M. & S.

Life Is a Beach

It was a sweltering day outside, far too hot for a princess anyway, now that she thought of it ,though, it wasn’t much better inside either. Celestia had been inside the palace ALL DAY with barely nothing to do but some various droll tasks like writing a couple of letters to neighboring cities, and taking care of some smaller concerns made by denizens of Canterlot . Twilight and all her exciting friends had gone down to Sweet Hay Shores to enjoy the nice COOL ocean with the COOL sea breeze while she was forced to stay inside and remain stuffy and hot. Sometimes it’s just not fair She thought to herself. She plopped down on a big, overstuffed chair in the palace lobby, the airiest place of the massive castle, and her thoughts began to turn to the beach. She thought of the sand underneath her hooves, the calming sounds of waves gently lapping against the shore, and she thought of Luna. Celestia smiled and closed her eyes, and she could almost picture Luna as a filly all those years ago, going to the beach for the very first time.

***

“Would you hurry up? I want to go to the beach today not tomorrow!” A flustered young Celestia called upstairs to her sister. She opened her mouth to continue her complaints, but stopped short of saying anything. A good princess must learn to wait she reminded herself. Moments later there was the sound of a door slamming followed by something going flop on the stairs. The flopping got louder until Luna had come completely down the stairs and fully into view. Celestia smiled and bit her lip to choke down the laughter. A good princess doesn’t laugh at somepony else’s expense. She reminded herself. She felt tears come into her eyes and her smile widened into a massive grin. She tried as hard as she could to force the tears back and stifle the giggles, but it was too late. What started as a small chuckle ended in Celestia rolling on the palace floor gasping for breath, with teardrops streaming down her face.

“What’s so funny sister?” Luna asked innocently with her large eyes shining

“You look absolutely ridiculous!” she gasped out through her fits of laughter.

Luna stood before her completely decked out in every imaginable summer accessory . She had on a brightly colored PFS (Pony Flotation Saddle) that was three sizes too large and slowly devouring her. On top of the already bulky PFS, she wore a gaudy polka-doted inner tube. On her hooves were four flippers, which caused her to stand  and walk in an incredibly awkward fashion, her knees bent slightly outward and flippers facing out. Each leg donned a set of water wings that were meant to help really young fillies stay afloat. And to top it all off, atop of her head sat an outrageous looking umbrella hat, completing the entire ridiculous outfit. In addition to everything she had on, clasped in her mouth was a sizable looking bag full of things that Celestia could only hazard a guess at. It was a miracle that Luna had made in down the stairs without falling head-over-hooves.

“But sis’ i read all about the beach and the ocean last night, and- and......” Luna started to trail off. “..........and........I can’t swim.” she said meekly, staring down at the floor.

Celestia smiled and felt guilty for laughing at her beloved sister. Why didn’t she think of it before? That's why she had been so hesitant when she brought up the idea for a trip to the beach.

“It’s okay, Lu,” the white pony said, calling Luna by her favorite pet-name to give her some comfort. “No pony is born a swimmer; it’s just something you have to learn. I’ll help you, I promise!”

Luna looked up at her sister with big, wet eyes, basking in the glow of Celestia’s confidence and kindness.

“Okay, whatever you say, sis’.”

“First, though, we need to get you out of this crazy get up,” Celestia suggested, chuckling a bit. “I don’t think you could make it to the beach in that, let alone out the front door.”

“Oh come on sis’ it can’t be that bad,” Luna said in protest waddling over to a nearby grand mirror. As soon as she caught one glimpse of herself Luna cracked a huge grin and, pretty soon both ponies joined together in laughter.

“Come on now you crazy thing ,you. The carriage is waiting for us outside.”

***

The royal carriage seemed to be meandering especially slow pace that day, and it just couldn’t go fast enough for Luna. She was back to her normal, yet somewhat obnoxious self, and it put Celestia at ease to see her that way. The now energetic filly, Unable to contain her anticipation, tapped her hooves in an impatient rhythm, conducted by her nerves.

Celestia noticed, and nudged her sister. “A good princess always practices patience,” she teased.

Luna squinted and playfully stuck out her tongue. Disregarding Celestia’s pearl of wisdom, she continued to click her hooves upon the carriage’s marble floor.

“Are you sure they can’t fly any faster?” Luna whispered none too quietly.

A disgruntled snort was emitted from one of the pegasi supporting their pampered weight through the sky, and Celestia reddened at Luna’s thoughtless words.

“Ahem, they’re flying at the best of their abilities, I can assure you,” Celestia said, with a caution in her tone that made Luna aware that she had done something worthy of disapproval. She attempted to restate her intentions.

“But, couldn’t we just fly there ourselves? I mean, we have wings, don’t we?” Luna challenged, flexing her wings for good measure.

Celestia could have sworn she heard a chuckle from the front of the carriage, but dismissed it from her mind. “Luna, please, we’re almost there,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

Luna huffed and pushed herself deeper into her cushioned seat so that her hooves dangled and were unable to reach the floor. She pawed at the air with them a few times and gave a side long glance in her sister’s direction. “There. Happy now?” Luna pouted.

Pretending to misinterpret her sarcasm, Celestia smiled and nodded. The little purple filly, frustrated at her loss of the only vent for her impatience, sat brooding in silence for what, to her, seemed like eons.

“Are we there yet?” Luna moaned, when she couldn’t take the suffocating boredom a moment longer.

Her elder sister, visibly irritated, for a fleeting moment fantasized of tossing Luna off the side of the speeding carriage and watching as her annoying, purple burden disappeared completely with a satisfying splat. If only she was born without wings, she mused with contempt. But a good princess isn’t hurtful towards others, Celestia thought, her vision of hurtling Luna over the side ending, as she recalled some old mantra of what a “good princess” was. She sighed and turned to Luna.

“No, MOST lovely and MOST dear sister, we are NOT there yet.” Celestia replied in the most polite manner that she could muster.

Luna let out one final groan and slouched back further into her seat. It was not long, however before Luna caught the scent of the salty sea air, and felt the cool ocean breeze flow gently through the open carriage. When she heard the distant sound of waves crashing on the shore every fiber of her being tingled with excitement. Seeing her sister practically vibrating in place,  Celestia, grinned. Pretty soon The elder sister was infected by her younger sister’s uncontrollable mirth as they progressed ever closer to Sweet Hay Shores. Celestia’s head was filled with all the fun activities that she had planned out for today, and she could hardly wait to start. Finally the carriage began it’s slow descent towards the ground, and came to a rest right outside of a brightly painted sign with big swooping words reading, WELCOME TO SWEET HAY SHORES. Luna, a split second after the carriage met the ground, gave a cry of delight and leapt from her “mobile prison” and skipped of in the directions of the crashing waves. Celestia smiled and called out to her

“WAIT LU! A GOOD PRINCESS ALWAYS WAITS FOR OTHERS!!” to which her sister offered no reply.  Celestia sighed and shook her head. She climbed out of the carriage and grabbed their saddle bags out from the back. A good princess is always says Thank You  she remebered and, walked back around to the front of the carraige. She bowed to the storong team of peagsi who pulled them

“Thank you ever so much for your assistance, and for ,of course, putting up with my sister” she said in a proper tone, remembering to bow.

“it was our pleasure princess” They responded in unison and with one powerful stroke, took to the sky to find a more suitable place to put the carriage for the time being, after all they couldn’t simply wait outside and leave both princesses unprotected, besides there were bound to be some nice looking mares out on the beach this time of the day. Celestia, having collected their bags, and thanking their ever faithful guards set out in the direction her sister had previously bounded off in.

The first thing she noticed was the big colorful sign in front of a boardwalk leading to the beach that read: SWEET HAY SHORES WHERE THE BREEZE IS SWEET AND THE WAVES ARE SWEETER. Just reading the sign and feeling the cool breeze blow through her mane made her want to run wildly after Luna so she could start her day of fun as soon as possible.

A good princess walks and talks with calm, careful consideration