On the Island of Maui, where the tree line ends and the black rock of the volcano begins, a line of ponies wait on the wooden staircase that leads to a pole that has a thick, black wireline that runs down a “V” shaped valley. Ponies from locals to tourists zoom down the wire, screaming with excitement as they fly over the canopy of the jungle below – while it was a continuous line, it zig-zag along the tops of the open cliff side towards the endpoint on the golden beach. At the very foot of this staircase were two boxes; one for helmets and the other for the black straps that visitors adjust to fit their size so that they wouldn’t fall off the wire.
Not surprisingly, this line was made up of Earth Ponies or Unicorns that waited to zip through the trees and to feel the rush of that sea air as they go down. At the very top, a gruff looking stallion helped ponies getting themselves hooked onto the metal wire before they either jump or being nudged off, sending them screaming down like the top of a roller coaster.
For Blueblood and Fancy, as they drove up to the beginning of the zip line from their chariot, the realization of the height that ponies were being held off the ground was more than nerve-racking. The older unicorn gulped as he said to his blond prince, “It seems like an awfully long way down.”
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad,” replied Blueblood as he got out of the chariot, followed by his consort. “After all, I heard many good things coming out of this zip line thing.” A piercing scream was heard as a merely gained momentum as she went down the wire. “Perhaps it’ll be fast, I mean, just look how quickly they’re moving.”
Fancy gulped, “It sort of reminds me of that one roller coaster in Applewood, said to be the tallest in the world. My bodyguard dared me to go on it, and I swear that I could have seen Cloudsdale before quickly going downhill. This, however…” he gave a nervous glance at the screaming ponies that zip along the black line. “There’s nothing to hold you up except for a hook on those harnesses.”
The Prince lit up his horn to take one of the helmets that looked like would fit him. However, seeing that it was sweaty on the inside, he had a guard bring him a cloth to wipe it with. “You’ve got to admit, it does look rather fun. It would be like walking on coals again. This is a favorite activity for the Islanders after all. So perhaps we should go and see why for ourselves.”
“Well…” Fancy gulped, “I do suppose you have a point.” He lit up his horn to pick up one of the twisted harnesses, “Although, could somepony help me with this?”
After some fiddling around, the guards helped both stallions with the leg hoops and tightening the harnesses on them; the two of them began their ascent to the top of the wooden staircase. Seeing who it was, the ponies in line allowed them to skip ahead until they were at the top. There they found at the head of the line was a young, Earth Pony colt that had no cutie mark. He was charcoal black with a hay colored mane and had a nervous look as he allowed the pony behind him take his place. When that pony was hooked up by the stallion and jumped off, the colt looked over to Blueblood. “Uh… how about you go.”
“Kid,” the rugged looking stallion rolled his eyes. “You’ve been doing this for half-an-hour now. Are you going to get on or not?”
“I-I will,” he went around the blond unicorn and nudged him forward. “Just have him go first.”
“Hey!” Blueblood instantly walked forward and craned his head back around, “No touching the Royal flank!”
The affluent unicorn was going to comment but quickly dismissed it for being too easy. He instead sorts out to ask, “What’s the problem here?”
“He’s too scared of going down,” the stallion with a five o’clock shadow answered. “I don’t know what his deal is, he came up here but he’s just so nervous going down that he’s letting everypony pass him.”
“Hey, I’m not ready yet,” the colt objected. “I’m just… gotta get over this.”
“That’s what you’ve been saying since you got here.”
“Excuse me, young trotter,” Fancy spoke up. “If I may ask, why are you here?”
“Because… Luna told me to.”
This got the Prince’s attention. Setting his consort and the colt aside so that the line behind them can continue, Blueblood inquired, “Princess Luna told you?”
He nodded, “No… Kinda… She didn’t force me to, it’s something that I wanted to do but I’m rather afraid of heights.” The colt pawed at the planks.
Blueblood tilted his head, “I’m confused. Why would you want to do the very thing that you’re afraid of?”
“Because,” the young pony replied, “the way that these ponies go down looks like they’re having a lot of fun as it seems that they could really fly, you know? I’ve seen how fast they could go, almost like hummingbirds. It’s something that I really wanted to do but…” he gulped. “But being up this high when you’re suspended by a hook… it’s really scary. I just wish that I was brave enough to do it.”
“You know you don’t have to,” Fancy told the little colt.
“But I came all the way up here; I can’t just turn around when I’ve made it up to this point.”
The Prince hummed in thought, “What do you mean by ‘brave’? Or rather, how do you define it as?”
Blinking, the yellow colt replied, “That you’re not afraid of anything?”
Blueblood frowned, “No. That’s the definition of stupidity. Being brave is about doing something that while it does scare you; you still have the willpower to do it. Now that doesn’t mean that you just forget the risk involved, but one does have to weigh them to see if it’s even worthy of taking said risk because that’s the smart thing to do. However, if you do see that the risk is worth the end result, in this case, hooking yourself to that line and going down, nopony is here to stop you. If not, you can always walk down the mountain.”
When the colt didn’t respond, the couple turned to the gruff looking stallion in which the Prince lifted a foreleg to Fancy, “After yo-”
“Wait!” the yellow foal went up. “Can uh… Can I go first?”
“Finally,” the stallion sighed as he picked him up and proceeded to hook onto the wire. After giving his harness a tug, making double sure that it was secure, he let him go. “Enjoy the ride.” And with that, the colt went sliding down the line. “Next.”
The older unicorn was the first to hook himself onto the line before the Prince. By the time Blueblood was hooked on, he galloped off the platform and let gravity do all the work. Like a falling bird, he glided over trees that only went faster underneath him. The sea air blew at a hurricane force as the wire-guided him through the open air, through branches, and around trees with G forces pulling at him. While he couldn’t see it, the Prince’s perfectly long, blond mane was being blown back like a flag. Above him, pegasi guards flew over, carefully keeping an eye on both the Prince and his Royal Consort.
For both stallions, it really was something like a roller coaster without rails as they cut through the air above the jungle canopy. A deafening roar of the breeze was the only thing that either of them could hear above their adrenaline-fueled screams. With everything swiftly passing them by, before they knew it, they were at the end as the cable changed its angle upward, thereby slowing them down until they reached the beach.
The first thing to greet both stallions was a mattress in which they bounced off. There was a mare to unhook them in time for the next screaming pony to come crashing in. Blueblood immediately went searching for his coltfriend, in which it didn’t take too long to hind and begin snickering. Fancy’s blue mane and tail had traveled so fast, that every hair was pulled back behind his head like a porcupine.
“You should see yourself,” the Prince commented between his guffawing.
However, when Fancy Pants took notice, he too began laughing, “Oh wow. You look like a pinhead.”
On instinct, Blueblood felt his mane. Quickly turning towards one of the guards that just landed, he ordered to “Get me my combing brush number forty-three, now!” With that, one of the Solar Guard immediately took off. Meanwhile, the Prince tried to immediately try to bring his mane back down with a hoof when a piercing, joyful scream was heard.
The two stallions quickly located it came from the little yellow colt that rushed over to them, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” he squealed as he hugged Fancy then Blueblood.
“W-What did we do!” the blond unicorn asked as he pried the foal off of him.
“I got my cutie mark!” he cheered. “You’ve helped me get my cutie mark, look!” Turning to his side, there on his flank was an image of a thick black line with a pony happily screaming hooked onto it. Almost instantly it was clear that what he and his consort were looking at was a pony on a zip line. “Thank you so much for that! I thought I would never get it.”
The Prince rubbed the back of his head, “I guess it was nothing…” he blinked as he realized something. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ve got your name.”
“Lele Kaula.”
“Okay, Lele, you don’t have to thank me, I didn’t really do anything.”
“But you did!” the young colt protested. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have the willpower to just go for it. And because of you, I finally have my cutie mark. Again, thank you so much!” He hugged the unicorn’s foreleg once more before running off, “I can’t wait to tell mom and dad about this!”
Blueblood blinked, turning to his consort he asked, “What just happened?”
“You did something noble,” the older unicorn nuzzled under his chin. “I must say, I’m proud of you for doing that.”
“All I did was telling him what bravery was,” Blueblood shrugged.
“But it helped to get that child’s cutie mark that should be accounted for something. I’m impressed that you’ve shown your selfless side to other ponies like that. In a way, I think it’s rather sweet.”
“Oh…?” the Prince felt a blush and pulled back his mane. He and his consort started to walk away from the zip line. “You think so?”
“Anypony can see that. It’s the first that I’ve seen you do it for somepony that isn’t me. You should probably do that more often.”
“What does that mean?”
“I think it’s a good habit to pick up on.”
Blueblood snorted, “Doesn’t being chief ambassador to Equestria count as anything?” he muttered.
“Of course it does.” He patted the Prince on the back, “Don’t get the wrong impression Bluey, I’m not saying that you aren’t capable of being nice. I mean, you’ve already shown me that. Rather, I’m suggesting that you ought to pick up the habit more often. Not that I’m expecting you to do so overnight, of course. Just something that comes with time.”
“I suppose I could improve in that regard,” Blueblood hummed. As they were walking away from the crowd, the pegasus guard returned with one of his brushes. “Thank you,” he immediately sat down underneath a palm tree and went to brush his mane back to normal. “Would you want to borrow mine when I’m done, Fancy? It looks like you might need this.”
“That would help, thank you,” he sat next to him. “Still, I got to handle it to you, that was fun.”
“I know, that must have been the fastest mode of transport I ever been on.” He chuckled as he pulled his mane down. “If my parents were alive to see me do that, they probably would have a conniption and a heart attack.”
“Let’s not forget your Aunts, how would they react that we not only zip lined but had walked over coals too?”
Blueblood hummed in thought, “More likely than not… Auntie Luna would probably whine about how come I didn’t invite her into having all the fun.”
Fancy laughed, much to the younger unicorn’s amusement. In all the time that he had spent with his consort, he adored the musical like chortle that came from him. There was some sort of magic in that very sound in which despite how much of a mess both of them really were, none of that really mattered when somepony like him was nearby. “Uh, Blueblood?”
“Huh? The Prince snapped back into reality.
“Sorry, but you’ve just dozed off for a moment there.”
“Oh uh…” he coughed into his hoof. “Yes…” Another awkward silence, underneath a swaying palm, only the sound of waves provided the still moment. Blueblood took a moment to calculate if now was the right time to tell his consort something that had been on his mind before they came to the Islands. “Fancy?”
“Hm?”
Yet, Blueblood found his throat to be dry. The very concept he wanted to bring up choked him. Worst still, the older unicorn is expecting to hear something out of him. “How are you enjoying yourself,” he finally asked.
“Personally, I think I had enough adventure for one afternoon. Maybe we could do something more relaxing for the rest of the day?”
“Sure…” the blond Prince had finished straighten out his mane. “Fancy, would you mind if I did yours?” he asked, with the brush still in his aura.
“None at all.”
_*_
Meanwhile, within the canopy of the jungle, a nightly alicorn huffed in frustration, “We were sure it would work…” she uttered.
Cadance raised an eyebrow. In the near upper parts of the trees, Luna had somehow managed to conjure up a sort of nest that was made up of broken branches, palm leaves, and vines in a very short amount of time. The Princess of Love was going to ask how she managed to do this so quickly, but all of that faded away when they first noticed her cousin and his coltfriend going up to the head of the zip line. Putting her binoculars down, she inquired, “And what exactly was your plan again?”
Luna pouted, “I had this idea in which once Blueblood helps out a foal while his consort watched, it might have given him to relax enough to actually say something to him.”
“At least you indirectly helped a foal to get his cutie mark,” Celestia remarked, but her younger sister grumbled.
“So… I’m guessing it’s my turn then,” Cadance inquired her aunts and they nodded. “I think that given what I know from my last turn, especially from Fancy’s side, I think I have a much more stable, foal-proof plan that will work.”
“That being?” the Solar alicorn asked.
Cadance took out from underneath her wing a flier that advertised for an open mic night. “I believe that this is the key to winning this bet once and for all.”
Luna gave an unconvinced look, “What? You’re going to have Bluey do stand-up comedy?”
With a smirk, she shook her head and lit up her horn. “Just you wait,” and with that, she teleported the flyer over to the beach where her cousin and coltfriend were.
_*_
“I think I’m running out of ideas,” Blueblood confessed as he brushed Fancy’s mane, trying to get it untangled.
“You said so yourself,” the older unicorn pointed out, “That these islands should have plenty of things to do.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t help narrow down what we could do. I just wish that something would hit me.” As if a reply from the universe, he felt a piece of paper being slapped against the back of his head. A nearby guard immediately took hold of it to examine what the paper advertised. “What is it?”
“It’s an ad for an open mic night on another island.” The Solar Pegasus guard replied.
“Which one?”
“Molokai, Your Grace.”
“Let me see that,” the flyer was handed over to him. The Prince read through how at a place called “The Friendly Maiden,” it is opening its stage for anypony for a maximum of ten minutes to tell jokes, sing, play their piano, da… It was then that Blueblood got an idea. “You know…” he mused to his coltfriend, “The Island of Molokai is roughly about half-an-hour away from here and this open mic thing isn’t to open until eight. So do you want to go over and have dinner there? I know a few good places to eat from.”
“As long as it’s relaxing, I won’t complain,” Fancy Pants replied.