Six Discoveries

by Wiz Ahmad

Regrouping

Back in the mountains, Silverstream was pedaling for what was probably the twentieth time, as she struggled to maintain balance while holding a little T-shaped handle connected to a red cylinder in her mouth - which she had found next to the BMX bike. Her feathers were full of twigs and dead leaves from repeated falls, but she kept on going, using her wings to minimize toppling.

“This is actually quite… fun!” she squealed, gaining speed down a gradient on the trail she was following.

On the meadow, Smolder sauntered over the grass, carrying the skateboard with both hands. After five unsuccessful tries, she’d ruled out the possibility of riding it on grass or bumpy ground, though managing to balance in a nose-up position, and push the board behind her with some experimenting. However, she knew the floor in the school’s gymnasium was smooth as silk, which would be perfect for the board’s hard little wheels. Smolder may have not realized it, but in her short time of experimenting, she’d just grasped the basis for many more tricks to come.

Gallus soared high over the land, with an awesome thin cylinder firmly in his grasp. It may not seem like much to many, but for the feisty, proud gryphon, it was everything. For once, he’d be able to show that he was worthy and awesome, and Smolder would have to step down from the throne of coolness. Heck, the others probably hadn’t found anything. He’d found a pen with a built-in inkwell underneath moss in a forest! Where else could anything amazing and extraordinary be found?

Little did the proud gryphon know, his fellow students had found objects of measure beyond what he could even comprehend.

“Yak love ball! Yak want to play with others!” Yona proclaimed happily, bounding across a marshy field before leaping over a small strip of water, heading back towards the school, where she could already see some staff members heading towards Twilight’s castle.

“Yak hopes they not reporting students missing, because students returning now!”

Out on the river, somewhere west, Sandbar’s arms were dead as a brittle branch in a desert, but he knew the importance of returning, so he kept rowing and rowing. The current wasn’t very strong, but it had considerable push. Muscle soreness aside, paddling down the river was actually quite fun. The water moved and rocked the kayak, providing a boating experience unlike any other. With a little leaning and body-shifting, Sandbar soon learnt how to control the kayak, especially through turns. Coming around a curve, he could just make out the school’s roof up ahead through the tall grass and cattails. With enough effort, he might make it back in time before gym class and lunch break were both over.

Back in the woods, Ocellus hopped back into the driver’s seat for the tenth time, having gone through as much of the manual and other papers as she could. However, so much reading had wracked her little changeling mind, that she had trouble remembering the proper startup sequence.

“Lock doors, insert key in… door? No, ignition, and turn.”

A little frustration quickly revealed she had to turn the key to the right instead. The ambulance started up with a chug and a rumble, idling at a rather loud noise level.

“D was for… yes, drive. With the gas pedal. Even if this paper says it runs on spirits and vegetable oil. Hard to believe, but let’s go.”

With a pleased grin, Ocellus gently pushed down on the accelerator and gripped the steering wheel. The ambulance began to roll forward, turning left when she turned the wheel left, and vice versa for the right. A tap of the other pedal caused it to stop. Now understanding the basics of driving, Ocellus pushed the accelerator again, slowly making her way towards the edge of the woods - towards grass where she could get a better view of where she was.

---

The foot of the mountain wasn’t that far off, and Yona was the first to arrive at the students’ pre-arranged meeting point - the school’s front entrance. With a sigh, she flopped onto the hard stone pathway, tired from her exuberant run. Her prized football was still intact, with plenty of air and oomph to spare for many more fun-filled games.

“Yak… feel tired now, yak need some water and a nice rest. But yak also wonder… where’s her friends?”

Her answer came moments later, as Gallus soon came flying around the mountain into view, looking very pleased with himself. Yona, on the other hand, was unfazed.

“You didn’t find anything?!” she sputtered, then noticed the short stick in his hand. “Just a stick?”

“Trust me Yona, this isn’t no ‘stick’ as you call it. This is something extraordinary,” Gallus boasted. “It’s got a thin shaft inside that can slide in and out, with a little button on the other end to extend and retract it when not in use. And you can use the little extension on the side to clip it onto paper, and it writes! I mean, look at you, you’ve just found another ball!”

“Yak have ball, but, ball is really nice and can be thrown far! All balls at school circular, remember?” Yona huffed.

Gallus bluntly nodded.

“Well this ball is oval, so it’s unique and special. Yak will keep ball, since yak love ball!” Yona declared proudly.

Then Silverstream turned up, looking rather worn and not her usual super-raving self as she rode down the stone path to the school’s entrance. She was still enthusiastic, but not as much.

“Made it!” she proclaimed happily, albeit with a wince as she folded her wings.

“Oh dear,” Gallus sighed sadly. “Looks like you hurt your right wing. Fell?”

Silverstream nodded. “Too many times. I think I hit it against a tree when I fell coming around a corner, but I’ve learned to balance properly on Spinner. She is awesome, I love her!”

Yona and Gallus shot her an inquisitive look. “Who’s Spinner?”

“This, of course!” Silverstream replied, dismounting her BMX bike and pointing to it.

Yona grinned and Gallus rolled his eyes and sighed again, this time in defeat. All this time and effort, and he’d found just a pen. Sure it had a couple neat features, but it was nothing like the shiny two-wheeler that Silverstream had. He felt humiliated standing next to Yona. Spinner had a chain connected to gears, cranks, a thin little wire connected to a lever - all things cooler than a crummy pen. But Silverstream was just as interested in his object as he originally was.

“What is that?!” she squealed, pointing.

“Oh, this is a pen, a unique pen,” he stated bluntly. “It has a built-in ink holder, a retractable tip, and a little button on one end for you to retract the tip when you’re not writing. I tried it on my hand - just a little, and that ink really sticks. Took me forever to wash it off.”

“Wow! And it even has a little clip on the side for you to attach it to the paper you write with!” she exclaimed. “But, I still love Spinner.”

“Yak see red thing beside bike…” Yona noted.

“Oh, that’s…” Silverstream paused. “I have no idea what exactly is, but it lets out air that’s ticklish!”

She then sat down to rest her hurt wing, while Gallus inspected the little red cylinder. It had a long thin tube sticking out of one end and a T-shaped plastic piece on the other, which could be pushed up and down, causing air to come out of the tube. At the tip of the tube was a little applicator tip, which looked similar to the tip of his pen.

“Interesting,” he thought. “Twilight might like this one too.”

“Hey guys!” came a voice from the stream.

“Sandbar! Welcome back!” Yona exclaimed. “Nice boat!”

“And it’s one you actually fit into!” Silverstream added excitedly, looking like she was ready to ask a million questions. Sandbar knew of this, so he sided up to the stone pathway and explained everything - the skirt, the skirt’s drawstring, the paddles, how he fit into the kayak and how its shape allowed him to glide across the surface with ease.

“I’m surprised you didn’t flip over,” Gallus remarked.

“Oh, the water’s not turbulent or anything, so the journey back was mostly calm,” Sandbar reassured him. He then spotted Yona’s ball and the pen in Gallus’s hand, as well as Silverstream’s bike.

“I see you’ve found some nice items too,” he added. “But we really should get back to class before - ”

“No way! Yak not leaving her ball behind!” Yona declared firmly, stomping a foot in confirmation.

“I can’t leave Spinner alone, what if she gets taken?” Silverstream added worriedly.

“At least I have something that can be taken inside without many noticing,” Gallus bragged.

“Where’s Ocellus and Smolder?” Sandbar then asked, only to be met with shrugs.

“How can they take so long?” Silverstream wondered, glancing back at the way they’d come.

“Well, maybe they went further than we did,” Yona reasoned. “But for now, yak thinks we should help pony friend out of kayak.”

With some help from his friends, Sandbar undid the skirt’s drawstring and wriggled out of the kayak, placing the paddle stick on the stone pathway beside him. Then he simply flopped down in exhaustion.

“So much paddling, I’ve never done that much leg exercise before,” he groaned. “Sore, sore sore.”

WEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOO-WEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOO-WEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOO!

“Do you hear that?” Yona suddenly piped up. The others listened too, and picked it up right away.

Loud sirens and a horn. And it was getting closer and closer.

---

Yona, Gallus, Sandbar, and Silverstream all stood in shock, unable to believe or comprehend what their eyes were seeing.

Driving down the grassy field behind Twilight’s castle was a cart unlike anything they’d ever seen before, with Smolder sitting on top, holding a board with wheels. In the driver’s seat, another dragon was at the wheel. Lights all over the weird-looking cart flashed and loud sounds were heard from it, then they ceased.

The other dragon drove right up to the stone pathway and came to a gentle stop, its loud engine shutting off. Out stepped the slender dragon, who shut the door and locked it, before morphing back into a cute little green changeling with a key on a ring in its mouth. Smolder flew off the top and onto the stone pathway, carrying her board.

“I, I… what…” Gallus and Silverstream were lost for words while Ocellus simply strode up to them with a proud smile behind her little teeth holding onto her key. Smolder also wore a proud smile.

“Hey, we all made it back - and let’s admit, Ocellus is the clear winner here. Even my board is nothing compared to her big 'ambulance' - as she states its name is. Now let’s get inside before we fall behind any more classes.”

“I second that,” Sandbar added, setting down his paddle on top of his kayak and walking over.

Yona tossed her football onto her back, Silverstream took hold of her BMX bike, and they all headed towards the big double doors. Gallus pushed them open and everyone stepped inside, only to be met with several sets of administrative eyes that read shock, disappointment, and anger.

Author's Note:

I tried to make the concept here a little like Top Gear (watch a special if you don't know what I mean). However, Gallus and Yona were the only ones that I could imagine having the same snark and sass as Jeremy and James, so it didn't turn out as accurate as I originally intended it to be. Anyways enjoy!

P.S.: Who do you think will adjust to their newlyfound object the fastest in the school environment? Which one will attract the most attention from the Mane 6 (plus Spike and Starlight)?