Lucky Leaves

The next day, Clover thought that she'd go and find a place to let loose a bit, away from most Ponies. As she walked down the street, she was suddenly reminded of the presence of her wings. She wore those in the open, now; no point hiding it when nearly everypony knows, after all.

Thinking about it briefly, she crouched low and took to the air at speed. This gave her a MUCH better view of the surrounding area.

On a different note, she looked at what she had on her hoof; she was wearing one of the presents that her friends got for her. A hoofband that was studded with tiny amethyst and sapphire chips. They each had a matching one, too symbolize their lasting friendship. It made her smile just looking at it.

Eventually, she found a small pond that had, for whatever reason, been iced over. Landing nearby, Clover tapped at the ice experimentally. While she was relatively sure that her Joke would allow her to stay safe, to some extent, she decided to be on the cautious side.

{Tap tap tap}

Thick enough. Enough to hold several Ponies at once. Which was odd, in the middle of Summer, but whatever.

She took on her two-legged stance. Deeeeeep breath...

Before Clover could have second thoughts, she went out onto the ice. She stumbled slightly, but regained her balance quickly, of course.

She could have sworn that music was beginning to swell in the background. A sort of classical instrumental piece.

She bounced back and forth briefly, then spun thrice before leaping, coming down with one hind leg extended. the next moment, she crouched low, doing a 1280 spin, coming back up and leaping again. She backflipped in the air, coming down on all four hooves. Then she did a stand on her forelegs for about three seconds, sweeping across the miniature rink.

This was exciting. And oddly relaxing, too. Naturally, as stated before, she could never skate by herself in the past. But this was different, now.

She spun again, leaping and twisting in the air, about 700 degrees. Then she came down, next doing a cartwheel, about seven times. Then she crouched again, using the momentum she gained from the spin she did there to help her rocket into the air, high enough for her to do a 3040 degree twist, coming down on all fours, spinning four more times before coming to a stop and jumping from the ice, which promptly cracked into a thousand pieces (if not more).

She raised her hands in the air, in a victory-type pose, eyes closed, smiling happily. Then she came back down on all fours.

Then she heard applause nearby. When she looked, there were semi-ghostly images of her friends.

"{That was awesome, Clover!}" Sweetheart said, still clapping.

Clover tilted her head in confusion. "Huh? How are you all here?"

"{It's one of the effects of that hoofband.}" Bright Eyes explained. "{It allows us to know where you are, should we desire it. And even project ourselvs nearby.}"

Clover looked at her own band in curiosity. "Huh." she commented simply. "Wait, who was providing the music?" she queried. Instinctively, she looked to where Pinkie Pie was standing, holding some instruments. She smiled demurely and disappeared. This, of course, left one of those afterimages. This one popped by itself, however.

"{You can come back whenever you feel you're ready, Clover.}" Patch put in. "{Lunch is almost ready.}"

Clover nodded, smiling. "Looking forward to it." With that, she soared into the sky, flying back home. That was pretty fun, in her honest opinion.