“Hiya, Suki! Whatcha got there?”

Suki looked up to see her classmate, Strudel, trotting towards her. Despite them only having met a week ago, the halfogriff seemed convinced that they were the best of friends, and happily greeted Suki every morning. The ribbon she’d been trying to tie around her hair fell unceremoniously from her magical grip and onto the tiled floor. School was starting in just a few minutes, and she had been trying to use those minutes to fix her hair. Back home, her papa had always done it for her; he would tuck her locks under her chin and put them in a nice, tidy ponytail, and say she looked pretty as a plum. Her mother, though, always refused to let her wear her hair in such a yak-like way. Suki had gotten quite good at doing it herself once she got to school, but it was still a challenge.

Strudel, now close enough to see the ribbon, cocked her head to the side.

“Oh! Ya puttin’ yer hair up?”

Suki nodded, and tried to lift the ribbon again. Her horn flickered, sparked, and went dark. She huffed.

“Here, I can help!” Strudel said cheerfully. She scooped the ribbon up in her beak, and held it there while she got Suki’s hair into position. “Ya want it here, roight?” she asked, holding it under Suki’s chin. The yakicorn nodded again.

“There! Pap lets me tie all the ribbons on the boxes for the shop, so I only know how ta do those bows, but it looks good on ya!” she said, smiling up at Suki. Suki was about to force a polite “thank you” from her mouth when the school bell rang through the halls.

“Ooh, we gotta get ta class! C’mon!” Strudel said, hopping up. She took one of Suki’s hooves and led her towards their homeroom.

Had the sudden urge to draw the kid Scrappers, and I’ve had this dialogue written for a while, so voila! At this point Suki is 10 or 11 and Strudel is 9– Suki’s mother held off putting her in school for a while so she’s a little behind, and a little older than the other kids. She still doesn’t care much for Strudel, but give it time. I have a feeling she’ll come around. ; )