A Lot Can Happen in a Year...

by The Lone Doctor

The Beach

Marble couldn’t believe it.

Sure she had read many books about beaches, even took a look at a few pictures of the seaside on postcards and calendars. But she didn’t expect it to be this magnificent in person. She couldn’t help but to gape in awe as she watched the seaside pass by. From the east, pine trees went on a far as the eye can see, while in the distance, cliffs accented the background, black and brown capped with a white blanket of snow, still trying to melt since winter. To the west, Marble could see the end of the world. White cliffs and moors lined the coast line. Rocks and boulders, broken from eons of time laid at their feet, foliage sprung from on top of the cliffs as a continuation to its sibling in the east. Filling in the gaps were swaths of sandy beaches.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Marble looked to the source of the voice, finding Sunset smiling as she took in the Amish girl’s first reactions at really seeing the Oregon coastline. Marble couldn’t help but nod, and then turn to look around the station wagon.

Sitting at the front was Twilight’s brother at the wheel, with Cadance sitting in the passenger seat. The radio was blaring out a song about ‘creating a world of our own’ as Sunset’s group of six friends sat in the back, talking, playing games and generally enjoying the ride.

Marble turned back toward the shore, and felt the cool air blow into the open window.

Soon the car came to a complete stop, and everyone piled out. Pinkie, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack ran off to the beach carrying various buckets, baskets, and coolers, with Shining and Cadance following behind with the chairs and umbrellas. All the while, Marble meekly stood back from the group, eyes closed, feeling the soft, cool wind and smelling the salty sea air.

Suddenly, several taps to her shoulder broke through her reverie and she yelped and turned, finding Sunset instead. She beamed at Marble, took her hand, and dragged her to the entryway, “C’mon! Let’s go!”

---

One hike down a beaten path and a flight of wooden stairs later, and though Marble was panting raggedly from the hike, she couldn’t help but straighten up as she turned to her right. From the stairs she could see a large cliff face in the distance, forests covering further inland, and waves crashing into their base. Erosion had done its job so that an archway was created between a column of stone and a cliff ridge.

Marble turned and saw her friends take off their sandals, and so followed their lead, wiggling her toes through the sand. She walked towards the back of the group, and soon they found the right spot to set up their umbrellas and chairs. With that out of the way, the group of friends before her stripped off their shirts and shorts, revealing several different kinds of swimwear.

At this, Marble hesitated, her finger and thumb fumbling with the sleeve of her t-shirt. While she was wearing a swimsuit of her own, it was a more conservative navy blue one piece, as compared to the many two piece bikinis she saw. But even then, even if the meekest person in Pinkie’s group of friends was wearing a one piece as well, she still froze at the thought of revealing herself to her friends. She felt an arm wrap around her, and instinctively leaned in to it, turning to find that it was Sunset. She turned away and blushed, but quickly looked back.

“A little embarrassed at what the others might think of you?”

Marble nodded. “I-I never wore anything like this before.”

Sunset hummed in understanding. “Don’t worry, it’s just like at the diner. Everyone’s wearing something similar, so you’ll be fine.”

Marble took a cursory glance up and down Sunset’s body, then looked down at her toes, blushing, “B-But you look… u-um, well..”

Sunset giggled, “Stunning, beautiful, hot?”

Marble meeped in confirmation.

“Don’t worry, no one’s going to judge you, it’s not really going to matter.”

It does to me. Marble thought, causing her to blush a deeper red, squeak, and hide herself behind her hair, now bare after months of adapting to English fashion.

“Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine.” Marble squeaked.

“Want me to turn around so you can take off your clothes?” Marble nodded, and so Sunset turned around as she delicately removed her t-shirt and shorts. She tapped Sunset’s shoulder. Sunset turned and grinned, “See? You look great.” Though she scanned Marble’s body in concern, “Did you remember to put on sunblock? You look a bit pale enough to get sunburn.”

Marble nodded, “Pinkie made sure I put it on before we got here.” Squealing and shouting broke into the conversation, as the humane six were already splashing and playing in the sea, with the exception of Fluttershy, who was wading in the more shallow areas.

“Feel confident enough to go into the water?”

Marble shook her head, “P-Pinkie’s been giving me swimming lessons, b-but I’m still scared that I’ll drown.”

“Alright.” Sunset offered her hand out, “Care to walk with me then?” Marble smiled and took Sunset’s hand, as they both began to walk up and down the shoreline. With the exception of the screaming and the cry of seagulls, there wasn’t much but the crashing of the waves which punctured the peace.

After a few minutes of silence, Sunset picked up a stone and threw it out into the sea. She sighed, “You know, I feel lucky.”

Marble hummed in confusion.

“Well, despite the things we’ve been through: at summer camp, in the school when I was trying to fix my reputation, Faust, even during the whole newspaper thing back in winter when I felt like redemption was impossible, at least I still got through better than most people.”

Sunset looked back out at the sea before she turned back to Marble, “Did you remember when I talked about Wallflower?”

Marble nodded, “Jah, the girl you’ve been trying to help socialize more. She couldn’t make it with us because she was hanging out with Trixie, right?”

“That’s the one. She had spent all four years of high school, through all the shit I threw at everyone, through the chaos during the battle of the bands, all of that and not once did she find someone to talk to.” Sunset picked up and threw another rock out into the ocean, cursing it to an eternity drowned. “Not to mention she had to deal with with all the loneliness: all she had was yearbook and her garden.”

“Lots of people find solace in gardening. It’s soothing, and you’re letting the fruits of your labor grow into something beautiful.”

Sunset turned and playfully punched Marble in the arm, “Looks like someone’s been hanging out in the library more often.” Marble giggled in reply. “Still, she had no one to turn to. It had to take a meltdown and an evil plot to destroy time and space for her to face her fear.” Sunset hugged closer to Marble. “She seems like a good girl. If only someone gave her the push, I swore I would’ve probably dated her if that wasn’t a touchy subject here.”

It was at that moment that Marble abruptly stopped walking, she turned to face Sunset with wide eyes. “Wh- What?”

Sunset’s face fell into a slightly gaped, horrified frown as she frantically raised her hands. “I-I mean.. um.. W-well…” she dropped her hands and sighed, “It’s… it’s just that, where I came from, no one really cared what gender you were, to most people, you were just two people in love…” Sunset looked down and dug her big toe into the brown sand. “I-I hope you’re okay with that.. are we still friends?”

Marble stuttered, “S-So you’re saying-”

“That I’m into girls? Yeah..”

Marble looked down at her feet. “So it’s normal? In the English world?”

“It is for me… for some people here though… not so much…”

Marble let go of Sunset’s hand as she hugged herself. I’m not the only one feeling these… things… like I want to kiss her? Marble stood there contemplating before Sunset broke her concentration, “A-Are we still friends, Marble?”

Marble looked back up to Sunset, still a little dazed, but conscious enough to blurt out, “J-Jah, we still are… don’t worry about it.”

Sunset beamed and hugged Marble tightly, “Oh thank you, thank you Marble! You were so nice, and so interesting, I didn’t want to lose you because of something stupid like this, thank you!” She finally let go, “Want to try to go out into the ocean? We don’t have to go out to the deep end.”

“I-I don’t kno-” Sunset pulled Marble into the shallow water, causing her to fall into the sea. The stark cold hit her like an angry horse’s buck, as she quickly stood up and coughed, spurting out some water. She turned to Sunset with a playful, yet malicious grin.

“Marble, what are you thi-” A splash of water hit Sunset, leaving her stunned to the punch. Soon a splash fight started, and so for the rest of the day, the topic of girls loving girls wasn’t the main focus.

---

Several hours, and several rolls of camera film later, Marble, Sunset, and the Humane Six sat around a fire, some of the girls cooking marshmallows, and to end it all, Sunset and Twilight singing about there being more that’s out there to explore and discover all over a guitar that Sunset brought.

As the girls were huddling around, eyes liddening in well-earned exhaustion, Marble sat there on the log wrapped in a towel, staring at the stars. As her gaze landed on Sunset, she smiled, now knowing she wasn't alone. But with that, a silent sense of dread came along with more questions. Questions that her parents never discussed with her, questions that she needed help on. Questions that perhaps, God might answer.