cascade | kotlc

6. Mastodon Dancing

--- Sophie POV ---

Sophie arrived with June and Dex at Foxfire on Monday morning. Walking in the Foxfire hallways seemed normal, with her sister and best friend at her sides. It was somewhat strange being in front of a seven-foot goblin and everyone was staring at her because of it, though.

Silveny was still a massive pain to deal with. She wouldn't let anyone near her except for Sophie or June, and now the alicorn learned to use its horn to attack after the Bronte incident. Iggy turned jealous and started hiding sludgers in Sophie's shoes and pillows, and her sister reported various complaints of slime leaking down her room. Apparently sludger slime had Phasing properties and could pass through stone. Sophie told her sister to have the gnomes add a canopy bed.

Dex knew a shortcut through the fields of purple grass. June soared in the air, playing around with her Guster powers as she twirled in the sky like a ballerina. She'd have no problem learning the choreography for their Mastodon dance; in fact, she wouldn't be surprised if June had learned it already and was just rehearsing.

Sir Harding indeed performed the most complicated dance Sophie had ever seen, including stomps and spins and jumps and - oh fuck - a backflip. Well, June would master that easily. Sophie, on the other hand, would be lucky if she didn't break her collarbone.

"You'll be fine," June reassured her. "Just levitate."

"I still don't see what this has to do with school," Sophie grumbled as she followed them to a patch of empty floor space. Jensi rushed up beside Biana, and for a second Sophie didn't recognize him. His usually messy brown hair had been slicked with too much gel, making his round face look rounder. June was already practicing the choreography perfectly, like Sophie had expected.

"Not everything at Foxfire is about learning," Biana informed them. "The Opening Ceremonies are about celebrating promise. This is our chance to show the older generations what we can do. Oh, stop it, June, you're making everyone jealous."

Her sister laughed as she pirouetted in the air, attracting everyone's attention. Sophie watched as she set up for a backflip and leapt higher into the air, her feet tracing a perfect circle as she curtsied and completed the routine and landed in front of Biana. "It's quite fun when you get the hang of it, sis. Too bad the Black Swan didn't give you enough grace," she teased.

"Dancing like elephants is fun."

Dex laughed. "It's weird, but it is fun."

"Yeah, and we get showered with candy at the end, this really cool kind that falls from the ceiling like snow, and it lasts for months and months and months if you take some home," Jensi said in his usual I had too much sugar this morning way.

June giggled. "You can expect me to steal all the candy at the end. I promise you, none of you are getting a single piece, and I'm going to be keeping it all for myself. I might give some to Fitz though," she said thoughtfully, a slight blush tinting her cheeks.

"That's not the point of the Ceremonies," Biana corrected before she perfectly recreated the stomp-spin-step-twirl move Sir Harding had shown them. "The mascot dance represents the quality we'll be developing this year. Mastodons are fast learners that rely on each other as a team. The choreography is designed to showcase that."

"Uh-huh," Sophie mumbled as Biana backflipped and dipped the final curtsy with a natural grace that made Sophie kind of wish she'd slip and fall. "I'm sure Mastodons can't backflip even if they worked as a team."

"The idea is that when they work together, they eventually learn to backflip," June explained. "Do any of you realize I have the power to make anyone fall? You all better get on my good side," she said, smirking. "I would highly advise you to get me some gifts. Come on, Sophie, try the backflip."