"When you said you were going to surprise me... I didn't expect this!" Limestone said, flopping on the hotel bed. It was quite comfortable; heck, the whole room looked and felt expensive and fancy.
Lightning flopped on the bed next to her. "What? Would you rather go to the Everfree Forest and explore there? I'm sure the hotels are lovely!"
Limestone swatted him across the face. "I wasn't implying that, doofus," she said, looking back up to the ceiling again. "I just... wasn't expecting you to give us a weeklong trip to the Neighribbean with a five star hotel right on the beach."
Lightning shrugged. "Hey, I do my best," he said, kissing her on the cheek. Limestone blushed and looked away as Lightning chuckled. "Geez, you still act like an awkward teenager whenever I'm being affectionate."
Limestone turned back to him. "Whatever, idiot."
Lightning snickered. "I need to count how many offensive nicknames you give me in a day."
Limestone smiled. "You wouldn't have to count if you weren't such an imbecile."
"Three."
Limestone glared. "You stupid jerk!"
"Four."
Limestone exhaled and stood up. "Fine, I'll just go to the balcony."
Lightning chuckled. "Oh, I know the wild Limestone's greatest weakness! Calling her out! It's super effective!"
Limestone looked back and raised a brow before opening the door to the balcony. "Shut up, nincompoop."
"Five."
"Urgh!" Limestone grunted as she stepped outside, looking towards the ocean.
Lightning stepped over to where she was, a smile still on his face. He took a seat and looked out towards the crashing waves. "Hey, you can't avoid me for too long. This is our honeymoon. We're kinda supposed to be together the whole time."
Limestone looked towards him, blinking. She then suddenly took his face in her hooves and gave him a passionate kiss.
"There, ya happy now?"
Lightning simply nodded in response, keeping her in his arms. Limestone broke from the embrace to pull another chair up and sit in it, as close to him as she could possibly get.
Lightning nuzzled her mane, causing her to blush and avert her eyes to the ground. He then stood up, took his wedding ring off, and put it on the table. He walked over and took Limestone's off too, causing her to look at him in confusion.
"Why did you take them off?" Limestone asked as Lightning walked up to her.
"So we don't lost them when we go swimming."
Limestone cocked her head. "Wait, what?"
Suddenly, Limestone felt herself lifted up into the air, leaving the balcony, and quickly approaching the water. It took her a second to figure out what was going on. She turned around.
"Lightning! Put me down!" She yelled.
"Alright, fine," he said as they flew over the ocean. He descended closer and dropped her in the water, causing a loud splash. Lightning then fell in himself, the chilly water causing goosebumps to form on his fur.
Limestone finally came out of the water, obviously having a little trouble staying afloat. She looked to Lightning and glared at him.
"What the heck was that for?!" She yelled, causing Lightning to chuckle.
"Hey, you said you wanted to be put down, and I wanted to go swimming!"
Limestone kept paddling her hooves as hard as possible. "You big dummy! I can't swim! I thought I told you this!"
Lightning chuckled. "Oh." He unfolded his wing. "Grab onto my wing."
Limestone did as she was told and glared at him. "You suck."
Lightning stuck his tongue out. "You won't be saying that tonight~."
Limestone blushed as she harshly slapped him across the face. "Fine. I'll learn to swim so I can get to the shoreline without your suggestive comments."
Lightning chuckled again. "Sorry, Limey."
Limestone looked back to him, struggling to not fall under the water. "Don't call me that!"
Lightning started swimming towards her. "Geez, salty much?"
Limestone's ears fell back on her head. "I'm not salty!"
Lightning nudged her. "Are you sure? This salt water seems to be rubbing off on you."
Limestone sighed as she swam forward a bit. She eventually reached a shallow part of the water, now being able to walk, even though it was more like lumbering. Limestone finally got out of the water and tried to shake her coat off, now shivering like crazy.
Lightning was now standing beside her, causing Limestone to glare at him. "Don't... ever... do something stupid like that again," Limestone said as Lightning put a wing over her back. Limestone didn't protest; despite his feathers being wet, they were a nice contrast to being stuck in the breeze.
"So... where are we going next?"
Limestone turned to him. "I don't care; unless you drop me in water again."
Lightning chuckled. "Okay, okay. How about we have lunch on the sand? We can stay away from everypony else so we don't have to deal with screaming foals."
Limestone snickered. "Good idea."
The line for food at the food stand was long. The stand primarily served pizza, but it also served French fries, oats, and hayburgers. Cold drinks were being handed out by the second.
Finally, it was Limestone and Lightning's turn to order. They ordered a large pizza and two drinks; much to Lightning's dismay, considering he wanted to act like a star in one of those cheesy romance movies where the couple shares a drink while gazing into each other's eyes.
When they reached the sand, they plopped down, letting the rays of the sun clash against their fur. Lightning opened the pizza box and took... four slices of pizza. Limestone raised an eyebrow.
"Lightning, you're gonna get fat, and I'm gonna laugh," Limestone said as Lightning started eating.
"Oh well. I'm enjoying this trip, and if Sapphire drills me like crazy to get in shape again when we get back home, I don't care," Lightning replied, chuckling.
Limestone smirked. "That will be entertaining to watch."
Lightning took a drink before responding. "Yeah, you should see her when she coaches. She becomes a totally different mare."
Limestone giggled. "Actually, I have seen it. When I was hanging out with Sapphire and Speed, Speed mentioned how she'd been sitting around all week, and Sapphire immediately started to coach her. I never saw a pony coaching her best friend to run as fast as she could on the treadmill before that day."
Lightning laughed. "That sounds like Sapphire, alright. You're lucky she didn't decide to drill you right after she was finished with Speed." He chuckled again as his thoughts drifted. "She used to acutally host weekly workout sessions for us."
Limestone raised a brow. "What?"
Lightning nodded. "Yeah. We would all come to her gym and work out for at least an hour. Ha, I remember when she tried to teach us how to do one winged wing-ups. Only Stormy Night was able to do it right, and to this day I'm still confused on how to do it."
Limestone snickered as she poked his body. "Is that why you're so muscular and hot?" She asked, causing Lightning to slightly blush.
"Well, that's not the only reason, but those sessions were definitely part of it." He finished his second slice of pizza, and moved onto his third. "She stopped doing those sessions after a while because Brave accidentally broke her bench that's used for benchpressing."
Limestone almost spit out her drink she had inconveniently just started drinking. She swallowed before she started laughing. "Okay, how did the idiot manage to do that?"
Lightning started laughing as well. "We actually have no idea. He just told Sapphire that he broke it. I had never seen Sapphire so angry at him before. It was actually quite hilarious."
Limestone started laughing again. "I wish I could have been there to see that."
Lightning nodded. "Yeah. Sapphire prohibited Brave from coming into her house for the next... I dunno, two months? That also broke up our exercise time, which was okay. She worked us quite hard."
Limestone snickered. "Goodness. You guys have the most interesting friendship."
Lightning raised a brow. "How long did it take you to figure this out?"
Limestone rolled her eyes. "Well, I figured it out the first time I saw them all, so... I figured this out months ago." She chuckled, finishing her first slice of pizza. She looked over to see that Lightning had already finished his third. "How are you eating so fast?!"
Lightning shrugged. "I guess I'm just a super fast eater."
Limestone slapped her face with her hoof and sighed.
Limestone stepped up on the boardwalk, smiling at Lightning.
"How many more surprises do you have?"
Lightning nuzzled her. "Many more," he replied, looking out across the boardwalk.
There were many games and rides set up, and many foals driving their parents crazy. Many ponies were swimming in the ocean, but most of the commotion was coming from the boardwalk. Limestone looked back to Lightning.
"I don't know how I didn't see this boardwalk at the other side of the hotel. Why didn't you tell me?"
Lightning shrugged. "I wanted to make it a surprise. You just sounded excited about this."
Limestone smiled. "Well, okay. What should we do first?"
Lightning pointed a hoof. "There's apparently a haunted house at the end of the boardwalk."
Limestone perked up. "Oh?"
Lightning nodded. "Yeah. You get in this little car and it takes you around the house, and there are tons of spooky animatronics. Do you want to try it? Or are you scared?"
Limestone raised an eyebrow. "Is this a challenge?"
"I reckon it is," Lightning replied, flexing his wing muscles repeatedly. Limestone pretended to be petrified.
"Oh no! He's stretching out his wings! I'm surely going to lose now!" She said as Lightning rolled his eyes at her.
"As I was about to say... we have to get tickets first."
Limestone snorted. "Well, since you stretched your wings so much, how about you fly over and get them?"
Lightning raised a brow. "What are you gonna do, then?"
Limestone was already cantering away. "To get a funnel cake, of course!"
Lightning's mouth hung open. "You better share that!"
Limestone looked back at him. "I will if you go and get those tickets."
Lightning rolled his eyes before taking off into the sky as Limestone continued to get the funnel cake.
Lightning smiled as the wind coursed through his mane. He did a few flips and tricks in the air before descending to the ground, letting the wind take him away into another world. He wished he could stay up there longer, but with funnel cake on the line, he knew he had to get down soon.
He finally dropped down in line, but a voice came from behind.
"Uh, how about you watch where you land?"
Lightning turned around to see a mare looking at him with an annoyed expression, her mane tied up into a very sloppy bun. There were also three foals harboring the same annoyed expression as their mother.
Lightning looked at them in confusion. "Um..."
The mare lifted her hoof into the air. "You cut us! The back of the line is behind us!" She practically yelled. Lightning tried to apologize, but noticed she was giving him the death glare whenever he opened his mouth. He shrunk under her glare and got in line behind her. The foals seemed to not be too content with him either. They shot him occasional glares, which didn't do too much, considering they were so young.
What was up with them? They all sure did have a temper. Lightning doesn't ever remember having to deal with ponies with this much disposition back in Vanhoover, and he was happy about that.
The line advanced, and Lightning still getting occasional glares from the foals in front of him. This really made Lightning think. Foals were always supposed to be happy.
I hope ours don't end up like that... wait, what?! Lightning thought, blushing at this thought. He turned his head away, hoping to not be thinking of raising a family with his wife.
...
Nope, it didn't exactly work. He's always loved playing with kids, and would undeniably want one of his own, but he knew that he wasn't ready quite yet. They both weren't ready yet.
His thoughts were suspended at the sound of crying in front of him. He looked to see the foals all crying as the mother looked down to them in anger.
"You heard me! You all get to ride two rides! No more!"
The young filly tried to open her mouth, but her mother glared at her, causing the foal to stop talking and continue whimpering. The mother and foals all took their tickets, the foals still sad.
Now it made since why the foals had such a temperament. The mother was probably always yelling and glaring at them, causing them to think that's the right thing to do.
Lightning immediately started thinking. What if, in the future, he was too hard on his own kids? Would they become unapproachable? Would they have no friends?
"Sir, you're holding up the line. How many tickets do you need?"
Lightning was immediately brought back to reality. He stepped up to the booth and looked at the prices. His eyes widened. They were... quite expensive.
"Uh... how much is it for two to get into the haunted house?"
The stallion slammed his hoof on the board next to him. "Read what it says. We have the amount of tickets needed for each ride printed here for a reason."
Lightning fought the urge to snort. Geez, two unpleasant ponies in the span of five minutes, he thought as he read the board. It said that two tickets were needed for one pony to get into the ride. It was one bit per ticket, so he placed four bits on the counter.
"I'll have four tickets, please," he said. The stallion swiped the bits before slamming the tickets on the counter. When Lightning left, he didn't even bother to thank the stallion. Was it rude? Sure, but the stallion was rude enough.
Lightning stopped walking and looked around. He soon heard a very familiar voice.
"Are you kidding me?! Watch where you're going!"
Lightning turned around to find Limestone glaring at a stallion, who looked intimidated. There was also... a plate and a bit of funnel cake on the ground.
Dangit, that was probably my share!
The stallion tried responding, but Limestone growled at him, causing him to back away slowly, his eyes not leaving Limestone. He eventually darted away, and was nowhere to be seen.
Lightning walked up to Limestone, holding the tickets out with his wing. "I've got the tickets."
Limestone grunted. "I had your piece of funnel cake," she said, gesturing to the splattered cake by her hooves.
Lightning's ears flopped. "Darn."
Limestone walked next to him. "Eh, we can get one on the way out."
Lightning smiled. "Fair enough. I need something after dealing with bundles of aggravation."
Limestone lifted an eyebrow. "How bad can it be? You were just getting tickets!"
Lightning snickered. "Well..."
"Okay, that sounds like it sucked," Limestone admitted, chuckling. "I guess you deserve some cheap carnival food."
Lightning nodded, stopping. "Of course I do. And we're here," he said, pointing up. In front of them was a large, spooky looking house. There were screams coming from it, earning a few laughs from Limestone.
"What babies," Limestone said before walking into line. "C'mon, Lightning. Let's get in line."
After waiting for about ten minutes, they finally got to the carts. A mare looked to them, her long earrings flowing in the breeze.
"Tickets please," she said. Lightning handed the tickets as the mare pointed to a car. "You may sit in that car. Keep your hooves inside at all times, and don't touch anything."
The two nodded as the mare pushed the button, sending them into the house. As soon as they got inside, waves of darkness washed over them. There were a few lights, but a very minimal amount.
Lightning chuckled. "It looks like that one is broken," he said, gesturing over to a demon animatronic which was pathetically plopped on the ground.
Limestone snorted. "Goodness. This isn't even scary!"
They passed through a few more rooms, and there were a few things popping up that could be considered nightmare fuel. Limestone shrugged it all off, though secretly happy they didn't ride this right before bed.
After they turned another corner, a creepy skeleton animatronic popped up right next to Limestone.
"Ah!" Limestone yelped in surprise. Of course, with her sensitive reflexes, she punched the animatronic right in the face as hard as she could, breathing heavily.
The animatronic sparked a bit, lightning up the area a little more, before plopping onto the ground. It finally dawned on Limestone that she just broke a part of the ride. She put her head in her hooves and groaned.
Lightning watched the animatronic break, not sure what expression he should harbor at this moment.
Limestone lay down on the golden sand, letting the setting sun shine down on her. "Ughhhhh!"
Lightning patted her on the shoulder. "Sorry, Limestone."
Limestone whipped her head towards him. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything!" She turned her head away. "I broke a part of the ride..." She mumbled, her voice barely audible. "We then had to spend the rest of the afternoon there to convince them that we can pay! And when we get home, I'm setting out the hundreds of bits needed from my paycheck to send to them."
Lightning draped a wing over her. "Hey, who said I wouldn't be helping?"
Limestone looked into his eyes. "I said. You didn't do anything wrong. I'll pay for it."
Lightning looked out to the ocean. "Well, if that's what you want, I won't fight you. I know how stubborn you are."
Limestone smirked. "Good. You finally caught on."
Lightning shrugged. "Hey, you only reminded me every time I tried to do something for you."
Limestone nodded. "Well, I am an independent mare."
Lightning scooted closer to her. "Well, that's not exactly true. We are married now, remember?"
Limestone's look hardened. "How can I forget, doofus?"
Lightning stuck his tongue out. "Do I need to start the count again?"
Limestone pouted. "Shut up, you overgrown weed."
Lightning chuckled. "I've never heard that one!"
Limestone stood up. "Well, now you have. And I'm going to walk in the water," she said, walking to the shoreline. Lightning smirked as he watched her walk away. He stood up, spread his wings, and got ready to take off.
He flapped them, propelling himself forward. He stuck his hooves out, and in a few seconds had picked up Limestone and was flying her over the water.
"Seriously? Again?!" She said, looking back at Lightning.
Lightning snickered. "Nope. I have something different in mind."
Limestone rolled her eyes. "Oh, what could that be? Watching me struggle to swim while you fly?"
Lightning shook his head. "Nope. What makes you think I would do that?"
Limestone's brow furrowed. "Because I know you're no goody-two-hooves."
Lightning shrugged. "Well, you got me there." He then spotted his target in the distance, descending. Limestone looked forward to find... a little island in the water. It wasn't exactly considered an island, but it was a bit of ground jutting out from the water. It was big enough for a few ponies to stand on.
Lightning landed, putting Limestone down. Limestone lifted a brow.
"Why are we here?" She asked. Lightning stepped closer to her.
"Why not? It's been a while since we've had some quality, private time together."
Limestone smiled, but then realized something. "Lightning, this isn't exactly private. What if a pegasus flew by overhead and saw us?"
Lightning pinned her on the ground, earning a pout from her. "Too bad for them, then."
He then kissed her, not being rough or anything. Limestone returned it, letting her hooves freely roam his body. They pulled apart as Limestone roughly pushed him over so she was on top.
"Nice try," she said, kissing him again.
The sun was almost completely faded behind the horizon now, casting a little bit of light on the two as they lost themselves in complete and utter bliss.