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// 97 Stream by bahatumay 
// Story: 'Rhythm & Harmony: Fantasy Embrace' OctaScratch Prompt Collab 
// by Divine Path 
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                                                                              Stream by bahatumay

It was a peaceful afternoon. The breeze was gentle, and blew Octavia's mane back, carrying with it the fresh scent of water and life. Birds sang in the trees high above, and grasses rustled.

She stepped off the path (much to the chagrin of the white unicorn behind her) and traveled through stomach-high grass, her hooves naturally picking out the safest path. She ignored Vinyl's grunts of surprise and hesitation; she did not have quite the connection to the earth that Octavia did.

Finally, she arrived. Octavia looked around and then took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled slowly. “We're here,” she announced.
Vinyl stumbled to a stop close behind her and lifted her sunglasses. “Where's 'here'?” she asked, looking around. “There's, like, nothing here.”

“There is plenty here,” Octavia chided gently. “You just have to slow down and see it.” She lay down on the grass and looked across the stream. 

“There are birds singing, there is a gentle breeze, the stream is flowing briskly, and the earth feels alive today.”

“Pshh,” Vinyl said dismissively. “Do I look like the kind of mare that slows down?”

“You really don't,” Octavia admitted, “but I suppose in time you will learn to also enjoy the simpler things of life.”

Vinyl lit her horn and retrieved a cookie from Octavia's saddlebag. “This is a simple thing, right?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows.
Octavia, long since used to Vinyl's antics, snatched it out of the air without looking and placed it back into her bag. “Not yet,” she said. “Spend some time out here with me.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes, but she stepped closer to Octavia and lay down beside her.  

They lay there for a while. Octavia breathed deeply, relaxing.

Vinyl shifted in place. She tapped her hooves and looked around. Her patience ran out in a few seconds, and she fidgeted constantly.
Octavia calmly continued laying there and breathing slowly, even as Vinyl continued to squirm.

Vinyl jumped up. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Octavia asked, half suspecting a diversion to obtain that cookie.

“There, in the stream!” She pointed. “A fish jumped!”

“Yes, they do that,” Octavia said guardedly.

Vinyl looked back. “I'm gonna go catch it.”

Octavia frowned. “You're going to-?”

“Hold these!” And she tossed her glasses in Octavia's general direction and bounded towards the stream. They fell and bounced off Octavia's muzzle, and she stared as Vinyl bounced around in the water splashing like a filly a third of her age, horn glowing and water flying everywhere as she hunted the elusive fish. Octavia couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

Eventually, Vinyl tired herself out. Now soaking wet, she trudged back to the bank and grinned sheepishly at Octavia. “I didn't get it,” she said.

Octavia cracked a smile. She reached back into her saddlebag. “I suppose you've enjoyed nature long enough. Shall we eat?”

“Aw, yeah!” Vinyl said, scampering up on the bank, all signs of her tiredness vanishing. She skidded around Octavia and sat up, hooves tapping patiently like a schoolfilly waiting for her lunch.

Octavia shook her head and set up the picnic she'd packed.

And, of course, she gave Vinyl a cookie to start.