other?”

“He saved my life!” Fluttershy proclaimed.

I turned to my brother. “This is going to be good.  I can tell.”

Spike immediately launched into a story about seeing Fluttershy go into an alley marked by the Diamond Dog gang and rescuing her from certain doom.  I wouldn't have believed it if Fluttershy hadn't been there to back-up everything he said.

“How many times have I told you-” I began, my voice steadily rising, “-to stay out of that area!”

“It was my fault, really.”  Fluttershy explained quietly, “He only went down there to protect me.  My mother always told me to not go down there but I was running late and I thought it would be a shortcut.”

I sighed and pinched my brow.  Why did life have to be so difficult? “You did a good thing, little brother.” I told him, patting his shoulder. “Never do it again.  I do not want to have to explain to Mom and Dad why their son has had his throat slit when I was supposed to be watching him.  Please don't put me in that position.”

“She was going to be hurt, Twilight.”

“I understand, Spike.  I'm not saying what you did was wrong.  What I'm saying is I don't want you making a habit of it.”

“Like I said, it was my fault.”

I turned to Fluttershy and smiled. “Don't worry about it.  At least, you all made it out okay.”

“Alright, I'm off.” Spike said, “Gotta go see what Rarity's up to.”

“Don't be a pest, Spike.  If she's working, leave her alone.  I'd better not get any complaints.” I warned him.

Fluttershy waved, “Bye, Spike.  See you soon.”

I turned to her. “I have to ask, what are you doing out here with that bag?”

“Well, I was waiting for a friend but she's running really late.  That's unusual.  I hope nothing's happened to her.”

x----x

Rainbow sighed with exhaustion as she sat down and guzzled the water from the bottle Descent handed her.

“Excellent, Rainbow.  You're picking this up faster than I thought.  That last run was perfect.  Again!”

“Sure...thing,” she panted. “Gimme a...couple...ah...minutes.  Need to...catch my...breath.”

“Alright.  Let's take five then I'll show you the next set.  You're really gonna wow the team.”

“Thanks for showing me those moves.  I just hope Flutters isn't too upset about me backing out on her.  I'll have to make it up, somehow.”

x----x

“So this is what you do after school?” I asked as I held the tiny sapling steady while Fluttershy piled the dirt in around it. “Why?”

“I'm an only child but I've always wanted a brother or sister.  My mom says that, when I prove myself responsible and a good caretaker, we'll adopt.  When that happens, I want this park to have plenty of trees for my sibling to play on.  Also, there's a lot of small birds and animals that need a safe place to build their nests.”  She plunged her trowel into the dirt and wiped away the sweat on her brow. “Thanks for helping me out.  Spike was right about you.”

“It's no problem,” I assured her. “I had some free time today anyways.  What did Spike say?”

“Well, when I talked to him, he told me you were a kind-hearted girl...”

Who knew that my geeky little brother said such wonderful things about me.  I should bake him his favorite cake.

“...But he also said that, sometimes, you can be a grump and kind of nasty. You really shouldn't be that way with him.  He's only a little boy.” She admonished me.

I gave an embarrassed laugh as I rubbed the back of my head.  Yes, Spike, I'll bake you that cake.  Then, I'll smash your face into it.  A quick change of subject was in order. “Why is it that I always see you by yourself out here?  I though I was the only girl who didn't know anybody.”

Fluttershy sighed. “I don't really have any friends, besides Rainbow.  The truth is that I don't really trust my classmates.  They always pick on me and call me nasty names.”

“Nasty names?”

“Uh-huh.  Sometimes, they even throw things at me.”

I gasped. “That's bullying.  That's against the law.  Why do you let them do that to you?  Why not tell somebody?”

She shrugged. “I guess I've learned to deal with it.  I've never been strong, like Rainbow, I deserve to be treated like that.”

“No!  Nobody deserves to be treated like that.  From now on, Fluttershy, nobody's going to bother you while I'm around!”

She giggled. “You sound just like Rainbow.  Thank you.”

A cat's yowling broke through our little bonding moment.  We both looked up to see a small tabby struggling with something in the grass by the lake.  When we got up to take a closer look, we saw that a length of old fishing line was wrapped around its leg.

“I'll get it.” I volunteered, kneeling down and reaching for the animal.

The cat growled and swiped at me, digging its claws into the back of my hand and tearing the skin open, leaving three red scratches behind.  I helped and hissed as I gripped the painful wound. “It's too wound up to let us anywhere near it.  What are we going to do?”

Fluttershy smiled kindly. “Don't worry, Twilight.  I can get it.”

“No, don't do it.  It'll scratch you.”

She pulled off one of her work gloves and carefully held out a hand to the cat.  It sniffed the back of her fingers delicately before purring.  She picked it up while speaking in a soft, quiet voice and carefully unwrapped the clear line from the cat's leg.

Something warm was in my pocket.  I grabbed the jewel mold and saw that Kindness was glowing brightly.  I looked over at Fluttershy, who had set the cat down and was holding out the line for it to bat at.  I checked Kindness again and it continued to glow.  Fluttershy was the Bearer of the Element of Kindness.