Studying (with) You

Fauna the Fan

"Here", Gallus says as he takes the round object into his other claw and places it on the ground between them.
The pony stares at it without showing any reaction at all.
"A ball? Where did you get a ball from? And why?"
"That's my ball. You should have seen it when you-", the blue male begins to explain but he stops himself before bringing up that painful experience again.
I should've just stopped after ball, the griffon criticizes himself but Sandbar tries his best to remember the ball and, indeed, he does remember it.
"Oh right! I almost tripped over it when I came by the way", he answers and the additional information causes the griffon to chuckle and scratch the back of his head.
I should better not bring up the talk itself, Sandbar thinks after he finished his sentence.
"Well", he rejoins with a laughter accompanying his voice, "Luckily nothing happened, right?"
"Lucky for you", Sandbar teases him before asking him why he brought the ball.
Gallus picks up the ball again and explains, "You said you could teach me a few tricks soooo..."
He places the ball right in front of the pony's left front hoof and takes a few steps back before continuing his explanation, "show me what you have in store."
"Oh", Sandbar lets out a little voice as he realizes what is going on.
I was just kidding... I mean, I am pretty good but the last time I played was in that tournament and I might be a bit rusty and maybe I oversold myself there... but I guess I can show him a few of my old tricks.
He looks back at Gallus, who smiles and nods his head towards the ball in anticipation, and, after taking a deep breath, he kicks the ball into the air and begins to keep it in the air by hitting it over and over again with either his hooves, his head or his backside.
Not bad, not bad but I'm sure I can top that. the blue male thinks as he watches Sandbar perform his little trick.
"Hey", he shouts as he raises to the sky and waves his arms to get the pony's attention, "pass it to me! We can win this super important and totally not fictional tournament final game! Pass the ball to me!"
A smiles appears on the stallion's face as he notices his friend in the air and, while pretending to be a commentator, he kicks the ball high enough for Gallus to catch it.
"The Star Defender from the School of Friendship passes the ball to the team's eyes in the sky and strongest offense player. Those two really form a dangerous combination that no one can stop!"
With the ball in his claw Gallus makes a few quick twists and turns before flying a loop and dropping the ball at it's peak to give his friend the opportunity to shoot.
"What's that!", the griffon reports in a strange accent, "Gallus dropped the ball! Was that a miscalculation or did the ball slip out of his claw?"
Before the ball hits the ground Sandbar gathers all the power he has and hits the ball as hard as possible. It flies high into the air and in a 45° angle, a perfect shot... until it hits the tree's canopy and gets stuck there.
"Great shot but maybe you can practice your aim a little bit more", Gallus jokes before landing next to his friend, who stares at the tree in horror.
Oh no! The ball! I need to get it back or Gallus will freak out!
"I'm so sorry", Sandbar jabbers without taking his eyes off the plant, "I didn't mean to lose your ball. I will get it back, don't worry. Whoever loses it, fetches it after all, right? Just wait here and I-"
"Dude", Gallus stops the stallion from going on and on with his apology by covering his mouth with one of his claws, "Chill, okay? I'll get it. I can just fly up there and get it. If you climb all the way up and down again we will be here for days. Plus you are not a good climber... You know that, right?"
But Sandbar can't accept that. His friend already proved to him today that he can be generous and friendly and it was the rule their group decided on together. It was the only fair way to decide it when they were playing together.
"But... but...", he stammers even with the claw still covering his mouth, "the rule says that I have to get it so-"
"And I say I will get it now so sit down and watch, okay?"

He spreads his wings and flaps them a few times to gain as much height as he needs. The tree is about 30 to 32 feet high and the ball landed almost at the top. He carefully comes closer so he doesn't hurt his wings or gets stuck like the ball. It happened before and he does not want it to happen again!
Where is that ball... I know it should be here somewhere... The tree is green and the ball is purple and black! There is no way I can miss it
But, much to his surprise and his annoyance, the ball seems to have landed near the trunk of the tree where it's darker and, therefore, much harder to see.
Great... Maybe I should have let Sandbar get- No, no, no! He would have taken too long and what if he got hurt or, even worse, got stuck? It's safer this way, he scolds himself for even starting to think that way and, after landing on one of the thicker branches, he makes his way into the green depths of the tree.