Anon lets out a satisfied groan as he stretches his back. His fists close, he holds his arms straight above him, and below the small, wooden table, his legs begin to do the same. A gentle click of his tongue signals the end of his work day, and he’s more than happy to leave the quiet office.
The quaint room on the third floor of one of Maretime Bay’s many office buildings goes dim as the city’s only human resident turns off his desk lamp. After shuffling a few papers into an innocuous folder and placing said folder into a nearby filing cabinet, he smiles to himself. With a quick double check of his belongings and a satisfied nod, he gingerly makes his way out of the building.
Maretime Bay is a beautiful city. Being on the coast like it is would be enough to set it apart from other Equestrian settlements, but the fact that the town is so carefully maintained and that its residents are so colorful and open make it the greatest place a man could ever hope to live. At least, that’s how Anon sees it.
The street outside is far from empty. Granted, it’s not as busy as it tends to be when the sun is still high in the sky, but ponies of all shapes and sizes are merrily going about their business all the same. Laughter rings out from around a corner, a young couple share a milkshake at a nearby table, a mother holds her son’s hoof as they cross the road, and life continues to go on. Anon places his hands in his pockets as he observes them, but it doesn’t take long for his attention to turn towards the ocean itself.
He’s never been particularly fond of the ocean. The sea is unpredictable, and there’s no telling what might lurk beneath the surface. That rings especially true when you live in a land of magical equines and strange hybrid animals. And yet, at times like these, when the sky is bathed in countless hues of yellow and orange and the sun is slowly but surely setting over the distant waves, the water always looks so peaceful.
Anon’s attention doesn’t stray from the water as he begins to walk along the side of the road. A few fillies are playing in the sand along the beach. The Boardtrot is alive with energy and music, which is plain to see even from the middle of the city. There’s an optimism in the air, and although Anon doesn’t quite share in the unbridled joy such an environment brings, he does relish the sense of contentment that comes with it. He might not be having the time of his life, but everything is okay. For him, that’s enough.
Suddenly, he stops dead in his tracks. He tilts his head as he looks down at the sand beneath the street’s sudden drop. There are children playing, there’s a stallion packing up his belongings after a seaside picnic, and there’s even a group of raccoonicorns fighting over someone’s displaced box of crackers. And yet, despite all of that, his eyes are trained on one single, solitary mare.
With a shrug of his shoulders, he places his hands on the railing and throws himself over the edge. It’s a good seven-foot drop before he reaches the ground, but the sand serves as an excellent cushion. Granted, he now has to deal with sand in his work shoes, but that’s a problem for later. Rolling his shoulders, he saunters up to the side of the water where the mare is quietly sitting.
“Hey, Sunny.”
“Hm? Oh! H-hi, Anon.”
Anon smiles as the typically cheery girl gives him a subdued grin. Without asking for an invitation, he sets himself down on the sand next to her before following her gaze towards the setting sun.
“It’s beautiful out here tonight,” he sighs.
“...Yeah.”
“Something wrong?”
“No.”
“You sure about that?”
“Why would something be wrong?”
“You haven’t looked this melancholic since the time Misty told you your ‘orange upside-down cake smoothie’ was, and I quote, ‘so bad it’s good!’”
“Ugh, don’t remind me of that!” Despite the feigned annoyance in her voice, Sunny can’t help but let out a cute, airy laugh. “And I didn’t know I was so easily read.”
“You wear your heart on your sleeve, Sunny.” Anon reaches over and gently grabs one of Sunny’s ears. It twitches and dances at his touch, and it takes a bit of effort to get a good grip on it before he begins to gently rub at it. The motion almost immediately causes the tension in Sunny’s shoulders to disappear, a reaction she isn’t afraid of showing. “Besides, I think I can tell when my favorite pony is feeling down.”
“I don’t know if I should be flattered or upset,” she sighs as she leans into his touch. “But yeah. I’m… well, I guess I don’t really know how I’m feeling. ‘Sad’ isn’t the right word for it, but I don’t know what else to use.”
“Well, what do you have on your mind?”
Sunny takes a moment to collect her thoughts, those turquoise eyes of hers never veering from the light of the setting sun.
“I guess I’m just wondering what’s next,” she finally states. There’s a hesitation in her voice, a fear that making her thoughts known might cause some disaster to pass. “I’ve never really felt like this, you know?”
“You’ve never been worried about the future?”
“N-no, that’s not what I mean. Er, well, that is what I mean, but there’s more to it than that. I guess… I guess I’m just happy right now. I’m happy with the way things are, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing.”
“Go on.”
“Go on?” Sunny’s eyes glance towards Anon’s, but in a manner wholly unlike him, they’re filled with depth. There’s a pain behind them, an understanding of some fact she has yet to grasp. There are thousands of thoughts competing for his tongue, yet he keeps his mouth closed in fear that any of them might escape. After a moment, Sunny casts her gaze to the sand below. “I love my friends. Each and every one of them means so much to me. I love Maretime Bay, and the Boardtrot, and my smoothie stand, and the ocean. I love that we got our magic back, that ponies of all kinds are getting along. I love the Brighthouse, I love the garden, I love the adventures we get wrapped up in… and I love having you with me, of course.”
Her cheeks darken, but only for a moment.
“I…” She hesitates once again before finally finishing her thought. “I don’t know which is more terrifying: The idea that things will change and I’ll lose all of this, or… or the idea that it never will. That this is all there is.”
Sunny squeaks as Anon finally ceases the ear petting only to instead grab her by the torso. She feels herself being gently lifted into the air before Anon places her down in his comparably large lap. He rests his head atop hers as he wraps his arms around her in a hug. From this position, neither can see the other, but the overwhelming feeling of warmth and care is clear to both parties as they resume their gazing across the ocean.
“Sunny, do you remember when we met?”
“Yeah. Heh, that brings me back. I wasn’t an alicorn yet, the Brighthouse didn’t exist, no one knew about Misty or Opaline… heck, the whole ‘restoring magic’ thing hadn’t even crossed my mind.”
“Think of how far we’ve come since then.”
“Well, yeah, of course we’ve come a long way. We reunited the pony kinds, we discovered earth pony magic, we saved Equestria a few times–”
“And we had a blast every step of the way.”
“Hehe, yeah!”
Sunny laughs as she shimmies her back and snuggles closer into Anon’s embrace. Although he doesn't laugh with her, she can feel him smiling above her.
“You’ve brought me so much joy, Sunny. You, our friends, Maretime Bay… I can’t imagine life without all of you.”
“N-not that I don’t appreciate it, but where are you going with this?”
“You’re not going to lose us, Sunny.”
“Huh?”
“...Sunny, do you remember what I told you about my life before Maretime Bay?”
“Only bits and pieces of it. It’s been a while.”
“A long time ago, I had friends a lot like you. We had so much fun, we got into so many antics… I was having the time of my life, and I thought it’d never end.”
“Anon?”
“But, of course, it did end, as all great things do. We went our separate ways, lived our own lives. We moved on.”
There’s a distinct sense of longing in Anon’s eyes, and although Sunny can’t see them, she can tell that he’s holding back tears.
“Anon, I–”
“It’s okay, Sunny. Really.” Tilting his head down just a smidge, he places a gentle smooch on the top of her head before continuing. “None of that means they’re gone. Whenever I feel like the world is closing in around me, I just remember them. I think about the wonderful experiences we shared. I think of the memories we made together. So long as I hold onto those memories, it’s like they’re still here, pushing me forward and teaching me what friendship can be.”
“That’s… really sweet, Anon. I mean, that’s downright romantic!”
“Do you get my point, though?”
“I… I think?”
“Sunny, life is like… it’s like the waves right in front of us.” He pauses, giving the two of them a moment to take in the sight of the waves gently washing up onto the shoreline before slowly receding back into the water, only to repeat the process time and time again. “The fun and the joy and the love that we feel ebbs and flows. Sometimes it’s loud, sure, but most of the time you hardly notice it’s happening until you feel it slipping away. And then, right when you wonder if the good times are gone, that wave comes rushing back up. It’s not always easy to tell if you’re coming up on shore or pulling back into the ocean, but that just makes living in the moment all the more important.”
“Hm.”
Anon sheepishly lets out an empty chuckle before continuing.
“In reality, it doesn’t matter what comes next. Whether we go on a hundred more adventures or we stay exactly like this for the rest of time, the fact of the matter is that we’ve already had a great run. We’re something special, Sunny. You’re something special.” Anon tightens his grip on her just a bit more. “And even if we have to watch the world move past us, I’m never going to stop loving you.”
“Anon…”
“Besides, I can think of a few worse fates than having this, right here, be where our story ends.”
“Please don’t say that. I-I know I’m the one that’s scared about the future, but I don’t want to think about anything ending!”
“...Heheh. You have a point.” Carefully, Anon shuffles on the sand. Without releasing Sunny from his grip, he begins to stand up. At this point, the sun has nearly finished setting, and the beach has gotten so dark that the two of them are the only ones still there. “Why don’t we go see what Izzy’s up to?”
“Right now?”
“Sure. I could use a bit of cheer right now, and if there’s one surefire way to get it–”
“It’s Izzy!”
“Actually, I was going to say it’s by being around all of you, but Izzy fits that bill!”
“Hahah! Are you planning to put me down, first?”
“Hmmmmm… nah.”
“Anon!”
Sunny laughs and playfully struggles as Anon carries her down the beach and towards the Boardtrot. Although the distinct sense of melancholy still permeates through the air, there’s an undeniable joy that pervades through it all. There’s no telling what – if anything – will come next for the quaint city of Maretime Bay, but one thing is certain…
It will always be around to lift up the hearts and minds of those who know of it.
Author's Note
Thank you for everything, G5. 
