The party was fun, with a lot of delicious types of food and drinks. Food had always been Ajana's weakness, so she enjoyed herself immensely.
The food in Mag was much better than anything she had ever tried before, and she couldn't stop herself from trying out many tasty dishes. Soon enough, she was so full that she could barely breathe. Still, she made some room for the yummy desserts that, in her opinion, were pure magic. They were sweet and creamy and simply mouthwatering.
As Ajana was stuffing yet another cookie in her mouth, Wallace landed on her shoulder.
"Slow down, my dear, you'll get a stomachache. Besides, the headmaster wants to meet you, so you might want to clean up a bit. You have chocolate all over your face." Wallace said affectionately.
Instead of using a napkin, like her mother always taught her, Ajana tried to lick the chocolate off, not wanting to waste even the smallest morsel of it. Wallace couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
"Use the napkin. He'll be here any minute now, and don't worry, I predict a lot more sweets in your future," Wallace said.
Finally, Ajana realized she was being ridiculous, so she cleaned her face with a napkin, and she did it just in the nick of time.
The moment she put the napkin down, the headmaster appeared.
He was tall and had a stern expression on his face. It was immediately clear to Ajana that he was a serious man who didn't tolerate any nonsense.
As his figure towered over her, Ajana couldn't help but feel intimidated.
"Ajana, this is Mr. Brown, your new headmaster. Mr. Brown, this is Ajana, the new student from Earth." Wallace said formally.
"Sir," was all Ajana managed to say before she was rudely interrupted.
"Earth, such a dreadful place, Earth." Mr. Brown said with contempt.
"You have visited Earth, sir?" Ajana couldn't help but ask.
"No, goodness me, I would never visit such a savage place." Mr. Brown said.
Wallace could see that Ajana was preparing to say something, and knowing it wasn't anything good, he was quick to intervene.
"I apologize, Mr. Brown, you must be very busy. Thank you for your time, I am grateful you spared your precious time to meet the new student." Wallace said.
Ajana could see that Wallace was pretending to respect the guy, it was clear to her that he disliked the headmaster. The headmaster, however, didn't seem to notice anything odd, and just nodded his head goodbye.
"Wow, that is one grumpy headmaster," Ajana said the moment he was out of earshot.
"Bob is...different. He has a unique view of the world that most of us don't share. That fact annoys him more than he would like to admit. But don't worry, you won't be seeing him often. Only if you get in trouble, which I am hoping won't happen." Wallace stated firmly.
"Wait a minute," Ajana said, barely containing her laughter," his name is Bob Brown?!"
Then she burst out laughing.
A second later, her laughter was joined by another unfamiliar, exhilarated laugh.
Surprised by the sound, Ajana stopped giggling and tried to find the source of the chuckling. She didn't expect to discover it above her head, so she was rather shocked.
"Sorry, I couldn't help but eavesdrop! And since I eavesdropped, I couldn't help but laugh. Every time I hear his full name, it just makes me giggle like crazy!" a little winged horse said.
He kept hovering above Ajana's head, and he spoke in an overexcited blur of words that were difficult to follow.
"Bluebells, we talked about this. Manners. Privacy." Wallace chastised the winged horse named Bluebells.
Ajana couldn't help but admire him since it was the first time for her to see a winged horse.
She could see that he was completely white except for the brown patch around his eye, and his wings were astonishing. Taking all that in, she couldn't contain her excitement.
"You are Pegasus, aren't you?" Ajana asked.
Hearing that, Bluebells started laughing so hard that he could no longer control his wings. As a consequence, he fell to the ground, where he continued to laugh out loud, rolling on the ground.
Ajana had no idea what was so funny. She was irritated. There she was trying to impress them with her knowledge of magical beings, and they were laughing at her.
Well, Wallace wasn't laughing, but she could see some mirth in his eyes that he couldn't hide.
After waiting for a few moments, she could see that Bluebells wouldn't stop laughing anytime soon, so she cleared her throat and spoke up.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Sorry," Bluebells said, obviously trying to rein in his laughter.
"It's just that if I had a gold coin for every time someone said that, I would have been a rich pterippus. Which is what I am, a pterippus, just like you are a human.
"Pegasus is just a name. He was actually my great-grandfather, and every time people assume that all winged horses are called Pegasus, I can't help but laugh my tail off. Imagine how confusing that would be," he said, smiling broadly.
"Sorry for laughing, I wasn't laughing at you, I promise." Bluebells said.
That seemed to soften Ajana up.
"That's okay, I apologize for my ignorance," she said sincerely.
"But wait, he was your great-grandfather? How cool is that?" she exclaimed excitedly.
"The coolest thing ever!" Bluebells confirmed finally standing upright and bristling with energy and joy.
At that moment, Rex suddenly charged towards Bluebells flicking his pages as if he was about to bite him. He only stopped inches from Bluebells' nose, trying to scare him, but he got the opposite reaction.
"Oh, aren't you a cute little guy." Bluebells said in baby talk.
"Yes, you are. Yes, you are," he added.
Annoyed, Rex went back to Ajana's side and stood there possessively snuggling to her side.
"Sorry, I don't know what is wrong with him," Ajana said.
"Don't worry about it. Books are known as the most jealous pets, ever. He was probably just envious that we are getting along so well! We are getting along well, aren't we? Or is it just me? Am I being too pushy, again?" Bluebells said in one breath.
"We are getting along well, relax, breathe," Ajana said with a smile.
"People often tell me that. I am not sure why. It's not like I can NOT breathe, you know. We all have to breathe. You breathe, I breathe, we all do it..." he said.
"Bluebells!" Wallace cut off his babbling.
"You are getting overexcited again. Remember we talked about it; you have to try to slow down a bit. It will be necessary for your combat training to be able to concentrate and not get too excited during the training." Wallace said.
"I know, I know. I am trying, I promise. It's just difficult to control my excitement, especially when meeting new friends," he said.
"I understand, but aren't you late for your private flying lessons again?" Wallace asked.
The moment he said that Bluebells tried to quickly fly away, but he tripped on his own wing and barely stopped himself from hitting the ground, headfirst.
Finally, he was able to untangle himself and start flapping his wings. "See you at school, friend," he said to Ajana.
"Ajana," she yelled after him.
"Bye, friend Ajana," he said as he flew away in a highly unsteady fashion.
"Will he be okay?" Ajana couldn't help but ask Wallace.
"Believe it or not, this is not his first time flying. He has been flying since birth, but as you can see, he is still having some difficulties. He is very gentle and kindhearted, always eager to help, but sometimes he is too naive for his own good. Would you please keep an eye on him? Stop him from getting into too much trouble." Wallace said.
"I'll try, I like him. It's nice to meet someone so open and happy. My friends at home were nothing like that." Ajana said.
"Yes, but although he seems carefree, he has had some trouble with the other pterippus because of his brown patch. It is highly unusual for them to be anything but pure white. The little one has had a rough time, but that doesn't stop him from being as amazing as he is." Wallace said with obvious affection, as Ajana contemplated all that information about her new friend.
She made a firm decision to protect him as much as she could. Soon after that, the party ended, and it was time for Ajana to get to know her new home and the host family.