bleak/reverse

There I sat, bored as a prisoner stuck within a stone cube.

There I sat, just thinking, "When will Twilight finally figure it out?"

There I sat, just thinking, "When will Twilight and her friends leave?"

There I sat, just thinking, "When will I be alone again?"

Who was I going to get to socialize with next? Probably Fluttershy, maybe Applejack, possibly Rarity.

"Hey Stephen," called out Rainbow. "There's a really funny movie on, wanna watch it with us? And by us, I mean everybody except Egghead, of course!"

Oh, of course. Waste another day in front of the television. God, I hated that thing, why didn't I just get rid of it? Naturally, I was somewhat curious as to what film they were watching. So naturally, I asked.

"What's it, Rainy Day?"

I heard Rainbow and Pinkie giggle.

"It's called...TWILIGHT!" Rainbow, Pinkie, and even Applejack laughed their asses off. I think that was the true reason why Twilight Sparkle wasn't up for TV that night...

"I love this channel," said Pinkie. "It's so funny!"

"Hav'ta agree with ya there, Pinkie," chimed in Applejack. "It's like we're watchin' ah'n endless stream of comedy gold!"

"No thank you, but hey, it's a nice, sunny day outside, how about we get a little fresh air?"

"Aww, but I wanna finish watching the funny movie!" Pinkie certainly wasn't coming along.

"Stephen, dear, there's really no reason to head outside at the moment! We just need Twilight to concentrate on her studying, and all we need to do is stay here until she's got a solution." Well, Rarity was staying, too.

"Eh, I think I'll pass, Stevie." No Rainbow, no awesomeness.

"Um, I wouldn't mind coming along, I mean, as long as it's safe..." Ha, I've got Fluttershy on my side.

It was AJ's turn. "Eh, I'll come along too, ah could use a little fresh air...where are we goin', anyway?"

"We're headed to the pool."

"A pool...?" Fluttershy looked a little anxious. "I don't have to s-swim or anything, right...?"

"Well, you can, like, get a tan or something. Swimming is fun, though."

Fluttershy nodded in a manner that suggested she didn't have a real answer. She was gonna come along. So was Applejack.

And so, out the door we went, into the van, and off to the pool. When we got there, just before I stepped out of the vehicle, Fluttershy had a question.

"Um, Stephen?"

"Yes, Fluttershy?"

"I, uh, need to tell you something..."

My stomach felt a little warm with worry. I hoped she wasn't going to tell me that she needed pads or something, because even if cartoon ponies actually need that, I don't have them.

"What is it?" I responded.

"Well, um, I'm...scared of pools."

"And why is that?"

"Because I can't swim, you see..."

"So? Just kick back on one of the seats or something, you don't have to actually swim." Fluttershy looked a bit relieving upon hearing that, so she responded with "yay" and went out the van. I followed suit.

The actual pool was located right outside the guest house, so it was available for anyone to enjoy. It was fenced in, and you had to have a key to open the front gate thing. If you didn't have the key, you weren't going swimming.

Anyway, we were within the fences, and then that's the time that Applejack tells me she needs a bathing suit. How the hell was I supposed to provide that? Animals don't even wear anything. So I tell her, "Well, Applejack, I guess you'll have to go skinny-dipping today."

My remark was met with "Huh? Skinny-dipping? What's that?"

"Just swim without a special suit or anything. Hell, I could go swimming in these shorts and T-shirt." Applejack replied with "Alrighty then" and she went to the other side of the pool, then dived in. I was stricken with uneasy feelings, seeing as the deep end, the area she dived into, was 8 feet deep. So, I yelled out to her.

"Hey, AJ, be careful over there, okay? It's 8 feet deep!"

"Duh, ah know how ta read!" She used her hoof to point to the sign that said "8 FT", while she used her other hoof to keep herself afloat whilst slowly kicking her legs underwater...at least, I think that's how they do it.

Still uneasy, I slowly took a seat on a nearby chair, keeping my attention focused toward Applejack. If she suddenly went down under the surface, I was gonna make a mad dash to the other side, dive in, and try to get her out. Of course, I thought of what poor Applejack must have been thinking; "Why am I swimming alone? This isn't fun, why is he staring at me like that?" I was snapped out of my train of thought by Applejack yelling out to me.

"Ah, Stephen! Wanna'h join in? The water's warm!"

Sure, why not? She seemed like she was a decent swimmer anyway, I probably had nothing to worry about in the first place. "Of course," I answered. I got up out of the plastic chair about walked down the steps leading into the shallow end. "Water's warm" my ass. My legs pretty much froze and then the rest of my body as I waded further in. That's how it is when you haven't been in the waters for a while, though.

"Agh, it's so damn cold," I complained. Applejack swam over here, doggy-paddling, and splashed water onto my face. Keep in mind I didn't go underwater yet so my head wasn't "toasty". So, the water felt so damn cold that it stung. I didn't want to start a splash war, so I didn't retaliate.

"Aww, c'mon, Stephen! Ya gotta have ah little fun, now!"

"Can you at least wait for me to get warm? I'm freezing my ass off, I haven't been here in a while." Also, for a summer's day, the temperature wasn't exactly "hot as hell". It was moderately warm, but not enough to keep me hot.

"Ah, alrighty then. No need tah be a spoil sport over it, though!" She turned over on her back and started paddling with her feet, away from me, leaving me alone.

Alone...I'd be alone in four more days. Alone again, no one to talk to, no one to care about, no one to have fun with, no purpose. I swear, it almost reminds me of when my girlfriend d-

"STEPHEN!"

That sounded like Fluttershy. What the hell was going on? I jolted out of my train of thought to see...

Oh fuck.

It was Fluttershy at the deep end struggling to keep above the surface.

"FUCK, FLUTTERSHY!" I screamed. Applejack was at the shallow end trying to get to her as fast as she could, but she wasn't fast enough. I knew I was a good swimmer, and I had to think quick.

I made a minor leap in the air then did front crawl strokes as fast as I could, hoping so badly to reach Fluttershy before she lost it and went down.

I got there, and she wasn't there. She was floating down, and her mouth was open. I took a quick breath and went under the surface, kicking my feet and reaching out my arm to grab hers. I caught it, then started upwards toward the surface. I made it above the surface, and with the unconscious Fluttershy in tow, I placed her on her back on the concrete above the pool and lifted myself out of the water, and I was on my knees, straight above Fluttershy.

She was clearly unconscious; She might've drowned. The only thing running through my mind then was "Fuck, fuck, fuck, what do I do, FUCK!". I didn't know exactly how to do CPR, but only what I saw in that scene from Jurassic Park, where Tim gets electrocuted. So, without a second thought, I pressed down on her chest multiple times, and locked my lips around hers, and blew into her mouth. I kept doing this over and over several times and I wasn't seeing a response. What remained of my heart was starting to crumble and crumble with each passing second. My denial of her death was getting weaker. I had to save her, goddamn it. I had to save her. So, I kept pressing on her stomach and kept blowing the air into her mouth.

No response.

I had to do it at least one more time. So I did.

Pressed down on the stomach with my arms three to five times. No response.

Locked my mouth around hers, and blew. No response.

At that point, I was ready to just fucking cry. Another girl, a sweet, well-meaning, innocent girl, was gonna die because of me.

Thirty seconds later, she coughs.

She freaking coughs, opens her eyes, asks herself where she is.

I feel like laughing from joy because a repeat of the worst event of my life was prevented, but I had to hold it in or else she would have thought I was laughing at her plight.

"FLUTTERSHY! STEPHEN! YA'LL OKAY?!" Applejack ran over to us as fast as she could.

"Y-yeah," said Fluttershy. "I think, anyway..."

I responded to AJ with a nod.

"Stephen, what happened?" Fluttershy asked, with fear in her voice.

"You almost drowned, I saved you," I responded. "you lived because I gave you CPR."

"I...I almost...died?" She asked, quite worried. She was beginning to hyperventilate. I rested a calm hand on her arm to assure her that everything was okay now.

"Almost...yes. However, you didn't. You're here now, and you're breathing, and you're talking."

"And...I'm alive because of...you?"

"Yeah."

She slowly got up to her hooves, and gave me a strong, yet tender hug. It almost reminded me of the way my girl embraced me.

"Th-Thanks, Stephen..." She was sobbing, and her voice was breaking.

"Hey, it's alright," I told her as I patted her back in further reassurance. "Everything's okay, now. We don't have to worry about anything anymore." We continued hugging for a few more minutes as I comforted her. "But if you don't mind me asking, how did you fall in, anyway?"

"We-well, Applejack went under and you wer-weren't helping her, and I thought she was drow-drowning so I went to see if I could help her mysel-elf...but she was j-just swimming underwater..."

I knew it.

She DID almost die at my hands.

Another innocent girl who could have ended up like my girlfriend, and all because of me. I had to get my mind off that for now, though; I needed to get Flutter and AJ out of here.

"C'mon, Fluttershy. Let's go home." We went out the front door (Applejack followed suit) and got back in the van, and drove home. It was only about 12 PM now and I already wanted the day to be over. From now on, so long as they're under my care, the girls are staying out of the water.