Gallus stood at a high point, atop a building. The wind brushed past him, more powerful that high up. His fur and feathers rustled in the press of that motion. The wind brought scents to him. They were faint, but he could pick out traces of his fellow students below, and in the distance, the forest that surrounded them.

But his mind was turned more internally. As the poem had suggested, he tried to focus on what magic meant for him, his ephemeral source of the stuff. It was all swirling around in him, rushing about like the wind, but impossible to grasp directly. He tried to reach for it, just as he had watched Ariel and Silverstream do with their own. It was inside. He felt sure of it. Smolder controlled it with her fire, but it was her fire. The crystals his hippogriff friends held just gave a way to envision is, but it had to be inside, internal.

The wind tickled his wings, fluttering the blue feathers softly. In that moment, he had an idea. He closed his hands around that unseen idea, imagining he was taking hold of that same 'something' that his friends had been grabbing so eagerly.

Things changed around him. The wind, his friend and companion, knocked him right off his perch, and his wings, fluttering impotently, couldn't give him flight. In an instant, he crashed into the ground. Though he let out a squawk and a thick curse, he was laughing all the while. "Found ya!" He clutched at the invisible form inside himself, pouring every ounce of will he had to grab it and hold on.

But the stronger he held it, the less he could lift himself. His magic wasn't some dangling bauble. It was what let his form lift from the earth in the first place. Flight was his magic. He let it go, allowing his wings to receive their magic properly. "This is great. Awful, but also kinda cool." He raced off in search of his friends.

"Guys! Guys!" He hopped up onto Silverstream, who dropped her crystal with a yelp as she was knocked over. "I figured it out!"

Ariel inclined her head at him. "That's great! But what'd you figure out? Tell us."

Ocellus nodded in agreement. "You look really excited."

Gallus lifted his wing so all could see his smile. "My magic's flight. Flying is magic for me." He grabbed at the air, taking hold of that magic. "And when I stop it, look." He flapped his wings, but no flight happened. "See? That's my magic."

Silverstream, having recovered her crystal, stared at Gallus with amazement. "Neat, but can you control it?"

Ariel bobbed her head. "You need to be able to make it crawl, gain control over it's, uh, expression. You got on and off, that's a great start." She grabbed Gallus in a firm hug. "I'm so happy for you right now! But you have more to do. There's always more to do."

Gallus felt just as satisfied, but he had to admit there was more to learn. "Right. My, uh, wing magic doesn't glow like your crystals, or have colors like Smolder's fire. Express it." He sank to a crouch, thinking on that. "We use words for that, but I can't think of a word for this. So how do I make it do what I want?"

Yona sank down with a thump that shook the ground. "Think too hard."

Gallus scowled at her. "If you're so smart about magic, how would you do it?"

Yona considered that quietly a moment. "Magic make fly. Magic control wind. Wind pick griffon up, yes? Not see, feel." She pointed a hoof at Gallus. "Feel wind. Control wind. Nothing to see."

Silverstream hugged herself, shivering in awe. "Whoa, that's amazing! But she might be right! Yona, you are amazing!"

Yona smiled confidently. "Yona know, but like hearing." She reached out and hugged Silverstream warmly. "Little closer to that now, Yona think."

Ariel patted Gallus on the shoulder gently. "Well, if she's right, your magic will be the wind. You need to be able to call it without just picking yourself up, to make it dance, then you can start learning the alphabet like we are, but with the wind dancing instead of colors or glowing lights."

Gallus stuck his wings out at his sides. "But I can't see it."

Ariel gasped in an almost playful manner. "We just said that. You can't see it, but you sure can feel it. I can feel when I'm flying, and the wind's carrying me." She rubbed at the back of her neck. "And I know, I've been in a body where I couldn't feel anything. It wasn't fun."

Gallus thumped his wings to his sides with a sigh. "Okay, so no holding it shut. Just, um." He flapped his wings, feeling for it. The wind ruffled under his wings, eager to carry him into the air as it always had. "Right, but not flying." He tried lowering his wings, but imagining the flap anyway. Wind tickled at his sides, a faint sensation. He let his wings raise slightly, imagining the flap again, and the wind shifted more powerfully around him.

Silverstream turned about in place, as if confused. "Are you doing that? Wow! I'm not used to breezes on the inside." She laughed, hands reaching upwards towards the ceiling. "That's neat!"

Ocellus stood with her hooves on the ground, blinking as the breeze tousled her pink mane. "The wind is dancing around Gallus."

Yona smacked her lips as she tilted her head back. "There." One word, all she needed. She smiled with obvious pride. "All Yona friend have magic."

Ariel froze at that. "But not Yona."

Yona blinked. "What? Yona have lots magic." She thumped her chest. "Magic of friends. Yona is Yak, big magic! Yona is happy. Friend have magic." She looked to Gallus with a smug grin. "He still not Yona good, but getting closer."

Gallus let out a rough laugh. "I doubt I'll ever be good enough to qualify as 'yak good'. Oh, anycreature see Sandbar? I feel like we lost track of him in all this." He shook his head at the memory.

"Yeah, let's look for him." Silverstream stood and hugged Gallus warmly. "Congratulations! Now learn to magic crawl so you can join us in magic toddling!" She giggled with her usual airy joy.

Ariel leaped into the air to hover with a triumphant smile. "Yeah, that's awesome!" She swooped towards the door. "I'll look for Sandbar." She ducked out, zipping down the hallway of the school.

The school was abuzz with activity, but there was an extra pep to the place as students hurried about, many talking excitedly with one another. One of the many ponies waved up at Ariel. "Did you get one?" They held up a leaflet in their magic. "You should come!"

Ariel recognized that poster. "Oh, right, the concert." She landed before the young pony. "Are you going?"

"Hay yeah! Everycreature's going." The young mare danced in place. "It's so exciting! It'll be all kinds of fun. Come! If you're at all like Silverstream, I bet you'll have a blast."

Ariel laughed at that. "We may both be hippogriffs, but we're not twins or anything, sheesh." Still, a concert did sound fun. "I was looking for Sandbar though, you see him?"

"He was going outside a little while ago, maybe to the lake?" She trotted off with a laugh.

With a clue, Ariel rushed out of the building and took flight. A small part of her pondering Gallus' magic. She had wings that carried her, and she felt sure they weren't nearly big enough to do so. Was magic involved? It felt likely, but switching tracks to trying to do magic that way when she already had a working relationship with her crystal felt a bit like giving herself more work for no real gain.

She soon spotted Sandbar in the distance, at the edge of the lake, just as promised. He was moving oddly. As she drew closer, she could see him taking slow steps as he counted to himself. "What are you doing?" She landed nearby. "Everything alright?"

"Everything." He swung a hoof wide. "Is." He took a firm step forward. "Fine." He pivoted around entirely. "I'm practicing the dance I'll be doing at the concert."

Ariel jumped up with a little laugh. "Oh! That's amazing! Are you nervous?"

Sandbar rolled his eyes back into his head. "Yeah." He twirled with a purposeful thrust of an arm across his chest. "The steps are, wow, complicated. I need to get it right."

Ariel watched him dance and move a moment. "Can I help?"

Sandbar fumbled for a moment. "Sure. Want to dance too? The more the merrier." He offered a hoof towards her. "A partner to go through the motions with would help."

Ariel looked at Sandbar's offered hoof. "Oh, yeah, um, sure. Can you teach me?" She took his hoof and stepped in closer. "I don't know the steps."

"So we'll both learn." He led her along through the motions. They were entirely mismatched at first, but having somecreature to guide actually helped him learn the motions better, and soon enough they were at least going competently.

He chuckled as he picked up the pace. "The music will be very fast." He sent Ariel spinning away, moving where the dance required him to be. "But I want to get it right. Thanks, um, hey, I thought you'd be busy with your magic stuff?"

Ariel let herself glide into a neat landing before joining back up with Sandbar. "It's mostly trying to figure out what each of our magic is. We found Gallus', and I thought, oh no! We forgot Sandbar. Did you want help finding your magic?"

"Nah." He hugged Ariel in the dance, moving in the choreographed motions. "I'm happy the way I am. It's kinda nice in a way, having magic friends. I'm rooting for ya!"

Ariel laughed as she flapped her wings to make the spin a little more dramatic. "Wow, you've got some moves!" The two shared in their laughter as the dance seemed to get easier with practice.

Sandbar sank to his haunches, huffing for breath. "I need a break. Seriously, thanks for the help. I really think this will go great now." He got up and did a few experimental steps to see how he felt. "Yeah." He nodded to himself. "But I do need a break." He turned back towards the school. "Want to head back?"

Ariel panted for breath. "Sounds good." She looked at Sandbar a moment. "It'll be my turn to cheer you on when you do your part at the concert. I'm so excited!" She leaped into the air, taking flight.

Sandbar laughed as he followed her on hoof, loping at a relaxed pace.

Back at the school, in their dorms, Ariel offered the pamphlet she'd gotten to the others. "There's gonna be a big concert, and guess what? Sandbar's gonna be in it! It'll be fun! I was hoping you'd all come with me."

Yona frowned at the paper. "Concert?" She shrugged softly. "If Sandbar at it, Yona at it."

Silverstream hopped into the air with a laugh. "He's like family! Of course we'll be there for him."

Gallus gave a thumbs up. "Sure. I bet it'll be loud though. Ponies don't have quiet concerts."

Smolder rolled her eyes at the very idea. "What's the point of a quiet concert?"

Ariel patted Smolder on the shoulder. "Alright! Looks like it's gonna be a blast!" She smiled softly as she let her mind drift off to think about it. "Oh, should I be in it?"

Sandbar emerged into the room. "Love your enthusiasm, but it's a little late for that. There's already going to be a lot of creatures there." He winked with a chuckle. "I'm sure you'll have fun though. And I'll be counting on your cheers."

The room erupted in chatted about the concert and what would be required to enjoy the event.

Author's Note

Take flight! To a concert?

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