The Flight of the Kite

by Doctor Disco

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Starlight Glimmer, Maud Pie, Slice of Life
Length: 1691

Starlight reminisces about why she has a love of kites, and is gladdened by the return of Maud Pie.

Starlight reminisces about why she has a love of kites, and is gladdened by the return of Maud Pie.

Just a small slice-of-life-type fic that I've never really tried before now. Hope you enjoy!

Published 2017-05-05 05:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-05-05 05:50:01 UTC

Why Kites Matter

“Sunburst! Sunburst!” Starlight Glimmer squeaked. She jumped happily up to her friend on the hill. “What’s that you’re doing?”

“Oh, hey Starlight,” Sunburst smiled. “I’m just flying one of my dad’s old kites! It’s a lot of fun.”

Starlight cocked her head to the side, a curious expression donning her face. “What’s a kite?”

Sunburst’s smile grew. “This is a kite, silly!” he said, gesturing to the coil wrapped in his magic.

Starlight looked up to see the floating creation of fabric, sticks, and string. She watched as it swayed in the wind and falter a little when the wind lessened, only to maintain its current altitude. “Wow! How does it stay up like that?”

“You see, the trick is to not make the sticks in the kite too heavy.” Sunburst shook the coil in his magic a little. “Or else it’ll fall.”

Starlight glanced at Sunburst suspiciously. “It sounds like there’re actual names for that.” She raised an eyebrow.

Sunburst nodded. “Yep! But I thought since your brand new to kites, I shouldn’t confuse you with big words.”

“Sunburst, you know me.” Starlight poked Sunburst. “I’m just as smart as you are. Teach me!”

“Alright, alright!” Sunburst laughed, “Don’t poke me!”

“Why, are you ticklish?” Starlight grinned evilly, before barraging Sunburst in all out war. What ensued was a tussle of hooves and hair as both foals tickled each other to death. In the end, the kite had crashed to the ground off to the side while Starlight and Sunburst lay panting on the ground. Staring up at the sky, the two children sighed.

“The kite that I was flying was an S.L.K.” Sunburst finally said.

“S.L.K.?” Starlight repeated, the meaning of the acronym sliding right past her.

“Single line kite. That’s what S.L.K. stands for. And the frame and stuff that kind-of keeps the kite together is called the spars. The trick with an S.L.K. Is to not make the spars too heavy.”

Starlight mulled it over. “The frame is made of spars… and you shouldn’t make them too heavy?”

“Yeah!” Sunburst confirmed. “But if you make them too light, you’ve got no ballast, and good luck tacking against the A.O.I.”

“So no balance?” Starlight asked. “But what’s an A.O.I.?”

“The angle of incidence. It’s just the angle the kite takes when it’s being blown by the wind.”

Starlight gazed at the fallen flyer like it was something extraordinary. Gently prodding it with her hoof, Starlight jumped up and down with giddy excitement. “Can I try?”

The smile Sunburst gave at his eager friend shone beams of happiness. “Of course.”

After a few failed attempts to get the kite airborne, Starlight was finally able to get it flying, and it flew in the wind. With a gleeful smile, Starlight looked to Sunburst. “Look, Sunburst! I did it! I did it! It’s flying!”

“Yes you did, Starlight,” Sunburst said.

“This is so much fun!” Starlight cried. “Wow, I should fly kites more often.”

“If you want, I’ll give you this kite, as a gift from me to you,” Sunburst said.

“But…” Starlight paused, “This is yours. Don’t you want to keep it?”

“If it means you being happy and you like it, then it’s all yours,” Sunburst smiled. “Besides, I have more at home. This one is just the one that I like most. And since you like it, we can both fly one!”

“Really?!” Starlight said. “We can fly kites together?”

“Yep!” Sunburst jumped. “It’ll be fun!”

“Thanks so much, Sunburst!” Starlight cried happily before crushing Sunburst in a hug. “I’m starting to really like kites!”

“Kites are cool,” Sunburst said simply.

Starlight hummed in happiness, and the two foals enjoyed the remainder of their time playing outside and flying kites.

“GRAHH!” Starlight screamed, red hot tears pouring down her face.

Her breath hitched with each inhale. Her fur was streaked with water. Her mane had gone disheveled and her lip quivered with rage and sadness. She stared at the bookshelf that had nearly toppled on top of her and she wailed uncontrollably.

“Waaaaah…! Mahahahhh!” Starlight sobbed. She couldn’t handle it. Bracing herself, she forced all the magic she had to pool into her useless little horn and channeled it all into one destructive spell. With a large explosion, the books on the shelf were pulverized where they lay.

Breathing heavily and a walking mess, Starlight continued to cry as she began to punch the wood of the bookshelf. All of her anger. All of her loneliness. Focused on the pain of each and every punch. About to hit it again, Starlight spotted a coiled up kite. The kite Sunburst had used to teach her what felt like ages ago. A kite he had gifted to her as a friend.

A kite that did not belong.

With the rage and thoughtlessness of a filly, she grabbed it in her magic. Her useless weak magic. She brought it straight to her hooves and smashed it into the ground. The sticks broke. The fabric tore. Splinters and chips flew as Starlight took her madness out on a defenceless kite. As Starlight’s bout of infuriation came to an end, she was left breathing heavily. Breathing heavily, staring down at a tattered broken kite. And in that moment, all of Starlight’s frustration and heavy feelings drained out of her.

“No…” Starlight whispered, suddenly realizing what she had done. “No…” she whispered once more, taking the broken kite into her hooves and staring at it as fresh new tears blurred her vision. “No!”

Starlight cradled the kite as she began to sob anew. “Not his kite! Not my kite! No!” Starlight wailed as she hugged the broken gift close to her body. Rocking back and forth, her body racked with sobs.

“Please…” Starlight murmured, her voice cracking. “I’m sorry…”

“Please…”

As the wind around Starlight blew, she took the disassembled kite in her saddlebags out.

By now, it had become a ritual for her. To come to this hill in Ponyville and fly a kite. It was a peaceful pastime for her. Something that always calmed her down. That brought good and bad memories alike.

She thought back to all those years ago when she had first destroyed the kite Sunburst had given her. As she assembled the kite, Starlight could still feel how broken she had been at that moment. With a soft sigh, she put the spars together, and she thought of it just like her piecing her life back together. Thanks to Twilight, she had found Sunburst again. Her best friend. A best friend that had long since become anything but, and they were trying to pick up where things had left off.

“So what do you think, Maud-?” Starlight began to ask, before she realized that Maud wasn’t actually there.

Maud Pie. Sister to Pinkie Pie. Somepony she never thought she’d ever become friends with. A pony that was as silent and stale as they go. Maybe at one point in her life, she would’ve been completely brash and brushed off any connection to other ponies such as her in the blink of an eye, but she was a new mare.

Or at least, she was trying to be.

Unlike some other ponies, she could feel Maud understood her. Just the other day, Maud had taught her something. Even though it was related to rocks, it still hit her home. They don’t judge, they don’t leave anypony out, and they can be as pretty as diamonds. It made her like rocks more, but more importantly, it connected her to Maud.

Maybe she did need more friends. Twilight was a great mentor and friend, and Pinkie Pie and the others were too, but… they didn’t really get her. She could tell, even now, there were trace amounts of resentment from all of them. Except maybe Pinkie Pie. She could never really tell with her. In any case, she was still the new pony. A face that they had not really wanted but got anyways.

Maud Pie didn’t seem to judge, though. Really, the Pie sisters were incredibly hard to read either way. Stone cold or over-exuberance, they were both walking enigmas. And Starlight appreciated Maud’s quiet ability to listen. Her underlying wisdom and knowledge, and her amazing talent in making her laugh at the most opportune moments. Starlight was even able to tell her about her love of kites, and Maud tried it out with her.

And now she was all alone again, on a hill, flying a kite.

Sighing, Starlight tiredly smiled. “Oh well. There’s always just me and you.” Staring up at the kite, she didn’t notice when Maud sneaked up beside her and began to set up a kite of her own.

As Starlight released more string and the kite flew higher, she was surprised to see another kite take to the air beside her. Turning to her left, she nearly gasped in happiness at the sight of Maud Pie.

“Y-you’re back!” Starlight exclaimed, a hopeful expression donning her face. She couldn’t believe it.

“Mmhm,” was Maud’s deadpan reaction. It was enough for Starlight to grin in glee.

“For good?” Starlight asked, filled with more hope than Starlight would’ve cared to admit.

“Mmhm,” Maud hummed again. Turning to her, Starlight could only smile in response.

“This doesn’t mean we need to start talking about feelings, does it?” Maud asked.

“Hehe,” Starlight laughed, a pained flash going through her eyes for a split second, “No way!”

The creases of Starlight’s eyes crinkled, a small genuine smile donning her features for the first time in a while. Looking back up at their kites, Maud and Starlight enjoyed the soft breeze and the waving of the kites in the wind.

“Maybe after this, we can go redecorate my new place.”

Starlight, with all of her happiness focused on this single moment, nodded with a smile.

“Totally.”

Author's Note

A break away from my usual fast and comedic pacing. I hope it's up to par!

Please comment and tell me what you think!

Also tell me if I should add any extra tags :twilightsmile: