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// The Pink Ballon 
// Story: Tick. Tock. Tick. 
// by Dezmo 
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Sometimes there is an end for things, be it a tree or a bug, They both end up in the ground sooner or later. Even the rulers of the land breath their last breaths in the ground, along with their peasants, their parents, and everything before them. Every animal that ever has, and ever will be, on this planet will end in it. Every tree and blade of grass that hold the earth together is soon sent under to its own death. Rock will form, born from the lands moving around, shaping its way towards the sky only to be weathered down into a small pebble, then dust on a beach. The very land itself rises from the belly of a volcano only to be drowned by the mighty sea. And yet why is it that when everything has an end that this one memory never ceases to, well, cease?

It was a simple thing at first. A pink balloon. just floating along the trail when I plucked it out of the warm sunny sky. I'm not entirely sure why I grabbed it, but I did, and once I held it in my magic I knew at once this was no ordinary balloon. You see my first thought was to give me a quick burst of humor and pop it, yet when I so much thought of hurting it I felt the most peculiar feeling to just giggle at the absurdity of hurting the balloon. Once I cleared any notion of harming the balloon in any way the feeling left me, leaving a small but noticeable hole where I got my sudden joy from.

That was not the only sign it gave me proving it would not leave. It would float ever so close to the ground never rising, never falling. When the wind would pick up it would get its string snagged on a root, or a bush if one was nearby. When it would get extremely hot or cold during my travels it would seek shade in my cart. Ever so slightly pushed by an unknown wind to float underneath its tarp protecting my wares. At first I was unnerved by this, thing, when I first realized it was not going to leave me anytime soon. The fact that it seemed to operate like a being with a mind was off putting as well. It sought out shelter when danger was nearby, and bumped against me when I was in distress. Soon though it became a companion of mine, giving me the oddly feeling to giggle. The feeling of facing my fears no matter how much I was scared.

This was until I met rock. A rock that nearly killed me. You see i was traveling underneath a cliff at them time when suddenly the balloon is gushed off by a sudden wind! Its been weeks since I first found it and with it being suddenly taken away from me I most certainly dashed to catch it. Yet once I got a mere distance away from my running start a loud thud shook the earth from behind me causing myself to trip. The balloon bopped my head telling me it was there and to get up. I got up on my shaky legs and admired the destruction of my cart. All from a rock the size of my hoof. It was not until I tried to pick up the rock did I realize how incredibly heavy it was. That explains why in such a small size it broke my cart. Oddly enough, or rather not oddly enough, when I tied the rock to the balloon it simply floated instead of plummeting to the earth. This small indestructible balloon could hold a rock that annihilated a cart from a few paces high. I try not to question it often.

Along my travels, now with less provisions, left me constantly hungry. My cart held a huge amount of food to keep me fed for this journey yet I could only take so much with me having to leave so much behind. Hell, I even balanced a loaf of bread atop the rock holding balloon, It balanced out and stayed. I ate the floating loaf bread last, ceasing my growling stomach for a short while. Now officially out of food I was back to hunting berries and fruits, grass was going to keep me alive but I was not going to like it. I spent a whole day searching, even with the help of the balloon, only to find a cherry tree and some acorns. I ate all the cherries I could and tied the extras on the balloon and used the rock to smash open the tough shells of the nuts.

Along the road I went, a floating balloon carrying cherries and a rock, with a pack full of nuts carried by me. Its been a hectic journey getting through that canyon but it was well rewarded when I entered the jungle. Small animals seemed to thrive in this woods yet everyone would run away from me despite my friendly attitude, the balloon bounced in what I assumed laughter. Yet on the most odd nights of the month a squirrel got trapped by the string of the balloon. How the balloon managed to trap a squirrel was beyond me and i instead focused on getting it free, but every time I tried to get close the animal would turn extremely violent. Now I know the balloon has proven time and time again about its indestructibility but I would rather not test it. And so I waited. Not that long actually, come night time the squirrel lost its anger and soon just wanted to be let free. I assumed it must have been hungry and thirsty so i gave it a few of my nuts and a sturdy leaf bowl of water from a nearby stream. It drank and ate to its heart content and turns out that must have been why it was so hostile to began with, it was hungry.

Almost immediately after finishing its meal did the mood of the squirrel switch. Instead of its boastful claws and sharp teeth I only got a shy look from it while it tried to hide behind the string of the balloon. In a way it was almost cute seeing the squirrel like that. When I finally untied the string from its leg, again I had no clue how it got stuck on there, I was pleasantly surprised to see the squirrel jump onto my back and and hop onto my head. Seems to me it wanted to repay the favor of feeding her. She grabbed my mane and tugged my head to face a certain direction, that must be my destination point. And so with a floating balloon carrying a rock, a bag full of nuts, and a squirrel perched upon my head I set off in that direction.

Grass. Grass was all i could see for miles and miles beyond those miles. This did not bode well seeing as how I survived off the tree bearing fruit and bushes of berries. And yet the squirrel just dashed off as if there was nothing to worry about. Well turns out dashing off into an uncharted flat land can get even the best squirrel lost. So here i am standing in the middle of the biggest flat land Ive ever seen with a near empty bag of nuts and a very panicky squirrel. It was the second night we spent in the plains and I was getting desperate enough to eat the grass. It tasted odd but soon it turned dull and I had to quickly swallow it lest it turns into a mushy foul paste in my mouth. That night though something strange happened. The normally quiet squirrel jumped up onto my head and pointed at a bright star in the night. Now I'm not one to turn down a good view when I see one but I was urgently trying to find food at the moment so I lowered my head back down. Only to be pulled right back up with a stern look from the squirrel. I would seem she wanted me to start traveling again, at night, where I could not see my hooves in front of me. Another tug and a soft sigh I lead the way.

I followed that bright star for days while in the plains. Only traveling by night and living off the land, me and the squirrel both lost weight and yet we still pressed onwards, towards who knows what. We finally hit a hill right next to a mountain directly underneath the star, shining in its odd soft light. I rested my head on my hooves and promptly fell asleep until the morning sun greeted my closed eyes. Along with the squirrel trying to dig into my bag. Its been empty for days now and seeing her try to find anything in it was a sad sight, I needed to find food soon or she could starve to death. Yet when I tried to get her to follow me she insisted to keep looking in the bag, so I humored her. She would get hungry soon and I would cart her off to find some food. Yet before I even sat down the balloon holding the rock floated over the empty bag and promptly let loose the rock onto it ripping a hole. The squirrel squeaked in fright and I just looked with shock. Sitting in the newly made hole was an acorn. I must have fallen through the seams and got stuck in between the sheets of cloth that made up the bag. No sooner did I see the nut the squirrel dash for it and took off towards the top of the hill, with me giving chase along with the balloon yet again holding the rock. By the time i caught up with the squirrel did I notice a fresh mound of earth piled neatly on top of the hill. She motioned to the pile and attempted to make the shape of the nut with her paws, I got the message.

Now I was just about to tell her that just because you planted a seed it does not mean its going to grow the next few minutes and feed us. What happens next makes the balloon seem normal. Suddenly a huge gust of wind kicked up and storm cloud follow in it wake. A full blown storm appeared in mere seconds and soon it was pouring water! I lost sight of the mountain as the heavy rain battered me and the squirrel as we both huddled in fear. The balloon was taking a beating too so I had to shield it with my hooves. My magic would normally form a decent shield but with the loud wind in my ears and the steady blows of stinging rain i could not get myself to focus. Then it got worst, thunder roared across the skies and lighting stung the earth. Soon it was going off every second, flashes of light, booms and thuds of thunder, a never ending bombardment of sound and light. Eventually I was blown off my belly and sent flying into the air, lighting striking the small mound of dirt. When I picked myself up I noticed the squirrel still latched onto my mane, along with the balloon tied to a lock of my hair.

Finally things got interesting. The rain now stop its all out onslaught and soon lighting was striking the dirt mound with all of its force. Thunder boomed in the echo of each strike on the poor dirt mound. A rainbow was forming from the soft drizzle of the rain and then the most unimaginable thing happened. The tree started to grow. It grew every time it was struck by lighting.

BOOM! It sprouted into a small twig.

BOOM! It grew a couple of leaves.

BOOM! It double its height and added its very first branch with a single leaf on it.

BOOM! Its size grew once more along with sprouting new branches.

BOOM! Its trunk was now as thick as my hoof and about my height.

BOOM! it shot up growing so fast the earth cracked underneath it.

BOOM! The roots protruded from to ground unable to stay underneath.

BOOM! It was a fully matured tree by now. Branches spreading in every direction with a full set of leaves.

BOOM! And to add one last touch apples started to form.

BOOM! One apple.

BOOM! Four more.

BOOM! Ten more.

BOOM! Soon it was covered in apples.

Then things went deathly silent, the rain still persisted along with the rainbow it created. The Star above shined as bright as ever. The Balloon took the rock the the base of the tree and floated next to it. The squirrel shook itself and ran to the tree and proceeded to eat its apples. I just stood there wet, confused, deaf, and hungry. Oh and now a dragon was flying down towards me. I saw him take off from the mountain top, I knew dragons existed but I never meet one personally. I saw it glide in the sky slowly making its way down to me. I normally would have ran but after living through that storm i was to shocked to move, so i just watched, and waited for him to land.

And boy did he land, with one last flap of his large wings to not crash into the ground he landed and shook me off my feet, along with the squirrel falling out of the tree. I just sat there, looking at him expectantly. I had no idea what i was doing so I just sat there and studied him. He was a dragon no doubt, a dark green color with a purple hint on his scales that stuck out away from his body. He also studied me, My small half starved unicorn body weary from traveling.

"What did you do pony?" He asked. I knew it was a he by how deep his voice resonated in the sky.

"This land has not seen a tree in many years and yet here, in under an hour one springs up from the earth after a mighty storm." He continuously talks without stopping. I let him since I have no notion of interrupting a dragon that could eat me in one small bite.

"This hill is special, along with the land it resides on. Tell me pony, why come all this way to preform such amazing magic only to sprout a single apple tree?" He asked softly.

I responded with only a shrug. And at that moment the rock carrying balloon hit the dragon in the head. He looked confused for a second until he turned his head. He stared at that balloon for a long time and just when I thought about saying something me gently rose his claw and grabbed the rock. He then proceeded to smash it in his hands causing a small cloud of dust to forma round his claw. My mouth shot open. Not because he destroyed the rock, but that when the dust settled it turned out to be a diamond. A diamond that was stuck in a rock. He then tied the rock- i mean diamond back to the balloon who happily floated back to the tree. Out came the squirrel next, who normally  should have been shy, gave him a huge hug on one of his talons on the floor. He noticed my gaze and looked down at the unassuming animal and actually smiled. The squirrel soon climbed his head and softly yet eagerly pull his snout up making him look into the night sky. He saw the glowing bright star. To which I swore I saw tears in his eyes. He looked down at the tree again and admired the fruit it proudly bore. Its trunk was a rich brown and its size was incredible. He then looked back up into the sky and followed the trail the rainbow made, leading from his mountain top to a spot past the forest I came through.

"Thank you." He said softly. I was confused.

"I don't know what to say but thank you." He took a sharp intake of breath and let it out in a slow calming manner.

"I will repay you one day pony. I promise." He was smiling now. Sitting next to the apple tree who housed a now sleeping squirrel, a floating diamond tied to a balloon, underneath the soft glow of the bright star and the spectacular rainbow.

I just simply nodded my head and got up. Chose a random direction. And started to walk.