First Trip To The Beach

by Lulamoon-Crystal

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: A New Generation, Other, Slice of Life
Length: 6293

Dapple takes his friend, Onyx to experience somewhere other than Bridlewood. What could go wrong at the beach?

Dapple, having been to Maretine Bay multiple times wants his friend, Onyx, to experience the same place, deciding to take her for a day on the beach. It would be her first time outside of Bridlewood, so this would be the chance to show her things to experience away from home!

For reasons, this only takes place within the “Make Your Mark” universe since Onyx was never seen outside of Bridlewood while Dapple was.

Published 2024-10-09 08:10:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-10-09 08:10:00 UTC

Gee, I think this may be the only chapter, mate

Two unicorns were walking through Maretine Bay, towards the beach. Dapple, the green curly maned unicorn was leading his friend to the beach. She had never left Bridlewood, so he decided to try and get her to experience the bay for once.

“I know you don’t like loud or busy places, unless it’s the tearoom.” Dapple said as he approached the path to the beach, his friend Onyx following behind. Eating some hot chips she brought earlier, having to had skipped breakfast. They both had to leave Bridlewood pretty early, it was a long trip between both of towns. They had to start their journey to the bay long before the sun rose. Many ponies had wished the new tramline between the three places would be open.
“I know you don’t usually like getting very wet, either. But, the beach is something you have to experience!” He exclaimed as he lead his friend down the path to the beach in Maretine Bay, she looked around with her usual expression, feeling the hot sun beating down on her coat and the sound of waves filling her ears. Plus the bright sun shining in her eyes- well, her uncovered eye, anyway since she always had her right one uncovered by her dark purple mane.

She walked along, hearing some gulls squawk overhead, they were much louder in pony, she already heard ponies talk about them. As soon as she went to eat more of her chips, she flinched as the whole container was suddenly snatched by a speedy squawking thief! She felt the wings briefly against her face before it flew away, leaving a trail of dropped chips in its wake. Leaving poor Onyx with no hot chips. “I sure hope so. I feel so far from the comforts of Bridlewood.”

”Maybe you can write an uplifting poem after this?” He suggested, trying to not snicker about her little misfortune.

”I only do drama, tragedy or pain…” She reminded him, knowing he full on knew that. Some white stuff splattering on the ground near her as a gull flew past, aiming for the chips the other gull dropped. She looked on with slight disgust, it had almost hit her.

”I know, no harm in spicing things up once in a while, right?” He shrugged as he walked onto the warm sand, moving onto some slightly damp sand, carrying a bag of stuff with him. Watching as she joined him in sitting down on the sand. He put down his bag and opened it up, revealing two brightly coloured buckets and shovels. “Let’s start off with simple. One cool thing at the beach is to create sandcastles, c’mon, let’s see who can build the coolest!” He said, looking a little smug as he started piling up sand in one place, adding more as he shaped it with his hooves, making sure it was all packed together.

“Well, i hope no seagulls mess this up.” Onyx shrugged, “Their behaviour has been Onyx-ceptable.” She said forming a small smile on her face, not really caring much and just wanting to make a small pun. She joined him, digging out slightly damp sand and pilling it into the bucket, patting it down and flipping the bucket, creating some almost perfect cylinder shape of packed sand.

“Oh hey, first try. Good job.”

”It was easy…” She said in a monotone voice, but she looked rather happy with it, grabbing the slightly smaller bucket and doing the same thing. But around the bigger one, soon using some sand to pack in the gaps, making it appear there was a really thick fence or building around the big tower. She looked at it and around her, seeing some small shells, or shell fragments in the sand and back at the sandcastle. Dapple watched with a small smile as he watched her decorate her sand castle, looking like she was actually enjoyed it, well it seemed so until a huge wave came crashing in suddenly. She let out a gasp as the sand castle collapsed and her rump was suddenly soaked with freezing water, Dapple having managed to lift his bag up just in time.

”On no…” Dapple said as he eyed the pile of soaked sand that was once Onyx’s sandcastle, her ears were drooped down as she glared at the pile, dropping the shell she was just to put on. Her hard work all ruined, which Dapple felt a little bad for her, he hadn’t meant to chosen a spot in the wave’s path. But her next words revealed it wasn’t a big deal.

”Castle Collapsing tragically in a tsunami, killing hundreds.” She said before pausing. “I’m a fan of that kind of story.”

“Eh… Y-yeah, tragic story.” He shrugged at her morbid comment, likely sounding darker than she intended, before looking down at the remains if his sandcastle. “Aw man…” Dapple said, looking at the ruins of his own. “I didn’t even finish it!” He sighed, looking up at Onyx, seeing she still looked the same with her expression, he just wanted her to enjoy this day out and now their sandcastles were ruined. Maybe sandcastles were just not her thing, which was fine and all, maybe they just needed something else to do. It was the beach! Surely there was things to do.

Soon something caught Dapple's eyes, seeing a few fillies play a little far off. Forming a large tail around a friend’s torso, it seemed they enjoyed it. Also, it was similar to what they were just doing and he wanted Onyx to experience beach, so why not try that, too?

”Earth to Daps. You okay? ‘Cause you seem spaced out.”

”Y-yeah! Just got another idea.”

”Does it involve more sandcastles? Somewhere where they don’t end up…. I dunno, obliterated.” She suggested, kicking some sand aside and glancing at Dapple.

“Well yeah. But it involves one of us laying down.” He said, looking on as Onyx laid on her belly, legs tucked under her, like a cat. She glanced at him, a Little curious what he was going to do, but looking bored, which is not what he wanted. “I guess I’ll be doing the building then. Uh, just get comfortable, okay, Onyx?”

”Sure will.” She laid, taking out her forelegs and resting her head on them as Dapple piled up sand around her butt, watching as he glanced at the filly with merpony tail made of sand again. The sand surrounding her hind legs. Was that what Dapple was doing, well, he seemed pretty happy doing it, so no harm there, so she stayed still the best she should as he started to shape and place the sand over her behind. It felt a little uncomfortable, but that shouldn’t last long, right?

Eventually, after what felt like ages, Dapple was finally done with his work. Proudly looking at the long, curved tail. It wasn’t perfect, it was uneven and the scales didn’t look like scales, the whole thing resembled more of a dolphin, but he still had fun. “Oh it looks so good, actually.”

“Thanks for making me a fish out of water…”

“You’re welcome! Let me just take a photo!” He exclaimed, walking backwards. “Just need the perfect angle.” Onyx didn’t move her position and only glanced at the seagulls flying overhead, squawking loudly. Then there was a sudden cold splat on her shoulder, at first she thought it was a splash of water, but upon lifting her head and looking at it, she snarled slightly, the white goop sticking to her coat. Seagull dropping, of course they couldn’t do it anywhere else but on her. After rolling her eyes as she laid her head back on her hooves, looking out into the distance, feeling the heat up against her and the sand rubbing against her fur. “Got it!” Dapple exclaimed, hoof deep in the nearby water before taking his phone out and taking a photo before sighing and exclaiming. “Uh, you wanna look at me, or something?!” He exclaimed, getting a respond when she lifted her head and glanced at him. Just as he took another photo, another large wave came gushing in, stronger and reaching further, submerging Onyx up to her neck, her eyes widening and mouth letting out a surprised gasp at the unexpected cold water, again. Now her scarf partly soaked from the wave, almost immediately she stood up shaking the excess soaked sand and water off her before looking at Dapple who chuckled a little. “Seems I didn’t learn from last time.” He said before putting his phone back. “But was it fun?”

“Eh. It was something.” She said bluntly. “Except I got sand in my coat, and my scarf.”

”Oh c’mon, most of it will fall out!” He said before going down on his belly and looking up at her. “Do me!”

”No.”

”Another fun thing to do at the beach is collect seashells. Well, Izzy makes it sound fun.” He said before stopping at a flat pale shell with grooves on it, looking similar in shale to a fish flipper.“This one’s neat.” He said as Onyx picked up one herself, one that was in a spiral patterning with a large opening on one end, showing the seemingly hallow inside. She gazed at the dark brown-red shell, noticing the speckled pattern on it. Izzy used a few of these shells for some necklaces she made recently, except this one was much bigger.

“Oh, I dig this one.” Onyx said softly, gazing at it as Dapple walked over. She looked down at it with a slight smile, “This is the biggest shell I’ve seen in like… Ever…”

“Oh yeah! They are pretty cool!” Agreed Dapple, taking another glance at the shell he collected before putting it in a hard container, Izzy said that shells could be fragile, so he brought one to the beach with him to protect any cool shells he found. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do with it yet, however. Maybe Alphabittle might want it to display, but he’d have to win it off him, first. Just thinking of the shell in the tearoom already made him think of doing beach themed music on his bongos there. Which would actually be out of place, maybe he could take his bongos to Maretine Bay and play some fitting music here sometime. He took another glance at the shell that Onyx was going to put away fro safe keeping when her realised something that Izzy showed him a while back. “Oh! there’s this cool effect where you can hear the ocean if you put them to your ear.” He answered, watching as Onyx glanced at the shell and back at him, speaking in a soft tone, it was hard to tell if she didn’t believe him or not. “Well, that one is much bigger than the one she told me about, but should work the same.”

”Really?” She asked, wondering if that was really true, or of it was just the echoes of the ocean nearby. Curious to hear it herself she put the opening near her ear, having a blank state before looking at him. Wondering if he was just messing with her, since she didn’t hear anything different or out of place. Just sounded normal while holding something up against your ear. “I don’t hear-“ She said before her eyes widened as she paused, feeling a sharp pinch on her ear, stinging as sharp as a bee sting mixed with putting a hairclip on your ear. The pain was right where the occupant of that shell was pinching her with all its might, it was a crab, a very angry one it seemed, pinching harder, making the pain worse as Dapple watched with concern.

”Ooh…” Dapple glanced at the crab and back at Onyx, taking a step towards her and she dropped her hoof, the crab still hanging on. Pinching so hard that it might Pierce her ear. “Let me get that for you-“ He said before recoiling when the crab snapped at him with its over claw. Angry at him too, not wanting to be touched. “What a huge, grumpy crab!” He exclaimed, gulping in worry upon watching his friend silently suffer. Both her ears were droopy, one from annoyance and the other from the weight of the crab.

”Not cool, Daps…” She whispered, giving him a death glare before shaking her head to try and get the crab off. It flew around and flopped, but did not loosen its grip the hardest. “Seems I’ll have a hermit crab stuck to my ear for a whole day… An earring that acts very crabby.” She said, not the slightest bit amused at being pinched by a slightly bigger than usual hermit crab. “Uh, what are you doing?” Asked Onyx as Dapple looked on his phone and put it back.

”Oh I just uh… Found out we have to submerge the crab in water….”

”How you reckon we are gonna do that? It’s on my ear?” She said, tilting her head a little, trying to endure the pain of the pinchers. She wasn’t a huge fan of the idea, surely there was a way that didn’t involve dunking her head underwater for who knows how long!

”Or we could uh… Oh! I got it!” Dapple exclaimed, grabbing one of the buckets and shovels. Trying to get the crab to get off by trying to put the shovel between the claw and ear. Which had somewhat worked when it fell in with a thump, he hurried to tip the bucket into the sea and made sure Onyx wasn’t badly hurt. He gently held her ear in his hoof and investigated, and smiled slightly at the minor wound, nothing to worry about.

“I had worse,” she shrugged. “What else is there to do?” She asked. Noticing he started looking around at what the other ponies were doing, it was rather a while before lunch, Dapple knew just the place he wanted to take her, but there was still time to do one more thing to convince her the beach is fun. Maybe she'd be more willing to see the other places besides Bridlewood, maybe they could attend an event in Zephyr Heights some day.

“Boat riding, boogie boarding, digging, seagull chasing, kite flying-but I didn’t being kites-“ He shrugged then continued. “Running, seaweed eating, sun tanning, volleyball-“ He stopped on the spot. “To name a few, so which one first?” He asked, soon noticing the water pushing some seaweed up to his legs, he picked it up. “Seaweed eating?” He asked before taking a bite, much to Onyx’s confusion and slight disgust before he threw it away and spat it out.

“Eh- Pass… I’m not a big fan of eating random plants in the water, never know where they came from.” She said bluntly before speaking again. “I heard of volleyball, but where are we going to get a volleyball?” She asked just seconds before something slammed into the back of her head, sending her tumbling face-first to the ground, into the wet sand and salty water, getting an unpleasant mouthful before she lifted her head.

“S-sorry, Onyx!” Cried Izzy’s voice as she ran over, making sure her misfire didn't hurt anyone while Dapple stood there, watching her get up, dusting herself a little before turning to face her. “I didn’t mean for the volleyball to go that way! I was just distracted, because I never thought you’d come here!” She said with a wide smile. “So… While we are talking, do you like it here? Pretty sunny isn’t it? Perfect weather to hang out at the beach!” She exclaimed, not letting Onyx speak as she picked up the volleyball. “Hey, you should join us! I’m about to beat Zipp’s butt and send her to the depths of defeat!”

“Uh-“

“Izzy!” Cried Zipp, near the court. Izzy walking over with the volleyball.

“I’m coming!” Izzy exclaimed with a giggle, the other two unicorns joining her.

“Never thought I’d see this up close.” Dapple pointed out as he stopped near the court with Onyx, watching as Zipp and Izzy played their game, Hitch watching on and being referee. The ball went back at forward, until Zipp gave it one hard wack, sending speeding to Izzy’s side, who soon enough missed it by a few inches, she fell to the ground, crying out playfully.

”Nooo!” She exclaimed, obviously just pretending to be upset, staring at the spot where the ball landed.

”Yes!” Zipp exclaimed, pumping her hoof in the air as Hitch declared her as the winner.

”Alright! That’s the game. Zipp wins eight to seven.” He announced, Zipp walking over to Izzy’s side as she got up, dusting herself off.

“That was a great game, Izzy, you got even better than last time.”

“Yeah! It was loads of fun! Can't wait to beat your tail next time!” She playfully exclaimed, both ponies letting out a slight chuckle or giggle before they shook hooves.

“Oh!” Zipp noticed a buzz from her phone, “Just in time, gotta go meet Sunny, see ya later, Iz!” She said before flying off, Izzy waving goodbye.Then she turned to face the two new unicorns,

“You two wanna play now? Two against two?” She said gesturing to her and Hitch.

”Huh? Me?” Hitch questioned then looked down at Sparky, Kenneth, the gull and Sir Snips-a-lot, the crab. “Alright, you three are in charge of the scores.”

”Well… Sure? What about you?” Dapple asked Onyx.

”We never played this in Bridlewood…” She pointed out.

”Well duh. It is beach volleyball, silly!” Izzy exclaimed with a smile.

”Sport’s not my thing.” She said before Izzy pulled her on the court, she simply sat there and shrugged. “Guess I’m doing it.” She said before listening to Izzy explaining the rules of the game, it sounded unusual, but maybe it could be fun. The sun was rather hot now, the sun never felt this hot back at Bridlewood. Also, the sand was different to the dirt she was used to, but not in a bad way, she just wasn’t a fan of the sand that got caught in places like under her scarf rubbing against her.

“Ready?” Hitch asked, holding a volleyball and striking it over the net, Dapple was quick to hit it back over with his hooves.

”Got it!” He exclaimed. Watching as Izzy hit it back over. Dapple once again hit it, sending it straight up in the air. “Onyx! Hit it!” He exclaimed, Onyx hurrying over and hitting it as hard as she could, sending it straight into the net, falling on their side. He glanced at Onyx as he demonstrated with his hooves. “You uh… Are meant to hit it up and over, not straight ahead…”

”Oh well…” She shrugged. Watching as the ball was sent over again, this time Izzy sent it high in the air, Onyx simply stayed where she was till it was closer to her. This was her moment to strike, she was gonna do it right! She quickly leapt up to hit it up and over the net with her hooves like she was told, only for it to seemingly stop in place, following her when she moved her head as she landed. Revealing that she had missed it and it managed to get impaled on her horn, slowly deflating, slowly turning into a floppy white circle just hanging on her horn.

“I missed.”

”Oh, Onyx!” Exclaimed Dapple, gesturing to the ball in slight annoyance. Wondering the chances of that happening.

”Oh dear…” Hitch sighed as Izzy ran over, taking the volleyball off her horn as she kept her unamused expression. “You okay?”

”Told you I wasn’t into sport.” She shrugged.

”Sorry about the volleyball…” Dapple apologised.

“Oh it’s okay!” Izzy smiled and petted him. “Happened to me a few times too! Until they make unicorn-horn-proof ones, we just patch them up, or use the cheaper ones.”

”Yeah, we got plenty of them in the Brighthouse, anyway. Since somepony accidentally added an extra number to the order.” He said, glancing at Izzy who chuckled a little nervously.

“Y-yeah… We did not need 100…”

“Oh.” Dapple smiled slightly. “Well… There’s so much more I want to show Onyx on her first time at the Beach, so we should get going.”

”Bye Dapple! Bye Onyx!” Izzy exclaimed as the two of them left.

As the two unicorns walked across the sand, the sun was seemingly hotter. Dapple was walking ahead, thinking about Onyx’s reactions for the past few activities. She didn’t look like she was having fun, did it? Well, not as much fun as he would have wanted her to have. He expected her to be more eager to try more things, even if it wasn't her cup of tea. He just wanted her to experience the beach. He wasn’t keen on it at first, either, but after a few visits to the bay, he found what kind of stuff he liked about it. It was new and fresh in comparison to Bridlewood.

Onyx was trudging behind, sweat running through her coat as she trudged through the hot sand. Making up a small poem on the spot.

”Through the stinking heat, sweat running down.

Angry crabs, shrieking gulls.

Course, rough sand that gets everywhere

Nothing but salt water beyond while you burn under the sun

Not a single drop able to be drunk

Ponies have all their ways to have some fun, but for me, I’m done.”

”Onyx!” Cried out Dapple as they reached the docks.

“This is so far out…” She sighed. “We walked for like… Ever…” She said in a more raspy voice.

“Well, I figured there was something here to do that you might like!” He said, looking eager. “Want to guess?”

”Rollercoaster.” She said bluntly, watching his face turn into confusion as he looked around.

“I mean… I don’t see any rollercoasters here so… I don’t think so.”

”Merry-Go-Round? Teacups? RC Cars?” She questioned, naming rides she had been on when they were taken to Bridlewood for a short time for a new event. Dapple was a little unamused, knowing she was naming such things to mess with him.

“We are at a beach, not a portable show…”

”Licorice?” She asked.

“No… Boogie Boards!” He exclaimed, pointing at a shed where ponies could hire boards for a few hours.

“Oh…” She nodded, “Of course. But I don’t know how to surf.”

”Me neither, that’s why I said boogie boards…” He then paused. “I’ve used them a few times here, not bad.”

“What’s the difference?” She whispered. He was quick to hire two of them, a lime green for him and a purple with red stripes for her. They both had a hoof strap connecting on a wire on the top side and the shed’s logo printed in the bottom side. In his bag, he packed up his scarf and Onyx’s accessories so they didn’t get wet, the latter not seeing the point of it, but stored them anyway. The bag being watched by the shed owners.

”I’m gonna miss them…” Onyx whispered, feeling a little bare without them.

“C’mon, Onyx!” Exclaimed, Dapple as he dragged both boogie boards into the water, sitting on his and putting the strap around his hoof, Onyx doing the same. The water was more refreshing than she thought, a nice coolness to beat the heat of the sun.

“We just ride the waves back to the beach, not that hard.” He explained. “Just copy me and what I do.”

”Uh, sure.” She did what he did, eventually getting themselves pretty far from the beach, she looked back at it, it was so far away. “We are so far out.”

”Don’t worry, I’ll be by your side. I’ve done this at least three times already.”

”So, now what?”

”Wait for it…” He said, looking behind him, watching a large wave form behind him, turning his board slightly. “Now!” He exclaimed, gripping it as the wave pushed them both forward, both of them riding it, Onyx slight more high up on the wave, tilting it slightly, not realising, but Dapple did.

“Uh, Onyx try and keep your balance-“ He tried to warn, but as soon as he finished, she let out a gasp as her board flipped over, sending her into the water. Dapple watching on with surprised as he stayed put, riding the wave till it finished.

“Onyx!?” He cried out as soon as the wave ended, much to his relief she emerged unharmed with a gasp and coughed a bit of water, looking up at the octopus stuck on her head.

“Oh wow.” He responded with a slight smile. “Seems you got a little buddy.”

“Get it off.” She said in a slightly annoyed tone of voice before Dapple tried to pull it off with his magic.

“Ugh, it’s so stubborn-“ he groaned a bit, managing to pull it off, but not with the octopus spraying ink all over Onyx or falling off his own board. “Woah!”

“So wet and inky…” Onyx noted, rinsing most of it out of her mane by diving and resurfacing, smirking a bit at the fact Dapple fell off his board, too, climbing back on her own as he got back on his.

“Okay, let’s give this another try.” He said, paddling the board back out far with her. Almost the same distance as before. “Just remember to keep your balance this time. Okay?”

“Yeah, sure…” She shrugged as he looked out for the next wave.

“Wait for it…” He said as he watched one go towards him, he hung onto his board, gasping as the wave took a curly shape once it reached them.

“It’s a breaking wave!” Exclaimed Dapple, paddling away and riding the open wave. Trying to get away from the curl.

“What?” Onyx questioned as he made sure he stayed out of the forming tunnel of water, Leaving her behind as she rode the wave through, leaving to watch, confused at what was going on. But she couldn’t keep up with him, she was too slow with moving the board, it didn’t help that the water also took control of the board partially. Or so that was what it felt like. He hadn’t told her what to do when this happened was it a bad or good thing? She had seen pictures of ponies surfing in these kind of waves, but they were sure to be pretty familiar with them. She was a little nervous at what was happening, seeing Dapple get further and further away from her along the open part of the wave, now enjoying his ride as the glistering cave of water got bigger and bigger, now surrounding her as the exit getting further and further away. But soon enough she calmed down a bit, gently holding onto her board as she looked around at the wave, how it worked was rather neat, really, it was like the walls were made of moving water. It was almost like the wave itself was a tunnel of water that was defying gravity, which was oddly relaxing to just see the water curl in on itself like that, cool in pictures but better in pony. Out of curiosity, she raised her hoof and touched the ceiling, a trail of mist running behind it.

”Woah…” She exclaimed, a small smile forming. “Neat.” She said, just enjoying the moment, watching as the water swirled around. Was this what it was like in a washing machine? It was a pretty cool sight which was soon interrupted by the closing exit getting further and further, the wave was crashing in on itself, She tried to pick up her pace, but within a few seconds, she knew she wasn’t going to make it. The tunnel of water was closing in on her, her heart was racing slightly, hoping the worst thing would be just falling off her board. She took a breath and didn’t panic, she only held her breath, preparing to go under and allowed herself to go under the surface, holding tightly onto the board, into the salty water, going all the way down, hitting the sand underneath, sending much of it flying upwards when the board dug it up like a shovel. Still amazed at what she saw, she never thought waves were so cool, a little short, but perhaps that just added to the beauty.

The salt water stung her eyes as she opened them again when the sand dispensed. Her mane was floating everywhere, she felt if she still had her hat on, it would have most likely stayed put just the way she likes it. She looked around her, spotting fish and shells everywhere. Coral must be farther out, then, which made sense. Also seeing the hermit crab from earlier snap at her before she looked back up at the surface, seeing the underside of Dapple’s board and his hind hooves. It sounded like he was calling out for her, so she went up, emerging from the water behind him with a splash and gasp, scaring Dapple who almost fell off his. Unaware the crab passenger she must have accidentally sent flying when the board dug up the sand. It was seemingly unhappy, clinging onto her tail, soon to scurry up.

”O-Onyx! There you are!” He cried out. “That must have been scary. Are you okay?” He questioned, it was obvious he was worried for her once she had been taken down by the wave.

”Scary?” She asked, both eyes uncovered and mane dripping. “I think it was sick! I never thought waves could be like that, I’d do it again.”

”Thank goodness.” He sighed then gasping as soon as he noticed the large crab now on Onyx's head, which soon pinched her ear with all its might, making her gasp in pain and surprise.

“Ow…” She said in a slight monotone voice as Dapple cringed. “It hurts more than the other.”

“Yeah, ouch…. Seems crabs don’t like you at all…” He pointed out, getting a glare as she shook her head, trying to remove the crab, it was feeling like her ear was almost getting pulled off, thanks to how heavy it was.

“Get off…” She said softly, coughing a bit. The crab kept pinching and only came up when she went under the water and resurfaced. It fell into the depths, hopefully not to bother her again.

“Wanna go again?” He asked, happy the crab didn’t last as long as the other one.

“You can. I think I’ll just uh… Look at shells and stuff.” Onyx responded. “That’s enough sea life getting stuck to me for one day…”

“Oh sure…” Dapple said softly, a little disappointed but also happy to allow her to do something she wanted to do. Hiring the boards costed money, so he wanted to stay a bit longer and make it worth the ten he paid. Maybe he'd stay out for half an hour.

“Meet you at the shed.” She said as she paddled hers back to the beach.

After the unicorns dried mostly off, manes slightly damp, they were walking across the beach, it was just about lunch time. The weather was boiling hot and most the ponies had already gone home. Onyx was sweating worse than before and looked a little tired. Dapple knew it was too hot to keep going now, which wasn’t what he wanted, he wanted to play longer, but he couldn’t. Hopefully, it’d be cooler after lunch. His stomach was soon rumbling. “Wanna go have lunch?” He asked.

”Sure.” Onyx then paused, putting her hoof to her head in slight pain, a headache forming. “Ugh…” She groaned a little bit and hurried to catch up with Dapple. Wondering where he’d take her, hoping it wasn’t too far away.

He took her to a nice simple cafe, both of them ordering egg sandwiches and milkshakes, both chocolate flavour. They had chosen to sit down just outside of the window, in the shade of an umbrella embedded into the bench. Dapple was enjoying his, not paying much attention to his friend, but as soon as he finished, he noticed Onyx didn’t touch much.

“Uh, you okay?” He asked, noticing her resting her head on her hoof, listening to the waves and the gulls. She had only eaten half of a sandwich and was slowly drinking her milkshake. “Not hungry?”

”No.” She sighed, trying to ignore the burning pain in her stomach and head, she felt so thirsty, the milkshake did not help the slightest, it was a shame the cafe was out of tea. It didn’t take long for Dapple to notice she was still sweaty, seen when she wiped some from herself. He was starting to grow a little concerned, they were no longer in the burning sun, he had only sweated a little bit himself. Maybe she wasn’t used to the heat like he was? Maybe they needed to go somewhere and cool down, that should surely help her, right? His ears went droopy when she let out a slight noise of pain, he looked at the nearby smoothie cart, no one was inside it yet it seemed. So she couldn’t have a nice cold smoothie. “Just a little... nauseous.” She said, putting her hoof to her forehead, hoping for any relief at all. She briefly closed her eyes to try and get the brightness away,

“Maybe we should cool off…” He said, noticing she was a little dizzy when she stood up, so he lead her somewhere, keeping a hoof on her, hoping she wasn’t going to faint or anything. She doesn’t express pain often, so her wincing in pain a little as she put her hoof to her forehead must mean it was really bad. He even noticed she appeared a little off coloured. Nauseous, headache and dizziness cannot be a good sign, he needed to get her somewhere cool and quick. Hopefully that should help, right?

Izzy hummed to herself, wearing a large straw hat. The day had gotten hotter, one of the hottest summer days, so most ponies were now inside keeping cool. She walked into Pipp’s salon ‘Mane Melody’ calling out for her friend.

“Pipp! I’m here to see- huh?” She paused, seeing Dapple and Onyx were there, too. The former holding an ice pack on the latter's forehead as she drunk some icy water through a straw. Jazz, the earless earth pony that works there walked over with some aloe vera, slowly tending to a few minor sun burns. It appeared she had forgotten to put sunscreen in a few places, or it wore off somehow. “What happened?”

”Heat exhaustion…” Jazz sighed as Onyx mumbled to herself. After she was done with the aloe vera, Rocky grabbed a spray bottle filled with cold water and sprayed it on her.

“Oh no!” Izzy exclaimed.

”She’ll be fine, I think, she just needs to rest and cool down.”

Dapple sighed a bit, ears going flat as he looked back at his friend, he was sweating a bit, too, but just thought it was the heat. Why did she suffer worse than him? It should be him that got unwell, not her! He sat down on a stood near where Onyx was laying, on the couch where Jazz does hooficures sometimes. He could hear her panting slightly.

“I ruined it…” He mumbled to himself. “I just wanted you to experience something new and have fun today. But I pulled you around and only did things I wanted! But now you are sick… It’s all my fault… It should be me that’s sick…”

”Dapple…” She said softly. “Today was interesting, even if i didn’t express it. I’d say the sandcastles was neat, making a castle that would soon be the ruins of a town lost to a tsunami.” She mentioned then paused. “There was also the boarding, that was… An experience.” She said then paused. “Would have rather gone with the day without the crab or the seagull droppings or the heat sickness.” She paused. “But I liked spending time with you.”

”R-really?”

”Y-yeah. You are like my best buddy…” She paused. “You are like one of my favourite things on this planet.”

”Awww…” He smiled, but still feeling a little guilty.

“Oh hey.” Jazz said after getting Onyx’s temperature, having just about to have called the emergency number if it had gotten worse or stayed the same. But seeing her smile, there might have been progress. She and Rocky were extremely worried when they saw Onyx almost collapsed outside of the salon. They rushed her inside and called the doctor who explained to them what to do. “Your temperature is going down. How do you feel?”

”The pain of my brain from explo-“

”No poetry, just speak.” Jazz said, getting a glance, but hoping that it wasn’t going to turn into heatstroke as Rocky spoke with the doctor on the phone. Explaining what was happening.

”Headache dying and need of vomiting gone.”

”That’s good.”

”I would go on a trip like that with you again. Just on a less hot day…” She told Dapple. “And perhaps being a little more prepared for the weather and taking breaks.”

”Good idea.” He nodded, then paused. “Wanna go to Zephyr Heights next time? I’m sure there’s an event eventually that we can attend to.”

“We’ll see…” She said, recovering well from her sickness. “Let’s hope I’ll expect the… Onyx-pected.”

“Boo!” Jazz jokingly exclaimed as Izzy laughed at the play of words and pun. It was a terrible pun, but she meant no harm.