The Test

by Sun Aura

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Diamond Tiara, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Drama, Starlight Glimmer, Scootaloo
Length: 6118

Twilight Sparkle has created a spell to detect other ponies who can use the Elements of Harmony

Twilight created a spell to see who can wield an Element of Harmony. She invites anyone to come and test if they can. Naturally, many ponies think it's a great honor to be an Element, and even if they don't, well, at least they got to meet a Princess, right?
Of course, not everyone has the same reactions to the results.

Part of the Cornerverse-MLP Universe.
Character tags will be added as needed
Bumped up the rating to Teen for a bit of swearing.

Published 2017-03-21 16:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-08-23 14:24:18 UTC

Prologue

“I’ve done it!” Twilight announced as she walked in. Her friends looked up from the map table in confusion.

“What have you done?” Rarity asked.

“I’ve figured out a spell to detect other Elements of Harmony!” she said.

The seven of them looked between one another, then back to her.

“Er, care to elaborate on that Sugarcube?” Applejack said.

“Gladly!” she chirped. “Over the past few years since we first used the Elements on Nightmare Moon, a side project of mine has been figuring out how the Elements work. Now that we can power up for less, er, drastic situations, I’ve had a chance to study them! To put it simply, there are ponies in this world that have the potential to wield the Elements. Technically, it’s not so much ‘wielding’ it as a tool so much as ‘we are a physical embodiment of the magic of our elements and can turn that magic into a concentrated beam that has more power with more ponies linked together’. The physical Elements, the necklace and big crown thing, were basically training wheels to learn to harness the magic inside us.

“There is a small percentage of beings who can be Elements,” she continued. “If somepony who didn’t have the ability tried to use the necklaces and crown thing, it would be like waving around any necklace.”

“Not to rain on your parade,” Starlight interrupted, “But as a fellow spellmaker, what’s led you to this conclusion?”

“Sunset Shimmer,” she answered.

“Isn’t she your friend who fled to another dimension before you reformed her?” she asked.

“Yes,” she said. “At first, I thought that we were the only ones to be able to use them, and that Princesses Celestia and Luna could use them because they were Immortals. Then Sunset stole my Element of Magic. Even though using it went badly because she didn’t use it with Friendship, she was still able to get a reaction from it. She has also used the Element properly several times since then, and has added an extra power kick when combined with our own counterparts’ abilities.”

“So more Elements is more power?” she said. “How powerful are the Elements, exactly?”

“You of course know about standard Magic Level Measurement?” she asked.

“Of course, I’m a level two point five!” she replied, sitting up a bit straighter.

“Want to explain that to those of us who didn’t go to magic school?” Applejack asked.

“They probably were about to,” Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“Magic Level Measurement is a way to see Magic Power,” Twilight explained. “It’s basically your raw magical ability, without accounting for training or talent. Level one is the lowest somepony can be while still functioning magic-wise. From there it is measured in half-point increments. Level one and one point five are the most common. A level two is pretty much a guarantee to places like Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, or similar schools for other ponies.

“The Elements’ power is relative to those using it,” she continued. “For example, when we defeated Nightmare Moon, Rarity and Fluttershy were both a two point five, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were level three, and Pinkie and I were level three point five.”

“Are you serious?” Starlight exclaimed. “You two couldn’t possibly-“

“Is there something I’m not getting?” Applejack asked.

“A level three point five is the highest recorded Magic Level!” she explained. “At least as far as non-Alicorns go. Starswirl the Bearded was the first recorded three point five!”

“So combining our magic,” Rainbow began, ignoring the outburst. “That would make the Elements’ power a level eighteen, right?”

Everyone stopped to look at her.

“What? I can do math!” she protested. “And if that level’s true, that’s nuts.”

“Actually, it’s not accurate,” Twilight said. “Your math was technically right, but you don’t add, you multiply. Usually when combining spells you just add your own magic, but because the Elements power one another, you multiply your magic. We blasted Nightmare Moon with Level 89.0625 magic.”

“Of course, adjustments happened over time!” she said, gleefully ignoring their shocked faces. “Alicorn ascension adds a full level of magic, so I am currently a level four point five, so the six of us now use level 885.9375magic. Add in Sunset Shimmer, who is a three point five as I was, and we’re at level 3100.78125!”

“Well damn,” Rainbow muttered.

They took a moment to take that in.

“Um, I’m sorry to ask,” Futtershy piped up. “How does your spell actually work?”

“Good question!” Twilight said. “Basically, it temporarily replicates the Elements of Harmony to trick the pony ‘s magic into thinking it’s with the others. For example, if I want to test a pony for Loyalty, the spell would replicate the other five Elements, which I’ve done by gathering your Magical Signatures. If they’re a Potential Loyalty, then their magic will sync up and go into Rainbow Power. By default I’ll cycle through each of the six Elements. If the pony I’m testing isn’t a potential, then nothing will happen.

“Is it safe?” Rarity asked.

“I’ve tested the spell before,” she answered. “I had to make sure the Magical Signatures were the Elements, and not our regular Magical Signatures, as no other ponies would react to our specific signatures. I tested it on Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor and Sunset Shimmer. Sunset reacted to Magic, while Celestia reacted to Generosity, and Luna to Laughter. Neither Cadence nor Shining reacted to any.”

“So, why do we need more Elements anyway?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, more firepower’s always cool, but I think after we hit ‘more than three thousand magic’, we’re kind of awesome enough.”

Twilight didn’t answer. She stared at the floor, ears laying flat. Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike all rushed to her side, giving comfort.

“It’s a failsafe,” she said. “I-I know that one day something might happen to one of us. Maybe an accident, or one of the villains we face could actually manage to-“

She paused and let out a shaky sigh.

“There may be a time when one of us isn’t here,” she said. “I know I can’t replace any of you, but should that happen, we still need to be able to save Equestria. And if we already know who else can help, it’s better.”

The rest of them moved over to join a large group hug. The six of them could feel the Elements within them stir, but they kept a hold on it, not wanting to power up just yet.

“So, what do you need us to do?” Pinkie asked. “Is a ‘Come See If You’re An Element of Harmony’ party in our future?”

“I don’t think a party’s needed yet,” Twilight said. “But if you could spread the word about it. Start with Ponyville, then ponies you know outside, and so on.”

“Are you going to be alright, dear?” Rarity asked. “A spell like that can’t be simple, and just Ponyville’s population would be quite draining. If I see you getting tired, I will make sure you stop and get some rest. And some food. Stars, you’re going to burn through enough calories to get a good headstart on Hearth’s Warming weight gain.”

“So that’s why you’ve had me cooking everything in the kitchen,” Spike chuckled. “Seriously Twi, don’t push yourself.”

“I won’t,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Now, would you all rather spread the word on your own, or would you rather hear me list out who should be in which quadrant of Ponyville for how long?”

The room cleared out pretty quickly after that, leaving two mares giggling to one another.

“Hey, I was thinking,” Starlight began, “any chance I could get first go at the test? Since I’m here and all. I’d love to see which Element I am.”

“Absolutely!” Twilight answered, lighting her horn.

What Was The Point?

“What do you mean I can’t use any Elements?!” Starlight roared.

The wind whirled wildly with her anger. Their manes whipped through the air. Twilight dodged a comic book as it flew past her head.

“I’m sorry!” Twilight shouted. “There wasn’t any guarantee-“

“What was the point?” Starlight shouted. “I can’t wield an Element, I can’t become an Alicorn like you did! What’s the point?”

“Is that all you wanted?” she asked. “Power and glory?”

The wind died down almost immediately. Twilight used her magic to catch the falling objects. She began to approach her student, but hesitated. Would she start the wind up again? She let the worry melt away when she saw tears fall.

“I don’t regret it,” Starlight said. “I-I’m in a better place now. I have friends. Ones I don’t have to use magic on to force them to stay by me.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Twilight asked. She tried to put a wing over Starlight’s shoulders, but she pulled away.

“That,” she said, pointing to the wings.

“My wings?” she asked.

“Being an Alicorn,” she said. “Being a hero to Equestria. You offered to teach me, just like Celestia taught you. I thought- I thought I’d get to be like you. That if I just-just believed in Friendship enough, I could become some kind of hero princess. But I can’t even wield an Element. “

“A lot of that’s my fault,” she sighed. “There’s a small chance for being an Element, and an even smaller chance to become an Alicorn. It’s not your fault for thinking that it’d happen.”

“I don’t know,” she shook her head. “I was just assuming too much. I thought I’d get to be the hero.”

“Starlight, you are a hero,” she said. “You’ve saved the world, you’ve saved us.”

“Does it make up for how many times I destroyed the world?” she asked.

Twilight stayed quiet. She started pacing. Every few seconds, she’d begin to speak before changing her mind.

“Those timelines would have happened without you,” she finally decided on.

“I tampered with the timeline,” Starlight said. “I destroyed the world so many times.”

“If every timeline possibility exists, then they existed anyway,” she insisted. “I told you about the day I became an Alicorn, right?”

“You switched your friend’s Cutie Marks around,” she said.

“I looked into it after realizing that nopony thought anything was wrong,” she said. “We had merged into a different timeline. After I fixed everything, what we remembered from those timelines weren’t as ‘real’ to us, just another story. But it was another timeline where the Sonic Rainboom didn’t happen.

“In this one, Dash fell into Everfree,” she continued. “She broke her wing and had to walk out, saving a small bunny from Timberwolves in the process. The lack of a Rainboom threw off Everfree’s weather patterns, which Rarity fixed to save her play. Applejack stayed in Manehattan with her family, and decided to bring country fashion to the city. Dash’s adventures in Everfree woke a berserk dragon, which flew over Pinkie’s rock farm. Rock Farms include Gem mines, and a berserk dragon smelling gems, well, Pinkie didn’t stay to find out. She ran and ran until making it to Sweet Apple Acres, a family that would take her in. I was just a librarian, here to get a book order from Ponyville’s library. And Fluttershy-“

“Stop,” Starlight shuddered. “I get it. But you didn’t cause that timeline.”

“But it happened anyway,” she said. “Timelines like what you made would have happened differently, but they would have happened.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that I did it,” she said.

“No, it doesn’t,” she agreed. “But there is also the fact that there are timelines where you refused my offer of Friendship. Ones where you did worse things.”

“And that makes up for it?” she scoffed.

“For me, it does,” she said. “Because the you that exists here in this timeline, she decided to be a better pony, to believe me when I said it would be okay.”

They sat in silence again. Twilight tried to put her wing around Starlight again, and this time she didn’t protest.

“Thank you,” she said.

After All I've Done

Diamond Tiara sat alone on the swingsets in the park. She shivered in the cold, letting out a breath and watching it hang in the air. It was getting late, already past dark. She should be going home, or at least somewhere for the night. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to.

She thought about going to Rarity’s. She had told her to come over any time she needed to talk. But she wasn’t sure if somepony like Rarity is what she needed.

“Hey! There you are!” a voice called.

Diamond looked up, jumping for a moment before she remembered. Spike had grown a lot a few months ago, now being the same size as her and gaining a pair of wings. All of her friends were starting to reach their adult heights, so it shouldn’t surprise her. Then again, most of her friends weren’t dragons that jumped up overnight and now had to walk on all fours just to stop from towering over everyone.

“We were looking for you,” Spike said.

“’We’?” she asked.

“Sweetie, Pip, and I,” he said. “Probably Applebloom, Scoots, and Silver too by now, since that’s where they went to check. You’re not the first pony to run out after results.”

“I didn’t even wait for the spell to stop,” she said. “I just exploded out.”

“No, Discord exploded out,” he laughed. “He and Twilight wanted to see what would happen if they used the spell on the embodiment of Chaos. I’m pretty sure he’s either confetti on the floor or trapped in an alternate dimension. Maybe both.”

“At least there was a bigger distraction than me,” she said.

“That was supposed to cheer you up a bit,” he said. “What’s going on?”

She sighed. She didn’t want to talk. Staring at the ground instead, she tried to subtly change the subject away from her.

“Did you take the test?” she asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” he answered. “Twilight wanted to see if the spell worked on non-ponies, and if we could be Elements too.”

“What’d you get?” she was afraid to hear the answer.

“Oddly enough, Magic,” he said. “Imagine if I went into the forest to stop Nightmare Moon instead of Twilight! Think I’d make a good Princess of Friendship?”

“Do you think you’d look good with a unicorn horn?” she asked. “And really, you being Magic isn’t that surprising.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Twilight’s your sister,” she said.

“I’m sorry I have to break the news to you,” he chuckled, “but I’m adopted. Well, mostly adopted.”

“How can you be mostly adopted?” she asked.

“It’s a long story,” he said.

“I don’t have much else to do,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure you don’t either.

“Alright,” he shrugged. “There are some ponies who, well, they’re not good ponies. They steal Dragon’s eggs and hatchlings, which is quite obviously illegal. Eggs are usually, like, museum pieces or something. Something cool to look at. Hatchlings are similar, but they can also be ‘servants’.”

“Slaves,” she corrected. She felt about to throw up, but she tried to put out a hoof to comfort him.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “And worse, depending on the pony. Celestia’s disgusted that it happens. She assigned a team of ponies and dragons to go around and rescue those who’ve been taken before returning them to the families they were taken from. My egg was one of the ones that had been taken. And it was recovered by Celestia’s team, along with a few other eggs and even a hatchling.

“The team stopped in Canterlot,” he continued. “Through some weird shenanigans, my egg got switched with a Fire Salamander egg that was supposed to be used for the entrance exam to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Before somepony realized the mixup, Twilight used her magic to hatch me.”

“So how is that ‘mostly adopted’?” she asked.

“Because of the hatching,” he explained. “Dragon eggs hatch when something uses magic to do so. Since it’s usually a family member, the hatchling will recognize that magic and similar ones as ‘family’. Since Twilight’s magic hatched me, I recognize her as family. Her and Shining are my siblings, their parents are my parents.”

“Have you ever thought about finding your biological parents?” she wondered.

“I wouldn’t leave to be with them if I did,” he said. “But I do want to find them. Celestia’s team is still looking as well. They had their unhatched kid taken from them. And considering that a dragon egg can lay dormant for centuries before being hatched by a spell, I don’t even know how long they’ve been suffering. Even if I never think of them as family, I want to give them some kind of closure, you know?”

“I can’t imagine,” she sighed. “Ugh, you came out to help me, and here I am trying to comfort you.”

“Hey, I was the one who let you change the subject,” he said. “But if you want to talk now, I won’t complain.”

Diamond felt tricked somehow. She knew he wasn’t trying to trick her, especially because she technically tricked him. He was trying to help. She sighed.

“Mom made me take the test,” she said.

“Oh,” he muttered.

“She doesn’t even think the Elements are special,” she said. “She thinks they’re just magic weapons given to Twilight because ‘Celestia is a sentimental fool who doesn’t know who should really be in charge, so she gave a nerd under her hoof the power to be a mockery of a monarch’.”

“She’d rather have herself or somepony she can control using the Elements,” she continued. “So she made me go through the test. This time last year, I would have pranced in beside her, boasting about how I’m probably great enough to be Element of Magic, and that I should just be given the Princess title on the spot.”

“You weren’t that bad,” he rolled his eyes. “Okay, yeah, you were a bit of a brat, but I think you had enough awareness to realize that wasn’t the best option.”

“Not really,” she sighed. “But mom’s not what’s upsetting this time.”

“Then what is?” he asked.

She dragged her hooves through the snow, tracing small patterns. Mom would probably yell at her for getting dirty, but she didn’t care.
“My result,” she answered, giving a hollow chuckle. “My Element. I-I’m Laughter.”

“What’s wrong with that?” he asked.

“I’m Laughter,” she repeated, feeling tears start up. “I’m supposed to embody laugher and joy and all that. Okay, I don’t have to be ‘Pinkie Pie’ levels, but still. I spent about thirteen years making everypony miserable.

“Hey, that’s not your fault,” he said. “Your mom messed you up.”

“That doesn’t mean that what I did is okay!” she shouted. “It doesn’t excuse anything I did! And it doesn’t even matter what I’ve done since then! Any ‘laughter’ I caused was because of me making up for what I did before! After all I’ve done, I don’t deserve any Elements, much less one about making others happy! ”

She broke down. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed, she couldn’t breathe. She barely felt it when Spike pulled her into a comforting hug, barely felt his claw gently running through her mane.

Diamond wasn’t sure how long it took to calm down. It took even longer for her to register her surroundings. Her face was pressed into Spike’s chest. It felt warm, too warm, and surprisingly soft for scales.

She felt the rumble in his chest. It took her ears a moment to realize he was talking, and another to fully hear what he was saying. It was just comfort words. Things like ‘It’s okay’, and ‘you’re not horrible’. They were fairly generic words, just the general things you would say to comfort someone. Despite that, they did help.

“I-I’m sorry,” Diamond said, her throat burning. “I’m sorry I’m not a good pony, that you all think I am.”

“Diamond, listen,” Spike said. “You’re wonderful. Yes, you weren’t the best before, but that’s not your fault! Your mom trained you to be like that. But even so, you always wanted the ponies that you cared for to smile. You tried to please your mom, not that it worked. You’re still worried about your dad being upset. And Silver told me how for your Cuteceañera, you bought her a dress just as pretty as your own.

“Secondly,” he went on, “The fact that you’re worried about this means you care about us. And lastly, you’re a lot better. You could have gotten away with just being generally nice, but you go out of your way to help ponies. You think you’re doing it out of guilt, but it’s still your choice. You could’ve ignored the guilt, but you chose to make others smile. You’re better than you think you are.”

“Thanks,” she sighed, taking a chance to glance up at him. “Has anypony ever told you you’re good at helping ponies stop panicking?”

“Try living with Twilight and Mom and not pick up that skill,” he laughed. “Are you feeling better?”

“A bit,” she admitted, wiping tears out of her eyes. “It still hurts. Everything I did. Even if I’m better now, I still should’ve somehow accidently given up any chance of an Element.”

He thought for a moment. She watched his breath hang in the cold air, a much more visible cloud considering his body temperature. He looked down at her with a smile as he thought of something.

“Did I ever tell you about what Twilight was like before Ponyville?” he asked.

“We’ve all heard about her being Princess Celestia’s student,” Diamond said, shaking her head. “And about her magical ability.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of hard to ignore,” he said. “But she had almost no friends back then.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Only family members,” he answered. “And Celestia and Cadence, but ‘teacher’ and ‘foalsitter’ are weird friendships, and she’s much better friends with them now. But other than that, there weren’t any ponies she called friends, she really found ‘friends’ a waste of time that could be spent studying magic. A few Unicorns at school considered her a friend and tried to invite her to things, but she pushed them away. In fact, when we first came to Ponyville, Twilight’s assignment from Celestia was ‘make some friends’.”

“What an assignment!” she laughed. “It sounds almost passive-aggressive!”

“It was a bit,” he laughed with her. “And she went from that, to wielding the Element of Magic within a day, and now she’s Princess of Friendship! And then there’s Sunset Shimmer.”

“Who?” she wondered.

“A friend of Twilight’s,” he replied. “She was the Princess’s student before her, until she thought Celestia wasn’t giving her what she deserved. She demanded Celestia make her a Princess, and when it didn’t happen she ran away. She then terrorized a school, bullying the others into treating her like their ruler.”

“Wow, how familiar,” she snarked.

“Yeah well,” he gave an awkward chuckle. “You didn’t steal the Element of Magic and turn into a literal demon before getting blasted with the Elements.”

“Glad for that,” she shuddered.

“My point is,” he said, “Sunset made up for what she did, and since then she’s been using the Element of Magic as well as Twilight has. So, obviously, you can’t give up your chance at using an Element, because they know that anyone can be a better pony if they want to. One day, you’ll get a chance to use the Element of Laughter, and you’ll be amazing at it.”

“Hopefully I don’t have to fight supervillains,” she said.

“Fair enough,” he agreed.

“Though it’s good to know I could,” she said, letting out a yawn.

“Getting tired?” he asked.

“A bit, yeah,” she said.

“Panicking like that can really take it out of you,” he said. “How about we go back to the castle and get something to eat?”

“What about everyone else?” she asked. “Aren’t they still looking for me?”

“I’ll find them once you’re inside,” he said. “I know you want to round them up, but it’s probably better if you don’t flop over into the snow.”

“Fair enough,” she laughed.

Then she got quiet again. Diamond frowned as she stared into the snow.

“What if mom’s still waiting for me to get back?” she asked. “I don’t want to face her right now. Or at all, really. But at least not tonight.”

“If she is,” he said, “then I can fly you in through a window.”

“Can you do that?” she asked.

“Now that I have these, I can,” he said, stretching a wing around her. “Okay, I’m not the best at flying yet, but I can manage up and forward well enough. Or do you think I can’t carry you?”

“Well…” she said, glancing away.

Before she could give a better answer, she felt herself being lifted up and realized he was carrying her in his arms. She wasn’t sure what expression she made, but it was funny enough for him to laugh.

“See, you’re making me laugh,” he said, using a wing tip to boop her nose. “You’ll make a great Laughter!

Diamond gave a snort of laughter before, stupidly, trying to push him away. She started to fall, but he held on, letting them both fall back instead. They landed with a thud, Spike swearing at the freezing snow now touching his back.

“Guess you’d make a good Laughter yourself!” she teased, rolling off him.

“Jokes aside,” he said, getting up, “we really should get you out of this cold. And I’m sure that if you really don’t want to go home yet, Twilight wouldn’t say no to you staying the night.”

“You sure?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “Plus, can you really say no knowing that I’ll get to cook something for you?”

“I’d love to,” she smiled, offering a hoof to help him up.

They started walking toward the castle. Diamond shivered for a moment, wishing she’d brought a scarf or something. She felt Spike’s wing around her, pulling her closer to him.

“You looked cold,” Spike explained when she raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well, you are pretty warm,” she sighed.

“Dragons,” he shrugged. “Our natural fire magic lets us regulate our body temperature, unlike other reptiles. We’re comfortable in any kind of heat, but use it to heat ourselves when in cold situations. However, a Dragon will still get cold in more extreme temperatures.”

“You sounded like you were reading that from a book,” she said.

“I kinda was?” he said.

“So what you’re saying, is that you’re just as much of a nerd as Twilight,” she laughed.

“No, I’m just good at remembering things!” he defended.

“Well, if there was an Element of Remembrance,” she said.

“That sounds oddly morbid,” he replied.

“Yeah, forget that idea,” she agreed. “Still, thanks for helping me.”

“You’re welcome,” he smiled. “What was I supposed to do, not go help someone I care about?”

“Yeah, well, I care about you too,” she smiled back.

“Are you okay, Diamond?” he asked. “You’re looking a bit red. We should really get you inside.”

“Oh, uh, just the wind,” she chuckled nervously. “You know, you can’t keep all of me warm and still walk and all that. We should go.”

She leaned in closer as the duo hurried toward the castle in the distance.

Author's Note

I was going to be subtle, but then I realized I literally cannot be subtle. At all.

Out Of All Of Them, It's The Easiest

Author's Note

Just a minor note to not confuse anyone, but in this Continuity, Fluttershy is a trans guy, so I use He/Him pronouns.

Out Of All Of Them, It's The Easiest

Rainbow Dash was worried. Well, ‘worried’ wasn’t the right word. She was too confident to be ‘worried’. ‘Confused’ was better.

She was confused because she’d expected Scootaloo to excitably come and tell her about her result from Twilight’s test. She’d get it if Scoots’ results had shown she wasn’t an Element of Harmony at all. She’d even prepared a speech along the lines of ‘you’re still awesome even if you can’t wield an Element!’, because she knew that even after all this time she was still worried about being ‘not enough’.

When Scootaloo didn’t show up to tell her, that’s what she thought had happened, so Rainbow went looking for her. But on the way she ran into her friends. They said that Scootaloo was an Element, though they don’t know which one.

If that were true, why’d she not show up? She pushed the thought away. She’d know why as soon as she found her. Though it was proving difficult.

It used to be that Rainbow could just soar a few feet over the rooftops to search. But Scootaloo’s flying lessons had paid off. Sure, she probably wouldn’t be a Wonderbolt, and both her speed and endurance weren’t ever going to get any better, but she could fly well enough to make it to the clouds. Unfortunately, that meant she could be hanging out on clouds above the town.

There was a flash of orange on a cloud, and she circled around it once before settling down.

“Hey kid, how’re you doing?” Rainbow asked.

“Great,” Scootaloo replied.

She was smiling. Rainbow wasn’t the best as telling when someone was lying about how they felt. Stars know it’s gotten her in trouble before. Still, she knew it would be better to address it sooner.

“So, I ran into Sweetie Bell earlier,” Rainbow said. “She said you guys went and took Twilight’s Test.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess we did,” Scootaloo admitted, deflating somewhat.

“So how’d you do?” she asked. “I mean, It’s cool to be an Element and all, but it doesn’t make anyone worse for not being one, you know?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “But I, I did get an Element.”

“Nice!” she said, trying to sound surprised. “So why aren’t you jumping for joy and all that?”

Scootaloo mumbled something. She didn’t meet her gaze. Rainbow wanted to ask again, but if she’d learned anything from Applejack, waiting in silence was the best way to get somepony to talk.

“I- got Kindness,” Scootaloo muttered.

“Nice,” Rainbow grinned. “So, why aren’t you happy about it?”

“It-it’s Kindness,” she grimaced as she said it. “Out of all of them, it’s the easiest.”

“What do you mean?” she wondered.

“It’s easy,” she said, tears welling up. “You’ve always talked about the difficulties of Loyalty, what to do when the Ponies you’re loyal to are against each other. Honesty’s problem is that lying for a good reason is tempting. Generosity, well, you only have so much to give. And Laughter? It’s all about making ponies smile, but not every pony smiles at the same things. And Magic is a combination of the rest of the Elements, so it also has their problems. But how hard is it to be nice?”

Rainbow didn’t have a quick answer. She paced the cloud, trying to think. A few times she thought she had an answer and opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again.

“Kindness has its problems too,” Rainbow said.

“How?” Scootaloo demanded. “It’s just a basic thing of society! Be nice! Treat others how you want to be treated and all that!”

“But so are the other Elements,” she countered. “Be nice, always tell the truth, don’t cheat on your wife, etcetera. You can choose whether or not to follow it. And Kindness has its problems too. The problem Fluttershy runs into is being too kind.”

“That’s not really a problem,” she said.

“You haven’t seen how bad it can get,” she said. “Ponies like him, overly kind, they get taken advantage of. Like, okay I know this is mean, but up until the last few years he was a complete doormat. Stars, I’m terrified to imagine what could’ve happened to him if I wasn’t around to keep him from being pressured into things.

“Point is,” she went on. “Kindness has its own problems. It’s not easy.”

“Yeah, well ‘don’t be a doormat’ isn’t a problem for me,” she retorted.

“No,” she agreed. “But your problem isn’t that. It’s the question of ‘who do you show Kindness to?’.”

She let the statement sink in a bit. Scootaloo’s wings dropped, hanging at her sides. Rainbow hesitated a moment before reaching her own wing around her.

“You’ve told me a lot about your life,” Rainbow said. “You have a lot of reasons to keep from being nice to anyone, but you still do. Even if they haven’t exactly deserved it. I mean, look at your friend Diamond.”

“Hey, Diamond’s nice now!” Scootaloo defended. “And it was her mom’s fault she wasn’t before.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t know that,” she said. “She was just the brat that bullied you and your friends over every little thing for no reason. You know what I did when somepony tried to do that to me or Flutters?”

“What?” she wondered.

“Bucked him right in the freaking face!” she answered proudly. “Mess with me and mine, you get hurt! And I’ve kept it up a bit. I tried to fight Nightmare Moon when she attacked, went to punch Discord in the face multiple times, and only twice after his reformation, and if I’d have gotten the chance to get a hit on Chrysalis or Sombra, I would’ve taken it! Though I still have a chance to hit Chrysalis, so who knows.”

“Get to the point,” she laughed.

"That was the point,” she said. “Despite all Diamond did to you, you were still civil about it. And when you saw she wanted to be a better pony, you welcomed her as if she’d been a friend the whole time.”

“You did that too,” she said.

“Not really,” she rolled her eyes. “I was skeptical of Luna and avoided her on Nightmare Night, I didn’t trust Discord until fairly recently, I was grumpy to Gilda after our friendship busted, passive-aggressive to Starlight, and the less I say about Sunset the better.”

“But you still gave them a chance,” she insisted.

“Again, no,” she corrected. “My friends gave them a chance. Twilight, Flutters, and Pinkie were the ones to reach out without fear, because they’re them. Then AJ and Rares, well, ‘Generosity’ includes giving second chances, and AJ’s ‘Honsety’ stuff works as some sort of lie detector, so they were quick to forgive.

“But another fault of Loyalty is that it takes a lot to fix it,” she continued. “Yeah, I eventually made friends with them, but it strained some friendships along the way. Like, one of the few times Flutters has actually been mad at me was when I was still passive aggressive at Discord.”

“Hard to imagine Fluttershy being mad at someone,” she said.

“It takes a lot,” she nodded. “But back to you and Kindness, well, as Twi would say, ‘let’s test a hypothetical’. What would you do if, for whatever reason, you ended up in a situation where the pony you had to work with to fix a major problem was your dad.”

Scootaloo’s face darkened at the thought. Truly, Rainbow’s did as well, remembering that encounter. But it was the best example she could think of.

“I-I’d help,” Scootaloo said carefully. “I wouldn’t get along with him, and I’d be passive aggressive at best, but I’d help.”

“See, there’s the Kindness,” Rainbow said. “I’d just tell him to fuck off.”

Scootaloo laughed in surprise.

“See what I mean?” Rainbow chuckled, bumping her with her wing. “Kindness has its problems to balance, just like all of us. Though why you want a difficult Element, I don’t know.”

“I didn’t,” Scootaloo said. “It just didn’t feel like it deserved to be an Element, because it was so easy already.”

“Maybe it’s easy because it’s your Element,” she replied.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “It makes sense, seeing my friend’s Elements. Sweetie’s always been brutally honest, and Bloom’s a lot like you. You should’ve heard the stuff they said when I told them about my dad.”

“I have a feeling Rares and Aj would agree but have to punish for profanity?” she said.

“Yep,” she said.

“So,” Rainbow got up and stretched her wings. “Want to go get something to eat? I’m betting you haven’t told your brother about your test results yet.”

“No,” she said. “And I probably won’t tonight. Flash is ‘otherwise occupied’.”

“Hot date?” she laughed.

“Well, he’s technically with Twilight,” she shrugged. “It’s his turn to make sure she doesn’t overexaust herself.”

“Glad it’s not my turn,” she said. “If you think Aj and I are stubborn…”