Swimming was a breeze! Or so she kept trying to tell herself as her hooves continued to kick through the deep water. Really, it was her least favorite part of exploring the islands. It was so much more fun to simply run, and jump! The feeling of the hard ground under her hooves had always been a comfort, if only because it meant she could launch herself into the sky! Taika would never admit it, but the lack of solid ground under her while she still moved forward unnerved her. Therefore, she had to face this fear and not allow it to keep her from any new or exciting place! The island she came to this time was indeed a new and exciting place!

She pulled herself onto the shore and almost seemed to be dancing with giddiness before she had even completely left the water. Striped hooves splashed in the waves, sending sand and water in every direction. Red, sun bleached mane and tail flared around her like the fire it so closely mimicked, framing her black smoke colored body. With every jump that landed back in the watery sands it she looked like an explosion of all the elements before she raised her voice in high laughter and peeled out from the shore and into the prairie. Her hooves pounded against the ground with so much more satisfaction now that she was a year old and was starting to have the body to support the power of a full gallop. She laughed to herself as she raced through the emerald spring grasses, clearly having little care about someone thinking she was intruding.

This place was so different from the last islands she had found herself exploring. Instead of rolling hills of sand, this place was made of hills of grass! It was reminiscent of the Meadow she had so often explored, but far more grand and wide! The yearling kicked her heels as she ran, the sounds of her youthful joy once again ringing out through the air. This place was sure to have fairies and creatures she needed to meet and discover!