Mares on a Moonlit Night

by Sheendough

Chapter 14: Summer Sun Eve

Chapter 14: Summer Sun Eve

As her carriage stopped, she awoke. She had left Ponyville at 7 in the morning and it was almost midday when she arrived. The sun was beating hard down on her face, so a hoof to the front managed to block the light and cool her face.

___

Morning came and the sun’s light slowly crept up Applejack’s bed. She stretched herself and opened up the curtain. She went out to the balcony and breathed deeply. The smell of the sea and the warm breeze made the perfect mixture for an inviting stroll through the beach. She grabbed her saddlebags and took out an apple. After a few bites, she went for the door and threw the apple core on the trash can. She turned around and pondered. Would she need her saddlebags? Nah. She was going to stroll through the sand for a couple of minutes, so it would be wise to leave her stuff on the room and come back later. She exited her room and locked the door behind her.

The beach was thriving with ponies from all colors and sizes. Mares bathed in the sunlight on racks and foals built sand castles. Some fillies were playing volleyball with a beach ball and stallions drank cool cider to freshen themselves.

“Hey babe! Lookin’ good!” —yelled a colt.

Applejack just rolled her eyes and walked past him. She had heard of the rudeness of the country boys by Rarity and some of McIntosh’s anecdotes, but she thought they were exaggerating a bit, maybe because she spent so much time in Ponyville was the reason she didn’t think much of this. She thought they were some honest-to-good people who just Rarity and McIntosh didn’t like. How wrong she had been. Every single one of them drinking cider, getting a bit of alcohol in their blood streams. They looked pathetic. Maybe taking a stroll through the beach wasn’t such a good idea. She could see that this wasn’t a place for her, and she desperately needed to go back to Ponyville. At least there, her friends were expecting her. She started to feel homesick again, and thought that maybe she needed to rest her head a little (‘you just woke up, you silly filly!’). The heat was beginning to take its toll and made Applejack dizzy. Maybe she just needed to eat something, maybe it was her insecurities spinning over her head, maybe it was—

“Oomph!”

Applejack had stumbled upon a lifeguard. His strong body accentuating itself over the intense heat.

“Hey! Watch it!” —said the stallion.

—“Sorry!” —answered AJ.

—“Can’t you see where you’re going?!” —replied the lifeguard.

—“Ah said ah’m sorry!”

—“Well, saying is not enough. Also, now that I take a good look at you, let me clarify that we don’t allow your kind to be arou—”

—“Hey! Lighten up, pal!” —someone replied. “She said she was sorry, didn’t you hear?”

Applejack turned around to look at the pony. She was sure she had heard that voice. It almost sounded like…

—“Rainbow? What the hay are ya doin’ here?”

—“Back off, you. Don’t mess with her.”

The lifeguard glared at her and turned around as he realized his mistake, angrily walking away.

“Sorry about that, heheh. Colts are just not too bright over here. The heat, you know?”

—“What the hay are ya doin’ here? Shouldn’t ya be back in Ponyville?”

—“Long story short, I got banished.”

—“Banished?”

—“Yeah, it seems to be a new rule this year: ‘Anypony doing mischief or causing trouble prior to the Summer Sun Celebration will be temporarily banished from town’.”

—“Wait, but the Celebration’s going to be celebrated here as well, shouldn’t you be… Uh… I dunno, in the Everfree Forest?!”

—“Yeah, well, they didn’t specify where I should go. Also, they never mentioned I was banished from all of the Celebrations, did they?”

—“So yer just figured you could come ta the beach?”

—“Not exactly. I needed somepony to crash for the night. They gave me a half-a-day warning, so I thought: ‘who is the one pony I know who can give me a bed to sleep with no trouble?’ I thought of you, of course, but Appleloosa and Phillidelphia are too far—”

—“And this isn’t?” —asked Applejack sarcastically.

—“Yeah, it is. But I don’t know anyone in Phillidelphia. And Appleloosa would only let me crash if I came with you. So the only logical conclusion I had was to track you down and crash in at your place. I knew you had gone here to the Howl because you told us so, so all I had left to do was ask your brother which hotel you were staying at. Since there is nothing to do today before the Summer Sun Celebration Eve, I figured you had gone for a walk at the beach.”

—“Wow, Rainbow. Ya can think after all!”

—“Shuddup!”

—“Well, ah think it’s nice of you ta drop by.”

—“Cool! So where should we go then?”

Applejack thought for a minute before answering.

—“Well, ah gotta send in some mail fer mah brother, but first let’s get away from this consarned sun!”

They went into a long shadow under a tree and waited for the sun to lower itself a little bit. They then went for the post office to drop the seeds AJ had bought the day before to be sent to Ponyville.

“But why did you have to buy seeds in the first place? Shouldn’t the trees back at the farm give you some?”

—“Well, yeah. But some bugs appeared on spring and killed every single one of them, so we had to chop them off and wait fer summer to buy the seeds.”

—“Oh.”

They dropped the shipment and went for a walk. Rainbow insisted they pulled some pranks, but Applejack wasn’t in the mood, Rainbow already had enough problems, and she definitely didn’t want them both to end in jail for the night. How much fun they’d have in a cell in the Summer Sun Celebration Eve. Such a wonderful time and a great anecdote to tell the others. She figured touring a bit of the town would be a good idea. Neither of them had left Ponyville (although Rainbow seemed to know the beach boys a lot) and didn’t know squat from the town except maybe from a couple of postal pictures. They sneaked inside a touring group and began to follow them.

“And here” —began the tour guide as she pointed a hoof at the fountain AJ had seen the day before “we have the Statue of Amphitrite. Built in the 30th anniversary of the town’s founding, it represents our deep connection with the sea. With the passing of time, someone dedicated a popular song to it: ‘Shoo-bee-doo Shoo-shoo-bee-doo’.”

—“The song is annoying! It sucks!” —yelled a young colt in the group, prompting many laughs in agreement from the rest of the ponies.

—“Well, it is. But believe it or not, back then it turned out to be one of the most popular songs of the time, and ponies sang it from time to time. And here we have the Fish Fountains adorning the main corners of the roundabout. They represent nothing and were made for esthetic reasons. Now, we don’t have the time to walk over there, but, can you see that fountain way over there?” —asked the guide as she pointed another hoof at the statue that was along the avenue. “That is the statue of Brizo, the protector of sailors. The four mares in the corners of the pedestal represent Equestria, the Sea, Hope and Perseverance. The lion heads shooting streams are meant to represent the savageness of the sea being dominated by ponies. Equestria and the Sea watch alert as ponies embark on their journeys, with Hope guiding them home and Perseverance moving them on.”

‘Wow, so cute.’ —Applejack thought. She was never a mare for art, but once she got into thinking about these things with no worry behind her, she could really appreciate the beauty of things.

They moved onwards to the diagonal alley that AJ had taken the day before and continued on towards the maze of alleyways and dead ends that made the upper part of Cape Howl. They began to see the stories behind the alley’s names and features. One alley had a wishing fountain where it was said that good wishes would come true, while evil wishes could curse the pony who cast it. Another was the source for a pony’s poem long ago, which as both mares could see, was fairly popular for colts to dedicate to their fillyfriends. Another was the Music Alley, where ponies would sing love songs through the night. Some alleys had theatre shows of old plays of yore (and both AJ and Dash would later find out it was not a temporary thing, rather than permanent). Some had funny stories behind them, like one in which dogs chased a burglar down the alley and bit his rump, causing the alley to be named Rumpbit Alley, and its adjacent street, Dogtooth Alley (because they bit him in the corner of these alleys).

Finally, they arrived to the town’s most famous landmark/alley (neither Applejack nor Rainbow had heard of it before). It was the most popular story and it attracted tourists to visit it every year, mainly in the days prior to the Summer Sun Celebration, being the Summer Sun Celebration Eve when there was the most attendance. The alley was the most famous landmark aside from statues and spots on the beach, as it had the particular feature to be separated by just 1.5m.

‘How funny Rainbow and I arrived just in time’ —thought AJ.

“This is the Kiss Alley. It is named like such because of the story of two love struck ponies. Legend has it Silver Star and Gypsy Rose had fallen in love. Gypsy Rose was the daughter of a very violent stallion, who, upon hearing of the relationship, threatened his daughter to send her to a far away land to work there and get married to a rich, old colt so the family’s socioeconomic status could rise. Gypsy Rose cried and cried and asked her father for understanding, but it was all in vain. Meanwhile, Silver Star found out about the situation and resolved to undo it by buying the house in front of Gypsy Rose’s with a fortune. Such was the surprise of Gypsy Rose to find her beloved Silver Star on such a short distance from her house. She could even touch the opposite wall with her hoof. Silver Star explained that they could talk things out in the balconies and find a solution to her father’s stubbornness. However, the moment seemed to hang on eternity, for neither pony realized that on the back of Gypsy Rose’s window which led to her bedroom, strong words were being yelled. Her father had seen her talking with Silver Star, so he had hurried quickly to his daughter’s bedroom. Neither pony had time to react, for Gypsy Rose’s father had stuck a kitchen knife through his daughter’s heart through her back. Silver Star was rendered speechless as the poor mare died. The pony was still holding her hoof, growing colder every second that passed, and so in a final act of love, Silver Star placed a kiss on it as Gypsy Rose died. Drops of her blood fell to the street below, so it is tradition for ponies, mainly lovers, to kiss on the third step of the stairwell, where the blood dropped, to any pony they love as an act of either true love or friendship.”

—“Aww, such a tragic tale” —whispered Applejack.

—“Yeah” —answered Rainbow Dash seemingly un-amused.

—“So…” —interjected a colt. —“How about we both take a stroll through this alley, babe?”

—“How about you buck yer own flank, ya feather-brain?” —answered Applejack as she snapped out of her slight daydream.

The colt seemed to be taken aback by the mare’s energetic response, probably he was used to snobby girls like Rarity to reject him, and so he just walked away.

—“Come on, AJ. We need to go” —said Rainbow Dash.

Both of them had spent a good portion of the afternoon touring the town, so they figured to walk back to the hotel to get ready for the party that was yet to happen.

They arrived to the hotel for a rest. Rainbow left her saddlebags in the corner right beside AJ’s. As she looked upon them, she turned her head to the wall and then something caught her eye. She turned her head again to see AJ’s saddlebags.

As she inspected them she found them still full and heavy. Apples, some drinks, a couple of saddles, and most importantly —and what surprised her the most—, a medical kit. Bandages, some water, a thermometer, pills (mainly painkillers and aspirins), some surgical masks, cotton balls, a knife and some de-infecting liquids were neatly packed inside the saddlebags.

“Wow, AJ. Why do you need so much stuff in there? I mean, I get that you may get hungry, but this” —she said as she held out the bandages— “this is excessive.”

—“One can never be too sure, sugarcube” —said AJ as she stepped towards the balcony.

She stood over the railing and looked at the view before her. The beach stood on for a decent distance before disappearing behind some cliffs. Cape Howl’s moon-like appearance engulfed the bay. One side —the one AJ was looking at— was flanked by tall cliffs. The other had the smooth sand on it and a couple of rocks where a lighthouse stood. She looked at the left and admired the hills. The river that parted the town in two had a couple of boats on it, there were couples in the bridge and gliders were flying in the heights. The houses on the hills, where they had toured half an hour ago, looked like dollhouses from where she was standing. And finally, at the highest —and lowest— and farthest part stood the Everfree Forest. The soft, warm breeze blew on the earth pony’s face and she could smell the seawater’s salt and a hint of sand on it. The sun bathed her face as it made her golden mane shine. She could have put a hoof on her face to cover herself from the sun, but her Stetson had already handled that. She saw surfers swim on the waves and foals play in the sand. Her train of thought was broken just as smoke began to pop up here and there on the sky. Ponies were firing fireworks in plain daylight. AJ couldn’t wait until night to see them in all their glory.

—“So…” —began Rainbow as she stood beside her friend. “How did you find town?”

—“Really charmin’ ah might say.”

—“Yeah?”

—“Yeah. ‘cept fer those darned beach colts.”

—“Oh, right. That’s a whole problem with them. I’ve dealt with them once or twice—”

—“Ya’ve dealt with them? Ya mean ya’ve been here before?”

—“No, but jerks are borderless. They’re everywhere.”

—“Oh.”

—“Yeah. So, like I was sayin’, I’ve made a couple of travels from time to time, so I’ve encountered similar ponies. They all stare at you and try to make you like them. Then they make you stay with them like if you were their pet just to show off and eventually forget about you and dump you elsewhere.”

—“Hmph. Boys.”

—“Yeah, I’ve never had a coltfriend. Maybe because I was afraid this might happen to me? I dunno.”

—“Me neither. But quite frankly ah hadn’t had the time ta think ‘bout it. Ah’ve always been busy with the farm to even think ‘bout dating somepony, let alone have a coltfriend. Ah mean, most of the colts in Ponyville are featherbrains. Like Caramel. So ah don’t waste mah time with them an’ just mind mah own business.”

—“Yeah, I guess that’s my case too.”

—“Knew it.”

—“Knew what?”

—“Rarity caught me spyin’ on mah brother an—”

—“Whoah, whoah, whoah. AJ, what do you mean by ‘spying’?”

—“He was on tha market!” —yelled Applejack as she smacked Rainbow in the forehead.

—“Ow! OK, OK! Carry on” —said the cyan mare as she rubbed the spot where her friend had hit her.

—“He was attendin’ Fluttershy on the stand and Rarity discovered me. She said that Fluttershy was in love with somepony. She also said that she looked cute with mah brother. So when ah told her ah didn’t need her help, ah mentioned that neither you nor ah had ever had a coltfriend.”

—“Well, you got that right. So what happened afterwards?”

—“Ah felt really uncomfortable.”

—“No! Not you, I’m talking about them. I wanna know what happened next between those two!” —the pegasus demanded.

—“They talked awkwardly and Fluttershy bought some apples, then left.”

—“Oh! So that’s who she’s in love with!”

—“Well, ah don’t know ‘bout mah brother, but ah think we can’t jump ta conclusions with Fluttershy. Fer all we know, she’s just bein’ shy as she usually is.”

—“Point taken.”

The two suddenly realized about the entire ruckus going on. A small parade of dancing mares dressed in folkloric dresses passed down the street below. Guitars filled the air with their song as fireworks roared through the sky.

“So… Wanna go to the beach?” —asked Rainbow.

—“What for? We already went there.”

—“Yeah, but there’s nothing else to do before the Summer Sun Celebration Eve starts, so we might as well just waste some time.”

—“Alright then, let’s go ta the beach.”

As they walked along the cobbled street, Applejack could see a few improvised shops already open. She was sure these would grow in number through the day and be a tour spot for the night. Obviously it would be way worse the following morning, so she walked up to one and began to watch curious the stock.

“Like anything ya see?” —asked the grown shopkeeper.

—“Well, what’s this?” —asked Applejack as she raised a star-shaped small stone tied to a string.

—“That’s a Star Necklace. It represents Alioth, the brightest star in the Ursa Major constellation. It guides those who are lost back home. Look at the sky and take a good look. The star seems to point to three stars: one above it and two to its bottom right. The star above it makes sort of a line. That’s where the north is. The bottom right stars helped our sailors get back home.”

‘Huh, that’s clever. Well, the beach does actually face the sea westward, so they had to travel east’ —thought Applejack. “Well, that’s mighty beautiful. Ah wish ah could buy this. Ah don’t think ah have enough bits.”

—“Well then, good luck next time.”

Applejack walked away from the stand and returned to Rainbow’s side, who apparently had been waiting for her impatiently.

—“Are you finished?” —asked the multicolored pony.

—“Yeah.”

—“Well, let’s get going.”

They continued their path and arrived to the same beach they had left some hours ago.

“So what should we do now?” —asked Applejack.

—“Well, let’s get the fun started!”

—“Huh? What do ya mean by that?”

With that, Rainbow flapped her wings and shot to the sky —all while making all looks turn on her—. She soared through clouds and back flipped a couple of times, she made a barrel roll and three loops before shooting off towards the water and leaving a white streak on the blue surface. She landed right beside her friend and was splashed with the water that had followed her as it made a rainbow above her. Many ponies began cheering and stomped hooves for her before returning to their normal activities.

“Did you like it?”

—“Yer a very cocky pony, RD” retorted Applejack with indignation.

—“Jealous?” —asked Rainbow with a raised eyebrow.

—“Ah’m not jealous! It’s just that yer always showing off!”

—“Well, how can I make ponies see my awesomeness if I don’t do it myself?”

Applejack just rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

“Besides, if I didn’t do things by myself, I couldn’t be able to make others follow me…” —she said as she came closer and closer to Applejack. “Or even better, do this.”

—“Wha—?” —asked Applejack. Rainbow’s hoof was touching her side.

They stayed silent for a couple of seconds as Rainbow grinned. Then she finally said “Tag!” and ran away.

Applejack stood there letting the events process through her mind as she finally ran in pursuit of her friend.

They laughed as they ran together along the beach. They galloped through the waves and back to the sand as they made their way to the south. Neither of them was aware of where they were going, they simply wanted to have fun. They passed surfers and volleyball players and sunbathing mares, Rainbow sometimes blending herself with the sky and Applejack’s tied golden mane and tail going back and forth as they ran. Finally they made their way to the cliffs that flanked the southern end of the beach, leaving everypony else behind, with only the two of them on that side of the Howl. Applejack finally caught up to Rainbow and pinned her down.

“Got ya!” —yelled the orange earth pony.

—“Really?” —asked the cyan pegasus.

Rainbow shifted under Applejack and pinned her down. —“Looks like I got you!”

Applejack grunted and moved under the rainbow-maned pony’s weight, but try as she might, she couldn’t move.

“Heh heh. Looks like I win this round. Now… How am I going to show you who’s boss here?” —asked Rainbow.

Lots of algae, shells and seawater later, Applejack was covered in green, watery plants. Rainbow was giggling all the time she put the algae in her and burst out laughing when she finished.

“What’d ya do ta me?” —asked Applejack angrily.

Rainbow then led Applejack to a small puddle in the sand, where she could see her reflection.

“An elephant?!”

—“It was the silliest thing I could think of” —said Rainbow, still holding back what laughter still remained.

—“But why did ya cover me with seaweed? Of all the things lying around you grabbed this!? Why did ya have to get me wet?! Now ah’m as dirty as a pig! Why do ya always take yer time to boast yerself, Rainbow?! And most import’ntly… Why—? Why are ya lookin’ at me like that?”

Rainbow didn’t answer. Her eyes had contracted to small dots and her vision seemed to be staring at Applejack, yet when she moved closer, her eyes remained still. Whatever Rainbow was doing, it was not funny.

“Y’all feelin’ good, sugarcube?”

—“Do you hear that?” —whispered Rainbow, face and body barely moving.

—“Uh… Hear what?”

Applejack did not understand, but Rainbow knew. The wind had suddenly changed direction, which normally would be something the pegasus would hardly notice if she wasn’t on weather patrol duty or making flying tricks, but it was something of awareness when it changed directions three times in a matter of seconds. She could hear a high-pitched screech, and then a soft humming. She could not understand how AJ could stand there. Rainbow had the impression something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Finally, it happened. An organ-like sound rumbled through the air as both mares turned to the sky. There, approaching them really fast was a bird of gigantic proportions.

Neither had time to react before it took out its claws and glided towards them to grab its prey. Rainbow seemed to snap out of her trance and tackled Applejack as she yelled “Watch out!” The bird’s claws dug at the sand as it flew in a U-turn to try and snatch its prey. As it glided to the sea for boost, both mares noticed an opening and ran for cover back to town.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The sun was starting to set on the horizon as the Summer Sun Celebration Eve was starting to take place. Hundreds of balloons and confetti filled the air as fireworks spread their glow above. Foals took their mothers to buy them the toys being displayed on stands and couples walked through the bridges that allowed the two parts of Cape Howl to be connected. Everything was up and ready for the big celebration taking place the next day.

“Watch out!”

—“Take cover!”

Everything was suddenly interrupted as ponies everywhere began to run for their lives as panic quickly spread. The local authorities tried to calm down the crowd in vain. Between the ponies in the crowd were a rainbow-maned cyan pegasus and an orange earth pony with a cowboy hat and her hair tied at the back.

“So how did ya know what this thing was?!” —yelled Applejack.

—“Twilight! I asked for her to look up this because I had a nightmare once! I wondered if they existed and she could only tell me little information!”

—“Like what?!”

—“Like they only eat elephants and have a weird sound!”

Suddenly the air began to feel hot and everypony cleared the way as a huge fireball soared through the sky and landed on a stand.

—“Well, now ya can add fireballs ta that.”

—“KATYUSHA! KATYUSHA!” —yelled somepony.

The tourists standing nearby heard the foreign pony and ran in all directions.

—“So, how do ya call this thing?!”

—“That’s a Garkarog! I only thought they existed in fairy tales made to scare little foals! My mom always told me to watch out for them when I was still living in Cloudsdale!”

—“YOU! YOU CAUSED THIS!” —yelled a voice.

—“Wha—?” —exclaimed the two mares at once.

There, in the middle of the running crowd, was the lifeguard they had encountered earlier that day.

—“That’s right! Somehow you two had something to do with this!”

—“Well, tough luck, pal. You have no evidence.”

Both mares kept running for their lives as they made their way through alleys, streets and stores. Trying to talk was hard with panic attacks shaking the whole town. Suddenly, the air began to feel hot again as both mares knew what was coming.

*BOOM!*

The explosion went off a couple of feet from Applejack, the shockwave causing her to collapse. Rocks fell on every side of the streets and glasses from every building shattered. She tried to stand and fell back on her stomach; her back left leg sent her a shot of pain. She turned to look at it and was surprised to see it all covered in blood and glistening. Pieces of glass had encrusted themselves on her coat. Just as she began to wonder what had happened, she realized that she was half deaf. Her ears rang as she took a good look at where she was lying. The fireball had exploded just a few feet away from her into the intersection of two streets, hitting a building’s business on the lower lever and setting the corner ablaze. She then realized just how close she had been to death and stared at the damage in front of her.

“Come on!” —Yelled Rainbow as she nudged AJ to stand up.

AJ was not moving, her eyes still fixed on the fire.

“AJ! LET’S GO!”

Applejack snapped out of her trance and stood up before yelling in pain. Rainbow turned and helped Applejack get on her hooves and walk. Neither of them knew where to run. They were on the flat part of town, so they needed to get to a safer place.

They kept galloping on towards the main bridge that connected the two sides of Cape Howl. As they made their way through the bridge, several ponies were blocking it, panic causing the bridge to be full of ponies wanting to travel from the high part to the low part and vice versa. Breathing was hard among the cramped earth ponies and unicorns and the air was filled with pegasus, fireballs and debris. Ponies dropped their stuff here and there and some tripped and fell because of dropped stuff or injured ponies in the streets. Applejack was trotting as fast as she could, but her leg was a major setback. They pushed their way into the crowd and managed to make it to the alleys they had toured earlier. The Garkarog was now flying high up in the air looking for its prey.

“AJ! We’d better get to the outskirts of town! It’s too dangerous to be here!” —the cyan mare yelled to the cowpony

—“Got ya sugarcube!”

They went to the outskirts of town, watching the whole bay ablaze and columns of smoke blocking the little sunlight that was left as they made it to the gliders spot. Not even the instructors had stayed; probably all went in search of their loved ones.

—“HEY! YOU! COME BACK HERE!” —yelled a much too familiar voice.

—“You again? Don’t you ever give up?!” —asked Rainbow Dash.

The lifeguard was still chasing them down, but he was still too far to worry about him.

“Come on, AJ. Quickly, into the forest.”

—“Tha forest?! Rainbow, have ya lost yer mind?”

—“Would you rather have him get us and nag at us?”

They stood there wondering what to do when an organ-like sound pierced the air. With that as a reminder of the danger they were still in they kept running.

“COME BACK HERE! I’M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!”

—“Hey, what’s going on in here?”

The lifeguard then turned and saw who was speaking.

—“Oh, hello officers. I was just chasing some mares who were the cause of this ruckus” —he said pointing an accusing hoof at the Everfree Forest.

—“I don’t see any mares” —said the police pony.

—“What?! What do you—?” —he said as he turned to see nothing.

—“You’re coming with us, young one” —said the other police pony.

—“But— But I swear! Two mares caused this, one with a Rainbow mane and another one with a Stetson.”

But it was already too late. The two mares had disappeared into the dark of the Everfree Forest.

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Wow what a jerk that life guard is. I certainly wouldn't want to visit any beach he was working at.