Teacup tried out lots of tricks.

She tried a front flip. But she couldn’t quite make it all the way around.

Petit winced. “That looks like it hurt,” she said.

Teacup rolled onto her back and held her paws in the air.

Petit wrinkled her nose. “Not exciting enough!” she said. “You’re just lying there.”

Teacup balanced a ball on her head. Then a spoon. Then one of Belle’s shoes.

“Hmm…it’s kind of like balancing the cup, isn’t it?” Petit said.

Teacup stopped. The shoe thumped on the walkway. “It’s hard to come up with a new trick!” she said.

She lay down in the grass. A bumblebee buzzed past her, headed for a flower. It reminded her of Cogsworth, bustling around in the castle with so much to do.

The garden was as busy as the grand hall…just in a different way. Dragonflies hovered in the air, then darted off. By the back wall, a bunny nibbled clover in the sunshine. A frog leaped through the grass. When a stone blocked the way, the frog leaped onto it and then over it.

“That’s it!” Teacup said, sitting up. “Leaps! I’ll add leaps to my show. The first thing I leap over will be small.” She looked around. “Like that watering can.”

The watering can sat next to the roses. Teacup took a running start and cleared it easily. Petit stomped her hoofs in support.

“The next one will be bigger.” Teacup nodded at a stone bench. She ran. She leaped. She soared over the bench!

“The last one should be very big,” Teacup said. “Hmm.” She trotted through the garden. Finally, her eyes stopped on…

Petit!

Petit backed away. “Oh, no!” she said. “I’m too big. You can’t leap over me.”

“Hold still,” Teacup said, moving toward her.

Petit shook her mane. “Nuh-uh. You could get hurt. I could get hurt.”

But Teacup was already running. Teacup was leaping. Teacup was soaring. She was going to make it!

Or…

Maybe not.

The pup’s paws snagged on Petit’s back and she tumbled forward. But Teacup was a true pro. She landed and rolled and popped back to her feet. “Ta-da!” she said.

Petit swished her tail over her back. She would surely have a bruise there the next day.

“You know, Teacup,” she said, “leaping is a great new trick. It’s perfect. Really! But what if instead of leaping over something, you leaped through something?”

Teacup tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean?” she asked.

Petit nodded toward the top of the trellis. “Like a hoop,” she suggested.

Teacup followed Petit’s gaze up past the fountain…up past the garden wall. There, at the top of the wisteria trellis, hung a wooden hoop. In the spring, Belle laced colorful ribbons through it.

Teacup eyed the hoop. “What a great idea!” she said.