Mkali had always been a devoted teacher, giving out lessons whenever the small colt asked him anything. The colt wasn’t always ready for fifteen minutes on how a gentle stallion should behave, but always gave his best effort to pay attention anyway. This trend continued as Haki asked his beloved father why it was that they were buying flowers from the shop.
“Mares must always be treated with respect Haki, when you meet one that you know is dear to you after some time away, or meet one that you know will be dear to you, it is traditional to bring gifts of flowers. All of these that we will be seeing today are going to be in our lives for quite a while, so I am procuring a gift of flowers for each of them.”
Haki lights up with a smile, immediately moving to gather a few flowers from the shop, “So I need to get them flowers too.”
Mkali places a hoof on Haki’s shoulder, “My gifts will be enough so you don’t need to get flowers for them yourself.”
The Ryde to their new home took hours, taking even longer for Haki who couldn’t color in his book with the bumps on the road, quickly getting frustrated with the lines extending across the page. His mother and father on either side of him kept him feeling warm and calm despite the uncomfortable feeling of his outfit, and he was able to sleep against his mother for the majority of the trip, though she woke him up fixing his mane as they approached the house.
The first thing he noticed was how much darker his new neighborhood was, no tall buildings, just short little houses with ice covered lawns. His mother whispers to his father but he can’t quite hear what she is saying, wriggling as soon as they pull to a stop, very ready to move his little legs again.
Haki’s blazer wasn’t meant for such cold but he barely noticed that as he saw Mr. Wind from his father’s video chats open the door to greet the family, and begin helping unload the luggage despite the grateful dismissal of Mkali. Haki of course grabbed the largest bag he could carry showing off his coltly strength.
Practically prancing into the house, he saw a living room full of ponies and griffins that he had never met before, three adult ponies, and two griffinesses, and a filly sat with snacks ready for entertainment and celebrating before the work of setting up the rooms for the new members of the household could commence.
With some hesitancy he puts the bag next to the door, not sure where to go with it, but doing his best to stay out of the way of his dad, and Mr. wind. His father follows suit with the placement of the large bags greeting the new people with familiarity, and passing out flowers to the griffenesses the mare and… one of the stallions. Mom must have been correct in saying that Dad was a little dumb sometimes. The adults laughed and the stallion blushed, but Haki didn’t quite get why it was funny.
The mare nudged the little filly, who obediently walked over to Haki. The little filly dressed in a rainbow of mixed colors clearly having dressed herself with a sock from four different sets none of which even remotely matched, and a bright pink jacket that didn’t quite match her gray coat. She gave a wide smile, held a hoof to her chest and introduced herself with a “Hi, I’m Gale, what’s your name?”
Haki couldn’t help but notice the most important feature. This filly had not been given a flower. He held up a hoof with a, “Hold on,” before he darted off in search of a flower in the back of the car. Finding no spare flowers from his father's suppy, he dashed back into the house and past a now pouting Gale, clearly upset by the fact that he didn’t have a flower for her. His mom raised an eyebrow at him, but there wasn’t time to explain his mission.
Scouring the depths of the forign building rewarded Haki with a treasure trove. A bountiful array of flowers behind only one locked door. A fitting reward for an adventurer such as himself. Still the bushes in the corners of the room confronted him with different types of flowers. Clearly he was going to need to pick the most beautiful one for making the little filly wait. The filly already had lots of colors so she could have a white flower like the other mares. He judged the plants carefully and decided the white roses were the perfect pick, and the ones he could reach without climbing onto the counters. He still had to stretch, putting both forehooves into the pot soil, the plant cutting at his muzzle and drawing blood from his lip as he gripped the rose’s stem, cutting through it with his teeth.
The little colt returned, victorious. Mud on his forehooves and a cut on his lip badges of adventure. He walked up to the little filly offering her the rose, and as she took it he spoke “Dad said mares deserve flowers, so I had to make sure a pretty filly like you got one too. I’m Haki.”
The little mare, rose in her teeth, turned red as the adults started to laugh. Haki looked up at them, confusion evident on his face. “Flowers for a mare, isn’t that what’s fair?” The little filly’s father smiled at Haki replying with “Gale is a colt.”