The girls watched Celestia leave the donut shop.

"Hey, uh, Rainbow?" Applejack was notably shaking. "What did she mean by 'curse?'"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Rainbow placed her hoof over her mouth. "Does she mean that weird gravity thing?"

Pinkie's head was nearly upside-down. "Gravity?"

"It's something the guy who told me about Stands mentioned. Apparently, Stand users interact with gravity strangely or something."

"I don't think that's what he meant."

Everyone looked at Twilight.

Twilight sighed. "You know what gravity is, right? At least, what most creatures think of when they hear gravity."

Applejack nodded. "It's why we all stay attached to the earth. The center of the earth has a pull to it that keeps us all on it."

"That's only half of it. The truth is, everything has some sort of "core" like the earth does. Which means that everything has its own "pull" to it. It's just that the earth's is usually the strongest."

Rainbow scratched her head. "So how would that change from being a Stand user?"

"It doesn't. I believe that your friend was using it metaphorically. As a comparison. What they're saying is that you're more likely to encounter a Stand User if you have a Stand yourself."

*Ding Ding Ding*

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying that I'll just bump into other Stand users at random? I guess that explains how I met Sa- Er, I mean, my friend so easily."

Rarity smirked and propped her head on her hooves. "Why are you keeping his name from us? Is he a lover?"

Rainbow didn't take a second to respond. "EW! UGH! NO! THAT'S DISGUSTING! I'M NOT A FREAKING- UGH!"

Rarity leaned back as her smile changed. "Ehe. Okay. Forget I asked."

"It's nice that you have a friend that can help you understand your Stand." Fluttershy looked away. "I mean, I know I can't."

Pinkie whispered into Rainbow's ear.

Rainbow's ear twitched. "You know him? What am I saying, you're Pinkie. What I mean is, how did you know it was him?"

Pinkie giggled. "I'm guessing that, while Stands themselves aren't visible to anyone without a Stand, their abilities aren't exactly the same way. I saw him using his Stand in private when he didn't realize I was there. It was pretty interesting, too."

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah. There are certain Stands that affect real-world objects. In those situations, everypony can see your Stand."

Spike scratched his head. "Man. These rules are getting complex."

"That's the thing. They're kind of like the rules of our language." Rainbow stood up on her hind legs, keeping her front hoof on the table. "The rules don't always apply. Damage reflects back onto the user unless it's an automatic or bound Stand. But then you have Stands that aren't automatic or bound, but the damage to the Stand doesn't reflect on the User because it's designed to protect the User. Stands are evaluated under six parameters, but sometimes they don't have any ranking in one or more of those parameters due to what their Stand is like.

"A Stand user may not bother fighting because their Stand is too weak, and a Stand user may not bother fighting because their Stand is too strong. Even more so, that weak Stand may be just the right type to defeat that strong Stand. There may be patterns to Stands, but none of those patterns apply to every Stand. A Stand could be anything."

Rainbow's friends all stared at her.

Author's Note

Go go go go go...