//------------------------------// // A Day at the Beach // Story: Collab Cage Mini-monthly June - Memories and Moments: Endless Summer // by The Collab Cage //------------------------------// A Day at the Beach By: DarkPhoenix Quick Time sat in the sand under a large umbrella, enjoying the sights and sounds of the local beach. The waves crashing gently against the shoreline, foals playing in the surf, and the sounds of other ponies out and enjoying the day, all floated around her in a pleasant haze. She clutched a drink in her hoof, taking an occasional sip as she watched her friends play a game of hoofball. She wasn’t very good at that game and didn’t enjoy it. Thankfully, she was able to sit out with the excuse of balancing the teams. Normally she wasn’t a beach goer, never having particularly enjoyed it, but her friends had convinced her that she needed to get away from things for a few days. It was true that her boss had decided to up and go on vacation, leaving her in charge for two weeks. And her coltfriend had broken up with her as soon as she got back from practically living at the office. Despite those things, she didn’t feel any more stressed than usual. But her friends had insisted and so she’d joined them on this little outing, despite them hinting at finding her a colt to “shack up” with. They’d taken a sleeper train the day before from Canterlot, ending up on the beaches outside Manehatten this morning. The plan was to spend all day at the beach, though perhaps with some shopping on the side, before heading back to Canterlot on an overnight train again.Quick Time approved of this plan, but that was because it meant only one day at the beach. She leaned back, almost laying on her back, letting the warm air fall over her stomach. Despite her misgivings, she did have to admit that she’d been having a good time so far today. The beach wasn’t near as crowded as she thought it’d be and she had only caught one stallion staring at her flank. Sitting back upright and taking another sip of her drink, she contemplated getting in the water. It would be a shame to come all the way out here to the beach and not go swimming at least once. And the ponies already out there looked like they were having fun. Her thoughts were rather rudely interrupted by a yelling voice. “Look out!” Huh, that sounds like it’s directed at me. No sooner had she thought that, than something hard collided with the back of her head. She jolted forward, her once wonderful drink now spilling everywhere as stars burst forth in her vision. Steadying her shaky world with all hooves on the ground, she looked around for what had rudely struck her. Nestled smugly in the sand was a small, round object, a ball. She tried to glare at it, but her throbbing head meant it came out as a wince. I take it all back. Beaches suck, she thought. “Are you okay, miss?” asked a voice. Turning her head to figure out who spoke to her caused her world to spin once more, this time more violently. She would’ve fallen over if a strong pair of hooves hadn’t kept her upright. “Easy, miss. You better sit down.” Gently the hooves helped her find a seat, though she mostly just plopped her flank down and waited until she stopped seeing double of everything. When everything came into slightly clearer focus, she slowly turned her head, seeing two hooves attached to her side. Following the hooves up, she saw a unicorn stallion peering at her with a worried look. He had a shockingly bright blue mane, contrasting nicely with his green coat. Wow, somepony hated him even before he was born. “Are you okay?” he asked again. She nodded, slowly. “Yeah, just fine.” Her statement was ruined when she winced, another jolt of pain breaking through the steady throbbing. “You don’t seem fine. Here, let me help.” The slight pressure of his hooves vanished from her side as he trotted out of her vision. Moving her head to follow him seemed like a bad idea at the moment, so she just sat in the sand, waiting for him to show himself. Sand muffled hoofsteps quite nicely, so tracking where he was based on sound was pointless. That didn’t stop her from trying. Her ears swivelled around, attempting to pinpoint where he’d gone. A creak from her left alerted her to somepony getting into their cooler, the lid slamming shut causing her to wince. After a short moment, something very cold, and very welcome in her current state, was being pressed to the back of her head. “Here, this should help.” “Thanks,” she said. The icy coolness of the bottle, it felt like a bottle, helped to numb the pain in her head. She reached up a hoof, taking over holding the bottle against her head. The garish stallion walked back into her field of vision, sitting in the sand, his head held low. “I’m really sorry about what happened,” he said. “My friend has rather bad aim and a strong arm.” Quick Time looked around, her eyes shifting back and forth. “Your friend?” “He ran off. Back to the hotel would be my guess.” “Ah. Some friend you’ve got.” She was able to pull off a successful glare this time with her head being numbed from the pain. He winced. “Yeah, sorry about him, too.” Her gaze softened. Despite her anger at being assaulted, it wasn’t this stallion’s fault, and he was helping her. “Thanks for the help,” she said. “You’re welcome. My name’s Fine Tuning.” “Quick Time,” she said. “I’d shake your hoof, but...” she shrugged. “Your hooves are full, I understand.” He eyed her flank, briefly, getting a glance at her cutie mark. Fair was fair, as she was staring at his flank, doing the same. He had a picture of a guitar on the side of his body. “A clock,” he said, indicating her cutie mark. “Interesting...” his voice trailed off. “My special talent is scheduling. I make sure everypony is where they need to be, on time, and that there’s no conflicting appointments.” The response was automatic and lacking any inflection or tone. It was unfortunate, but she was one of those ponies whose special talent wasn’t readily apparent from her name and cutie mark. She had grown used to having to explain it almost every time she met somepony new. “Hmm,” was his response. Silence fell over them. She had expected him to go away now, taking his Tartarus-damned ball with him, but he seemed determined to stay. Not that she resented him, he was only being nice and trying to make up for his friend’s carelessness. It just seemed like she was fine now, he could leave her to her receding agony. When it looked like he was going to stay, at least until she could stand up without shaking, she opted to open up a conversation with him. “So, you’re a musician?” He shook his head. “Not really. I can kinda play some instruments, but only enough to do my job.” “Which is?” “I specialize in instrument repair. I own a little shop in Canterlot.” “Oh. You’re from Canterlot? So am I,” she said. A single eyebrow rose on his face. “So what brings you here?” She inclined her head towards the hoofball game still in progress. “My friends. They took it upon themselves to drag me here.” “Surely they had a reason to do so. I’ve found that friends rarely ponynap somepony without provocation.” She sighed. “Well, there was my boss just up and leaving one day, leaving me in charge of the entire company for two weeks. And my coltfriend broke up with me right after that.” He winced. “Ouch. I’m sorry to hear that.” “Eh, I don’t think it would’ve lasted much longer anyway.” Which was true. Like a typical Canterlot stallion, he was dating her for one reason: her flank. He’d started trying to pressure her, which only made her mad. “Oh,” he said, trying to find something to say in response to that. “Umm... So, who or what do you work for?” “Fancy Pants. I’m his personal assistant.” And here it comes. The wide eyes and the staring. “Oh, no wonder you were stressed.” His face never changed. No wide eyes, no staring. Huh. That wasn’t what I expected. I wonder why he isn’t that interested? She had braced herself for the typical reaction, but Fine gave no sign of it. He seemed almost nonchalant about the reveal of who her boss was. Her confusion must have shown on her face, as he spoke up. “What? Is something wrong?” She shook her head. “Nope, nothing,” she said quickly. “Okay,” he said, clearly not believing her. “So, what brings you out here?” she asked, changing the subject. “Kinda the same reason as you. My marefriend broke it off with me, so my best friend dragged me out here to get over her.” “Oh. Sorry to hear that,” she said. She shifted the bottle, which by now had warmed up considerably, to her other hoof, bringing it in front of her. “Sweet Apple Cider,” she read off the label. “My favorite.” The pain in her head had subsided enough to where she didn’t need the bottle anymore. She popped the cap, taking a sip. Even warm the cider still tasted great. Setting the bottle in the sand, digging it in to make sure it stayed upright, she tried standing up again. Her hooves were more sure of themselves this time. There was only minor shaking in her stance. She could see Fine standing up as well, ready to help her if she started to fall over. With care, she placed one hoof in front of the other, testing out walking. After several steps and she didn’t fall over, she was ready to declare herself as fine. Speaking of fine, he was smiling at her. “Glad to see that knock to the head wasn’t permanent.” “Ha, ha,” she said. She walked in a wide circle around the umbrella, Fine’s eyes following her the whole way. Arriving back where she started, she sat down again, rewarding herself with another sip of her drink. “Well, seems like everything’s fine here,” she said. He chuckled. “I guess so.” Pausing a moment, he spoke again. “Hey, let me make this up to you. I’ll buy you dinner tonight. I’m staying at the Manehatten Beach Hotel, just up that way, the green building.” He pointed to a green building several hundred yards down the beach. “What?” she said, not quite sure what to make of his previous statement. With a smile, he continued on. “Meet me in the lobby at six tonight.” “I...” she faltered. He was being rather forward in his actions. Perhaps she had misjudged him and he was indeed after her flank or some in-road to her boss. Or maybe he was just trying to be nice, like he’d been doing ever since they’d met. As her thoughts swirled around each other, she sought anything to say. “Our train, tonight-” “Leaves at like eleven, you’ll be fine.” Quick looked around, trying to see where to new voice had come from. She spotted a purple pegasus over by the cooler. “Swift, don’t sneak up on me like that,” Quick admonished her friend. Swift only grinned, grabbing a couple drinks from the cooler. “I wasn’t sneaking, just heading over here.” She walked over to Quick and threw a wing over her. “She’ll be there,” she told Fine. He brightened up. “Really?” With a nod, Swift confirmed. “Yup, even if I have to drag her there myself.” Quick made to object over being promised into something she wasn’t sure she wanted, but was silenced when Swift shoved her hoof in her mouth. Instead all that came out was something garbled and unintelligible. Raising an eyebrow, Fine regarded the two of them for a moment. “Are you sure she wants this?” “Yup. She’s sure, aren’t you?” Swift removed her hoof, letting Quick speak. A sharp reply of “no” on the tip of her tongue, Quick held it back. Actually taking a moment to think about it, she weighed the pros and cons of the situation. Well, I am technically on vacation. And if I look around the color scheme, he’s kinda cute. Plus he did help me when his friend threw that ball at me. But, on the other hoof, do I really want to go on a “date” right now? I did just kinda break up, even if he was a jerk. Ugh, why must things be so complicated! Her thoughts switched back and forth, unable to land on a clear answer. Getting frustrated, she pushed everything aside, focusing only on the one thing that mattered: did she want to meet Fine Tuning for dinner? “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I’ll meet you at six.” His bright look returned. “Great, see you then!” Scampering off in the sand, she watched him head towards the green building. “Oh Celestia, what have I gotten myself into?” she asked herself. “Hmm, did you say something?” Swift asked. Sighing, Quick replied. “Nope, nothing.” “Oh, okay.” The pegasus turned to face her friend, a bright smile on her face. “Now come on, we need to find a bathroom so we can get you looking presentable for tonight.” “What? But that’s not for another two hours!” “Which is why we need to start now. Time’s wasting.” Quick planted her hooves in the sand, but Swift just grabbed onto her and with a few flaps of her wings was carrying the unfortunate pony across the beach. With a final sigh, Quick resigned herself to her fate. This had better be worth it. Wait, what am I saying? Nothing’s worth being stuck in a room while Swift tries to give me a makeover. “Hey Honey, get over here. Quick’s landed herself a date tonight,” Swift called out, causing many heads to turn in their direction. Oh sweet Celestia, no! Quick was now genuinely afraid for her life. When Swift Bloom and Honey Blossom got together, no mare was safe from a makeover. A very extensive, very painful, makeover. The golden mare rushed over, already chatting excitedly about manestyles and makeup opportunities. Grabbing her saddlebags from under the umbrella, which Quick knew was full of makeup, brushes, and more devices of torture, she quickly caught up with them. Together, the two ponies dragged their unwilling companion towards her certain doom. Quick simply crossed her forelegs, a single thought filling her mind. Buck...