Chapter 5: Possible Brain Damage and More Kites (I’m not Kidding)
“What do you mean you don’t have any?” Phoenix asked angrily, nostrils flaring.
He was in Gold Standard’s shop, at the counter, with a number of things he intended to purchase – medicine, certain plant parts, a new book, and so on. The shop, however, lacked one thing in stock that he needed – iris petals.
“I’m sorry.” Gold Standard said, trying to maintain a polite disposition. “But we stopped ordering them – you were the only one who ever bought them.”
“Well, I need those.” Phoenix said. “Oh, forget it. Just give me what I bought-“
He didn’t even remember to use magic to carry it out, instead just grabbing the bag in his mouth and storming out of the shop. Coincidentally, Raincloud entered at the same time.
“Well, he seems uncharacteristically cheerful today.” She said.
“Lookie!” Shouted Ritardando, bursting through the storeroom door. “Lookie what I found!”
Raincloud and Gold Standard looked at the black colt and saw him standing there with an acoustic guitar hanging around his neck by a strap, a full-toothed grin plastered on his face.
“We had a guitar back there all this time?” Goldie asked, surprised.
“I know! Isn’t it great?” Ritardando asked, bouncing excitedly.
“Just remember you need to restock the shelves,” Goldie said. The grin quickly fell from Ritardando’s face.
“Oops…” he said. “I forgot.”
“That’s okay, just do it.” Goldie said patiently. Ritardando promptly ran back into the storeroom.
“You know,” Raincloud said, looking over several large sheets of colored paper, “when I first met him, I swore he and Phoenix had the exact same voice. But I think I found a difference.”
“What’s that?” Goldie asked.
“Ritardando drags out his vowels a little longer. You got any other colors?”
Ritardando hastily emerged from the storeroom, carrying probably too many large boxes on his back. Hastily, he stacked the boxes on their respective shelves.
“Done!” he said, exasperated. “Can I go for a walk?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Gold Standard spotted one box that was backwards. Quickly and subtly, she used her magic to remove the box and turn it around without Ritardando noticing. “Hmm?” she asked, paying more attention to the aforementioned than to the request.
“I did what you told me to.” He said quietly. “I’d like to take a little walk around town.”
Gold Standard looked at the clock. Despite his distraction with the guitar, he had actually finished his chores in a decent amount of time. “I guess so. Just make sure you’re back by three.”
“Okay!” Ritardando said, merrily trotting out the front door.
“Maybe I should have him as a door greeter…” Goldie said to herself.
As Ritardando began his walk through the town, he came by an apple tree. Seeing a piece of fruit hanging, he decided to try bucking the tree, but he stopped when he saw a blue jay sitting there, preening its feathers.
He smiled, forgetting about the apple. He did the one thing that came naturally – that is, he started belting out a song.
“Oh jaybird, sittin’ on a hick’ry limb
He winked at me and I winked at him
I picked up my brickbat
An’ hit him on the chin.
‘Looka here, little boy, don’t you do that agin!’”
“Shut up!” yelled a voice, as there was a shattering sound near Ritardando’s hooves. He jumped, looking down. It was a broken flowerpot. He looked back up and saw a window on a nearby building shut, in front of which there was a row of flowerpots with a noticeable gap. He looked back at the tree and saw that the jay had flown off, likely startled by either the song or the flowerpot.
He looked down and saw that there’d been a sunflower in the pot. Remembering he was hungry, he decided to make that his afternoon snack.
It was at this point that Raincloud, laden with saddlebags, passed him. “Was that you singing?” she asked.
“You’re not going to throw a flowerpot at me, are you?” Ritardando asked quietly.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Raincloud said, walking on past him. Ritardando, however, followed her. Raincloud, not being an idiot, noticed this. “What?” she asked.
“What’s in the bags?” Ritardando asked.
“Just… stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” Ritardando asked. “Is it stuff for Kite?”
Raincloud stopped. “Huh?”
“Is it stuff for Kite?” Ritardando asked. “I saw you the other day – you bought some stuff and gave it to Kite.”
“Well, yes I did.” She said, resuming the walk. “Just don’t tell Goldie about it.”
“Um, okay…” Ritardando asked. “So, what is it?”
“It’s kite-making materials. String, paper, cloth, that sort of thing.”
“Kite-making…” Ritardando repeated, pondering it over. “But the store sells kites.”
“Well, she doesn’t want any of those.”
They eventually came to a small cottage that had a disproportionate number of windows. Raincloud walked up to the front door (which also had a large window on it) and knocked.
Ritardando quietly walked up to one of the many windows and peered inside. Looked like any normal house, but it seemed like the kitchen, living room, and dining room were all mashed together into one big room, and there was a large door around the middle.
“It’s not really polite to pry.” Raincloud said. Ritardando jumped.
“Sorry…” he said, backing up.
Seeing that Kite wasn’t answering the knock, Raincloud pushed the doorbell.
“Yes?” asked a voice behind them. They turned around, seeing it was Kite.
“That explains why she didn’t come when you knocked,” said Ritardando, stating the obvious. Kite, meanwhile, was holding a kite he hadn’t seen before – it was a delta kite, and it was bright pink. “Well?” she asked, looking at Raincloud. “What do you think?”
Raincloud’s expression was unchanged. “I told you, I don’t like pink.”
“Ah, well,” Kite said, shrugging. “Thought it might be funny.” She reasoned, opening the door. “Hi, Ritardando – what are you doing?”
“Following me.” Raincloud said.
“Well, I saw that she’d bought a bunch of stuff and was bringing it to you, so I wanted to see.” Ritardando said. “She says you make kites.”
“Yep. Want to come see them?” she asked. Ritardando nodded. “Alrighty, then, just follow me.”
She led them into her house, towards the mysterious door. Opening it, Ritardando saw a long staircase leading down somewhere. Fortunately, it was well-lit, so he didn’t have cause to be scared.
“So,” Kite asked, “You’re a musician?”
“Yep” Ritardando said.
“We don’t get a lot of those here,” Kite said as they reached the bottom of the stairs, in front of yet another large door. “Well, ready to see my workshop?” she asked, grinning. Opening the doors, more light flooded in, and Ritardando stared in shock.
The room was a giant workshop, the walls lined with all kinds of kites in every shape and color workable.
“I make all kinds.” Kite said, walking in. “I get the materials – paper, cloth, string, wood for the frames, and I put them together. I make diamond kites, delta kites, dragon kites, box kites, fighter kites, arch kites, bag kites, c-kites, bow kites…”
Ritardando blinked. “So… you like kites?” he asked, walking further into the room.
Kite chuckled. “Yeah. But I guess that’s to be expected. It’s always been my life’s calling. That’s probably why I got my cutie mark. I remember I got it the first time I flew a homemade kite. It was the happiest I’d ever been.” She sat down, off in her memories.
“What is it you like about them so much?” he asked.
Kite paused. She thought. She’d never really considered that question. “I… I don’t know.” She said. “I guess it’s hard to explain. I mean, why does anything like anything? Why do you like music, I-”
“Because it’s beautiful.” Ritardando said quietly, cutting her off. There was an awkward silence in the room.
“Anyway,” Raincloud said, “I brought you the supplies you wanted.”
“Wonderful!” Kite said, peering into the bags. “Thanks a bunch.”
“Why do you need to make your own kites?” Ritardando asked. “I mean, we sell kites-”
“You sell one kite.” Kite said, walking over to the wall. “And I already have it.” She indicated a blue-and-white diamond kite. “It’s not that it’s a bad kite or anything, it’s just it’s the only one you sell. I mean… imagine if you had one song, and that was the only song you had.”
“Huh.” Ritardando said. “That wouldn’t be as good as having a lot of songs.”
“Exactly!”
“Meanwhile, the rest of us are unable to tell the difference.” Raincloud said.
“There are differences!” Kite and Ritardando protested.
“Well, in any case, I have to go. Weather management is going to be mad if I’m late for the breeze again.” She said, turning to go up the stairs.
“I guess I should go, too,” Ritardando said (Raincloud gave a sigh – Oh, am I ever going to get away from this guy?)
“Well, see ya later.” Kite said as Ritardando followed Raincloud up the stairs.
“You know,” Raincloud said, after they left the house, “I never got why she likes kites so much either. Now that you ask, I guess she doesn’t have a reason.”
“Well,” Ritardando said. “Maybe she does have a reason, and just doesn’t know how to say it. I mean, well, I don’t always know how to say things.”
“Well, what do you think her reason is?” she asked.
“Um…” Ritardando thought. “Well, I dunno. Maybe it’s like what I said, and she thinks they’re beautiful.”
“Lots of things are beautiful. Doesn’t mean you have to obsess over them.” She said.
“Well, I’m just saying.” He said. “Maybe I don’t know, but maybe she knows, and you sorta just know, y’know?”
There was an awkward pause.
“No.” She shook her head. “Ugh. I need to get back to my job,” she sighed, spreading her wings and jumping into the air.
“See ya…” Ritardando said.
He realized that he should probably be getting back to the shop. However, on the way back, he passed that apple tree and decided that he would like to have that apple after all. Licking his lips, he walked up to the tree, turned around, and bucked it. As expected, the apple fell to the ground. Not as expected, however-
“WHAT are you doing?” roared somepony else’s voice. Ritardando jumped. It was a large, scary-looking colt. “See that sign there?”
The colt indicated a sign nearby: “Do Not Kick the Trees.”
Ritardando looked at it, flustered.
“What’s the matter with you? Can’t you read?” the colt asked, bearing down on him.
“I-I-I-I…” Ritardando stammered, backing up.
“Are you stupid or something?”
Then, Ritardando slipped on the apple. He stumbled over and crashed into the wall of a nearby building with a painful-sounding THUD.
“Ugh…” Ritardando groaned, regaining his footing. He looked at the colt, who had a look of horror on his face.
“Look out!” he shouted.
“Huh?” Ritardando asked. And then it hit him. A flowerpot, right on his head. On impact, it shattered, covering his head in dirt.
“Oh, no no no no…” the other colt stammered. “Stay here, I gotta get help!”
Ritardando blinked, not taking everything in, but trying to stand up straight. His head was awash with sounds and voices.
“Look out!... Why don’t you pay attention?... Are you stupid or something?... Retard… Italian?... Can you hear me?... Shut up!... Watch where you’re going!... Retard… Ritardando!”
“Ritardando!” a voice seemed to be shouting in his face.
“Uh?” Ritardando groaned, looking around. He was in his bed at Gold Standard’s shop. Constable Brownie was hovering near him.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I… I” Ritardando leaned up, and a cloth fell off of his head.
“No, stay down.” Brownie said, having him lie back down and placing the cold, damp cloth back on his head. “Somepony came running to me for help. A flowerpot fell and hit you on the head.”
“But he’ll be okay, right?” Gold Standard asked.
“He’ll be fine,” Brownie said. “He just has to take it easy for the next couple days. He should stay in bed for the rest of the day, and don’t have him do any hard work for a while. That means no heavy lifting or errand-running. It’ll probably be best to keep an eye on him for the rest of the day.”
“I’ll have to go down and close up the shop, then,” Goldie said, turning and exiting the room.
“Did I do something wrong?” Ritardando asked.
“No, nothing like that. It seems like entirely somepony else’s fault.” Brownie said. “Leaving their flowers too close to the edge. You just need to be careful and watch out. In the meantime, just stay in here for a while. Keep things easy and quiet.”
“Is there anything else I can do?” Gold Standard asked, walking back in.
“No, I think he’ll be fine. Just fetch me if there are any problems.” Brownie said, walking to the door. “Have a good day,” she said, leaving the room and heading down the stairs and out of the shop.
“Kite brought you something,” Goldie said, levitating something with her horn. It was a kite (obviously). More specifically, a black delta kite with what a white staff and notes on it.
“Ooh…” Ritardando said, taking and holding it. “Black! How’d she guess?”