"Surf's up, big kahuna!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she dropped her surfboard into the tube of the wave. She shredded a tight zigzag up and down the leading edge. "Woohoo!" she cheered wildly.
"Woohoo!" Fluttershy cheered mildly from the beach from where she sat on the blanket underneath the umbrella.
Rainbow Dash dropped out of the tube and glided in towards the beach as the wave crashed behind her. "Come on, Fluttershy! The water is Awesome™!"
"Oh, I don't know Rainbow..." she said, idly nudging her beginner's board with her hoof.
"I'll go!" Zephyr Breeze got out of his beach chair and grabbed the board. He trotted out into the water and climbed onto the board. He started paddling out past Tree Hugger.
"You know how to surf?" Tree Hugger asked.
"Psh! How hard can it be?" Zephyr asked. "You just stand on it. The wave does all the work!" He paddled over to where Rainbow Dash was waiting. The next wave came in and Zephyr stood up on the board. Rainbow Dash was already paddling furiously to get some momentum ahead of the wave. The wave crashed into the stationary stallion and sent him tumbling into the water, churning him over and over like a washing machine while he screamed. Once it passed, he popped above the surface, gasping and sputtering.
Tree Hugger floated by on her board. "So like... when you said you knew how to surf... did you mean like... the opposite?"
He swam back to shore where the board had embedded itself into the sand. He picked it up and carried it back to the beach blanket. Discord sipped his Piña Colada and lowered his sunglasses to look at Zephyr coughing up seawater. "Discord! Can you teach me how to surf?" Zephyr asked. "I want to impress Rainbow!"
"You could call upon the sea ponies when you're in distress," Discord said.
"Hardy harr," Zephyr deadpanned. "I mean like, can't you snap your fingers and just make me good at surfing?"
"Make you good at something?" Discord asked. "I can do magic, not miracles."
Zephyr smirked. "Are you admitting that you're incapable?"
Discord's nostrils flared. "I could easily do it instantly. And it would be worth neither my time or effort. Besides, why would I throw away such wonderful entertainment?" Zephyr rolled his eyes. Fluttershy elbowed Discord. "Ugh, fine..." He lifted his hand to snap his fingers.
"I could teach you a few pointers," Tree Hugger said.
Fluttershy grabbed Discord's hand. "Actually, that sounds like a good idea," she said.
"That sounds like work," Zephyr grumbled.
Tree Hugger held his hoof. "Nah brah, it'll totes be groovy."
Fluttershy gave him an encouraging wave to join her. Zephyr picked up the board and went back to the water with Tree Hugger.
Discord grinned. "Fantastic idea, Fluttershy." He snapped his fingers and produced a box of popcorn. "Oh, this is going to be priceless!" Fluttershy ignored him, watching Zephyr paddle out into the water next to Tree Hugger.
~
"That was a pretty gnarly wipeout," Tree Hugger said as they paddled. "And I mean like the bad kind of gnarly. Where things are gnarled."
"Yeah, well..." Zephyr trailed off, knowing better then to try to rationalize it away. Not with her.
Tree stopped paddling and sat up on her board. "Kay, this is a good spot." Zephyr parked his board next to hers and stood up. "Naw, just chill for now," she said. "We just gotta wait for the perfect wave."
"What about that one?" Zephyr asked, pointing down the shoreline at Rainbow Dash shredding another tube.
Tree shook her head. "Nah brah. There's a sandbar over there that makes the waves waaay too intense."
They sat on their boards and waited.
"Try this one," she said, pointing out to sea.
Zephyr looked at the distortion in the water that was little more than a speed bump. "What one?"
"You'll see. Come on," she said, turning around on the board to paddle. Zephyr was late to start. The bump in the water grew and passed under him before it crested and Tree surfed into shore. She hopped off and paddled back out to Zephyr. "You gotta get yourself moving ahead of it, then the wave can push you."
She parked her board next to him and they sat to watch the waves. Watching for the perfect wave.
"This one?" Zephyr asked. The bump in the water was growing fast.
"Kinda big, but-"
Zephyr was already paddling. Tree paddled after him. The wind rose and Zephyr could hear the water rushing behind him. He looked at Tree next to him and followed her cue as she stood up. He felt the back of his board lifting and he leaned back in reflex. The board went out from under him and he crashed into the water.
~
Discord cackled from the beach.
"Discord!" Fluttershy glared at him.
He just laughed even harder, spilling his popcorn everywhere. "I can't help it! This is just the funniest thing I've seen in eons!"
"You know, Tree Hugger has been telling me something about karma..."
A flock of hungry seagulls descended upon Discord. "Gah! Fluttershy! Stop them!" he screamed.
"No," Fluttershy said, turning back to watch Zephyr. "No I don't think I will."
~
Tree Hugger helped Zephyr back up onto his board and they paddled back out together.
They sat on their boards and waited.
"How about this one?" she asked, pointing at the small bump in the water's distance.
Zephyr let out a discouraged sigh. "What if I wipe out again?" he asked.
"Seven times down, eight times up," she said.
"What?"
"You keep trying," she said. "That's what matters. If you fall down seven times, you get back up eight times. If doesn't matter how many times you fail. You're only a failure if you quit."
Zephyr sat there and looked at her as the water bump passed under them.
"Next one," he said resolutely.
They sat on their boards and waited.
A few more small water bumps passed them by.
"This one?" she suggested.
"Okay. Yeah," he nodded.
"Don't stand this time," she said. "We'll just body surf this one."
They paddled together ahead of the wave as it started to crest behind them. Without having to worry about balancing, Zephyr could just enjoy the ride of being pushed along. Tree Hugger laid on her board next to him as they went. She smiled at him. He smiled back. The small wave moved slowly, making it a long ride before it petered out.
"That was cool!" he said.
"Fer sure!" Tree agreed as they headed back out, getting back on their boards to paddle back to where they were.
They sat on their boards and waited.
"I want to try standing, but... I feel like I'm gonna fall," he said. "But when I tried to balance myself, I fell anyway."
Tree Hugger brushed her mane out of her face. "Cha, but falling is part of it."
"As long as I get back up, I know."
"Naw, I mean actually surfing," she said. "You're falling forward down the wave. And the wave keeps going under you. You gotta get that balance, ya know?"
He shrugged. "I guess."
She smiled. "You'll get it."
They sat on their boards and waited.
"..."
"..."
"Try this one," she said.
They turned and paddled together ahead of the wave as it started to crest behind them. Tree Hugger stood up and Zephyr slowly did the same. He felt himself falling forward but resisted the instinct to lean back. The board followed the contour of the wave and it kept falling forward under him along with the wave, keeping him where he was. "I'm surfing!" he cheered. He looked over at Tree Hugger. She looked back at him and smiled. He felt his stomach do a flip. And then he did.
She pulled him out of the water again.
He looked disappointed. "I fell again."
"Nu uh. You surfed," she said. "I saw you."
"Not for very long," he groaned in embarrassment.
"You'll get better. Seven times down..." She passed his board to him.
"Eight times up." He climbed back on and they paddled out.
They sat on their boards and waited.
"..."
"..."
Tree Hugger sat and stared out to the horizon. Waiting for that perfect wave.
"How will I know..." Zephyr started to ask. Tree Hugger blinked and looked over at him. "How will I know what the perfect wave looks like?"
She smiled slowly. "You'll know." She put her hoof on her chest. "You'll feel it." She took a deep breath. "Everything will just feel... right. Like it was made just for you. That's when you know you found the perfect one."
"..."
"..."
Zephyr looked over at Rainbow Dash on another big wave. "What if I never get good?" he asked.
Tree Hugger's eyes followed his. "Might not."
He wasn't expecting that. "Wow. Way to harsh my mellow."
Tree Hugger shrugged. "I'm trying to encourage you. Not gonna lie to you." They watched Rainbow Dash do a hoof-stand 360. "You might not ever get that good. But if you don't try, and practice, then you definitely won't."
"But she's so talented! And I'm..."
"Talent helps. But it's not everything. And even she wasn't born with it."
"..."
"Instead of trying to get good, I think you just need to decide what's good enough," Tree said. "Dash does that because that's what's good enough to her. You shouldn't try to be good enough for her. You just gotta be good enough for you."
They started drifting apart. Zephyr looked away. "I don't think I'll ever be good enough for anypony." She paddled closer and reached over to hold his hoof. To keep them from drifting apart. He looked at her hoof holding his. And then at her.
She smiled at him. "You're good enough for me."
He smiled back at her.
They sat on their boards and waited.
They watched the horizon together, hoof in hoof, and waited for the perfect wave, until the sun started to set over the water.
Her hoof squeezed his. "You could spend the whole day waiting for the perfect wave..." She leaned over and kissed him. "... And it wouldn't be a wasted day."
~
Rainbow Dash toweled herself dry on the beach next to Fluttershy. "What the hay are those two still doing out there?"
Fluttershy just smiled.
"Surfing."
Author's Note
"Where's Discord?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Fluttershy smirked. "He got attacked by A Flock Of Seagulls. And he ran. He ran so far away... But he couldn't get away."
