100 reasons to love our lives

Above the clouds

Nico

Blackjack snorted; his hooves scratched impatiently on the ground. "He'll be here soon", I promised, feeding him another donut. The other pegasus, Porkpie, got an apple, but Blackjack was the only pegasus not afraid of me - and he knew he could blackmail me with that. How many donuts already vanished in that winged horse? I lost count.

Will wasn't too late; we wanted to meet in five minutes. But the pegasi were already here, looking around the street curiously. Nobody minded me walking around with two magical creatures, feeding them donuts.

It was surprisingly exhausting to plan all these dates, for two reasons: First, Celine was as demanding as ever, and second, I had to come up with so many ideas. For Celine to not somehow make Will cancel our dates, I had to tell him something special, something he could use as an urgent excuse to ditch her.

The worst thing was, I couldn't even tell him to finally grow a spine, because I myself didn't know how to handle Celine. She still had her sharp tongue, her commanding attitude - and her sobbing breakdowns. Even if he would abandon her, she would end her life, and of course my boyfriend didn't want that. Hopefully, he sorted his issues out with Suzanne and learned how to handle that situation. He always had problems reaching out for help, but he had worked on that the last four years.

Blackjack stole another donut from my supply bag, neighing cheekily as I pushed his nose away. "I know Percy doesn't give you donuts", I threatened. "But that is not an excuse to just steal food from pockets!"
He fixed me with his innocent horse stare. "Fine, you're forgiven", I sighed. "Just don't do it again."
The pegasus instantly tugged another donut out of the bag, but I ignored it.

Will was coming. And he wore a rainbow scarf.

The colorful fabric was shining in the sunlight, for everyone to see. Did they stare? The old man with his even older dog? That baldhead with a braided beard? Actually, they didn't seem to care.
I allowed myself to relax a little.

Oh goodness, he even wore rainbow gloves. He waved at me, running over to me, his cheeks reddened in the wind. "You are very brave", I acknowledged as he took Porkpies reins. "Celine basically forced me to buy that", he said. "She said it would make me look cute." He didn't look convinced by that.

"It does", I reassured him. "But you don't have to buy something just because someone else tells you to."
"Yeah, I know", he sighed, rubbing Porkpie's forehead. "I just didn't want her to be too disappointed when I leave."
"You're not obliged to bring her happiness", I warned. "But I don't have to cause her outbursts", he answered, leading Porkpie to a little wall so he could swing himself on the horseback. "Really, thank you for looking out for me that much."

"You should look out for yourself too", I meant, doing the same with Blackjack.
"That's what I'm doing", Will said. "I could just cancel our dates and obey to every demand she has."
"Ugh, no", I groaned. "Let's just go."

Blackjack took that as a command. He neighed again, suddenly galloping towards the traffic. Squealing, I grabbed his mane and closed my eyes. My heart beat against my chest like war drums, warning me that I didn't like flying, that I actually hated it with every fiber of my being - but then, Blackjack flapped his wings, lifting me up in the air.

I heard Will cheering as the traffic under us got silent, as the towers were suddenly just tiny specks on the surface of earth. The wind against my face was cold and stinging, but I still opened my eyes to check for Will.