Birds of a Feather Don't Ride Together
Wales was awesome!
Even though the portals had been open for a few years, this was Silverstream’s first time on Earth, and she eagerly took in every last detail she saw. It was inhabited not by whales — as Silverstream had first guessed — but humans. (Disappointingly, despite the flag, there weren’t any dragons there either.) Most Seaquestrians had never seen a human before, so she couldn’t wait to tell Mom all about them! So far, she’d experienced the joys of banknotes (even though she kept accidentally poking holes in them), escalators, and a delicacy known as “fish and chips” — seriously, why didn’t humans eat that more often?
Silverstream shook sand out of her feathers; the afternoon sky was clear, but the beachfront was very windy. Dad had allowed her, her brother Terramar, and her friend Gallus to go to an amusement park unsupervised today! (After making sure they had their magical translation bracelets on, of course. He’d asked at least nine times.) She flew ahead of them towards the gates, but was distracted by a stall that sold all sorts of knick-knacks — seashells and magnets and lollipops and—
“What’s Professor Dash doing on a bucket and spade?” she asked, leaning towards the shopkeeper with her talons grasping the desk.
“Uh… I think she’s the pony that made her likeness into a brand?” replied the shopkeeper. “I dunno. I don’t make this stuff.” He shrugged.
Just then, a human child ran towards the stall. “Look! A fluffy horsey!” she exclaimed in an adorably squeaky voice as she pointed at Silverstream. “Can I ride the horsey, mummy? Please?”
“That’s not a horse, silly!” an older human — probably the mother — said between pants as she caught up. “And we don’t ride these horses.”
Silverstream bent down to the child’s level. “Hi! My name’s Silverstream. I’m a hippogriff. At least, right now. Sometimes I’m a seapony.” She pointed at the pearl shard on her necklace. “Pleased to meet you!” She waved. The child waved back; then, she looked up with wide eyes.
“Mummy, please can I have the horsey bucket?” she pleaded, jumping up and down on the spot and pointing at the bucket.
“We can’t afford it, dear,” the mother replied, her voice gentle. “If we buy this, we won’t be able to have ice cream later.”
“Aww…” the child sighed.
“I’ll buy it for you!” Silverstream blurted. She asked the shopkeeper for the bucket, then tipped the contents of her pink, clamshell-shaped purse (mostly silver coins; she’d had too much fun with a coin dispenser in the pier’s arcade earlier) onto the desk.
The mother chuckled. “Back when I was a child, I was obsessed with a toyline called My Little Pony. Unfortunately, it didn’t last very long, but now it’s as if my childhood dreams came true. My favourite was a pegasus called Firefly, and you look just like her.”
“Ooh! That reminds me!” exclaimed Silverstream. “Professor Dash — that’s the pony on the bucket — told us all about the time she met Daring Do! You see, she used to think she was just a fictional pony from adventure novels she really liked, but it turned out that—” She was interrupted by talon yanking her foreleg.
“Sheesh, hurry up already,” said Gallus, who had just landed next to her, rolling his eyes.
“Sorry! I got carried away again...” Silverstream said to Gallus.
“That’s the fourteenth time this summer,” Gallus muttered.
“I can’t believe you counted!” Silverstream turned to the humans. “I’ve got to go now.”
“Say thank you to the hippogriff, Megan,” said the mother.
“Thank you!” exclaimed the child.
Silverstream turned around and galloped towards a pair of huge gates, where Terramar was waiting. Above the gates, there were huge, golden letters that read “WELCOME TO CONEY BEACH PLEASURE PARK”.
Silverstream covered her eyes with her foreleg to protect them from the glare of the sun. The heat of the concrete below made her finally understand why humans wore shoes; it felt like she was walking on top of a grill. The air was filled with the sweet scent of candyfloss, but even that wasn’t strong enough to drown out the smell of the sea. The music blasting from the loudspeakers, the screams of people on the rollercoaster, and the general hustle and bustle all blended together into a mush of noise that made it difficult to hear her own footsteps, but she wouldn’t give any of it up for the world. The sounds of the air were still relatively new to her; the sounds of Earth’s air even moreso. She couldn’t imagine being deaf!
Most of the humans there were children accompanied by their parents. Some of those parents took pictures of her, Gallus, and Terramar on their phones. Whenever she saw a red light, she stopped to pose. Red meant stop, right? She didn’t want to mess up their pictures!
There were so many rides that she couldn’t choose which one to go on first. Even though it was several times smaller than Las Pegasus, there was just as much variety — there was a rollercoaster and waltzers and a carousel and so much more!
“Which ride do you wanna go on first, Gallus?” asked Silverstream, raising her voice — but not shouting. That would be rude!
Gallus, who had been looking around absent-mindedly, turned to look at her. “Uh… I’m not sure. Why don’t you ask your brother?”
“Because… uh… He’s still not feeling so good after the incident with the shopping trolleys!” exclaimed Silverstream.
“I have motion sickness…” Terramar mumbled.
Gallus raised an eyebrow. “Since two days ago?”
Terramar shook his head. “I realised it when we returned to Mount Aris.”
“So how come you came here with us?” Gallus asked.
“Because if I didn’t, you’d worry that I was lonely, Gallus,” sighed Terramar. “Maybe you’re right. I should’ve stayed behind after all…”
“Oh, Terramar, don’t be so hard on yourself!” exclaimed Silverstream.
“You’re starting to sound like mom…” Terramar muttered.
“There’s plenty of things you can do here!” Silverstream continued. “Such as… uh…” She looked around; a series of stalls along the side with bright red awnings caught her attention, and she gasped. “I know! You could try winning a prize for us! I’m sure you’ll do great!”
“I will,” Terramar said with a small nod, before galloping towards the stalls. All three of them had mysteriously lost every carnival game they’d played in Equestria, but maybe Earth was different.
“Why are you so obsessed with rides, anyway?” asked Gallus. “They’re just flying with more restrictions.”
Silverstream was horrified. How could he say such a thing? “It’s not just that! Rides twist and turn in all sorts of ways that your wings could never allow you! Besides, you spent most of our time in Las Pegasus complaining, but you enjoyed it in the end.”
“Yeah, but that was different! Because… uh...” Gallus sighed. “I guess you’re right...”
Silverstream gasped. A stationary, yellow pendulum ride that was studded with colourful light bulbs captured Silverstream’s attention; she could only imagine how stunning it looked at night! At the top, the words "BEACH PARTY" were spelled out in red and blue lights. She took to the air and darted towards it with the speed of the Wonderbolts.
“This looks perfect!” she exclaimed, landing on the concrete and staring in awe at Beach Party’s magnificent height.
“Uh… on second thought, can I go join Terramar?” asked Gallus.
“Nope! You’re coming with me. It’ll be fine — I promise!”
Gallus was beginning to regret every life choice he’d ever made.
Beach Party had twenty-four inward-facing seats that were split into groups of four. Gallus was barely tall enough to ride when he sat on his haunches; as soon as he leaped into his outside seat, he fidgeted to find a comfortable position for his tail. Before he could succeed, however, the harness descended and locked into place around his neck.
“Okay, can I join Terramar now?!” he exclaimed, gripping his harness in a vain attempt to pull it off.
“Don’t be a scaredy-cat, Gallus! We haven’t even started yet!” exclaimed Silverstream next to him.
I want to get off, I want to get off, IwanttogetoffIwanttogetoff...
Gallus couldn’t even work up the courage to give her an unamused glare. His trembling paws dangled mere feet above the metal floor, and looking down made him nervous.
It’ll only last a few minutes… you can do this, self...
An indistinct pop song blared from the loudspeakers, and the ride started to move. Gallus gulped. There was no going back now.
At first, it didn’t seem so bad. Beach Party slowly rotated as it gently swung back and forth, and Gallus breathed a sigh of relief. After about a minute or so, the ride started to build up momentum. What was he worried about? This was going to be easy!
...Or so he thought.
The ride quickly built up momentum; as soon as he had a view of the entire park, he began to feel dizzy. The alternating rotation of the seats only made it worse. After a minute or so, it reached its apex, suspended parallel to either the concrete on one side, or the beach on the other. He could see the flat, dull sea stretching all the way to the horizon—
And then it stopped.
Gallus’ pounding heart echoed in his ears. Had the ride broken down? Either he would be stuck in this glorified cage for hours on end with blood rushing to his head, or the seats would fly off and he’d fall into the sea and no-one would be able to save him in time and he couldn’t swim so he’d drown and he’d never get to graduate or join the Royal Guard or finally beat Gilda at a game of rock-paper-scissors—
After a few seconds, the ride swung again, and Gallus’s face was buffeted by a huge slipstream comparable to a small hurricane.
“Woo-hoo!” screamed Silverstream in delight. Her wings spread out, batting Gallus in the face.
Beach Party felt like torture. Each and every time it paused at an apex, Gallus’ heart skipped a beat. He wished he could get off already, but it showed no signs of slowing down. He squeezed his eyes shut, but that only made his claustrophobia even worse, so he quickly opened them again. He was so terrified, he couldn’t even scream. How could anyone enjoy this?
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the ride mercifully slowed down. When Gallus got off, his heart was still pounding, and he panted heavily.
“Wanna go again?” Silverstream asked, after Gallus had dragged himself onto the concrete. “Or should we go get ice cream?”
Gallus didn’t have the energy to respond. Thinking about food made him feel sick.
Silverstream craned her neck downwards so that she was at Gallus’ eye level. “Are you okay?”
“No…” was all he could muster.
“Was it the ride?” Silverstream asked. Her voice lacked its usual enthusiasm, instead laden with sympathy.
Gallus nodded slowly. Silverstream guided him towards a bench, where he lay down and caught his breath; he didn’t even care that the metal was hot, hard, and covered in grime.
“I’m SO sorry! I just wanted us to have a good time together, but if I’d listened to you, I wouldn’t have ruined your day—”
“It’s fine…” Gallus sighed.
Silverstream glared at him defiantly. “No it isn’t! I know you don’t want to upset me, but Professor Applejack taught us to be honest about our feelings, especially around friends.”
“Uh… I think I slept through that lesson.” He looked up. “What I was getting at is that you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. Neither of us knew how bad it would be.”
“I guess you’re right... But if there’s any way I could make it up to you, please let me know!”
Gallus stopped to think for a moment. “Uh… They were selling crab sticks at the pier. Wanna try some?”
Silverstream hovered, clasping her talons together. “That sounds like a GREAT idea! Let’s g—”
“I need some help here!” Terramar shouted from the distance.
“What happened?” asked Silverstream.
“I won first prize in the shooting gallery,” Terramar replied. Gallus’ jaw dropped when he saw that he was dragging a white and pink, bug-eyed unicorn plushie that was almost as big as he was. It looked like Professor Rarity on a bad day. “They said my aim was good enough to hit an eagle in the eye. Don’t tell Gilda you heard that from me.”
Author's Note
Coney Beach Pleasure Park is a real place, and Gallus had the same experience on Beach Party as I did.
