//------------------------------// // First Day, New Friends // Story: G 4mat- The Island // by AmpUpHeart //------------------------------// "This is where we earn our living," Grove said, leading the group to a large coconut orchard. "This is Haywii's equivalent to Sweet Apple Acres!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Yeah," Cream said, "But we have the easy way out. The trees are relatively low maintenance in terms of basic care. The weather is so lush that we don't have to worry about watering the trees. They thrive in soil that most weeds can't tolerate. But you don't have to worry as much about weather as we do. We always keep an ear on what winds and storms the pegasi have in store. The trees are actually very fragile. We've lost the entire orchard to a tropical storm more than once." "She has a point," Grove said to Applejack, "I don't know how hard you buck apples, but please be careful. I can't help but think that you are capable of knocking down a tree with a leisurely buck. "Anyway, I was wondering if you could help me harvest the ripe coconuts." "Sure thing, sugarcube. This should be a breeze." Applejack approached one of the trees and kicked it. There was a snap, and the tree began to tip. "TIMBER!!!" Cream yelled. The tree came crashing to the ground. "I warned you about that," Grove said. ...................... A few hours and many coconuts later, all the ripe trees were harvested. "Now it's time to get them to the market!" Cream said, "And after that, we can go to the beach!" "Wow!" Scootaloo said, "I bet that we can get our cutie marks there!" "Cutie Mark Crusaders beach explorers! Yay!" The CMC cheered. "What are you talking about?" Cream asked. "It's a club we formed in Ponyville. It's dedicated to helping fillies and colts everywhere get their cutie marks!" Sweetie Bell said. "Pathetic," a snobby voice said. The ponies turned around to see two ponies, a pegasus and a unicorn, approaching. The pegasus was a pale yellow with an orange and pink mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a flower with a jewel at its center. The unicorn was a pale lavender with a pink and blue mane and tail with a cutie mark of a seashell with a pink pearl. "Oh no," Cream said. "Bullies?" Apple Bloom asked. "Yeah. The Pegasus is Gem Blossom and the unicorn is Pearl Tide." "Look who it is," Pearl said, "It's Loco nut Scream." "And who's your entourage?" Gem said. "It doesn't matter," Pearl replied, "I've been told that misery loves company." "And what's your point?" Scootaloo asked. "You're Scootaloo, aren't you?" Gem asked, "Diamond Tiara told us about you three. We don't want to hurt you, but we're just giving you a taste of what life is going to be like. It's nothing personal." "Then why do you only do it to them, and nopony else?" Grove asked, walking up. "You need your sister to swoop in and save you?" Pearl asked, "Now I just feel sorry for you." "Leave them alone," Grove said in a warning tone. "Okay, okay, don't get your horn in a twist," Gem said, walking off with Pearl. "Unbelievable. They know Diamond Tiara," Apple Bloom said. "Does she bully you in Ponyville?" Cream said. "Her and Silver Spoon," Sweetie Bell said. "Come on!" Grove said, "We're almost to the Shoreline Plaza!" The ponies and dragon forged ahead. ............................ "How come ya only unloaded half the cart?" Apple Bloom asked. "Half go to the market. The other half goes to the Sweet Shoppe," Grove said. "The Sweet Shoppe makes the best candies you've ever tasted!" Cream exclaimed. "Ya sure?" Apple Bloom asked, "Cuz Sugarcube Corner's hard to beat." "I'm not sure what Sugarcube Corner serves, but the sweets here tend to have lots of fruit and is made fresh every day. We always make a morning trip here so we can provide the island with fresh coconuts. The lunch weather equates to an eternal growing season." The group then found themselves at the back of a building about the size of Sugarcube Corner. A door opened up to reveal a smiling earth pony. She was a reddish purple with a green and white mane and tail. She had green eyes and a strawberry cutie mark. "Hey, Coconut Grove!" She said, "And you too, Coconut Cream!" "It's nice to see you, Sweetberry!" Cream said. "I see you made new friends!" She exclaimed, "Oh! Hello, Princess Twilight. And you too, Applejack and Spike. How was the trip here?" "You knew we were coming?" Spike asked. "We're a tight family," Grove said, "News here travels faster than Sunny Daze on water skis." "Speaking of which, have you shown them the beach yet?" Sweetberry asked. "Not yet, but that's our next stop," Grove said. "Then there's no time to waste! Let me help you unload all this." After the coconuts were off the cart, Sweetberry said, "Whew! I don't know how you do this day after day. Why don't you stick around for a treat? Don't worry; it'll be on me. You've earned it." "Thank you!" Cream said. "I'll go for a cup of cherry-flavored shaved ice." "Let's see, I'll have a scoop of pineapple pulp," Grove said. "Eeww!" Sweetie Bell said, "That doesn't sound appealing." "It's simply ground up pineapple that's served cold," Cream said, "It's actually really good." "Let's see, I think I'll have a strawberry smoothie," Scootaloo said. "What are the chocolate covered macadamia nuts?" Spike asked. "The treat is made from the seeds harvested from any of the four tree species within the macadamia genus. The seeds are then covered with a mixture of ground up cacao seeds, sugar, and milk. The seeds are then cooled, and served as a delicacy," Twilight said. Everyone stared at her, confused. "I'll translate," a pony that just walked in said, "Basically, there are four types of Macadamia trees that grow around here. We like to pick their seeds, cover the seeds with chocolate, and cool them. It's a very popular treat." A series of "Oooohhhh"s spread through the Shoppe. "Thanks, Triple Treat," Sweetberry said. "Any time," Treat said. She was an earth pony with a pale mauve coat and a pink, purple, and yellow mane and tail. Her cutie mark was an ice cream cone, a lollipop, and a cookie. "You must be the new visitors," Treat said, "Nice to meet you." ........................... After introductions and sweets, the ponies made their way to the beach. Although Apple Bloom immediately saw something off about it. "Why's the sand black?" She asked. "It's volcano rock," Cream replied, pointing to a nearby mountain, "That's Mount Valoria. When it erupts, it spews melted rock. The rock cools when it hits the water. Everywhere, tiny bits of all kinds of rock break off and become sand, but volcano rock is black." "Cool," Scootaloo said. "So what are we going to do?" Sweetie Bell asked. "I'm honestly feelin' a bit plum tuckered," Applejack said. "Come on!" Scootaloo said, "We should try to get our cutie marks in surfing!" "Sweet Celestia," Applejack muttered. "Let's talk to Sunny Daze. She's the go-to pony for anything beach-related. Not to mention that she runs the surf shack here on the beach," Cream said. The fillies then took off. "Girls, wait!" Twilight yelled, flying after them. The mares and dragon caught up with the fillies at a store. In truth, it wasn't even a building. It was a decent sized wooden deck covered with the usual grass roof. There were shelves of anything anyone could want at the beach, from sand toys to surf boards to scuba gear. In the middle, there was a large desk where a mare was sleeping with sunglasses. The mare had a white coat with a windblown mane and tail striped with yellow, orange, pink and purple. Her cutie mark was a sun in front of two clouds. "Hey Sunny Daze!" Cream yelled. The pony awoke with a start, and her glasses flew off, revealing deep violet eyes. "Geez, Cream," Sunny said after catching her breath. "We wanna go surfing!" Apple Bloom said. "Hang on..." Sunny said as Twilight, Grove, Applejack and Spike walked up to her. "Hey, guys. I see that the youngest visitors already have some high goals for this summer." "I'm really sorry, Sunny. They took off without us." "It's fine, Grove, but I'm not sure what their hype is about." "My younger sister helped form a club called, 'The Cutie Mark Crusaders,' and I guess Cream is now one of 'em. They want to go surfin'" "Hmmm," Sunny said. "Please?" The young ponies asked. "It's too still of a day to go surfing. The pegasi haven't planned any strong winds until tomorrow." "Well isn't there something we can do?" Sweetie Bell asked. "Let's see... If you want to do something on the water..." Sunny said to herself. A yawn escaped Applejack. "Of course!" Sunny exclaimed, "Have you ever gone inner tubing?" "Ooh! Inner tubing is the most fun thing to do on the back of a motorboat!" Cream cheered. "And it's relaxing," Sunny added, nodding toward Applejack. ..................... "Wooooooaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!" Spike yelled, "This is not relaxing!" "Try telling that to Applejack," Twilight said. Applejack was on a bench, snoring. They had been on the boat for about fifteen minutes. Sunny was driving the boat and wasn't afraid to go full throttle. Despite the air feeling like knives against her face, Twilight found the panoramic views of the crystal clear water and the shrinking island beautiful. It was a perfectly clear day and she caught sight of a rainbow in the distance. Unfortunately, not everyone was enjoying the view. "Are we there yet?" Scootaloo groaned. "Define 'there,'" Apple Bloom said. "'There' is a word used to indicate a location in relation to another. It is often accompanied by pointing in the direction of the location," Sweetie Bell said. Scootaloo groaned again in annoyance. "Okay, this is a good spot for you guys to get on," Sunny said, stopping the boat. She nodded to Twilight, who threw the large circular tube off the back of the boat. The fillies then jumped on it. "Everyone, grab two handles!" Sunny called out. "Ready? Here I go!" She revved the engine and the boat was off. The tube bounced and leaped on the water, but the fillies were having a blast. Until the tube literally flipped over. Then the four of them were in the water. Sunny turned the boat around and Twilight got them back in. "Are you okay?" She asked. "That was amazing!" Scootaloo said, "Let's keep going!" ......................... Hours later, the ponies headed back to the house. The fillies except for Cream were asleep and the mares were carrying the others on their backs. "What a day," Applejack said tiredly. "Tonight is a night to unwind," Grove said, looking up at the sky. "You know," Twilight said, "I've never seen a sky this clear before." There were millions of tiny stars and the moon was full and shining. "That reminds me," Grove said, "You have yet to see the observatory. I'm tired out, but you can go if you want." "Really?" The purple alicorn said, "You wouldn't mind?" "Not at all," Grove said, "I'll put the fillies to bed. You go ahead. It's the building with the bunch of telescopes. Your can't miss it!" "Thank you!" Twilight said, taking off into the night.