Two fine friends, right there... But you're certain which of them you'd like to ask first. "Show me laughter."

"Easier said than done." Moon hops back a step. "Laughter's a way of life, but so are the other purposes. You see a group of people." She points at you and Nick. "One of your first thoughts: How can I make them smile a little harder?"

"I do that," you defend. "Being nice makes people smile, last I checked."

"Sure, sure. Most of the purposes make people happy, in a roundabout way.." She taps her fingers, studying you. "But this is more direct, and immediate. No money, no gifts, no fancy sacrifices. How can you turn their thoughts to the positive? That's the laughter trick. It may not always last forever, but sometimes... Sometimes..." She waggles her fingers in the air. "You get the hit at just the right moment, you can change a life."

Thoughts of laughter drift in your mind. "Like talking someone out of hurting themselves?"

"That would be pretty well-timed laughter," Moon easily agrees. "Breaking a tough situation or shattering the ice on a first meeting. Helping people get past tough spots so they can push on, that's us! Besides celebrating good times." She raised the roof in an emphatic push of her palms. "A good celebration can help keep morale up." She turned a finger to the remainder of the meal. "That. That was a good start. Broke the mood, shattered the ice. If you had a slick few words to go with it, laughter."

Nick nods along, clearly paying attenion too. "Huh... I usually worry about keeping people on an even keel."

"Loyalty." She swats him on the shoulder. "Not that I'm complaining. Keep on loyalty'ing everywhere, but if you want to grab laughter, you have to learn its ways." She snickers, looking you over anew. "This making any sense at all?"

"I... think so?" You consider Moon's situation. "Glad you could make it, and you escaped your little road bump."

"Right! Miss the guy though." She laughed in good spirits, moving for the kitchen and that food. "I'll try to bring him by if you want to say hello."

Was that a laughter moment? You didn't feel the tickle of a job well done, but that hadn't been a very big deal either. "Whenever you want. He's welcome around here. Right, Nick?"

"Who? Oh, the foal? Sure." He doesn't sound as excited as you. "No biggie."

Moon nudges you on the way by, wielding a glass of soda. "I think you've taken your first timid step. But, you're going to have to practice, on people who aren't me. I mean, if you figure out a way to put a big smile on my face, you go for it. But it's more about living the life around the clock. You have kindness pretty down, now walk the laughter life. When you get those little tickles, you know it's working. Now.... ideally... You'd be getting kindess and laughter kicks. You want to be both, right?"

Both, right. That was the trick. "A kind laugh..." A thought comes to you. "I can see how balancing this would get trickier with each purpose you tried to stack on top."

"Exactly," sang Moon. "Which is why I'm pretty happy with just laughter and calling it a day. I can just mess up one purpose instead of trying to foul them all up at once."

It is no mild task you're volunteering for, but... "What's the downside?"

"If you're asking 'will the universe will punish me for my hubris' kinda thing." Moon wobbles a hand, leaning back against a wall. "Nothing specific, but that depends on how you look at it. You get your headspace too cluttered trying to be perfect, you may get really good at never having a moment's peace to yourself, which can make you kinda bad at all of them at the same time."

Nick's interest visibly wanes. "That sounds less fun. You sure you want to do this?" He flicks the television off, not able to focus on it well with the two of you chatting next to him. "You're getting kindness down pretty well, why not live that up?"

"I don't plan not to," you retort, perhaps a bit more hotly than you'd originally planned. "I'll be careful. For now, laughs."

You pump Moon for the ins and outs she can offer, from mindset to what seems to be the triggers for getting a harmony high. Making someone smile on a rough day, little hit. Bringing someone back from a severe edge or sidestepping a huge fight with the right words to defuse the sitatuion, moderate hit.

But what qualified as a huge hit? "No idea." Moon looks you over with that thorough scan. "I'll be honest. You're the first pony in a while that even talks about that kind of thing. I was hoping you'd tell me. Have you felt it? A big one?"

Reflecting back on your experiences, One bit hops out at you. "I have a job right now, and most of my pay goes to a person I barely know, to give him a life he deserves to have, but wouldn't have. He doesn't even know I did it... But when I got that going, I felt... good, a real good." Putting a finger exactly on the feeling is hard, but it was the deepest kindness you can remember feeling. "Speaking of that, as nice as being an anonymous benefactor is, I really want to go say hi and check on him."

"Wild!" Moon pushes off the wall, launching herself ahead. "Way wild. That does sound like a Kindness thing with a capital K. Fits what I know. Major things don't come easy. Major laughter... Play peacekeeper between two gangs or countries ready to fill each other with lead? Make a whole hospital of sick kids smile and forget their misery?" She hums with a growing frown. "But dancing down the halls of a hospital would... maybe work once. A joke's less funny the second time you hear it."

"That's what she said," you return fire.

Moon freezes a moment before she laughs, pawing at you in mild swipes. "Oh, my, god, you did not just say that." Still, her smile implied she was alright with the humor.

You feel the faintest touch, the mildest high. You had broken Moon out of a teeny tiny negative spiral. Your first laughter. You can't even stop yourself from smiling what felt like a little too high. Your first laughter. If you could bottle it up to save somewhere, you'd consider it.

"That's a real smile." She waves a hand like a jazz hand. "Did I just see a first laughter?" You nod and she joins you in a happy smile. "Wow, maybe you really can pull this off. Look, just don't... leave me behind. I was getting jaded as hell... That's why I got all over you. You have a smell of something new, something unspoiled. I want to help that, and I want to be helped by that. A little selfish? Sorry."

You assure her that you're not mad at her. "We're all a little selfish. Even me. I helped the..." You were about to go on about the dreaming, but neither of them even knew about it, and it was supposed to be private anyway. "I helped some friends in a fight, but it was for survival. I wanted to survive as much as them. That didn't make it not kindness, lowercase, but it did make it not Kindness, uppercase."

"Checks out." Moon snaps her fingers and turns to finger guns at you in one smooth motion. "But what the hell were you doing in a fight? What's going on?! Is this secret? Should I not know?"

"Some of it is..." How to go over that eludes you. "But there was a fight, and we won with a big dose of kindness and bravery on their part. How I learned a new kindness trick."

Moon taps a foot lightly. "Huh... Well, if I was there, and I stopped the fight in the first place, I bet that woulda counted... Look, I don't know where you're working that this is a thing that comes up... But hook a lady up? That sounds way more interesting than what I'm doing right now."

Well... Dang. "Um! I can put in a good word?" She is a unicorn. She could learn the right spells. "You'll need a specific trick to even try. This is shoving a foot in a new, dangerous, pond. Are you sure?"

"If it means I get to hang out with you and try living, yes." She folds her arms, tapping at herself. "Put in that good word. You have my number. Also, do they pay well? I mean, if I'm signing up for a new job, I should at least ask."

"Yes," notes Nick suddenly. "At least they are for me, for a retail gig."

"So, yeah, want in." Moon sets her hands on her hips. "What have you got that I don't? Besides the kindness thing."

Well... "You could pick that up? We could swap." You motion between her and yourself. "Practice each other's thing."

"That is sweet of you... But I doubt it. Show me that trick though. Unicorn trick?"

"Unicorn trick," you verify. "Spirit, mind, unique blend. Just a touch of either." You tap the side of your head near your eye. "Takes a certain point of view."

"That sounds trippy as hell, and I'm signing on all the dotted lines you have." She grabs your hand and tugs you away. "Let's not bore your poor boy more than we already have. He doesn't need unicorn tricks."

"Oh, fine, see if I show you any earth pony tricks." He sounds like he's joking, waving you two off. "You can't hot swap those like purposes, gonna guess. You can't learn how to be something you physically aren't."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Moon sings as she leads you off to your bedroom for some magical study time.

Fortunately, she's already an expert in mind magics. It isn't too hard to get her to skew a little to the side to peer in the right direction, which is how she meets him. "Woah!"

"Hi," eagerly greets your dragon friend, Bright Spark. "Nice to meet you. You smell like raspberry."

Moon Streak raises a hesitant finger. "Do you normally start with what people smell like?"

"If I like them." Bright claps with unhidden joy. "It's so nice to talk to a friend of hers. And one that can see me! This is a great night. So, hello. I'm Bright Spark." He waves at himself with both hands. "I'm her imaginary friend, and she's mine. Are you imaginary too?"

You give Bright Spark a belly rub just the way he likes it, distracting him from speaking for a moment. "Bright Spark is adorable and loyal. Imagine finding out an imaginary friend you had as a kid was very real, and cares about you a lot."

"I'd love that..." She turned slowly as if searching for something. "I don't see any others... I don't have one. Shoot... Well, I have one at least."

Bright looks so thrilled. "We're friends? Good!" He noses over her curiously. "Hello, Moon Streak."

"I never said my name? How'd you know that?" But she lets him sniffle at her without complaint.

"You said it, I was there." He points at you. "I'm with her, always. If you told her, I heard it. Um, sorry if that bothers... I don't mean anything bad..."

"Don't look so sad." She pinched his cheeks and ruffled them gently. "You are so soft!" Smooth dragon scales, warm to the touch, and to her clear approval. "Nice to meet you too, Bright. We may be working together. What's it like, where she works?"

"The boss lady is really bossy!" He crosses his arms, pouting in the thought of the elf boss. "But she's alright. She doesn't pay me much attention. She really likes her though." He points at you. "So I don't hate her."

Author's Note

Laughter is the best medicine, they say. Let's learn to laugh and help others smile.

First laughter obtained, along with one precious point of harmony. We can do this! But maybe we'll gain a new work buddy?

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