“You want me to what?!”

Sour Sweet’s expression was, at this moment, a mixture of many things. Confusion. Shock, Incredulity. And above all else, a sense of suspicion, as if the person speaking to her might have been joking. Unfortunately, there was no such luck with the latter, as the one talking to her was none other than Rainbow Dash, infamous for being, if anything, even more brutally honest than Applejack, albeit with far less tact. The two girls stood together, out in Rainbow’s back yard, which, as one would expect of a girl like her, was filled with a great number of sports equipment, from footballs to hockey sticks. Right now though, they weren’t involved in any of it, and simply stood on the grass, staring at each other. Sour was looking quite taken aback, while Rainbow just stood there, hands on hips, looking more than a little pleased with herself.

“You heard me. I want you to let it all out.”

Sour raised an eyebrow at that.

“Okay, you may want to just, you know, add context to that, Dash.”

Rainbow let out a brief chuckle.

“Look, I know you and I haven’t exactly spent a lot of time together, but I think it’s safe to say that it was kinda obvious that you’re holding a whole bunch of bad stuff in you, and that’s not cool.”

To that, Sour narrowed her eyes somewhat.

“Not cool? Not exactly the best way to describe it.”

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders.

“Maybe. But I call it like I see it, and what I see in you is someone who has a lot on her chest. So go ahead, just let it out. Whatever bad stuff you wanna say, just say it.”

Sour, for the first time in this conversation, actually looked quite hesitant, as her eyes darted from left to right, as if the eyes of the world were on her. Seeing this, Rainbow let out a hearty chuckle.

“Don’t worry about it! There’s nobody here to judge you! It’s just you and me!”

Even in spite of that little pep talk, Sour was remaining hesitant on the whole matter.

“Look…I…I appreciate what you’re trying to do. It’s just…it’s not the kinda thing you can just…you know…let out. I mean…you know what people are like, right?”

To that, Rainbow nodded.

“Sure. Everyone out there in school or society, or whatever you wanna call it, they just go on and on about saying how we’re all supposed to be nice and sweet with each other and not say bad things and blah blah blah.”

Looking right at Sour yet again, Rainbow started to frown a little.

“But you know what? That’s not right! Yeah, I know it’s nice to be…well…nice. But that doesn’t mean we just ignore it if we wanna feel bad stuff. I mean, if someone were to come up top me and tell me I had to just never say what was on my mind, no matter how bad it was, I’d tell em to get lost!”

Sour looked away from her, hesitancy still plastered all over her face.

“It’s just…our school…”

But, she was stopped, as Rainbow took a step forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“We’re not at your school! And we’re not at mine either. We’re here, and here, you can say what you want. So…go ahead.”

Sour looked at her, and saw nothing but honesty in Rainbow’s expression. However, it was as clear as day to Rainbow that Sour was still going to find it difficult. It was like telling a person with a fear of water to just jump in the deep end. A few words weren’t going to cut it, and Rainbow knew that. So, sighing, she put a hand behind her head and started scratching there, thinking over what to do. Moments later, a look appeared on her face that probably should have come along with a flashing lightbulb above her head, and soon, she was darting behind the nearby shed of the back yard, all while Sour looked on with confusion. Moments later, Rainbow re-emerged, with what was undoubtedly a punching bag in her hands.

“I got this idea from my friend, Aria. I think you met her, right?”

Sour nodded in confirmation, prompting Rainbow to continue.

“Well, she had a lot of anger issues to, and she took to dishing it out on things like these to help her. I figured, maybe it’ll work for you too.”

Sour took on a sceptical look at that, but remained silent as Rainbow tied the punching bag so that it was now hanging from the branch of a nearby tree. After checking to make sure it was tied up properly and sturdy, the rainbow-haired girl gave it a quick pat before turning to Sour with a smirk.

“Go ahead. Give it a few whacks.”

Sour was, admittedly, still unsure about all this, but it was clear to her that Rainbow wasn’t going to let go of this, and so let out a sigh. Walking over, she gave the bag a quick look over, turning briefly to Rainbow, who was still smirking, before looking back to the bag in earnest. After pausing for a few moments, she raised a hand, balling it into a fist, before delivering a quick blow to the thing. It was hardly a massive punch, and yet, there was something about it that caused Sour to feel just the tiniest bit relieved. Seeing that look on her face, Rainbow slapped a hand down on her shoulder as she spoke.

“There we go! Now then…Why don’t we start this again? Something small this time. Like…like the food they serve over at Crystal Prep. Took a look at it once. Wasn’t a fan. How do you feel about it?”

Sour looked to her, and then back to the bag. Raising a hand, she delivered another blow, albeit slightly stronger than the last.

“I…I don’t like it. I mean, I understand that the chefs are supposed to be these big and fancy names, but…”

Gradually, a deeper frown appeared on the girl’s face.

“…but come on! There’s all that space on the plate and the portion is only a mouthful! I’m no chef, but I’m fairly certain that a meal isn’t supposed to leave you more hungry than what you started!”

Another, more powerful blow was dealt to the bag.

“And it’s not just Crystal Prep! There’s this guy at a café in town, I can’t stand him! Always going on about his coffee and stuff! Apparently he’s never actually tasted it, because it’s the most bitter and disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted! And he has the nerve to charge ten bucks for it!”

Another punch was dealt, and this once caused the bag to move backwards quite a bit. Rainbow watched, satisfied in her particular brand of therapy, but stayed silent as Sour continued.

“And you know what I really can’t stand? Some of my classmates! I can’t tell you how many of the guys at Crystal Prep go about with this sneer and smirk on their faces, like they’re the best thing to ever happen to that place! It makes me sick! I mean sure, we’re supposed to act like we’re better than other schools, but you don’t have to dial it up to eleven, guys!”

The next punch was particularly powerful, prompting Rainbow to take a step back.

“And Cinch! Oh, that high-and-mighty Principal can just take her precious legacy and just cram it! No offense to Sunny or anything, but her Mom is so friggin obsessed with making this school so prim and proper than you wonder if she wasn’t just born with a stick jammed right up her…!”

“Aaaaand I think we’re done!”

Sour turned, looking to Rainbow for the first time since this punching session began. For a moment, she wondered why she’d been stopped, however, that soon changed when she began to look up, and saw, to her slight horror, that she’d been punching the bag so much that the branch had nearly snapped off the tree. Immediately, she took on an apologetic look, clearing her throat in a nervous manner. Almost instinctively, she began to speak in the typical “sweet” way that she had so often used as a mask in the past.

“I’m…I’m sorry! I just kinda got carried away there, and…”

But, she was stopped form saying anything further, as Rainbow raised a hand, looking to her with a smile.

“Hey, it’s no biggie, Sour. I asked you to do this remember?”

But Sour looked away, still looking more than a little guilty.

“I know, it’s just…those things I said…I’m not supposed to…”

However, she didn’t get the chance to finish, as Rainbow placed her hand upon her shoulder, gaining her attention.

“Sour…people get angry. It’s only natural. Bottling it up because you’re worried about what others will think of you…that isn’t right. It’s not good for you, and you know it.”

Slowly, a smile crept onto Rainbow‘s face.

“Being angry at stuff isn’t a crime. Telling people they should feel bad about feeling angry…that is. Well...it isn't, but it should be!”

A silence fell between them, and Sour looked more than a little conflicted. She turned, looking at the punching bag she’d used to take out her frustrations. If there was one thing she could not deny, it was that having a moment, however brief, to just cut loose and say what she wanted, it felt good. In this moment, relief like she hadn’t known for a long time began to wash over her, and in this place, in the knowledge that she wasn’t being judged for being angry, she let out a contented sigh, turning to Rainbow with a small smile.

“Thanks, Dash.”

Chuckling, Rainbow merely shrugged her shoulders.

“Hey, no problem. That’s what friends do.”