I whistle a happy music while I walk through the Ponyville streets, thinking about yesterday's flight. If I close my eyes, I can almost feel the cool high altitude wind still caressing my whole body.
I wave to Granny Smith, who is crossing the street. She waves back to me.
I hear somepony call my name. “Flora!”
I recognize him by his voice. He's Cobble, a young unicorn. He has the same age as me, and he's my best friend at school.
“Cobble! Where have you been?” I run to hug him.
“Grounded for a whole week! Mom caught me playing with a kite again.”
“Again? That's the sixth time she's grounded you just this month!”
“What can I do? I love playing with kites! When I grow up, I want my cutie mark to be a kite!”
I giggle.
“So, Flora, did anything happen while I was stuck at home?”
“Not much. Rainbow is still trying to make me fly. I went to the farm and played with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo the day before yesterday.”
“So I only missed one day of fun. Great! So, which games did you play?”
“We started with hide-and-seek, but they always got me so fast! If you were there, you'd win all the time, since you're so great at hiding!”
“Yeah, you're really bad at hiding.“ He disappears behind a tree. “How about I teach you?” He pokes his head from behind the tree. “So next time, they'll have two great-at-hiding ponies to find!”
“Sounds great!” I hide behind a tree.
“Your tail is showing!”
I giggle and try to hide better.
-*-*-*-
With our coats wet with sweat from running around playing hide-and-seek, we sit together on a desk at a small open-air restaurant.
We come often to this place. The owner greets us, asks about our parents, and takes our order.
We eat our sandwiches and drink our juice, while we talk about the other games I played at Apple Bloom's farm.
After our lunch, we go to the market, where we meet Applejack selling apples.
“Hi, Flora! Hi, Cobble!”
“Good evening, Applejack!” I answer.
“Good evening! Two apples, please!”
I didn't see where Cobble got the bits to pay for the apples. He got a few lessons from Pinkie Pie some time ago, and now he has hiding spots everywhere. He likes to take things from his hiding spots when other ponies are distracted, to make they appear to come from nowhere.
He gives me one of the apples, and we say goodbye to Applejack.
He closes his eyes, and eats his apple slowly, one bite at a time.
I'm curious. “Why are you doing that, Cobble?”
“I'm pretending this is a big, sweet candy apple! It's delicious!”
I giggle. “Seriously? Was this one of Pinkie's ideas?”
He laughs. “No, it wasn't. I don't know where I got this idea, but it works!”
We're now at a nearly deserted side street. Cobble looks to one side, then to the other. Satisfied that we're alone, he quickly dives into a corner and returns carrying a large kite.
For some reason, seeing him playing with a kite always makes me nervous.
He runs until the kite is airborne, and pulls on the string to control it.
He continues to run and pull on the string, until the kite is flying above the trees.
“Isn't it pretty?” he says with a smile. “This is the best kite I've made so far!”
-*-*-*-
I watch the events unfold in slow motion.
A gust of wind pushes the kite, entangling it with a high tree branch, near the roof of a house.
To retrieve the kite, Cobble begins to climb the tree.
I unfold my wings as wide as I can.
Cobble grabs another low branch, and pulls himself a bit higher.
With a strong flap of my wings, I jump into the air.
Cobble turns his head and looks at me.
I fly to the top of the tree and grab the kite.
He loses his footing, and slips back to the ground.
I float down to meet him, carrying the kite with me.
That was dangerous!
-*-*-*-
“You can fly, Flora!”
I say nothing. My heart is beating fast, and my legs are trembling.
I look behind Cobble. He follows my gaze and sees his mother, pale as if she had seen a ghost.
She runs to my friend and embraces him, crying.
“Mom?”
She doesn't answer, and continues to hug him.
“I totally am grounded again, aren't I?”