The last days of the Festival of New Spring were just as busy and vibrant as the first. Although the sky was covered with thick white clouds, the air was warm and filled with the green and growing scents of spring.
In the large gathering clearing at the Song of the Rainbow Hotsprings, a dance was in full swing. A small group of Samanayrs sang the tune while several of their number drummed on a small hallow log, striking the beat of the song. Dancers whirled and twirled about them, dancing alone, in pairs, or in groups, laughing and trying to keep up as the pace of the beat increased.
In a corner of the clearing, several foals were settled down in grass so tall that it was almost entirely above their heads, already too tired to dance anymore. They had tramped down an area large enough for them to sprawl comfortably within sight of one another. The foals were all from different Songs and had just met for the first time at the Festival, and they were taking delight in sharing stories with each other while they rested.
"...and it was the
biggest fish I'd ever seen!" a Lamanayr filly was exclaiming. "It came right out of the water and would have eaten me whole if I hadn't flown away in time!"
A Samanayr colt eyed her the tiny wings folded at her sides. "You can't fly yet, your wings are too small!"
The filly stuck her tongue out at him. "What do
you know about flying? You don't even have wings!"
Before a scuffle could ensue, another filly spoke up. "I saw something amazing this morning!" she said loudly, raising her voice to be heard over both of them. "It was magic!"
This got the attention of the group. "A Mystic?" one of them asked.
The pale blue filly shook her head. "No, and not a Misery or an Elemental or anything. It was just a regular Samanayr foal!" She stood up, flapping her tiny wings with excitement. "I was in a field and I saw a foal flying near the trees. When I said hello to it, it suddenly disappeared! It was magic!"
A Desert filly rolled her eyes. "That wasn't magic, it just flew away."
"It didn't just fly away, it disappeared!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
Their conversation degenerated into an argument over the veracity of the filly's story. The general consensus among the other foals seemed to be that as a daughter of the Song of the Rainbow Hotsprings she should always tell the truth, and this story seemed a bit much for them to believe.
"We'll tell your dad!" the first Lamanayr filly finally shouted, leaping up and running towards the dance. The others hesitated a moment before following her, bored of laying down in the grass anyway.
"It's TRUE!" the blue filly shrieked after them, loud enough to attract the attention of the dancers closest to them. "It's true and I'll prove it!" With a fierce snort, the filly also got to her feet and glared at the retreating foals. She'd find the foal she'd seen earlier that day, bring it back, and make it do its trick, and then they'd have to believe her!
The tiny feathers and silky hair of her short tail bristling with indignation, the filly looked around furtively. She wasn't supposed to leave the clearing, but surely nobody would notice if she was just gone for a few minutes. Ducking her head down, she started to head towards the trees that bordered this side of the clearing.