Chapters Twilight Sparkle was inside her castle reading a few books on one summer day. She had decided to read some books as there wasn't anything to do at the castle, as she laid around she wondered if she should go and see what was going on in the town of Ponyville as she didn't want to be held up on her property so she decided to leave her place and go find her friends as they were probably doing their regular day to day activities.
As she looked around to find her friends she saw something going on outside of Ponyville so she walked to the end of town and saw her friends building a structure. Twilight wondered what was up and went to go talk to them. When she went up to them they saw her and called her over to join them so Twilight walked even closer to them until she was in their area.
"Howdy Twilight! That was nice of you to come meet us we were knocking on your door early this morning but....you didn't answer so we figured that you were sleeping so we stopped as we didn't want to bother you. How's Spike doing?" Applejack asked Twilight.
"He's doing great. He asked if he could leave and I said yes so he went to talk to Ember. I wish he wouldn't stop asking though as he's getting a bit older. What are you all doing exactly anyway?" Twilight asked as she watched them work together.
"Building a sweat lodge! Wanna join us? We could use an extra hand from yours truly!" Rainbow Dash teased as she had started Twilight from the side and went over to her friends. Twilight examined the area.
"Why?" Twilight asked. Pinkie Pie startled Twilight by appearing at Twilight's side. Twilight became startled by Pinkie Pie as she wasn't expecting her enthusiastic friend to be so close to her.
"To cleanse our bodies of any unclean energies! Marshmallow?" Pinkie Pie asked as she had back of marshmallows she was eating from. Twilight tried to calm herself after being startled by Pinkie Pie as Pinkie Pie did that a lot.
"Uh....no thanks Pinkie Pie I'm not hungry....how long are you girls going to be out here?" Twilight asked as she stared at Pinkie Pie's sticky face due to the marshmallow's.
"Probably all day but if I have to keep my hair from getting dirty I'll have to go to a neighbors place!" Rarity explained. Applejack sighed as she knew that Rarity was going to bring that subject up for the second time again.
"Darn sakes Rarity! Your not going to get your hair dirty and if you do get it dirty it won't be the end of Equestria!" Applejack explained. Twilight chuckled as she was glad at her friends were having fun and being themselves. Starlight walked up to her and that surprised Twilight as she thought at Starlight was back castle of friendship.
"Won't you at least stay for a little bit? I know you probably have your work to do and meetings to attend but....were your friends and it doesn't feel complete without you here." Starlight asked. Twilight rubbed the back of her head in thought as she wasn't planning on staying out all day. She was more of an indoors person but at the same time she never passed up an opportunity to hang out with her friends or just meet new people.
Twilight sighed as she thought about hanging out outside with her friends. She worried that it might rain and get her wet. She would have to bring over a jacket to wear. She wanted to join them but she was afraid it might rain plus she didn't have anywhere scheduled.
"Well the problem is that I wasn't planning on doing anything today. I was going I stay home but that got boring so I came out to see you girls.....so....I should head back." Twilight said even if she really wanted to join her friends.
"Oh come on Twilight get out once and a while fresh air will do you some good. You need a break from those books and princess duties and a break from that castle. I like the castle and everything but that place does get a bit creepy if your by yourself in there which was why I needed to leave it for a while. You should get out to from time to time. Won't you join us for a day? It's not like your doing anything else. Besides Equestria isn't going to fall into disarray if you leave the castle for just one day." Starlight asked. Twilight knew that Starlight had a very good point.
"I want to join you but if I do I'll impose on you and just get in everybody's way. Besides aren't sweat lodges....like....dangerous?" Twilight said. Fluttershy shook her head as she didn't want Twilight to be that fearful of what they were doing.
"Only if it's done by people who don't know what they are doing. Twilight I've been doing sweat lodges ever since I became a teen. We know what we're doing besides I'm looking out for them. If something happens I'll be here to fix it." Fluttershy said softly.
"Exactly Fluttershy is like the educated adult while we're the amateurs on the playground. Especially Rainbow Dash. Weve done them before but rarely." Pinkie Pie joked.
"Hey I heard that." Rainbow Dash said in the background. Pinkie Pie became embarressed because of her loud mouth but shrugged it off after a little bit as she was just joking.
"That's actually a pretty good explanation darling but I don't think this has to be spelled out like that." Rarity said to Pinkie Pie.
Twilight looked around at her friends and smiled as she decided that it wouldn't hurt to spend a couple of hours with her friends. Twilight was glad that she came out here as her day became a whole lot happier. She went over to her friends ao she could help them out and hang out with them. She even thought about doing the sweat lodge with them.
As Twilight and her friends continued to hang out outside they worked on the sweat lodge for the ceremony. Twilight and her friends continued to add long sticks and to the lodge and made sure that it was stable enough not to fall apart.
As they were outside they continued to stay hydrated by drinking water and juice from a few coolers that they had outside. Twilight realized how much fun she was having with her friends. She decided that maybe they could take pictures throughout the day.
"Can we take pictures of us hanging out outside like this? I want to add this to some of our photo albums so I can remember this experience." Twilight asked.
"Rainbow Dash has been taking pictures of us throughout the day but she can take more if you want. That would be great if you added to some photo albums. We will give some to you and we will have some ourselves." Rarity said.
"I would like that." Twilight said. Rainbow Dash nodded and turned on her camera and took a few more pictures of her friends which Twilight and her friends thanked her for.
"You don't mind if we share those with eachother right?" Twilight asked Rainbow Dash.
"No I don't mind. Go ahead." Rainbow Dash responded. Twilight was happy that she had asked as they now had a few more pictures of the day. As they continued to work on the sweat lodge and talk while taking breaks Rainbow Dash took pictures from time to time.
The sweat lodge started to look a lot more like a sweat lodge than how the sweat lodge looked earlier. She was pretty happy that her friends knew so much about this stuff as she was just as educated as them about sweat lodges.
Twilight and her friends made sure not to make any mistakes on the lodge as they didn't want the lodge to fall while they were inside the lodge as that would interrupt their experience. Twilight was having a lot of fun helping with the lodge. She knew that it was a good idea to join her friends. This was a lot better than her studies.
"Are we ever going to do this again sometime after this? Im already having fun. I can't believe I almost refused to join you girls! I don't know what was going on with me that would make me refuse. I guess I feared that I would embarress myself." Twilight asked her friends as they worked.
"Of course we will. We don't know when but we can figure that out after today. I hope we do the sweat lodge again to. I'm glad your enjoying this. Your going to enjoy the bonfire as well. I think we will all enjoy that. You didn't have to worry about embarrassing yourself Twilight as if you did that they would have understood as your nervousness would cause that." Rarity said.
"Great! Thanks Rarity." Twilight said.
"Pinkie Pie we need more string for the lodge and then once we all finish tying together every part of the lodge we will take a break and then cover the lodge with the blankets. Once we cover the sweat lodge then the sweat lodge will be finished and then we can start using the sweat lodge. " Starlight Glimmer said.
"I am already on it Starlight." Pinkie Pie said. Pinkie Pie went over to a table and grabbed some more string and went back over to the lodge and gave it to Applejack. Applejack used the string on the lodge in order to tie the lodge together.
They all stepped back and examined their work. They were doing a great job so far and the best part was that they were having a lot of fun. They continued to use the rest of the string to tie the lodge together.
They finished tying the lodge together and then worked together to cover the lodge with the thick blankets that were laying aside the sweat lodge. Once the lodge was covered they made sure the blankets would stay on the lodge.
"Applejack if we get to hot can we remove our clothes? " Twilight asked.
"We won't need clothes in their. We are going to be wearing very light dresses but if you really have to you can remove the light dress or you can also get out of the sweat lodge." Applejack said.
"Okay I was just making sure. Thanks." Twilight said.
"Also if some of us are using it but our other friends aren't then do those friends have to use it if they aren't?" Twilight asked. Rarity shook her head quickly.
"Of coarse not. Nobody has to do the sweat lodge at the same time as other friends. Some of our friends can take a break while other friends use the sweat lodge. That's okay if they do that, if you feel like taking a break from doing the sweat lodge while we want to do the sweat lodge then you have every right to take a break from doing the sweat lodge. You don't even have to do it if you don't want to. Rarity said.
"Alright. Thanks Rarity. I do want to do the sweat lodge I was just wondering about breaks." Twilight said.
"Yes you are allowed to get out and take a break." Rarity said.
"Okay!" Twilight said.
Soon they finished the sweat lodge. They stood back and they examined their finished work and they all felt proud of eachother for their excellent work on the lodge as it was finally complete.
"Great job girls. It's now complete. Let us all bless this lodge before we use it later." Rarity said. The girls nodded and said a prayer over it. They lit some sage and washed eachother with the smoke to prepare to cleanse their bodies in the lodge. It took a few minutes as they passed it around while they cleansed eachother by waving it over their bodies.
Once they finished they decided to take a break and talk to eachother as they weren't going start doing the lodge until later on in the day which they didn't mind as that's what they wanted to do. The day was just starting.
Twilight and her friends prepared to light the fire to start the ceremony. They had gotten numerous sticks and dry bark for the fire that they were going to use to cook Marshmallow's and represent the ceremony.
Twilight and her friends worked together as they carried over handfuls of sticks and brought them near the area across from the sweat lodge. They had to make sure that the fire was close enough to reach it quickly but far enough not to set the sweat lodge on fire.
Soon they brought over enough sticks and lined out the area for the fire. They made the area as moderate sized as they could get. Once they finished doing that they placed the sticks and logs that they found and placed in on the area where the fire was going to be.
"Does anybody here have a lighter?" Rainbow Dash asked her friends. Applejack opened her purse and checked through it and then went to go look in her supplies that she had brought and found it. She brought it over to Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash then lit the fire and gave the lighter back to Applejack who put it away. Rainbow Dash looked at her friends and spoke.
"So...who wants to be the fire keeper?" She asked them. They all looked around at eachother and Twilight spoke.
"I don't think it matters. We can take turns watching it. If the sweat lodge gets to much for one of us and one of us needs a break then we can leave and check on the fire." Fluttershy said. All of her friends nodded in agreement as they all thought that Fluttershy's idea was good.
"Alright good. Let's get a few sticks so we can use them as fire pokers so that if a stick falls out from the fire we can use the sticks to push the stuff back in. We should also get a few extra sticks to put on the fire in case it starts to fade out and needs more sticks to keep the fire going." Rainbow Dash said.
"I'll go get some!" Applejack said as she ran off for a few minutes. Applejack's friends talked about the fire and the purification that they were going to do and the sweat lodge in general. They also told jokes and just talked about anything else that came to mind.
Applejack came back with a few more sticks and put one aside for checking the fire in case they needed to push a few sticks around that they threw in the fire. Applejack set the sticks aside the fire but away from the fire so that they didn't get burned. They were going to add those sticks to the fire whenever they needed to.
"Alright. Starlight! Rainbow Dash! Can you two go and get the water cooler that we brought its on that table over there?" We are going to need that water to drink and we will definitely need it to pour it on ourselves whenever we leave the lodge." Rarity said.
They both nodded and went to the cooler. Once they got it they brought it over to where they were at and set it down by the lodge. Starlight groaned in exhaustion due to how heavy it was.
Once they set it down they made sure their was enough ice to keep the water bottles cold enough for the entire day. After that Rainbow Dash spoke to her friends about the bathrooms as she confessed that she didn't bring them.
"If any of us needs to use the bathroom then we will just have to use the woods. Sorry but we didn't bring any portable bathrooms. Which was stupid of us including me because I was supposed to remind us all." Rainbow Dash said with an embarrassed look on her face.
"Eh that's alright as long as we safely use the woods by not getting lost or come into contact with poisonous plants or come into contact with wild animals then it will be fine." Fluttershy said with a shrug.
"Waity!? Are you kidding me! We bring everything here but bathrooms!? As a lady I refuse to go out into the icky woods. I could get my clothes dirty and I certainly will not let that happen. Rarity said. Starlight rolled her eyes.
"Rarity You don't need to go to far in but just enough to conceal yourself. Besides you won't be wearing your clothes you'll be wearing a light dress for the sweat lodge ceremony so you aren't going to get your clothes dirty." Fluttershy said with a sigh. Rarity sighed with relief.
"Thank Celestia I was worried I would get them dirty but after I asked you about it and you said that we would be wearing nothing but dress that relieved me. I must of forgotton about that. I'm glad I won't get my clothes dirty. I understand what your saying. Im sorry for bothering you about that." Rarity said as she apologized for complaining about getting her clothes dirty. Some of Twilights friends brought over logs that they could sit on as so that they had places to rest. They also put the logs around the fire so that they could sit around it.
"That's alright Rarity you don't need to apologize as you were just asking a question which I understood the reason for. You had a right to be concerned as it would be unfair to you to get your clothes dirty. Alright. Everything looks like it's in its right place. We will take a break now and then later on I'll have an important talk about doing the sweat lodge with you girls and then I'll talk about purification and then we can finally get started with the ceremony." Fluttershy said. Her friends nodded and then they talked to eachother as they took a break while they looked forward to the talk Fluttershy would have and the ceremony that they were about to do.
Twilight and her friends were readying to do the sweat lodge. They took off their shoes and socks off and got their long dresses on Twilight was a bit nervous. She hoped that she wouldn't do anything stupid or complain to much about the heat. As they prepared to file in Twilight spoke to Fluttershy
"Fluttershy? Before we go in i just need to know that we can get out when we wish to right? How do we do that?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy smiled and touched Twilight's hand gently.
"Yes we can get out at anytime that we want. If you want to get out just say it out loud and you can get out." Fluttershy said. Twilight nodded as she was glad that she had asked about that.
"Yeah we will understand if someone wants to get out Twilight. To be honest I'm the sometimes the first one out as I can only take so much." Rarity said with a shrug. Twilight smiled and nodded at her.
"Okay I was just making sure." Twilight said. Fluttershy then went out to the front of the lodge and stood in front of them and spoke.
"As we all prepare to go inside this sacred place we must remind ourselves to be respectful of eachother. While we are in there we shall all pray for the cleansing of our bodies and the cleansing of our souls. Please do not make jokes or be disrespectful of the ceremony. Please remain silent but if you have to talk then please whisper as your voice will be a distraction. If you have to leave the sweat lodge then by all means go ahead. Most importantly please pay attention to your body. If it says it's had enough then get out as we don't want any overheating to occur. Drink lots of water after the sweat lodge to and if you have to drink some while inside get out and drink some. Please be aware of the risks that you will take by using the sweat lodge. Let's all go inside now." Fluttershy said.
Her friends nodded in agreement as they had been through that talk numerous times except for Twilight. Twilight and her friends went inside while barefoot and sat down on the soft floor in a circle. Fluttershy went inside last and closed the flap while bringing stones with her to add to the fire.
It was a bit dark inside but that was expected. Fluttershy heated stone in the middle of the center and from time to time would add more small stones to the heat to keep it going.
Twilight and her friends already started to feel hot inside so it wouldn't be long for them to start sweating. Twilight sat near Fluttershy as she felt better by sitting by her since Fluttershy was an expert on doing this.
Fluttershy and her friends all said a few prayers inside while they talked about the connection and the flow of energy that could be felt inside but mostly they just sat there while they stared at the center.
Overtime it got hotter but it didn't get dangerously hot as Twilight's friends knew how to do the sweat lodge. Twilight started to sweat profusely in her dress. She looked around at her friends and saw that they were sweating as well. She saw Pinkie Pie smiling while she meditated.
Rainbow Dash looked over at Twilight and gave her a kind smile. Twilight smiled back as she felt loved there. She felt so close to her friends. The energy flowing around in there proved that connection.
Fluttershy smiled and kindly wiped some sweat away from Twilight's cheek. Twilight looked at her and smiled back at her. She was so glad that had came with her friends as she felt...at peace, sure she was sweating but that's what was expected to happen.
She felt at peace with her friends and her friends felt the same way. Applejack and Rarity had clasped eachothers hand and were holding them as they sat side by side in the place.
More stones were heated and then added to the center which raised the heat level a bit more. Twilight noticed the heat level rise. She could stand it currently but she knew that she was going to want to get out which she knew that she was free to do at anytime.
Twilight and her friends decided to say a few more prayers in whispered voices while others meditated. Twilight listened to them but had difficulty as the heat level was a bit to high than when she first started out.
Twilight had never done anything like this until now and she can say for a fact that she looked forward to doing it with her friends again. The heat was starting to get to Twilight she didn't know how much more she could take. As she thought that she would be the first one to leave that was immediately proven to not be the case that time around as Rarity quietly excused herself and left the lodge.
Twilight and her friends smiled at her as she got out as they understood the fact that Rarity had reached her limit. Twilight was pretty sure she would be the first one out but that was proven false. Twilight knew for certain she would be leaving soon though but at the same time she felt like she could take a bit more.
As more stones to added to the already hot sweat lodge more prayers were said and some of her friends started to sing old spiritual hymns which Twilight was mesmerized by. As the heat level raise it started to break Rainbow Dash's tolerance levels. Rainbow Dash started to wince and breath a bit heavily.
Rainbow Dash stayed for a bit more as she wanted to see if she could say a few more prayers before she left. After saying a few more she tried to tough it out and focus on her meditation. But her body started to call to her to stop. She wondered if her friends would notice that she was pushing it.
Rainbow Dash knew she could take more though so she stayed as she was a lot tougher than that. Pinkie Pie was the next one to leave. She excused herself quietly and exited the lodge. The heat was now getting crazily hot.
"Girls you have to promise me that you will get out once it's to much alright. It's not an endurance contest." Fluttershy said. Twilight Applejack and Rainbow Dash said that they would be careful.
Twilight looked at Applejack and Rainbow Dash move closer to eachother and held eachothers hand as they meditated. Twilight smiled at them as she loved how close they were to eachother in their friendship. It was nice just to see them hang out closely together like that.
Twilight decided that she had enough and got out leaving Applejack and Rainbow Dash alone there Once Twilight got out Fluttershy spoke.
"I'm amazed at how long you did it. I hope you weren't pushing yourself though." Fluttershy said with concern. Twilight shook her head.
"I wasn't. I just knew that I could stand it for quite a while. I know that this was my first time and all but it honestly wasn't to bad until the end. I loved it by the way. I felt so calm and connected to all of my friends." Twilight said as she started to get emotional. Fluttershy giggled and hugged her friend. Soon Applejack got out and Fluttershy ordered Rainbow Dash to get out for her own safety.
Rainbow Dash said that she understood her concern and got out. Fluttershy doused the water with rocks to extinguish them and set down the water.
"Great job everyone. Out spirits had been in their and the unhealthy energies have been cleaned out. We will be using the sweat lodge again later. Let's go have some fun now!" Fluttershy said. Twilight and her friends smiled and cheered and went with Fluttershy to go sit down and socialize. Twilight and her friends got their shoes and socks back on and looked forward to the next sweat lodge session as that was an amazing experience.
Twilight and her friends were sitting around the fire that they had lit as they wanted to cook a few marshmallows. Pinkie Pie was looking for the bag that she had brought with her that had a bunch of them.
Once she had found the bag she gave her friends a few to cook. They all put them on their long sticks and started to cook them over the fire. As they cooked their marshmallows they all talked to eachother as they waited for their marshmallows to be done.
The fire began to turn the marshmallows a light shade of brown which is what Twilight's friends wanted. As they waited for the marshmallow's to cook Fluttershy spoke to them.
"Later on after we spend some time around the fire and eat these we will do the sweat lodge again. If any of you don't want to do it while your other friends are doing the sweat lodge then you don't have to do it." Fluttershy said.
"Yeah I'll see if I want to do it again but I might opt out this time around. I'll see how I feel later on in order to see if I want to do another one. I probably might end up doing it though as I love doing it." Rainbow Dash said. Her friends murmured in agreement. Twilight spoke as well.
"I'll do it again. I like it a lot." Twilight said as she shrugged while she cooked her marshmallow before she ate it. Her friends smiled at her and nodded at her in agreement to
"I agree with Twilight. The sweat lodge is good. I'll gladly do it again several times. I can handle it pretty well." Rainbow Dash said while cooking her marshmallow.
"I can't wait to do it again! It's great that I can do it with you girls!" Pinkie Pie said cooking her marshmallow After that they continued to cook there marshmallow's. They hoped that they didn't burn them as they wanted them to be just right.
"This place is really nice. I have been having a good time so far! I just hope we can do another sweat lodge next time as it would be a shame if we were unable to do another sweat lodge." Twilight said.
"Don't worry darling we will do this again sometime we just need to figure out when we can do this again somewhere. It doesn't matter but it should be so where where we have privacy." Rarity explained. Twilight nodded.
"Exactly. Privacy is a very important factor. We don't want other people observing us or interrupting us as we do a sweat lodge together. We need someplace quiet like how this place was." Applejack stated.
"Don't worry I'm sure we will be able to find someplace. If you girls want you can use the place near my cottage if you don't mind." Fluttershy said, her friends smiled.
"Thanks Fluttershy! That would be great. Your a great help. I hope you know that." Twilight said. Fluttershy giggled.
"Your welcome Twilight. I do know that but thanks for reminding me. I have done sweat lodges by myself near my cottage. I'll let all of you join me there and do one with me sometime. It will probably be a few months until then but we will have sweat lodges before then to." Fluttershy said.
"That would be excellent. Just don't forget to invite me." Twilight said with a smile as she couldn't wait to do another one.
"Don't worry I will try not to forget to invite you and if I do then I'll tell your other friends to invite you." Fluttershy said. All of Twilight's friends nodded and murmured in agreement.
"Thanks so much!" Twilight said with a cheerful expression,
"You mean like a party invitation!? Yay!" Pinkie Pie cheered which made Twilight giggle. Her friends smiled at Pinkie Pie
"Yes Pinkie Pie just like a party invitation." Twilight said. Soon they were done eating their marshmallows so they all took them off the sticks and ate them. They then proceeded to cook more marshmallows
"Let's make sure we don't go overboard though. These aren't healthy and I have to stay in top shape for my exercises!" Rainbow Dash announced proudly which made her friends sigh and shake their heads.
"Yes Rainbow Dash. You always bring that up." Twilight said as she rolled her eyes while she smiled which her friends saw. The annoyed expression made them giggle including Rainbow Dash.
"Hey I'm just saying." Rainbow Dash said. She then looked at her marshmallow and turned it so that its other side could cook and her friends did the same thing that she did once their sides of their marshmallows were done as well.
They stayed seated around the fire as they all talked to eachother while they cooked their marshmallows over the fire. Soon they finished cooking them and ate them up.
"Does anyone want another marshmallow? I'm asking because I don't want anybody eating to many and get sick in the process." Fluttershy asked. Her friends shrugged as they took more marshmallows and cooked them.
"One more can't possibly hurt me. I think I will be fine Fluttershy. Thanks for checking on us though. Your a very kind person to your friends and strangers after all." Applejack said.
"Yeah I think one more will be fine Fluttershy but I appreciate the fact that you are looking out for us." Rarity said as she cooked hers.
"Mine is proceeding to cook. Once it's done and I eat it then I'll stop eating marshmallow's until next time if we do the fire again. Once I sit around the fire again I'll probably eat more" Twilight said. The rest of her friends nodded in agreement.
"Okay. I was just making sure." Fluttershy said. Once they finished eating their marshmallow's they all sat there and proceeded to talk for a few more minutes. They then got up and went to do something else.
Twilight and her friends were getting ready to do the sweat lodge again as they were getting their long dresses on. They had just done the sweat lodge a few hours ago so they thought that it was a good time to do it again.
Once they were dressed for it Fluttershy reminded them to be safe and leave the sweat lodge if it becomes to much. She then talked about spirituality for a bit which fascinated her friends.
"I just want to remind everybody here that the sweat lodge cleans out bad bacteria from our bodies. It doesn't stop there though as it also cleanses out our souls and makes sure that no bad spirits our attached to them. Remember that bad spirits can affect us as they are caused by bad thoughts and actions which is why we must flush them out." Fluttershy said as she talked to her friends about the sweat lodge. Her friends murmured in agreement.
"Now before we go in for the second time I just want to remind everyone to be safe and get out when you get tired of the heat." Fluttershy said as she reminded her friends to be safe in the sweat lodge. After that she spoke.
"Alright that's all I wanted to say so let's go in and do the sweat lodge a second time." Fluttershy said. They all went inside the sweat lodge and Applejack heated the middle.
The temperature started out mildly warm but gradually hot just as it did when they were in there before. They sat down in a circle around the rocks and Rarity closed the entrance and sat down and they all looked into the darkness.
Rarity added a few more heated stones to the pile and they began to say prayers out loud. Twilight knew that this was going to be the same as the first time she did this but she didn't mind that fact at all. She kept her eyes on the center of the pitch black room.
She listened to her friends say a few prayers but she stayed quiet as she wouldn't be very good at speaking in sweat lodges even if she was surrounded by her friends, she felt like she would make her prayer sound awkward by accident.
Slowly it started to get a bit hotter in there as the brightness in the middle grew, Rarity dabbed at her face to wipe some sweat away as the heat made started to make them sweat.
Twilight and her friends continued to sit around the circle as they all said prayers in calm voices. Twilight knew that she wasn't going to last long but she knew that that was okay as she couldn't help the fact that it would get to much for her after a while as it got to much for all of her friends at other points.
Twilight said her prayers as her friends said theirs aloud after they said their prayers they all mediated around the stones. Beads of sweat could be seen on Applejack's face as she stared at the fire.
Pinkie Pie sat near Rarity as they both sat in the lodge. Rarity wiped sweat from her eyes that was leaking down from her forehead as it was starting to get into her eyes. Fluttershy made no sudden movements as she stayed calm as she was so experienced at sweat lodges.
Applejack rocked side to side a bit as she couldn't sit still due to the heat factor. They added more heated stones to the center and the temperature rose in the sweat lodge and they all felt it.
The only sound that could be heard in their was their breathing and the stones crackling a bit but other than that it was completely silent in the sweat lodge. It probably wouldn't stay silent for long however as a few of them would probably leave if it got to much for them.
As the heat continued to stay at the high temperature Twilight wondered how long she could meditate in there this time as she did pretty good last time. She wondered which one of her friends would be the first to leave as she fir gutted that it would be the same like last time.
Applejack was the first one to leave the lodge much due to her friends surprise as she was pretty tough and could handle a lot of sweat lodges but they understood and let her leave.
After Applejack left it became quiet again as their breathing got a bit heavier due to the heat but that was just an expected fact that happened all the time when they did this. They resumed their quiet meditation and prayers as they let the sweat lodge flush out their bodies.
Sweat was pouring down Pinkie Pie's face as she hadn't wiped any of it away so she took the back of her hand and wiped the sweat away with the back of her hand and then resumed to stare at the rocks in front of her while glancing at her friends from time to time as well.
Fluttershy breathed through her nose as she mediated in the sweat lodge. Twilight watched Fluttershy as she admired how much Fluttershy could handle in the sweat lodge as Fluttershy could stay in there for a while usually.
Rarity began to grow to uncomfortable in sweat lodge, she was reaching her limit and would have to leave very soon. She tried to wipe as much sweat away as she could as she was loosing the ability to stay still in the sweat lodge. She was breathing very heavily.
Meanwhile Pinkie Pie also started to reach her limit and grow uncomfortable as well since there was only so much she could take, she noticed that Rarity was reaching her limit as well and thought about asking Rarity if they wanted to leave together but decided not to speak as that would interrupt her friend's mediation and prayers.
Rarity got up and left as she was the second one to leave. Twilight knew that she was about to leave as well. This was only her second time but yet she could handle better than Rarity.
As they continued to meditate together it became increasingly clear that it was becoming to much for all of them and they would probably have to end the entire thing if it got out of hand for all of them
Pinkie Pie got up and left the sweat lodge as she was the third one to leave a she couldn't take it anymore. Fluttershy saw that her, Rainbow Dash and Twilight were the only ones remaining if anybody else left then she would have to end the sweat lodge for the day.
And then after a little bit more time passed Twilight left the sweat lodge and washed her sweaty face off so Fluttershy decided to end the lodge and told Rainbow Dash to get out with her for their own safety. Rainbow Dash listened to Fluttershy as they both left the lodge together. Pinkie Pie doused the small heated stones in the lodge with water as they all wiped the sweat off their faces. They got out of their dresses and put their regular clothes on.
"Great job everyone! We have once again connected to eachother spiritually in the sweat lodge. Let's take a break and do the sweat lodge again a bit later." Fluttershy said. Her friends nodded and they all went to do something else together. Rarity took the dresses and washed them and then came back with them and hung them to dry so that they could use them again if they did another round in the sweat lodge. Rarity then joined her friends as they went off to do something else.
As Twilight's friends were playing catch with eachother Twilight was thinking about doing the sweat lodge with one of her friends as she wanted to do it again. They did it a few hours ago so she was thinking about doing it again. She knew that her friends probably wanted to take a break so she was planning to do it herself if nobody would join her but she wished that someone did join her.
As she watched her friends she noticed that Pinkie Pie was sitting down as she watched her friends play catch as she was taking a break. She wondered if Pinkie Pie would do it with her. She decided to go over to her friend and spoke to her.
"Pinkie Pie? You didn't want to play anymore?" Twilight asked. Pinkie Pie shook her head as she took a long sip of water. She stopped drinking and looked up at Twilight.
"No I got bored of it. I guess it's just you and me here huh?" Pinkie Pie asked as she glanced at her friends. Twilight sat by her and spoke.
"Yeah I guess so...i was meaning to ask you something but you were hanging out with our friends so I didn't ask right away but since we are alone together I was wondering if you might want to do the sweat lodge together....I think we can both be safe without our friends being in there as long as we know when to get out. If you don't want to do that we don't have to but I just wanted to ask." Twilight said. Pinkie Pie stood up.
"Sure we can do it together. I've been wanting to go back in myself anyway. Besides I'm tired out from playing, playing can be fun and all but it does tire me out after a while and I know you were uninterested in it. So let's do it. Besides it would be good for the both of us." Pinkie Pie suggested. Twilight smiled excitedly.
"Great! Hold on and I will get changed." Twilight said. She went to a private area and got dressed into the long dress she had worn the last times that she had used the sweat lodge. Pinkie Pie also got dressed into her long dress as well and they both removed their shoes and socks and then they went over to their friends.
"Me and Twilight are going to do a sweat. If you need us we will be in the lodge." Pinkie Pie stated.
"Alright that's fine. See you both later." Fluttershy said as she went back to playing catch with her friends. Pinkie Pie and Twilight went over to the lodge and Twilight let Pinkie Pie enter the lodge first.
"Thanks Twilight. Come on in." Pinkie Pie said, Twilight nodded and stepped inside and closed the entrance while Pinkie Pie added some heated stones to the center of the lodge. Pinkie Pie stretched her legs and spread them apart and motioned Twilight to sit down in the spot in front of her so Twilight sat down there and felt Pinkie Pie's arms wrap around her waist. Twilight stretched out her legs.
"You really like hugging don't you?" Twilight asked teasingly. Pinkie Pie chuckled and kissed the back of Twilight's head as the stones burned bright. Both of them were going to be in a hot place in a few minutes.
"Of coarse I do. Thats what I do." Pinkie Pie said softly. Twilight sighed as she snuggled into Pinkie Pie's embrace. Pinkie Pie wiggled her bare toes as they started to feel the temperature. As Twilight sat there she felt Pinkie Pie's embrace get stronger and cuddly. Twilight smiled.
I love you Pinkie Pie." Twilight said as the temperature rose. Pinkie Pie smiled as she was always happy to hear her friends say that.
I love you to Twilight. Don't ever forget that." Pinkie Pie said in a soft voice. Pinkie Pie kissed Twilight on the cheek and went back to face the back of Twilight's head. As the lodge got hot Twilight and Pinkie Pie felt the temperature rise while Pinkie Pie snuggled with Twilight.
As it became quiet between the both of them the lodge settled at a hot but bearable temperature. Pinkie gave Twilight a warm smile as Twilight sat still in Pinkie Pie's embrace. The stones emitted a bright glow in the lodge.
As the heat raged on Twilight decided to heat another stone that she had brought with her into the lodge and put into into the center and it raised the temperature. She then relaxed back into Pinkie Pie's embrace as they sat there and did the sweat lodge together.
Both of them breathed calmly through their noses. The only sound in the lodge was their breathing and the slight muffled conversations her friends were having outside. They hoped that their friends wouldn't interrupt them while they were doing the sweat lodge together but they remembered that they told their friends that they wanted to do it together by themselves so they will probably understand and leave them alone for the time that they were alone in the lodge.
Twilight and Pinkie Pie both started to sweat as they had been expecting to happen. A few beads of sweat appeared on Twilight's forehead while some drops of sweat started to form on Pinkie Pie's arms and chest. Pinkie Pie wiped the sweat droplets off of Twilight's forehead in a loving manner even though they both knew that more would just form as the true purpose of Pinkie Pie doing that was a loving way to show twilight that Pinkie Pie cared about her.
More droplets formed on Twilight's forehead and hands and legs and feet as Pinkie Pie's legs and feet got sweaty. Sweat started to trickle down both of their backs while Pinkie Pie's forehead and hands started to sweat as well.
Twilight and Pinkie Pie both breathed calmly as they sat in the lodge together. Pinkie Pie strengthened her embrace on Twilight and Twilight noticed it. She moaned breathlessly as the heat amplified the effects of the hug.
Twilight placed her hands on Pinkie Pie's hands as Pinkie Pie's hands were against her waist while Pinkie Pie's arms were wrapped around her. Twilight was hugged Pinkie Pie and Twilight could hear friends talk to eachother near the sweat lodge and found out that they were just telling eachother stories again.
Sweat had now practically covered their bodies. Their dresses were soaked in sweat now. Sweat from Pinkie Pie's toes slid down her arches and reached her heels before hitting the ground.
Sweat from Twilight's toes slid down her arches and reached her heels before hitting the ground as well as they had been there long enough for that to happen. Sweat dripped down Pinkie Pie's and Twilight's faces.
They both mediated this time as they cleansed their bodies of any impurities. They both moaned softly as the heat continued to heat the lodge up.
As they sat there they decided to be careful not to add to many stones as it was hot enough in there. If they added to much they would probably have to exit the lodge and explain to Fluttershy about it if Fluttershy asked if they had been safe in there. They didn't want to burn up in there but knew that if they continued to listen to how their bodies felt then they would be fine.
Twilight and Pinkie Pie's breathing could be faintly heard from inside but it wasn't loud or anything like that. Twilight and Pinkie Pie both enjoyed eachother's company as the heat from the sweat lodge surrounded the two friends.
As the sweat lodge continued to envelop them in its warmth their dresses became drenched with sweat. They knew that they would need to get out soon as they were both reaching their limit. They knew they could take a bit more but after a while they were going to have to exit the lodge.
Pinkie Pie and Twilight's bodies continued to be cleansed by sweating from the heat that was inside the lodge. They both started to breath a bit heavily as they were reaching their limits. They were going to have to get out.
As Pinkie Pie and Twilight spent a few more minutes in the lodge the temperature raised again and that was it for both Twilight and Pinkie Pie. It was way to hot for the both of them so they decided to exit the lodge.
After the long session that they had inside the lodge they both got out and got undressed and they both dried themselves off. They then got dressed into their regular clothes and went over to see their friends.
"Hey girls! We were wondering when you were going to get out. We just made snacks if you want any of them!" Rarity exclaimed with a giggle. Twilight and Pinkie Pie chuckled and had some snacks with their friends.
"Did you girls have a nice time in there?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"It didn't get to hot in their for you did it? I'm making sure that you two were alright." Fluttershy asked.
"We were going to come in and get you but then decided that you probably were alright." Applejack said.
"Me and Pinkie Pie were just fine in there but thanks so much. Me and Pinkie Pie got much needed alone time." Twilight said.
"We sure did Twilight. That was worth it." Pinkie Pie said. All of their friends smiled at them and they smiled back.
"Alright if your done then come and and have some snacks with us!" Fluttershy offered
"Alright we will!" Pinkie pie said cheerfully making them all giggle along with Pinkie Pie. Then went to the table that they had set up and had a snack together while they talked to eachother for a few hours.
After they had hung around outside for a bit and talked Fluttershy decided to hold a prayer circle with her friends so she told them to come over to her and they all sat down and gathered around in a circle and Fluttershy spoke
"The next thing I want to do now is a prayer circle with all of you, we must call upon the spirits and ask them to help us with any issues that we think of. The spirits should help us as they help everybody with their prayers. Let's begin right now as its a good time for us to say some prayers." Fluttershy said.
Fluttershy's friends told her that was a good idea and they all closed their eyes Fluttershy said a prayer first. Her prayer was for healing for any injuries that her friends might have sustained or bad energy that they had gotten over the past few months. Fluttershy finished her prayer and waited to see who was next to say their prayer.
Rarity was next as she prayed for her friends to have good health and live very long lives as she wanted her friends to continue to live as she never wanted to see any of her friends die as that would devastate her but she knew that she was going to have to deal with the fact that they all might die someday but she didn't focus on that during that very moment that she was praying. Once she finished Pinkie Pie was next so she waited for a few moments as silence filled the area as she didn't want to rush it and then she started to say her prayer in a very calm and polite manner as she wanted it make it most effective for her and her friends since she feared that rushing it would lesson its impact.
Pinkie Pie prayed for peace between her and her friends and prayed for the continued the friendship that she had built with all of her friends were there and at home as she never wanted her friendship with her friends to end since she wanted it to continue as she loved her friends.
After Pinkie Pie said her prayer for the friendship she had built with her friends that were there and the friends that were back home she finished her prayer and Applejack began hers. She prayed for her and her friends to be kind to eachother and show eachother kindness everyday as she didn't want any bad things or arguments to tear their friendships apart as she loved every single friend that she had.
Twilight was up next so she prayed for her friends to continue to have resilience and strength in themselves as they faced challenges that they faced and fixed mistakes that they sometimes made and help strangers out with their problems and help out people that they knew with problems. Once Twilight finished Rainbow Dash started her prayer.
Rainbow Dash prayed to continue to have her trait of loyalty and to continue to be loyal to her friends and people who were in need of help. She also prayed to continue to be brave for her friends and never back down from a challenge no matter how tough it seemed.
Once Rainbow Dash finished her prayer Twilight prayed for the spirits to keep her and her friends strong and prayed for their souls to be protected from any bad spirits that might latch onto theirs. She also prayed that her friends would never abandon eachother and would never abandon her as she needed them. After that Twilight said one more prayer.
Twilight prayed for her prayers to work for her and prayed for her her friends prayers to work for them as well. She then stopped praying and Fluttershy ended the prayer circle. Once Fluttershy ended the prayer circle they went to sit down nearby and talk about praying and prayers in general.
Fluttershy made sure that they were all included in the discussion about the prayers as they all talked about making sure that their prayers would work by checking to see if anything had changed for the better between them and talked about how the history of praying first started.
They also talked about how spirits have made prayers work as their was evidence that prayers work and their was evidence that the spirits existed to guide Twilight and her friends in their lives and to protect them whenever their own souls needed protection.
Fluttershy made sure that all her friends got a chance to speak as she didn't want any of them to be left out in the conversation since the conversation included all of them equally. She also made sure that her and her friends respected eachother's prayers and made sure that her and her friends didn't doubt the prayers as the prayers will work.
They continued to have the dicussion on prayers and now they knew that prayers could work and now prayers were good for everybody including themselves which was important because they all needed prayers as their lives can be shaped by positive prayers but knew that they would have to switch topics after a while since they were almost done as they didn't want to spend the rest of the day talking about it as it would be boring and it would cut into their time of trying to do more sessions in the lodge that they had built on the site that they were at which they were using.
After they talked about the prayers and the prayer circle for a bit they all went off to do something else with eachother their since they had a lot that they could talk about still. They also knew that they would be doing the sweat lodge again but they didn't know what time they would be doing that again as they had done it a lot that day. As they went off to do something else they talked about all sorts of different subjects related to spiritually.
After a while Twilight and her friends settled around the fire during the evening and cooked some marshmallow's for themselves and ate them. They had s'mores as well while the fire raged in front of them.
As they ate they told stories of their past adventures which most of them remembered clearly. They loved every single story as it reminded them of how much their friendship had grown over the past few years that they have been together for.
They made sure to allow eachother equal to time to tell a tale about their friendship so that everyone had a chance to tell a story. After each friend told a story they repeated the process by going around once again as they told more stories to eachother.
After they told a few more stories they all talked about being grateful for being there with eachother in that moment as stuff in the past threatened their friendship. They were just grateful that they were together in that moment.
As Twilight and her friends continued to talk to eachother around the fire they counted their blessings for going through the trials that they had been through as the trials had tested their friendship.
They were glad that they had pulled through each trial and they were glad that their friendship was stronger than ever. Their friendship had gotten even stronger inside the sweat lodge as the sweat lodge had connected them even more in a spiritual sort of way.
They had loved doing the sweat lodge and they hoped to do it again. That was when they all asked Fluttershy if they could do it again. Fluttershy said that it would be okay to one more time that day but they would have to leave straight after that as they couldn't stay there at night and then told her friends that they could do another sweat lodge in the future which her friends understood.
They made plans to leave right after the last session in the lodge. Then they started to plan their next sweat lodge day that would be in the future. They decided to hold another one in a few months which they were all thrilled to hear about. They were looking forward to the next one.
After they planned the next sweat lodge they figured out a good date for it and then they went back to telling more stories about their friendship in general as they just loved those stories.
As they told more stories they realized that Applejack was the best at telling stories for some reason. They were good at telling stories but Applejack gave a bit more effort into telling them which made them disappointed about their story telling abilities.
Applejack realized this and told them that as long as they like telling stories and had enthusiasm in telling them then the effort didn't matter as they were doing a good enough job even without the effort.
Hearing this from Applejack made them happier so they forgot about it and continued telling stories the same as they had been telling them because it didn't matter as long as they got to tell the stories.
They told a few more stories and they looked up and saw that it was way past the evening. They then decided to take a break from telling stories as their throats were dry from telling them.
They drank a bottles of water to quench their thirst as their throats had become dry from telling stories. After they drank some water they told more stories to eachother.
They lost track of time as as they had told so many stories now. They were on their twentieth story now as they had lots of stories to tell to eachother. They knew that they had to many to tell in all of one night and they didn't want to stay there till the morning while continuously tell stories to eachother as they didn't bring anything to use to sleepover there with as they did not plan to sleep there since that wasn't part of the original planning of the day. They wanted to be back in town before the night was over as they wanted to sleep in their own beds.
Twilight tried to keep track of the stories but had lost count of how many that they had told. It didn't matter though because they just got to spend time with eachother for a while that day.
Twilight and her friends decided to tell a few more stories before taking another break and before they did something else while they were together there. They decided to finish up as they didn't want to waste to much time as they wanted to do one more sweat lodge.
They took turns one last time as each friend told one more story about their past adventures to eachother as they could tell any story about their adventures and their friendship as they had been through so much together.
Twilight was the last one to tell the last story so she picked a special one about their friendship with eachother. They were all special but this one was extra special. When Twilight finished they all stood up and hugged eachother as they felt happiness surge through them.
After they finished telling stories they stood up and went and did something else together. They knew that they would have to leave the sweat lodge in a few more hours but they did know that they could always do another sweat lodge in a few months or in a few weeks and they did know that they would continue to see eachother everyday but they still looked forward to the next time that they could do the sweat lodge together as they loved doing the sweat lodge together. Twilight looked forward to the next one the most as she had absolutely enjoyed the sweat lodge. She couldn't wait to do it again but she did know that she would have to wait.
Soon Twilight and her friends were putting on their dresses to do the sweat lodge one last time. After they got their dresses on they all spoke about how they wanted to do it again and Fluttershy said that they should so they all agreed to do it again in a few weeks.
Twilight asked if she could do it with her friends when they did it again and they said that she could. As they all gathered around the sweat lodge Fluttershy spoke about the sweat lodge.
"Well girls I hope you had a cleansing and spiritual experience here as we are about to leave after this lodge. Let us go inside the lodge and meditate while we prepare our souls for the journey back home." Fluttershy said. Her friends nodded and they all went inside the sweat lodge.
Twilight and her friends all sat down around the center while Fluttershy closed the door. Pinkie Pie heated up some stones and added them to the center as they all said their final prayers for the day as they wrapped up the activities with one final sweat lodge.
Twilight and her friends were getting hot inside the sweat lodge but not enough that sweat built up on their bodies as that hadn't happened yet. They sat there around the heated center while they were lost in mediation as they meditated together.
Fluttershy and Rarity said prayers to themselves quietly while Pinkie Pie watched them with a smile on her face. Sweat started to roll down Pinkie Pie's forehead as her friends experienced their final sweat lodge for that day but they were going to do more in the future.
Pinkie Pie was the first one to start sweating for that single session as she wasn't the first one last time to sweat when they all did it but that didn't matter. Twilight wondered which one of her friends would be out of the sweat lodge last as any of them could leave at any moment if it got to much for them.
Twilight and her friends stayed deep in concentration as they made sure that neither of them would be distracted by anything as they just wanted to meditate in there for one last time before they left. Applejack's hair started to get matted with sweat as her eyes were closed as she sat in the lodge while she meditated.
Pinkie Pie and Rarity were sitting by eachother while they meditated Pinkie Pie had a smile on her face while she tried staying still Rarity stayed perfectly still as well. She sometimes took a peek at her friends to see if any of them had left the lodge first.
Twilight wondered who would leave first as they continued to meditate. She wondered if she would be able to be the last one there and she also wondered if she would leave earlier or would Fluttershy end it once to many of her friends left the lodge.
Twilight and her friends continued to meditate in the lodge as they cleansed their spirits and their bodies. They hoped that they hadn't overdone it that day as they might have done it to much but they then realized that Fluttershy wouldn't have let them do that as she had been looking out for them all day so if they had done that Fluttershy would try and limit them.
They then realized that they did take a few breaks so they were probably all right. They knew that they felt alright. They were very happy that this day had gone well for them as nothing bad had happened to them which was what Twilight was worried about the first time she had done the lodge that day with them.
Twilight and her friends continued to meditate quietly. Nothing was heard from any of them as they continued to meditate there.
Pinkie Pie opened her eyes and smiled at her friends while she started to breathe a bit heavier. Sweat dripped off her hair as she sat inside with her friends. She closed her eyes again and continued to pray and meditate.
Fluttershy knew that she would have to get her friends out of there soon as they would all need to get undressed and wipe the sweat off their bodies and get dressed before they left. She decided that she would remind herself to do that once it got to much for her friends.
Fluttershy was happy that she had watched over her friends as she had done a very good job in keeping her friends safe. Nothing bad had happened as it was a beautiful and spiritual experience that day which they were all planning to repeat. Fluttershy continued to pray and meditate.
As Twilight and her friends continued to sit in there Rarity decided to leave as it had got to much for her, she politely excused herself and left the sweat lodge. She then got her dress off and dried herself off. She then got dressed into her regular clothes and sat down and waited for her friends to finish.
After Rarity had left them they all knew that more of them would leave. Twilight knew that she would probably last longer now as she was more tolerant of the heat than when she first did it with her friends. Twilight continued to enjoy the sweat lodge with her friends.
Rainbow Dash left next as she didn't have much patience that day. She had mediated for a little bit but couldn't stay long as when she had done it the other times. As she left Fluttershy kept track of her friends leaving as she would end it when the sweat lodge was almost empty.
Twilight and Fluttershy both breathed through their noses as they meditated. Her and her friends breathing was almost in sync and that was a very weird coincidence but other than that they didn't think much of it as they continued to do the sweat lodge.
As Twilight and Fluttershy breathed calmly Pinkie Pie left early as she didn't want to stay to long, Twilight noticed that the sweat lodge had cleared out quickly as Twilight Fluttershy and Applejack were the last ones in the sweat lodge.
As they did the sweat lodge they decided that it was time to go so they both left and Fluttershy ended the sweat lodge and exited the lodge with them. After they left the sweat lodge they all joined eachother and cleaned up the area. They then got undressed and then dried themselves off and after that they got dressed into their regular clothes and then they took down the sweat lodge and packed up the sweat lodge. They then spoke about how they would do it again sometime and then they left.
As they went home they set up the next date for another sweat lodge as Fluttershy had been thinking about another one for a while as she had thought about it while they had packed up their belongings that they had brought with them to the area they had done the sweat lodge at. Soon Fluttershy told them when they can do a sweat lodge again and then they all went home and when Twilight got home Twilight marked down the day that they would do the next sweat lodge on her calendar. She couldn't wait to do the sweat lodge with her friends again.
