We Don't Have Time for a Slow Burn Romance!

by RunicTreetops

The Part Where They Go to the Beach

You and your marefriend hesitantly walk out onto the hot sand. You have to raise an arm to cover the blinding light of the sun, and you see Moondancer doing the same. Slowly but surely, you make your way towards the coastline.

"I've never been a big fan of beach arcs. They're almost invariably filler, and it seems like every manga feels the need to have one at some point."

You chuckle.

"I don't know, I think they're cute. Gives you time to appreciate the characters in a more laid-back setting than is typical."

"More laid back than a slice of life manga already is?"

"Hey, you never know. After all, you just said they're usually filler. Since you don't have to worry about the will-they-won't-they, you get to relax as a reader about as much as the characters do in the story."

"But what if I want the will-they-won't-they? What if I want them to just get on with it?"

"You mean, kinda like we're doing right now?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"Speaking of, how long has it been?"

"Dunno. Time is technically progressing normally in the real world while we're in here, but the lack of a consistent sense of time or space makes it difficult to judge."

"So we should probably just assume we're running late and get a move on."

Moondancer sighs.

"I guess."

"Hm? What's the matter?"

"N-nothing. Let's go get waist-deep in the water, weakly splash each other for two panels, and then never get into the water again."

"Uh, sure. If you say so."

The two of you do exactly that. The water is surprisingly refreshing, considering it isn't real. You lightly splash at Moondancer, and despite how silly and forced it feels, you can't quite get the smile to leave your face.

"H-hey! Watch the glasses!"

"Haha! I'm just doing what you told me to!"

"You jerk!"

Moondancer splashes you as hard as she can, resulting in you getting completely drenched. The next thing you know, you're both laughing and having a wonderful time together in the water. Perhaps splashing each other is as enjoyable as manga makes it out to be.

Eventually, you both come to your senses and start to settle down. Moondancer is the first to make her way back out of the water.

"Jeez, the heat hits you immediately when you're not in there anymore."

"I'm surprised an enchantment can do all of this," you say as you start to get out of the water yourself.

"A-Anon, don't!"

"Huh?"

You emerge from the water, stopping when you're only about ankle-deep. You look at Moondancer with confusion as she quickly turns around, her face red as a beet.

"Seriously?! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you hadn't read a manga before!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"Your trunks!"

"..."

Wait. She doesn't mean...

Oh dear. Yes she does.

You quickly make your way back into the water, stopping only when you're about chest deep and adequately covered up. After doing so, you immediately begin to feel around along the sand and rock below you. Meanwhile, Moondancer continues to awkwardly stand in place while looking the other direction. Ordinarily you would ask her to help you to speed the process along, but luckily for you, you're in a manga. As a result, it doesn't take too long for you to find your missing pride.

With the trunks back where they belong, you exit the water once more. The hot air is noticeably less drafty now. You awkwardly clear your throat, unsure of what to say next.

"Well... that's one more trope down, I suppose," she mumbles, finally gathering the courage to look at you again.

"...Can we just not speak about it ever again?"

"I won't if you don't."

"Deal."

Moondancer laughs, doing her best to shrug off the awkward vibes.

"So, we've got two typical beach activities down. What's next, I wonder?"

You glance around at the beach. A few ponies are doing their own thing here and there, suspiciously (and somewhat uncannily) lacking any distinctive features. However, for the most part, the beach is sparsely populated. As you think this to yourself, you notice a few unoccupied towels laid out on the sand. They coincidentally have Moondancer's cutie mark stitched into them.

"I'd say right over there is a good start. What do we need that many towels for, though?"

Moondancer follows your gaze, seeing the beach towels for herself. She narrows her eyes for a moment as she apparently gets lost in thought, but she suddenly gasps before looking around.

"Is there a... yes, there is!" Her eyes lock onto a nearby stand of some kind. It appears to be selling assorted fruits. "Go stand over by the towels, I'll be right back!"

"Uhh, okay."

You do just that, and a few moments later, Moondancer excitedly runs up to you. Her horn is glowing, and in her magical grasp is a particularly large watermelon and a baseball bat.

"Ohhhhh, we're doing that. W-wait, where did you get the bat?"

Moondancer looks at the bat with confusion, apparently having only just noticed it.

"I have no idea."

"...Well, it doesn't matter I guess. Let's do this. Er, wait, aren't we supposed to do it blindfolded?"

"Yeah, and then you get dizzy and try to hit it. It's like a piñata."

"R-right, I was just wondering where we were going to get a blindfold."

"Uhh... do you have it?"

"Why would I have it?"

"I don't know, I had a bat!"

"Fair point, I guess." You look down at your person. Considering all you're wearing are your trunks and sandals, there are only so many places to look. Sure enough though, you find a thin piece of cloth in one of your pockets. "Huh. What do you know?"

"Which of us should go first?"

You shrug.

"I don't really care, to be honest. We just need to keep up the pace."

Moondancer's expression hardens. She glances away from you briefly before locking eyes with you once more.

"Yeah. Just put the blindfold on me, I guess."

Her voice is noticeably lacking the energy it had mere seconds ago.

"Moonie? You okay?"

"I'm alright. Just blindfold me, dude."

"W-well, if you say so." You do your best to get the blindfold around her eyes without causing too much discomfort. After a moment, she seems well and truly blind. "Is that okay?"

"It's perfect. Thanks. Now, spin me!"

You chuckle as you start to spin her around and around in a circle. After a few moments, you stop her dead in her tracks facing the direction of the melon.

"Alright, you're good to go."

Moondancer attempts to take a few steps forward, but it's clear that she has completely lost her sense of balance. In fact, after only a couple of steps, she's going off in the wrong direction completely. You carefully approach her from behind, gently grasp her by her sides, and point her back in the right direction.

"Uhh, hehe. Thanks."

She takes a couple more steps forward, and her hooves finally find their place on the towels. After three more hesitant steps, she stops. Taking a deep breath, she winds up, bringing the bat high above her head before it comes crashing down.

Aaaaaaaaaand she misses the melon by a solid four feet.

"Dang it."

"Haha! It was a nice try, though."

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, wise guy."

Her voice is sarcastic, yet playful as she removes her blindfold and throws it at you. It smacks against your chest before you smile back at her and begin putting it on, blinding yourself completely.

"This blindfold is better than I thought."

"You'd better not be cheating under there!"

"I'm not, I'm not!"

To make sure, Moondancer tightens the blindfold to an almost painful degree. After that, she starts to spin you around and around using her magic. Sure enough, it proves to be extremely disorienting, and you quickly lose track of which way you're facing. After a few seconds, however, she finally stops you.

"You're up, Nonny."

"Here goes nothing."

You take a single step forward and nearly fall flat on your face. Thankfully you do manage to catch yourself, but you have no idea if you're going the right way anymore. With a great deal of hesitation you take one more step forward, then another. You slowly get into a shaky, dizzy groove, and eventually you feel the texture of the ground change beneath you, indicating that you're close to your target.

With a shrug and a deep breath, you bring the bat above your head. With one powerful swing, you feel the bat slam into something that crumples beneath its weight. You're caught completely off guard by this, causing you to stumble backwards and fall onto the sand behind you. Removing the blindfold, you see that you did, in fact, hit the melon. Standing a bit to the side is a very excited-looking Moondancer.

"You did it!"

"I guess I did. Huh."

Getting back to your feet with a bit of difficulty, you regroup with your marefriend on the towels. She eagerly uses her magic to pick up a piece of melon and places it in your hands before grabbing a piece of her own. With a shared smile, you both take a bite.

...Before promptly spitting it out. Again, food has no taste here, as it isn't real. Plus, the texture is goopy and weird. Ugh.

You and Moondancer share a look of disgust, which quickly turns into a couple of grins, which then in turn becomes a laughing fit.

"How did we end up in this situation?!"

"I thought we were going to spend all day at a parade, not choking on fake melon at the beach! Haha!"

You laugh harder, slowly losing the ability to even speak properly. The utter ridiculousness of everything going on is getting to you, but at least it's a nice bit of fun. Even if you have places to be.

It takes a few minutes for the two of you to regain your composure. When you do, you share one more warm smile.

"I'd say this beach arc is about done, eh?"

You nod your head in the direction of the water. The sun is beginning to set over it, painting the beach in a brilliant orange-yellow glow.

"I suppose so," Moondancer mumbles. You can't help but notice a twinge of sadness in her voice. "I guess we should get going, huh?"

"...Moonie?"

"Hm?"

"Have you... never been to the beach before?"

Moondancer glances away from you, a slight pink tint beginning to find its way to her cheeks.

"I, er, don't really get out much," she says, her voice nearly a whisper. "You're a good excuse for me to leave the house, but to tell you the truth, I barely ever leave Canterlot. I just... don't have the motivation, I guess."

You look Moondancer over as the two of you slowly walk back in the direction you came from when you first arrived at this beach. The school is long gone, having been replaced by a normal-looking road. You just have to hope it takes you to where you need to go next this time, too. However, you push that concern from your mind, as your marefriend is currently hanging her head down low.

"Moonie."

"Hm?" She doesn't look up.

"When all of this is over, and the weather gets a bit warmer... let's go to a beach together. A real one."

That gets her attention. She looks up at you, a mixture of confusion, surprise, and hope in her eyes.

"Really?"

"Sure, why not? I know we're in a rush, but this was pretty fun, all things considered. I'd love to get to do this with you again. And without a time crunch, too! Or, you know, tasteless mush pretending to be watermelon."

Moondancer looks at you with interest before letting out a small chuckle.

"Th-thank you, Nonny. I'd love to."

"Oh, and I think I'd enjoy a chance to see you wearing something like that again. You look great in it."

Moondancer's face immediately goes completely red, and you find yourself receiving a light smack across the cheek thanks to her magic.

"Sh-shut up!"

She may sound angry, but it's clear that she's hiding a smile. You laugh as the two of you continue to walk. It almost causes you to not realize that the scenery has changed once again.

The first thing that hits you is the smell. It smells... odd. A strange mixture of sweet and savory scents fills your nostrils, causing you to look away from Moondancer and towards your surroundings. No longer are you walking across a beach at sunset. Instead, you appear to be standing in front of Ponetsu High School once more. However, the school looks vastly different than it did just a short while ago. Banners are strung up all over the place, students and adults alike are walking to and fro, and the sheer number of colors and sounds makes it clear that some sort of event is going on.

"Wow, didn't think we'd get to the cultural festival arc so soon."

"You know, we never had these at my school. Granted, I'm not Japanese, but it would have been neat to experience, I think."

"Same here. All we had were hoofball rallies."

"Football for me."

"...Well, we're here now. Soooooooo-"

"Sure, Moonie. Let's take a look around. We still can't hang around for too long, but I suppose we'll probably never get another chance to do something like this again, huh?"

"Considering enchanted comics are one-use-per-pony only, no, I'd say we won't. Now come on, I want to try some taiyaki!"

Moondancer begins to trot ahead of you enthusiastically, and all you can do is follow closely behind her and shout as she gets lost in her excitement.

"We won't be able to taste it, though!"

Comments

[Moonlight Tome]

"Considering enchanted comics are one-use-per-pony only, no, I'd say we won't. Now come on, I want to try some taiyaki!"

Moondancer begins to trot ahead of you enthusiastically, and all you can do is follow closely behind her and shout as she gets lost in her excitement.

"We won't be able to taste it, though!"

Awww.

Wait....

....Shokugeki No Soma would be pure torture.

[Solon75]

The number of moments between Anon and Moondancer was adorable.

"I've never been a big fan of beach arcs. They're almost invariably filler, and it seems like every manga feels the need to have one at some point."

I remember reading an online article once that stated how a beach arc was a common trope in anime as well. Personally, I noticed that in the Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5 games there is also a beach arc about midway through the game.

You quickly make your way back into the water, stopping only when you're about chest deep and adequately covered up. After doing so, you immediately begin to feel around along the sand and rock below you. Meanwhile, Moondancer continues to awkwardly stand in place while looking the other direction. Ordinarily you would ask her to help you to speed the process along, but luckily for you, you're in a manga. As a result, it doesn't take too long for you to find your missing pride.

Reading this part reminds me of this video I once saw on YouTube:

NOTE: The part I'm referring to happens between 5:40 to 7:32 in the video.

You do just that, and a few moments later, Moondancer excitedly runs up to you. Her horn is glowing, and in her magical grasp is a particularly large watermelon and a baseball bat.

I've never really understood what's the point of a character smashing a fruit in the video of anime beach moments I've seen on YouTube. The entire concept just doesn't make any sense to me.

That gets her attention. She looks up at you, a mixture of confusion, surprise, and hope in her eyes.

Happy to see that Anon is determined to bring Moondancer out of her shell. The way Moondancer perked up at Anon made her look like a little filly in a candy store.

"Wow, didn't think we'd get to the culture festival arc so soon."

Another common trope that is also apparent in anime and video games made in Japan. Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5 have this common trope.

Adventure still awaits Anon and his precious Moonie.

Tally ho, as they say.

[Prettypony]

Woah woah. One use per pony only?? No wonder why Moondancer was getting disappointed by the speedrun.

[ChaseArni]

11699645
Geez, imagine getting the typical reactions from eating the food and not even knowing why.

[DraquineWarrior]

You know, the impression I've gotten when it comes to Ponies and "swim/beach attire", it isn't a matter of "modesty" or "minimal cover-up", but it's, as far as they're concerned, something "you just have to wear at these places". Just like how a high class Pony HAS to wear formal attire at a high class event like the Grand Galloping Gala (see Rarity), or a distinguishing outfit or accessory when walking about in upperclass Canterlot proper. Like it's a part of human culture they've adopted without knowing why.