The sea air was crisp and the sun warmed the shoreline. With only a few clouds dotting the afternoon sky, it was a perfect day to enjoy the Equestrian coast. A few birds made their presence known with their noises, accompanied by the sound of the crashing waves. The shore seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions from two creatures as they made their way onto the sand. The two were both carrying a few bags of belongings and, most notably, surfboards.
“I do love that tang of the salt air,” the green stallion stated as he found a spot of sand to set down the bags and surfboard he was hauling. He stretched a little before looking back at the water, and then to the hippogriff he arrived with, “Welcome to Horseshoe Bay, Silverstream.”
Following suit and setting her belongings on the ground, Silverstream looked around at the beach. “I think this is my first time at a pony beach,” she commented.
“Huh. If that’s the case, I wish I could have taken you to a better one. The surf here is good, but it’s not exactly the most visually appealing,” Sandbar commented. “I mostly chose it because I knew it wouldn’t be crowded.”
“No, it’s okay! I’m just excited to be here right now! It’s been so long since I’ve gotten to swim in the ocean!” Silverstream said happily.
The beach didn’t have too much to offer in the way of attractions for its visitors. The path to the shore was a bit of a trek that most creatures would not be interested in taking. The beach itself began with a small, yet towering bank filled with native plant life that then sloped down toward the water. From the small hill, the slope to the water then had numerous smooth rocks scattered along the shore, weathered from countless years of nature taking its course. Beyond the rocks, the only thing remaining was a string of sand separating the rocks from the water by about four meters. And Sandbar was right; he and Silverstream were the only creatures at the beach. It might not have been exactly welcoming at first glance, but the waves beckoned them.
After unpacking and setting up a small camp, Sandbar looked to Silverstream. “So, are you ready for your first surfing lesson?”
“So ready!” the pink hippogriff exclaimed with stars in her eyes. She had expressed interest in learning to surf back at the School of Friendship, and requested that Sandbar teach her. While Sandbar did have some hesitation about him teaching anycreature anything, he was convinced.
A smile appeared on Sandbar’s face, “Alright, what’s the first thing you do before going into the water?”
Silverstream thought for a moment, “Have a snack?”
Sandbar shook his head, “Nope. The very first thing you do before going into the water is to watch the water.” He then turned his head to the ocean and looked out at the water intently.
“Watch the water?” Silverstream parroted.
“That’s right,” Sandbar nodded as he didn’t break his gaze, “You do this so you can study the water and know what to expect. Surfing, after all, is all about the water. If the waves are looking aggressive, you don’t want to go out and risk it. If it’s windy and choppy, it’ll be blown out.”
“Blown out?”
“It’s when the wind ruins the waves, causing the water to become unpredictable and ruining a good day of surfing,” Sandbar explained with a side-glance to Silverstream. “Choppy waves are bad news for surfers. The rougher the water, the worse the surf.”
“I see,” Silverstream nodded, looking towards the surf as well. Silverstream knew a lot about the ocean, but most of that knowledge was for under the surface of the water.
On the water, the waves were coming in at a steady and calming pace. They would reach maybe a meter high for a few, but many others came in at smaller heights.
“Additionally,” Sandbar continued, “you will want to see where the waves break.”
Silverstream seemed surprised, “Waves can break? I didn’t know water could do that.”
“Not like that,” the pony chuckled a little, “sometimes the water crashes in before hitting the shore. Sometimes it’s just physics and it collapses on itself, but other times it crashes against stuff that you can’t see under the water. Rocks, sandbanks, even shipwrecks. That’s why you need to sit and study the water before paddling out.”
A sigh escaped from Silverstream, “I didn’t think there was so much work that went into surfing....next you’re going to tell me that there’s math involved....”
Sandbar had a guilty smile, “Well, sometimes there is math involved, but we’re not going to worry about that. You’re still a bit of a grommet.”
“A what?” Silverstream raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry! I guess being at the beach is bringing out all my old surfing habits!” Sandbar admitted. “Basically, it means you’re new to surfing. But you’ll get it. But while we watch, we should do some stretching.”
The two continued to talk as they stretched their bodies and watched the incoming waves. The water seemed to have a predictable pattern and something that was graspable for a new surfer. It appeared that there was a swell coming from a storm far off, allowing for perfect teaching waves for Silverstream.
Standing up, Sandbar looked toward Silverstream, “Alright, I think that’s enough watching. Ready to get your feathers wet?”
Bouncing up, Silverstream nodded, “Yeah!”
“Then grab your board and let’s hit the water!”
Both creatures grabbed their respective surfboard and headed down to meet the water. They both wadded into the water until it came up to their underbellies. It was then they placed the boards on the water for it to float. The boards bobbed with the motion of the waves. It was here that Sandbar had the next instruction:
“Before we go any further, we have an important step.” He then pointed to his dark green surfboard and the dangling leash that was being pushed around by the ocean water.
Silverstream looked down at her own surfboard, a bright pink one that Sandbar’s mother happily lent to the hippogriff, and then back up to Sandbar, “Yeah, I meant to ask about that. What is it?”
“It’s called a leash, or leg rope, depending on where you’re at,” Sandbar said. “Anyway, it’s used to keep you and your board together in case something happens, like wiping out or having a wave crash down on ya. I can’t tell you how many times it has saved me when I first started out.” Sandbar demonstrated how the leash went on one of the back hooves, undoing the velcro and wrapping it around his left hind leg. “Easy.”
“But I don’t think I really need it,” Silverstream stated, “After all, I can turn into a seapony!” She was enveloped in a flash for a moment, turning her from a hippogriff and into a seapony.
“While that might be true, that sort of defeats the purpose of surfing, doesn’t it?” Sandbar asked.
Silverstream turned back into a hippogriff, “I guess you’re right. I just don’t like the idea of this leash thingy being attached to me.”
“You’ll get used to it. Besides, safety is key when surfing,” Sandbar said as he watched Silverstream attach the board to one of her hind legs. “Now that it’s attached, the next part is balance. Honestly, that’s more than half of surfing!”
“Like standing on the board?”
Sandbar shook his head, “Not just standing, but finding your center on the board. One of the first things a surfer needs to do is find where they can balance on the board by just sitting on it. Once you find that, you’ll be golden.”
The hippogriff was silent as she looked at her board, hoping it would give her an answer of where she should go.
“Here, lemme show you,” Sandbar lifted himself up onto his board and sat on the floating surfboard. His position was a little back from the center of the board. He seemed to bob in the water a little bit, but he floated perfectly fine and didn’t have any issues. “Now you try.”
Again, Silverstream looked at her board for some sort of clue. She climbed onto the direct center of the board and sat down. While she seemed to be floating with no problems, the board gave way and the nose of the surfboard sank downward and pulled her under. After a bit of a flailing, she surfaced and retrieved the board with the leash. “What happened?!” she asked with a bit of panic, pushing her light blue mane out of her face.
“That’s called a pearl, when you nosedive into the water. Happens all the time when trying to find your balance. The good news is that once you find it, it’ll always be the same place,” Sandbar explained from his floating board, “Keep trying, you’ll find that sweet spot.”
After a few more attempts (and statements from Silverstream how it would be much easier if she were in her seapony form), she finally found the sweet spot on her board. Now seated on her board, she floated with Sandbar in the ocean.
“So, starting to get the hang of it?” he asked.
“Sorta. I do have to say that this isn’t as easy as you make it look, Sandbar,” Silverstream replied, using her talons to paddle and change the direction her board was facing.
Sandbar laughed, “I never said it was easy. You could even say that I’m not exactly an expert. Now my dad, he’s a true waxhead. He used to surf on his longboard everyday before he and my mom moved to Ponyville.”
A single word caught Silverstream’s attention, “Waxhead?”
“Oh, sorry! I keep bringing up surfer words!” Sandbar gave another guilty laugh, “Anyway, the next step is paddling out. Follow my lead.”
Sandbar repositioned his body and laid flat on the surfboard with his belly down. He then began to use his front limbs to paddle out onto the water. Silverstream watched the stallion carefully and mimicked his positioning and motions on her own board. Together, they went out deeper into the water. The pony made sure to paddle slowly to allow for Silverstream to follow closely behind. In time, the two made it out into the water about 20 meters from shore where Sandbar stopped.
“Why did we stop here? Shouldn’t we go out further?” Silverstram asked as she stopped paddling.
“We don’t want to go too far for your first lesson. Besides, even experienced surfers gradually work their way up to surfing the big waves. Besides, I feel waiting where the line-up would be is a smart idea so you can see the waves,” Sandbar explained, sitting up on his board.
“Line-up?”
“The line-up is the area where surfers wait for waves, usually on the shoulders where the waves aren’t big. If it’s crowded, it’s where they go over who goes next,” Sandbar said as both he and Silverstream bobbed in the water with the waves rolling under them. “One of the golden rules of surfing is one rider per wave and no dropping in. That way there’s no wipe outs, rag dolling, or even tombstoning.”
Sitting up on her board and grasping it firmly with both talons, Silverstream was silent as she processed what the pony had said, but also the surfing terms he used.
Sandbar caught wind of Silverstream’s puzzlement, “Ah, sorry! To put it simply, one rider at a time so there’s no accidents! I guess being on the water really brings out my old habits.”
“So many new words....” the hippogriff commented.
“Anyway, think of this area as a staging area. Once we see a good wave that we think is good for surfing, we can take it in,” the pony said. “Sometimes, surfing is more of a waiting game than anything else. But that’s part of the beauty of it too.”
Silverstream raised one of her talons up, “I have a question.”
“You don’t have to raise your talon up like that, this isn’t that sort of lesson,” Sandbar chuckled.
“When catching a wave, do you have to stand up?” Silverstream asked as she lowered the talon and grasped the board again. “I don’t think I can really let go of the board just yet.”
Sandbar noticed Silverstream’s death-grip on the board, “Well, technically no, you don’t have to. There are other forms of surfing like bodysurfing and even skimboarding. But since you know where the sweet spot is, you shouldn’t have an issue with your equilibrium on your board.”
The pink hippogriff was silent again, looking down at her board.
“How about you just try standing up on the board? No need to catch a wave, just get a feel of what it’s like to stand on it.” Sandbar paddled himself a little closer to Silverstream’s board.
Reluctantly, Silverstream nodded. Slowly, she started to loosen her grip on the board and put her hind limbs on the board. Carefully, she let go of the board, but her body was starting to shake. She would have wavered even more if it wasn’t for a comforting voice:
“It’s alright, I gotcha.”
Sandbar reached out his hooves to the hippogriff. One hoof went to the limb closest to him to offer a reassuring touch while the other was offered if she wished to reach out her own talon to grasp. Silverstream did take the offer, using one of her talons to grasp onto Sandbar’s hoof. After a few moments of doubt and uncertainty from the hippogriff, she was standing on the board.
“I’m....doing it! I’m standing on the water!” she exclaimed happily.
“I knew you could do it!”
Silverstream was looking down at her talons on the board, trying her best to not think about how she was going up and down with the small waves beneath the board. She finally looked up, seeing Sandbar looking right back at her with a proud look on his face.
“See, you’re a natural at this,” he praised. “Now, you think you’re ready for your first wave?”
“Perhaps....you can show me first?” Silverstream asked, her face a little flushed as she lowered herself back to sitting on the board.
Sandbar nodded, “Sure. Watch closely.”
The pony laid belly down on the board again and began to paddle further out into the water. A few waves were coming toward him. However, to Silverstream’s surprise, she was Sandbar nosedive his board below the wave and continued paddling out further. There seemed to be a wave that got his attention, causing him to turn the surfboard around to point to the shore. He continued to paddle for a bit until the tail of the board was leaning up into the wave. Swiftly, Sandbar pushed himself up from off of the board and stood up. He was in a lowered position to allow him better control of his board. He rode the face of the wave as it moved forward toward where Silverstream was.
The hippogriff watched in awe as she saw her friend seemingly master the wave with his skill and grace. Silverstream looked closely as Sandbar rode the wave. His posture was relaxed, but one that showed he was still in control of both the board and what was going to happen to him. His mane also was being swept by the sea spray from the crashing waves. But what caught Silverstream's attention the most was the expression on his face. She had never seen Sandbar look more at ease before. There was a gentleness about the pony that seemed to only appear when he was amongst the waves. He was in his natural habitat.
He steered the board for a bit as the crest of the wave started to fall with a gentle roar. He then glided for a short while before he steered the board to go behind the wave, ending his ride as the wave continued to the land. Sandbar then leapt off the board into the water, and then paddled over to Silverstream.
With a winded but happy tone to his voice, Sandbar spoke, “It’s been a while since I caught a wave. It’s nice to be back out here. So, ready to give it a shot?” Sandbar climbed back on to the board, and pushed his wet mane away from his face.
“Y-Yeah, I think so!” Silverstream was brought back to the reason they were on the water.
“Cool! Just remember, there’s no need to bite off more than you can chew, alright?” There’s no shame in bailing if things look dicey.”
“Right!” Silverstream nodded as she laid belly-down on her board and began to paddle out to a wave.
It didn’t take long for Silverstream to find a wave that she wanted to attempt. She mirrored Sandbar’s patterns and turned the board to point to the shore. Paddling for a bit to get momentum, Silverstream began to be caught by the wave. Remembering Sandbar’s motion, Silverstream popped up to stand on her board. She stood on the board and had a brief moment of happiness as she realized she was riding the wave. However, almost immediately, she lost her balance and fell into the water. Luckily, the wave passed on and did not sweep her up.
As soon as she popped her head up from the water, she heard Sandbar call out to her: “That’s alright! Keep trying!”
Silverstream nodded and kept trying as Sandbar suggested. However, wave after wave was met with similar issues. More often than not, the issue that Silverstream appeared to have was balance related. She would either lose her balance shortly after standing up or, if she did start to ride the wave, she would lean to one side more than the other causing her to fall off. What was fortunate for her was that the board did not go far due to the leash. After a few more failed attempts, Silverstream turned herself into a seapony and swam back to Sandbar with the board.
“I’m starting to think I’m not cut out for being on top of the water,” Silverstream commented as she drew closer.
Sandbar replied, sitting on top of his board, “You’ll be getting used to taking off in no time.”
The hippogriff-turned-seapony leaned on the board as she lounged in the ocean water, a defeated expression on her face, “I just can’t seem to get my balance right. I can stand on the board fine, but on the wave, I guess I get too scared.” With her seapony hoof, Silverstream pushed around the board’s leash that now floated freely after she transformed.
“Me too!” Sandbar said with a laugh.
Silverstream was caught off guard, “Huh?”
“Riding a wave can be absolutely frightening, no matter the size!”
“But, I thought you like surfing.”
“I love it!” Sandbar exclaimed, “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t scare me half to death. But that’s part of the reason why I love it.”
“You....like being scared?” Silverstream asked.
Covering his mouth as he laughed again, Sandbar clarified, “I don’t think that’s exactly right. But I guess one thing I like about surfing is how wild it is. Sure, it’s frightening and, without a warning, you could be swallowed by the undertow and pulled out to sea. But riding a wave....there’s nothing else like it. The smell of the sea air above, the roar of the ocean below, and just at the mercy of the water. It’s such a thrill! I’ve loved it for so long and it’s just a magical experience!”
Silverstream was watching intently as Sandbar was passionately speaking.
“It’s something that....that I really can’t describe,” the pony gave a guilty look, “kinda like how I described cloudbusting. No matter how I try to put it into words, I don’t think I can.”
“I think I get it,” Silverstream softly said. “It’s something that you thoroughly enjoy. So much that you don’t think any other creature can understand. But it’s still something you want to share.”
“Y-Yeah,” Sandbar nodded, “Yeah, I guess that’s right.”
With a flash, Silverstream turned back into a hippogriff. Climbing back on to the board, she spoke, “And if it’s something you are that passionate about, then it’s only right for me to give it my best!”
Sandbar smiled as he cheered, “You got this, Silverstream!”
Paddling back out, Silverstream had a determined smile to her face. She wanted to give surfing another chance.
A wave was coming up to Silverstream. It looked a bit bigger to the hippogriff as it towered over her by a meter or two, but had her mind set on it. She turned around and began to paddle to get speed. Upon getting caught by the wave and onto the face, Silverstream popped up off her board and stood up. For a moment, Silverstream was expecting herself to fall on the board like many times before. However, she was steadfast on the board and kept her balance. A smile appeared on her beak.
“I did it!” she quietly exclaimed to herself.
She then began to recall how Sandbar surfed on his wave. She began to gently lean to one side of the board, allowing herself to steer the board along the wave. There was a roar behind her, the crest of the wave was crashing behind her as she rode along the face of the wave; she was surfing in the pocket.
Silverstream couldn’t believe it. She was finally properly surfing. In that moment, she truly understood what Sandbar was trying to say. The wind was flowing through Silverstream’s blue mane, the salty air filled her lungs, the cool water splashed against her skin, and the adrenaline was giving Silverstream a rush like she never felt before.
Suddenly, the area around Silverstream grew dark. She looked up to see that the crest was curling down. With a mighty roar, the wave crashed on the hippogriff. She fell into the face of the wave. The water forced her body downward into the deep. Silverstream’s heart was racing and her mind was panicking. Opening her eyes, Silverstream looked around to find the leash to the board, to help her surface. The leash, however, was no longer attached to her as it came undone when she transformed earlier. The board was gone.
Despite everything her mind was telling her, she couldn’t transform into a seapony. Silverstream knew what she had to do, and she was trying her absolute hardest to make the transformation happen. But her body was frozen and refused to cooperate. Her body began to sink and was being swept by the undertow.
Silverstream was running out of air. She let out what air was left in her lungs and looked upward at the surface above, pleading for some help from anycreature. How far she was pulled down, she didn’t know. She was starting to lose her vision. There were a few more blinks from Silverstream before she started to blackout. In her last vision before passing out, she dimly saw a dark figure in the distance moving toward her.
-------------------------------------------------
Waking up with a gasp and a coughing fit, Silverstream sat up. Her head darted back and forth as she looked around to figure out where she was and what had happened. It was then she saw she was back at the shore at their small campsite, next to a campfire. The sky above appeared to be around civil twilight, with the sky starting to grow darker. Seated next to her was a green stallion who had a look of exhausted relief on his face.
“Oh, Silverstream, you’re okay! Thank Celestia!” he said, quickly wrapping his front limbs around the hippogriff.
“Yeah....yeah, I’m alright....” Silverstream said in a hushed tone, lightly returning the hug. “What happened, Sandbar?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing!” Sandbar said, breaking the hug. “I saw you get on the wave, and you were doing well, but then the wave crashed down. I saw your board but I didn’t see you surface. I went in as fast as I could to find you! Are you alright?”
Silverstream didn’t respond immediately. She looked a bit dazed as she recalled, “I....I tried to transform. I tried to transform into a seapony but....for whatever reason I couldn’t. I was frozen in a panic and I couldn’t transform,” she repeated herself. Her words were a mixture of sadness and shock.
“It’s okay, you’re okay now, that’s what matters,” Sandbar said, taking a deep sigh of relief. Reaching into one of the bags that they had brought with them, Sandbar pulled out a sandwich and offered it to Silverstream. “Here, I think you need a bite after that.”
Taking the sandwich and unwrapping it, the hippogriff took a bite. He was right; she did need something to help settle her stomach.
Sandbar also took out a sandwich for himself. For a few moments, the two friends sat around the campfire in silence, eating with only the crackling fire and the crashing waves making a sound.
About halfway through her sandwich, Silverstream finally spoke, “I think....I'm done trying to surf. I don’t think I’ll ever be all that good at surfing. Not like you.”
“It’s not about being good, Silverstream.”
Silverstream looked over at Sandbar, who was looking out to the horizon where the sea and the sky meet.
“It’s more about the experience. Sure, practice will always help any creature get better at something, but it’s more about what the experience teaches you. I’m no good at music like you, but I still like playing and the experiences help me become a more well-rounded creature,” Sandbar paused as he took another bite. “Being good isn’t the point of doing things, it’s learning and enjoying them.”
The hippogriff looked out at the sea with Sandbar for a moment before turning back to him. While looking at him, Silverstream took note of the pony. There was something she wanted to say to him in that moment, but she held her tongue.
“You don’t have to achieve perfection with everything you do. It’s okay to be bad at something, because that means you have room to improve. Just doing is okay, and even just being,” Sandbar turned to Silverstream and said with a smile. “That’s something my dad always said. I always liked that.”
A smile also appeared on Silverstream’s face, “I like that too. Thank you for trying to teach me how to surf. Even with what just happened, I still enjoyed being out here.”
Sandbar nodded, “Hey, I’m not going to give up just yet. If you’d like to surf again, just let me know. You’ll be surfing in the pocket like a pro in no time.”
A small chuckle came from Silverstream, “How about I learn all these terms first?” Sandbar shared in the laugh.
The two continued to eat for a few moments before Sandbar spoke up.
“You know, there was another reason why I chose this place for us to surf.”
Silverstream’s mouth was full as she spoke, “Whysh dat?” She then quickly swallowed the food.
Sandbar simply pointed up at the darkened sky. Above the two creatures, the cloudless sky had a deep purple shade to it due to the setting sun. The sky was dotted by a number of shining stars. One by one, each one started to appear in the gradually darkening sky, forming patterns. Silverstream’s eyes seemed to mirror the stars that were appearing above.
“Whoa....” was all she was able to say.
“I figured it would be a cool idea to end the surf lesson with a bit of astronomy,” Sandbar commented as he pulled out a star chart from his bag.
“For real?!” Silverstream asked excitedly.
The pony nodded as he passed the star chart to the hippogriff. She happily took it and began to use it to match the chart with the sky above. Sandbar sat closer so he could also look over the chart as well.
The two creatures sat closely together next to the small fire that warmed them. Throughout the night, they studied the sky and stars above them. Between the endless night sky and the vast ocean, the two creatures were exactly where they wanted to be and with the creature they wanted to be with.
END