Tricks of the Tropics

"How did you find out about this place, Twi?" asked Rarity, lying on a colourful beach towel.

"Read about it in a book, of course," she remarked, lounging on a beach chair, "and Celestia thought it would be good for me to see a more exotic place. But it wouldn't be a place worth going without my best friends, would it?"

"No ma'am, it wouldn't!" Applejack said, with a spirited twang in her voice. "This place really is somethin' special, Twilight."

"This is just the place to be in the middle of winter," cooed Fluttershy, half-asleep in a sunny doze. "It's so warm here, so tranquil..."

"WHEEEEE!" called a distant voice, quickly breaking the tranquility. All the ponies looked towards the rolling blue sea, watching Pinkie Pie sprint along the shoreline at full gallop, kicking up wet sand in her wake. A tall wave would occasionally break near her, and she would rear up and spin about on her hind legs, splashing and gambolling in the surf. "You can't catch me, waves! You can't catch me!" she shrieked, as if the waves were her playmate.

Further out to sea, the peace was ruptured by a different sound: a quick, loud whoosh, as a rainbowy streak rocketed across the churning surface of the ocean. This streak rode along the edges of the waves as they were cresting, flying through the barrel just as they collapsed back into the surface. From the beach, the other four ponies watched this exuberant display with a rapt interest.

Soon, the other two tired of their play, and they rejoined the four resting ponies. Pinkie's fur was spotted with damp sand, her normally bouncy mane sopping with sea water. Rainbow Dash zipped in from the ocean and landed skillfully next to the group. Bowing their heads, they shook themselves dry, the other four turning away from the sudden spray of water.

"Burrr-rrr-rrruh!" Pinkie Pie babbled as she shook herself dry. "Who would have thought the ocean would be such a blast? This was a great idea coming here, Twilight!"

"Yeah, the air here makes me feel like I could fly forever!" Rainbow Dash followed. "Something about the salt really shakes my feathers!"

"Well I'm glad you two are enjoying it," Twilight said, shaking the droplets of sea water from her mane. "It must be exciting for you to see the ocean like this."

"Ooh, yes!" exclaimed Pinkie, stomping her front hooves in the sand. "I could play with it all day!"

"Seems a strange place to not know about 'til now," Applejack commented. "Why din't any o' us know 'bout it?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, deep in thought at the sudden question.

"That IS a good question," she said. "I guess places this far out of Ponyville haven't been of interest to us. Princess Celestia thought it would be a good place to visit, though."

"What's through there?" asked Rainbow Dash, pointing behind the group. Looking behind them, they saw a boundary of thick palm trees, too packed together to see through. They waved gently in the sea breeze, making the thicket beyond look like a shimmering mirage.

"We didn't go through there," Rarity pointed out, "the Princess flew us over that in her chariot. Didn't want us to be too tired when we got to paradise, I would say."

"Not just that," Twilight said, "it's an uncharted jungle. If we tried to go through that, we would surely have gotten lost. It would make Everfree Forest look like a backyard garden."

"Uncharted?" Fluttershy asked. "What's in there?"

"Nopony knows," she answered. "Could be all kinds of dangerous beasts in there, bushes and vines you could get tangled up in, all kinds of mysteries."

"Things to find, you mean?" Pinkie Pie said, with a lilt of intrigue. All the ponies looked at her, puzzled. She beamed at them, eagerly waiting for one of them to say something.

"Well... I guess," Twilight said, "but it's incredibly dangerous in there. If you go in, you could never find your–"

"What's an adventure without a little danger?" Pinkie said, rushing suddenly past them and into the overgrowth. The other five turned to where she disappeared, staring in disbelief.

"What's that crazy pony done now?" scoffed Applejack.

"No time for that," Twilight said, suddenly very alert, "we have to go after her! There's no telling where she could end up!"

Rainbow Dash made a keen expression, and began to hover.

"I'll take to the air," she offered, "I can spot her from the air, and guide her back. She'll be here in no time!"

"Good thinking, Rainbow," Twilight said, "but you wouldn't be able to see through the tops of the trees. If we're going to find her, it has to be on hoof, and we have to do it now."

"We have to go... in there?" Fluttershy said nervously. "How do we know we won't get lost, too?"

"Rainbow Dash might not be able to spot Pinkie from the air," Twilight answered, "but she can act as a scout for us. When we find Pinkie, she can fly straight up in the air, find what direction the sea is in, and tell us what direction to go."

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash answered excitedly.

"And Rarity," Twilight continued, looking suddenly at her, "I'll need your beach towel."

"My beach towel?" she asked. "What ever for?"

"We can hold it like a sack with a little hole in it," she explained. "We'll stuff it with sand, and it will make a trail as we walk along. We can use it to find our way back."

"You want me to fill my triple-weave, fine angora-fur beach towel with sand and drag it through the jungle?" she complained. "It will be positively ruined!"

"Rarity, there's no time!!" Twilight shouted. "We have to find Pinkie before she gets into any more trouble!"

"Oh, very well," Rarity said, standing up and starting to push sand into the towel with her snout. "It's silly to assume a beach towel won't be covered in sand, anyway."

Soon, the towel had a heap of sand piled in the middle. The ponies folded the four corners of the towel over it, and Rarity picked it up in her teeth.

"Dish ish preddy heavy," she said.

"We won't be long," Twilight assured her, "Pinkie's probably stopped by now. Come on, let's go find her!"

Twilight Sparkle trotted headlong into the jungle, the other four ponies following close behind her.