The Pondby Belgian WaffleChaptersCh. 1 "Arrival"Ch. 2 "Let's Try Again!"Ch. 3 "Patience"Ch. 4 "Pie Time!"Ch. 5 "The View"Ch. 7 "The Climax"Ch. 6 "Recovery"Ch. 1 "Arrival"The Pond That’s the name of Equestria’s newest attraction. The name of Equestria’s mega waterpark. A waterpark that was said to have the scariest, most intense, most awesome water slides in all of Equestria. It is the only water park in Equestria. It opens for the first time on this day at 10:00am. It is 9:47am. Celestia’s sun was out and shining brightly over Equestria, cooking every plant, tree, and living being that was within its view. Inside a valley between Fillydelphia and Manehattan sat a new plot of land that seemed to be occupied by many unfamiliar structures. Raised platforms that protruded out and above the trees had colorful tunnels, flumes, and chutes snaking their way towards the ground and into various sized pools of water at different angles. All structures were surrounded by a forest of thick lush tropical trees that provided shade to the ground and covered the floor around the bottom of the slide structures. What surrounded this vast area was a tall stone fence with magical probes that partially extended upwards to beam an invisible shield to keep pegasi from entering the premises without first paying for admission at the front gate. A line full of brightly colorful ponies looking for a thrilling way to cool off in the blistering summer heat were lined in front of the gate, and the line seemed to go on forever; possibly miles. Many ponies can be seen with towels, saddlebags, sunscreen, sunglasses, and coolers in tow. Many ponies standing near the front that seem to have waited centuries for this day to come have begun to get impatient. Most tapped their hooves, checked their watches, and glanced over the ponies in front of them. Some ponies grumbled and groaned as they continued to bake in the sun. All are simply waiting for the gates to finally be thrown open so they can soak themselves in the cool oasis that is the water park in front of them. A few miles down the line, one could pick up an especially impatient pony waiting in line… or around the line it seems. She would pace in and out of the queue, leaving and returning to her spot within a distance of only a few meters. Sometimes, she would spread her wings and take to the air to get a good look at the front of the line and see if ponies have started entering yet. She would not sit or stand still, not for what she’s waiting for. She’s just too excited and full of energy to keep restraint. The cyan pegasus took to the air again after doing some more pacing, but this time to look at the back of the line. She brushed her prismatic mane out of her eyes to check if she’s seeing this correctly… Yep, fewer ponies behind her than there are in front. After staring a few seconds more, she let gravity pull her back to the ground and sat there on the spot with her front hooves crossed in front of her chest, and a frown worn on her face. “Now calm down Rainbow. Ya’ll get in eventually,” said an orange coat, yellow mane, Stetson hat wearing earth pony. “Ya’ll just have ta be patient. Now Fluttershy already apologized for makin’ us arrive a little late.” The orange pony looked at a yellow pegasus that stood by her right side. The yellow pegasus hid behind her long pink mane, acting like it was a shield for any outbursts anypony might have had against her; especially any outbursts that would have come from the blue pegasus. “She needed to make sure her animals were gon’ be taken care of before leaving her home. There’s nothing wrong with that,” the orange pony continued. “So what if were near the back of the line. So long as we get in, we’ll all be satisfied, right? I mean, it’s not like the park’s goin’ anywhere soon.” The grumpy cyan pegasus finally turned around to face the orange pony. “But Applejack, I wanted to be one of the first ponies to conquer the Rainboom!” Rainbow pointed towards the water park; more specifically towards a structure from within that was easily noticeable from anywhere in and around the water park. It was a single water slide structure that obviously towered above every other slide structure, and it had 3 slides that started from the very top. Two tunneled flumes that snaked their way left and right with noticeably intense high angle banking and helixes, and one very notable open-flume slide in the center that made a bee-line straight for the ground. The notable one was the Rainboom freefall speed slide. The slide shared the same colors as Rainbow’s mane, with the bright color of red starting at the top of the slide and having a shade of dark blue that was visible near the bottom before the trees cut off the view of the end; which was probably colored purple. The entire complex was also higher than a few carefully placed clouds that a few pegasus workers probably placed to make it seem taller, even though it was already hundreds of feet above the ground. “You see that? That’s what I’m waiting to get on,” Rainbow pointed. “It’s the baddest, fastest, most awesomest water slide in all of Equestria! They say ponies that have tested the ride have come off with less fur on their backs because of the sheer speed you gain burning them off, and ponies who’ve tested the Filly Flashes,” she swerved her hooves towards the structure, mimicking the other two slide’s directions, “passed out because of the insane g-forces they pulled on the helixes!” She clasped her hooves together towards Applejack. “I have to be one of the first to ride it Applejack! I just have to!” Rainbow looked as if she was beseeching Applejack to make the line move faster. “Well, you’ll get your turn. Now stop actin’ like a li’l filly Rainbow Dash, you’re embarrassin’ me!” Applejack said as she glanced around to make sure no other pony in line was watching. Rainbow turned back around, still on her flank, and crossed her front hooves across her chest with a frustrated look on her face. She gave a slight pause before she asked, “Why is Fluttershy here again? I didn’t know she liked water parks.” The yellow pegasus hesitantly glanced from around her mane to look at Rainbow. She spoke in a very soft inside voice like she was in a library. “Umm, I though this was the first water park in Equestria?” Rainbow Dash waved a dismissive hoof towards the shy pony. “Whatever. Why did you choose to come again?” “Oh. Well. I thought it would be nice to relax for a while. I hear they have this lovely thing they call a lazy river, where you can relax on a raft that floats in a stream that goes in a circle all around the park. There’s these beautiful trees and lush tropical plants along the way that are just blooming with color.” She looked as if what she recalled was a wonderful dream she had last night, even staring off at a distance as she spoke. “I’m not really here for the thrills. Especially not…” Her smile faded as she glanced at the towering behemoth from within the walls of the establishment. “Uhh… eep!” Fluttershy recoiled back into the safety of her mane after glancing at the Rainboom like it was going to attack her. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Just then, a screeching noise could be heard echoing out of a nearby loudspeaker. Some ponies covered their ears as they were assaulted by the sound. Others simply grimaced. After a few seconds of the onslaught, a stallion’s voice replaced it. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, are you ready to get wet, face your fears, relax and have the time of your life?!” Everypony in line erupted into cheers, including the eager cyan pegasus who had let her excitement loose when she shot to the air screaming “YES!” One pony in particular wasn’t as excited at the announcement. Fluttershy grew wide-eyed as she recalled one thing the speaker said. She repeated the words out loud, stuttering as her heartbeat increased. “F-face… y-y-your…f-f-f-FEARS?” The announcer continued. “That’s what I wanted to hear! Because guess what?! The Pond. Is. Now. OPEN!” At the last word, confetti cannons placed around the entrance exploded confetti and streamers up into the air. Somehow, the crowd erupted into even louder cheers than the previous one. Many ponies clopped their hooves on the ground, some threw their hooves in the air, and some jumped into the air; including a mint green unicorn pony that had an ear-to-ear grin. Rainbow did a few loops in the air before looking forward at the gates opening miles from her location, allowing the flood of ponies to enter. “Woo hoo! My prayers have been answered!” She finished by returning to the ground and joining Applejack and Fluttershy in the wait for the line to move forward. “I can’t believe this is happening,” the energetic pegasus said. “I’m finally going to get to ride the Rainboom! This is going to be so awesome!” She practically squeaked the last word out. “Wow Rainbow, ya’ll look like you’re about to meet the Wonderbolts for the first time,” Applejack responded while giggling a little at the cyan pegasus’ outburst of excitement and energy. “I’m just gonna relax a bit. All that applebuckin’ I did to make up the time I’m gone on this trip has done a number on me, and I need a place ta just lay down. I might even join Fluttershy on that river thing she spoke about.” When Applejack glanced at the yellow pegasus, she felt worried because of the expression she wore on her face. “Hey sugarcube, what’s wrong? Ya seem like you’ve seen a ghost or somthin’.” Fluttershy shook her head out of the daze and told Applejack, “Oh, no, I’m fine.” “Are ya sure. Ya didn’t look fine ta me a few seconds ago.” Fluttershy gave Applejack a reassuring smile. “No, really, I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” Applejack wasn’t sure she was telling the truth, but she let it slip anyways. “If ya say so.” The portion of the line they were in finally started advancing closer to the front gate. It moved at a pace that could match the sprinting speed of Rainbow Dash’s tortoise, Tank. Even with the torpid speed of progression, Rainbow was still excited to be getting closer and closer to the entrance. “Rainboom, here I come!” The strong aroma of sunscreen and chlorine wafted through the morning air. The chlorine smell came from the activated water slides from within the walls of the watery utopia, and the sunscreen smell came from the still-waiting patrons outside the front gate applying the lotion to avoid sunburn as Celestia’s sun continued to radiate down upon the land with full force. A few hours had passed and Rainbow’s mood eased significantly ever since the line started moving, but she was still very much euphoric in getting closer and closer to the front of the line to get inside. Applejack wasn’t as eager to go in, but she sure did want to relax the entire time the others were playing. She was going to do the same thing she did at home whenever she relaxed: lay back, pull her hat over her eyes, and nap peacefully. Applejack had also been making sure Fluttershy was okay. She couldn’t quite figure out what was wrong with her, but she knew the yellow pegasus was growing more uneasy as they came closer and closer to the entrance. Fluttershy kept glancing up at the slides in the park like she had Pinkie senses telling her something bad was going to happen once they got inside. She also wore a worried expression on her face and stayed very quiet for the entire wait. Applejack was about to ask Fluttershy if she really was okay, but Rainbow Dash cut her off before she could start. “Look, we’re close!” Dash exclaimed. She hovered slightly above the ground while pointing ahead. Sure enough, there were only a few more groups ahead of them left in line. The front ended at a window where a pony was administering tickets to enter the park. “Oh, that’s good. I can’t wait ta get inside and relax,” replied the orange country earth pony. She took a last look at Fluttershy, who had started to shiver because of how close they now realized they were, before reaching into her saddlebag to find the bits she brought to pay for admission. She counted her bits, and then removed her head from the bag to wait for the groups ahead of them to get their tickets and go. Soon, they reached the counter. Rainbow rushed up to the window immediately after the last pony of the last group moved away. She was greeted by the ticket lady, who had a very dull expression and spoke in a very uninterested attitude. “Welcome to the pond. How many ponies are with you today?” Rainbow was the one to answer her question, and did so with a completely opposite attitude. “Three mares, ma’am!” The cashier levitated three wristbands from under the desk for the ponies to wear in the park before responding. “That’ll be 18 bits please.” Immediately Applejack froze with a shocked expression on her face. “Pardon me?! Did I hear ya say eighteen bits?!” The mare behind the window responded in the same monotonous tone she had before. “Yes ma’am. Eighteen bits. Six bits per pony.” Applejack seemed upset by this. “Now hold on one minute! I thought I read in the brochure Rainbow showed me that it was 5 bits per pony. Are yall’ tryin’ ta trick me out of my money or somethin’?” “No ma’am,” the cashier responded. “The 5 bits per pony only applies when you order your tickets in advance. Here at the gate, it’s 6 bits per pony.” Applejack was shocked by that. “Hey, that’s not fair. Now who would make up a stupid rule like that anyway?” “Relax Applejack, just pay her the bits and we’ll get going,” said Rainbow Dash, obviously wanting the situation to get over with so she could get inside. Applejack looked at Rainbow with sweat forming on her head. “Umm… well, umm… ya see…” Something in Applejack’s throat kept her from saying what she needed to tell Rainbow. She simply swallowed the lump, rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, and gave her the bad news. “Well, the problem is… that we… don’t exactly… have enough bits to go inside.” Rainbow’s eyes slowly grew wide at what Applejack had said, clearly showing that what was said had sunk very deep into her. “W-… we… we WHAT?!” She couldn’t believe what she just heard. Maybe she heard her wrong. Maybe this was a cruel joke played on her for AJ’s benefit. As much as she would hate for it to be that, she just hoped that that was what it was and not what she thinks she just said. Anything but… “Uh… I only brought enough to pay 5 bits per pony, not 6… which means we’re short 3 bits.” Applejack turned away slightly from Rainbow, prepared for anything the pegasus might do. Fluttershy looked at Applejack, then at the now heated pony while taking a step back herself. Rainbow’s breathing deepened. No… this couldn’t be… this just can’t be, she thought to herself. Wait, what if… “Fluttershy, do you have anything on you?” Fluttershy slightly reeled back while she answered, “Umm… I gave Applejack my share to pay for the entrance fee. I’m sorry, Rainbow.” Rainbow was now livid. “I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! Now I won’t be able to ride the Rainboom because we can’t get into the park! This can’t be happening to me! THIS JUST CAN’T!” Rainbow looked on the verge of angry tears and was breathing heavily, obviously peeved that she traveled this far to turn away. The pony at the counter looked unmoved, and was growing impatient at the group in front of her. “Look, if you don’t have enough bits then you’ll just have to leave and come back another time. I’m sorry, but there are other ponies that have enough to enter and you’re blocking them.” Rainbow quickly turned to blast away at the pony behind the glass window. “YOU’LL FEEL MORE SORRY ONCE I’M THROUGH WITH YO-“ She was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and found a few guard ponies giving her a look that said “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Rainbow stared at the enforcers before laughing nervously. “Heh! Umm… I think I’ll be going now!” She held a nervous grin as she trotted away from the window. Applejack and Fluttershy hesitated before they followed along. Rainbow sat on her flank at a distance from the park entrance and continued watching ponies after ponies pay for their tickets to enter. They got to go in while she was left in the cold, dark, outside world. Well, that was how she felt about this situation, even though it was noon and scorching hot outside with the sun in the middle of the sky baking her and everything around her. Still, she kept a sorrowful look on her face as she continued to stare. Applejack and Fluttershy stood at a small distance away from the depressed pony. Applejack didn’t know what to do to make it up to Rainbow. She was afraid of talking to the pegasus for the fear that she might lash out at her for not bringing extra bits just in case something like this were to ever happen. At least she now only had Rainbow to worry about since Fluttershy seemed to be much more at ease. She still couldn't understand what got Shy so shaken before, but as long as she now seemed stable then Applejack didn't have to worry about her. While still staring at the line of ponies still advancing into the park, Rainbow decided to speak without looking at the other two ponies. “Hey guys?” Applejack and Fluttershy looked at her, waiting for what she had to say. Dash continued. “… I guess we can come back another day… It’s just a big slide after all, I guess.” Applejack took a few steps toward Rainbow and spoke gently. “That’s the spirit Rainbow. We can always come back another time, I’m sure of it. I’ll be sure ta bring extra bits along next time, I promise.” Rainbow sighed deeply before getting up off of the ground and turning to her fellow companions. “Yeah, sure… Thanks for coming with me you guys. Lets go home.” Soon they started trotting away from the park and in the opposite direction of the seemingly never-ending line of later-arrived ponies still waiting to get inside. They felt they were in no rush, so they walked slowly back in the direction of where they came from that morning; heading toward the long path that lead them back home to Ponyville. Rainbow took one last glance back at the park like it was going to be her last time ever seeing it again. Applejack and Fluttershy stood by her sides to share the same view. “I’ll be back,” Rainbow said softly. “I know it.” Rainbow then turned around to continue the path towards home, when suddenly… “BOO!” Rainbow yelped as she jumped a good 6 meters off the ground and landed on her back on the dirt ground. She stayed on the ground frozen stiff like a fainting goat for a few seconds when she was suddenly attacked by something that tightly grasped hold of her entire body. Due to the speed of everything happening, she yelled and flailed her hooves while trying to squirm her way free of whatever was holding her. She stopped yelling once she looked down to see something that resembled pink cotton candy that was brushing across her chest. The thing also had hooves and a really squeaky voice. “Ahh! I knew it, I knew it! It is you, Dashie!” Rainbow recognizes the voice, and remembers how that voice was the one voice that always called her Dashie whenever the voice’s owner said her name. She relaxed at hearing this pony’s voice, but was still quite bewildered at what was going on. “Huh? Pinkie Pie? Is that you?” Rainbow asked the pony still locking her in a tight hug. The pink party pony looked up to meet eye to eye with Rainbow. “It sure is! I’m so glad to be meeting you guys here!” Applejack and Fluttershy seemed to be giggling at what took place in front of them. When Rainbow noticed them giggling, she brushed Pinkie off and got up off of the ground while brushing her coat with a hoof. “Pinkie, what are you doing here?!” Rainbow asked, still bewildered at meeting the pink earth pony here. The Euphoric newcomer was wearing a blue visor hat and had her own saddlebags on her, with a pouch that seemed to encase a towel for herself. “I’m here for the water park, duh! Isn’t that why you’re here?” Applejack answered that question. “Well we were, but we didn’t bring enough bits to get inside. I hope you have enough, ‘cause it’s 6 bits at the gate.” “And have fun waiting in line to get to the park,” Rainbow inserted, pointing toward the large line that extended from the gate past the group of ponies. The pink pony glanced at the line. “Oh, I don’t have to wait in line. I already got my tickets a week in advance. They were only 5 bits then. I wonder what made them want to raise the price?” “Wait, did you just say you had tickets? Tickets?” Rainbow asked, obviously emphasizing the “s” in the word “tickets.” “Sure do! I have three extra ones right here!” Pinkie reached into her saddlebag and pulled out 4 park admission tickets. Rainbow’s jaw dropped at the sight of the four tickets. Four tickets right there! One for Pinkie and three that could be used for her and the other two! “But… but how did you get three extra tickets?” She placed the tickets back in the bag so she could speak. “Oh, I ordered four tickets so I could bring 3 other friends with me! I asked Rarity if she wanted to go, but she said she didn’t like the idea of getting her hair wet; especially if the water had chemicals in it. Then I asked Twilight if she could come, but she said that she needed to study for an exam the princess was going to give her. Spike wanted to come, but he had to stay and help Twilight with studying for the exam.” “Well, then why didn’t you come to us with the tickets? Me especially?” Rainbow pointed a hoof to her chest. “I did, remember? I asked each of you if you wanted to go do something together and you,” pointing to Rainbow Dash, “said you had more training to do, and you,” pointing to Applajack, “said that you were going to be busy doing something and wouldn’t tell me what it was you were busy with. I skipped Fluttershy though. I didn’t think she would like water slides.” Applejack looked guilty because of the way she avoided eye contact with Pinkie and swung her hooves above the dirt. Rainbow Dash simply face-hoofed. Obviously what they had told Pinkie were excuses to come to the water park without telling her. “You mean to tell me that you were asking us if we wanted to come here?” Rainbow asked, not believing what she had heard. “Yeah-huh!” Pinkie nodded while responding. “So since you’re here and not able to get in, would you like to use the tickets?” Pinkie looked towards Rainbow specifically, knowing full well that she would be the most eager pony to want to get inside. Rainbow looked at Pinkie with a stunned expression, still not believing what this mare in front of here just asked. “What? Y-you mean it? Even though we made up excuses not to go with you, you still forgive us?” “Well of course, silly! It wouldn’t be as fun without going with my bestest-best friends!” Pinkie beamed at what she said. Rainbow almost felt tears of joy well up in her eyes. “Wow, Pinkie! That’s so nice of you!” Rainbow then leaned in quickly to hug Pinkie. “Thank you!” Pinkie returned the hug. “Aww, it was nothing Dashie! Now come on girls, let’s go have some fun!” Rainbow let go of her friend and wiped a tear from her eye before speaking. “You’re right Pinkie. Let’s do this!” Then all four ponies turned towards the waterpark and marched back to the front gate to enter. Ch. 2 "Let's Try Again!"“Thanks, and enjoy your day at the Pond.” Orchid Dew unenthusiastically waved off another park-goer before she used magic from her horn to move the now empty cardboard box from under the counter to the stacks of other empty cardboard boxes placed in the back corner of the booth that she was in. She then used magic to bring another box forward, but this box was full of plastic wristbands for the ponies to use in the park so workers can know who did and didn’t pay for admission to get in the park. She then looked up and saw a familiar group of ponies approaching the booth, obviously skipping the line and bringing an extra pony with them. She quickly placed her hoof near the silent alarm button, ready to call security again if they came back to do anything questionable. The group casually approached the ticket window, but went to the window next to Orchid Dew instead of the one she was currently at, which made her give a questioning look at them since that booth was reserved for ponies who pre-ordered tickets in advance. “Umm, if you collected enough bits to enter, you’ll have to wait in the line like everypony else,” Orchid said. Rainbow wore a sly smile on her face and chuckled. “Hehe, not unless you have these!” Rainbow placed the four tickets on the counter and slid it under the window. Orchid walked over to the other window and observed the tickets, then looked quizzically back at Rainbow. “Hey, how did you obtain these?” Rainbow pointed at the pink newcomer, who wore a big grin and waved back at Orchid. “She’s a friend of ours who had extra pre-ordered tickets that we could use. So if you wouldn’t mind, could we have our four wristbands?” Orchid looked at the group of ponies, then at the tickets. She shrugged and said, “Okay, here you go.” She levitated the wristbands into the air and snapped them onto one of all four ponies’ hooves. “Enjoy.” Rainbow gave an ear-to-ear grin towards the wristband attached around her hoof as her excitement peaked momentarily, then turned toward Orchid with her eyes closed before responding. “Thank you very kindly.” Rainbow then trotted off towards the gate like an uptight pony, and her company followed along behind her. Orchid shook her head before returning to her original window to attend to the next group of ponies in line. “Welcome to the Pond. How many ponies are with you today?” The group continued trotting through the front area of the park, taking in what they could while finding a spot to drop off their belongings. They passed by beautifully decorated wooden gift shop buildings themed to look like coastal surf shacks, the colorful exotic plants that adorned the gardens placed in certain parts of the park, and they bathed in the cool shading of the palm trees that were shading them from the intense sun shining from above. After a few minutes filled with referring to a park map twice, passing the same vendor three times, and arguing that they were going the wrong way and might be lost, they finally found a grassy place under a nice palm tree in the park to place their things. Applejack removed her saddlebags first. “Ah, much better! Well, I guess this is where I’ll be restin’. You girls have fun, I’ll stay here and watch the stuff.” Pinkie removed her saddlebags as well before looking at Applejack with a questioning look. “Aren’t you gonna go have fun Applejack?” “Nah, I came here to relax. I might soon join Fluttershy on that river thing she wants to try out, but for now, I’ll be restin’ here under the shade.” She looked up to the top of the palm tree that allowed a plentiful amount of shade and sunlight down as it swayed slowly in the warm day breeze. “Suit yourself, AJ,” said Rainbow Dash. “Rainboom here I come!” At those words, Rainbow flew off in a certain direction she believed to be the slide. “I hope you get plenty of rest Applejack, you deserve it!” Fluttershy sweetly told Applejack before heading off to find what she’s looking for. Pinkie simply smiled and waved before she removed her visor and dashed off to find a ride to get on, leaving Applejack alone at the palm tree with the saddlebags. Applejack walked to the bottom of the trunk, laid against it on her back in a position she found most comfortable, pulled her hat over her eyes, and rested there with her hooves crossed in front of her chest. Rainbow Dash stopped in front of a post that held an artist’s rendering of the layout of the park, so she could see where the entrance was to the water slide she was looking for. Once she traced her hoof to the exact location of her destination, she smiled and high tailed it towards the slide. Not long after, she gradually slowed to behold the view in front of her. Right in front of her stood one of the many amazing wonders of engineering in Equestria. In front of her stood a thing so terrifying, that it could send an Ursa Minor back to its mother in fear. In front of her stood a structure so tall that one must wonder how cold or windy it must be at the top. In front of her stood... THE RAINBOOM. Rainbow Dash took in the view as her excitement rose again. Her mouth stayed agape as she traced the long slender chute that formed one large L-shape that led from the sky in one long free-fall section to build up wicked speed, to the ground in a very long shutdown lane to allow riders to slow down from Celestia-knows how fast they would move. She also beheld the scary curvatures and spins of the yellow Filly Flashes turbo slides that wound in and out from under and beside the Rainboom. Rainbow couldn't wait any longer, so she made her way to the entrance. Her adrenaline kicked in when she saw the giant sign with a picture of a prismatic painting of a mushroom cloud and the words "RAINBOOM" and “FILLY FLASHES” spelled out in all capital letters on top of it. Next to the sign was a rack full of wing restraining vests for Pegasi to use. Knowing that such speed against water could damage her wings, she understood why they had them. She quickly found one in her size and started to slip it on. Just as she was zipping up her vest was when she looked down and saw a sign that hung from between the ride sign poles. What was written on it caused the pony to go wide eyed. It read ‘Closed for Maintenance.’ “Oh come on!” she yelled at the sign. She looked around her and caught site of a lifeguard pony staring in her general direction. He wore shades and had a flotation ring as a cutie mark. “Hey, what’s the meaning of this,” Rainbow yelled while pointing towards the sign in front of the line. “Both slides have had a leaky pipe ever since this morning,” he told her. “We’re trying to fix it as soon as possible ma’am.” “Well hurry up!” Rainbow retorted. “I can’t wait forever to ride this thing!” “Why not consider riding some of the other rides in the park?” “No way,” she responded wile waving her hooves in a fashion that emphasized the words. “I came all this way to be one of the first to ride the Rainboom, and that’s final. I’m not moving until the ride opens.” At those words, she parked herself in front of the entrance to the ride by sitting down and crossing her hooves across her chest. She was not going to move until the ride was fixed. The lifeguard stared at the stubborn pegasus a little. “Uhh, okay. Have fun with that.” He then walked away from the area. Pinkie Pie had wandered to the front-left side of the park where she saw a water slide that had caught her interest as she was entering the park earlier. It was a dark purple belly mat racer slide with 2 lanes that allowed sliders to race each other to the bottom. The two flumes were side-by-side, curving in and out of each other in left to right turns and helixes. Pinkie went to a basket to pick up her blue mat. She then spotted a familiar pony halfway up the stairs waiting in line before her. After she slung the wet mat over her back, she climbed the stairs to see if the pony really was who she thought it would be. “Vinyl Scratch, is that you?!” Pinkie asked when she reached the pony in line. The unicorn with a white coat and electric blue striped mane turned around to face Pinkie. She had ruby red eyes and a cutie mark that looked like two quavers (eighth-notes on a musical scale). When it finally dawned on the pony who was calling her name, she smiled. “Pinkie? Hey! Long time, no see! How’s it goin’?” “It’s going great!” the pink pony responded. “Wow, I never expected to meet you here! I haven’t seen you ever since the fashion show that came to Ponyville last year. It’s been a while!” “It sure has!” Vinyl said while chuckling. “I’ve been hearing a lot of things about Ponyville while I was on my last tour. Your town sure knows how to make some noise in Equestria.” Vinyl was referring to a tour she did in her career as a DJ with the nick name DJ Pon-3. She performed in cities like Manehattan, Canterlot, Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, Cloudsdale (in a blimp), and many other smaller cities. She remembered about the magazines she would pick up along the way that would sometimes feature articles on abnormal occurrences from within Ponyville. Things like a mysterious pony that saved many ponies’ lives in a single day, half of the town’s ponies going crazy over an old stuffed animal due to a spell gone wrong, a giant wingless purple dragon that nearly destroyed the town, a stallion that lives in Ponyville has the strength to move a house, and a few other smaller stories. The DJ unicorn continued. “Every other city I’ve been to hasn’t had as much stuff happen to them like what’s been happening to Ponyville. They’re boring compared to your town, if you ask me.” Pinkie responded while the line progressed forward a little more. “It can get super-duper exciting at times, like whenever the princesses visit, but most other times we’re just a quiet itty-bitty town south-west of Canterlot!” “If you say so,” Vinyl responded. “So what made you want to come here to The Pond?” Pinkie asked. “Since I’m taking a break from touring, I thought I’d find something to do. I read about this place in a brochure, and I figured that I’d stop by to have some fun. These slides do look sick!” “Yeah, I can’t wait until we get on this one. It sure looks like a doozy!” Pinkie looked over the railing to examine the slide she was about to experience; taking note of the speed one could pick up on this slide. She couldn’t see the sliders though, due to it being a tunneled slide. Both proceeded closer and closer until they finally reached the top and were only a few riders short of getting on the slide. “Which side do you think is faster?” The electric blue mane pony asked. “The left side, or the right?” “I think they’re both the same,” the party pony responded. “Nah. One of them’s gotta be faster.” Vinyl looked over the edge to see if one of the flumes was faster than the other, even though it was hard to tell from their vantage point. Just then, Pinkie was hit with an idea. “Ow!” She exclaimed. “What’s wrong?” The unicorn asked, surprised at Pinkie’s outburst. “Oh, uhh, nothing,” she said while rubbing her head. “But I have an idea.” “Sure. Let’s hear it.” “What if we were to find out which side was really faster? Let’s say if one of us were to make it to the bottom first!” Pinkie smiled and side-glanced at Vinyl Scratch while repeatedly raising and lowering her eyebrows. Vinyl was confused as to why Pinkie was doing that with her eyebrows, until she understood what Pinkie was getting at. “Oh! So you wanna race huh?” A light between the two entrances to the tunnels flashed green, and then the two stallions in front of Pinkie and Vinyl dove head-first into the tunnels while whooping and yelling on their way down. Pinkie walked up to the starting platform for the slide, grabbed the mat off of her back and slid her hooves in between the handles of the mat. “Yep! Whadda-ya say?” Vinyl repeated what Pinkie did before she responded. “You’re on sister!” They both stared at the red light between the tunnel entrances, waiting for it to change. Both Vinyl and Pinkie had confident smirks on their faces, only Pinkie had a tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. The light turned yellow, and the two mares crouched down. “Let’s go!” After Vinyl’s words, the light turned green. Immediately, the two leapt head-first into the small flume and landed on their stomachs, with the rubber mat softening the land. They rushed forward faster than the cool flowing water, and were soon blinded as they were engulfed in pitch blackness. “Okay, so I’m here… no, wait… aha! Here I am. Now, I’m supposed to walk this way and soon I’ll end up… here. Oh, wait, there’s more than one way to get on it. Hmm… This entrance seems much closer. I’ll go there. Perfect!” Fluttershy tapped at her destination on the park map with a hoof before she started to trot towards the direction of where she believed to be the entrance to the lazy river. She was ecstatic to see if what she read about it was to be true. She had also grown accustomed to seeing the giant structure within the park that Rainbow Dash wanted to get on so badly; the Filly Flashes and the Rainboom. She simply told herself that it wasn’t going to do any harm to anypony that doesn’t go on it. As simple as that thought was, looking at the monster still sent small waves of goose bumps down her body. “There’s no way I’m going on that,” she thought to herself as she looked above the tree tops at the speed slides. She continued through the paths that she remembered the park map had showed. She spotted a small wooden bridge she had to cross and went to it. Once she was on it, she looked over the edge to behold what she had been looking for, which was a calm flowing river with an assortment of ponies treading the shoulder-deep waters or laying down on floating rafts shaped like doughnuts, allowing the water to carry them onward. She smiled at the site of ponies relaxing in the water, and rushed off of the bridge. She came around the corner and found her way to the entrance to the lazy river. “This is it,” she said to herself. “Oh how exciting!” She climbed down the steps to the river and sunk a hoof in, immediately retracting it with a yelp due to the water’s temperature. “Oh dear,” she said out loud. “It’s so cold!” She stood and pondered the question of why the water was so cold, and how the other ponies wading in it could relax at all. Before she knew it, Pinkie Pie reached the pool with a spectacular ending. She skidded across half of the pool thanks to her mat keeping her temporarily afloat, before she stopped completely and started to sink in the shallow water. Once she felt the floor of the pool and stood up, she looked to her left and saw Vinyl Scratch standing in the water and soaked completely with her mane covering half her face; which was the same thing with Pinkie. Both looked at each other with big grins on their faces before they both exclaimed, “That. Was. AWESOME!” Both mares’ first time on a water slide, and they loved it! The only question that needed to be answered was who made it to the end first. Both turned quickly to see a lifeguard pony at the end of the pool on a tall wooden chair with a flag strapped to each fore-hoof to represent which rider was the winner. He had the flag on his right hoof pointing towards Vinyl, showing that she made it to the end first. “Aww yeah!” Vinyl hoof-pumped into the air. “Number one baby!” Pinkie giggled at Vinyl while they both exited the pool. “Well, congrats Vinyl. Maybe your side really was faster… unless, we were to switch sides to see if yours really was faster!” “Oh, so you want a re-match, is that it?” “Sure, why not!” “Ok, Pinks! You’re on!” The two mares then quickly re-entered the line to have another round. Small pockets of sunlight were able to pierce through to the ground from in between the thick palm leaves adorning the top of the cabbage palm trees. The leaves rustled as they were forced west by the gentle summer breeze that breathed through the land. The scent of salt and chlorinated water moved through the air with it. Soft sand was mixed in with the grass at the bottom of the thick and hard trunks of the trees. The softness of the floor and the supporting strength of the trunks provided comfort for a certain worn earth pony, who laid back against a particularly lush palm tree with a Stetson hat that covered her face and her hooves crossed in front of her stomach. The orange mare’s chest slowly rose and deflated as she was lost in her blissful day slumber. Having worked hard in an apple field for the past few days, she was happy to have spent this day doing absolutely nothing. She simply napped under the shade of the palm trees with a smile worn on her face. Ch. 3 "Patience"Two pegasi stallion ponies, who had just entered the park, rushed towards the Rainboom water slide in hopes that they would be able to beat the possibility of having to wait in a long line to ride. “Dude, hurry!” said the stallion with brown mane and tan coat. “I’m going, I’m going!” said the stallion with the dark brown coat and the crème colored mane. “I knew we should have arrived earlier,” said the first stallion. Who knows how many ponies are waiting to get on by now?!” His question was answered when they finally approached the entrance, and only saw one pony in front of it. “Sweet Celestia! I can’t believe it. Dumb-Bell look, no line!” said the tan colored stallion. “It’s a miracle, Hoops!” Dumb-Bell responded. Both pegasi approached the entrance and met the cyan pegasus that was already in front of the entrance, wearing the waterproof vest that restrained her wings against her body. The cyan pegasus noticed the two who approached her, and immediately recognized them as her old school-mates who went to flight school with her. She lowered her expression to one of slight annoyance, obviously showing that she is not in favor of bumping into these nitwits. “Well, well, well! Look who it is! It’s Rainbow!” Hoops said once he noticed the prismatic mane pegasus. “What are you doing out here and not on the slide?” Dumb-Bell asked. Rainbow simply pointed a hoof at a small sign that hung between the two poles that held up the ride sign, and blocked anypony from entering the line. The two looked at what she pointed at, and then they both stood shocked at what it read. “Closed?!?!” Dumb-Bell said. “What do you mean closed?!” Hoops asked afterwards. It was surprising that he could have read the sign anyways since his brown mane covered his eyes. “They said there’s some sort of a leaky pipe or something,” Rainbow responded. “I’ve been waiting out here for them to fix it ever since I came in.” “How long ago was that?” Hoops asked, curious as to how long she had been waiting and to how long the ride has been down. “They said it’s been this way since this morning. I can’t remember how long ago it was, but it’s definitely felt like over an hour.” “An hour?” Dumb-Bell said, quite surprised that the mare’s been out here for that long. “You’ve been waiting out here for the ride to open for an hour?” “Yep, and I’m not moving until it does,” Rainbow responded matter-of-factly. The two stallions looked at each other, then to Rainbow, then up at the slide. “So you’re just gonna stand there?” Hoops asked. “There are other slides in the park you can get on ya know.” Rainbow rolled her eyes at having been told this twice. “Yeah, I know that. I’m just making sure that I’m going to be the first one to ride the Rainboom before any other pony.” “Whatever you say,” Hoops said while shrugging. “We’re gonna come back once the ride opens... IF the ride ever opens.” “Have fun,” Rainbow said sarcastically. The two stallions left Rainbow alone to wait in front of the Rainboom’s entrance. While they left, they started discussing what other slide to get on next. Rainbow Dash had returned to pacing back and forward in front of the slide again once the two stallions left. Her frustration level slowly grew as time continued. “Come on, open already,” she said quietly. Fluttershy slowly dipped a hoof into the water in an attempt to get used to the temperature. She continued to sink it in until the water reached her knee, where she yanked her hoof back out of the water. “There’s just no way, it’s too cold,” she said out loud to herself. She stared out at the moving water and the ponies floating lazily along it. “I wonder how those other ponies did it.” “Simple, you just jump in!” Fluttershy was mildly startled by somepony behind her answering a question that was mostly directed to herself. She turned around to see who answered her question, and she saw a mint green unicorn trot up to stand beside her. Fluttershy recognized her as another resident of Ponyville, and lightened up. “Lyra! It’s so nice to meet you here.” “Likewise!” Lyra responded. “And about the water, you just need to get in immediately so your body can get used to it.” “A-are you sure. I don’t know if I can handle it.” Fluttershy looked down at the crystal clear water, hesitant on giving it another try. Lyra tried to be helpful in movitating the shy pegasus to get in. “Sure you can. If those ponies can do it, then so can you. Just watch.” Fluttershy watched as Lyra entered the pool immediately without hesitation. She was submerged up to her shoulder by the time she reached out to hold on to a hand rail so she wasn’t swept away by the slow but strong current. She stuttered as she spoke. “S-s-see, n-n-no-nothing t-t-to it!” She was clenching her teeth as she forced a reassuring smile towards Fluttershy. “N-n-now y-you tt-t-try!” Fluttershy easily noticed Lyra shivering in the waters and was thinking about turning tail right then and there. But she still wanted to give the lazy river a try. All she had to do was get over the freezing temperature of the water. She gave it a thought before she breathed in deeply and let her confidence take over. She trotted down the first few steps and immediately sunk her hoof in just like the first time she tried to enter. She didn’t stop this time when the bitter cold water stung her legs, and didn’t stop when her chest was submerged as well. She bit her bottom lip as she braved the temperature with all her might. She looked at Lyra, who smiled back at her. “Good job Fluttershy! You’re in!” Lyra said. Fluttershy smiled at Lyra’s compliment. She then took a few more steps into the lazy river, before she was swept off of her feet and into the current. She yelped and flailed her hooves splashing the water, having not expect the current to be so strong. She stopped panicking once she felt Lyra’s hoof across her back. “Woah, calm down Fluttershy, it’s okay! You can stand up in the water you know,” Lyra said. Fluttershy then reached down and felt the bottom of the river. She began to walk when she got more comfortable moving with the current. Lyra let go of Fluttershy. “There you go! Now let’s find a raft.” Both ponies treaded against the current in an attempt to slow themselves enough to find an inner tube that they could float on. After they avoided bumping into other ponies that passed them, they found two stray doughnut-shaped tubes floating towards them. Fluttershy got hold of one of the rafts and lifted it over her head. She put her fore-hooves through the hole under it and held on to it so it could support her weight. She glanced at Lyra and saw that she had jumped out of the water to lie on top of her raft on her back and allow her flank to rest in the hole in the middle of the inner-tube. “This is great, isn’t it?” Lyra asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy didn’t answer. She simply allowed the water to drift her in the direction it took them. She noticed that the water didn’t feel as cold as it did when she first entered the river, which made her feel very relaxed. Lyra leaned back and closed her eyes to bask in the mixture of sunlight and shade as they slowly passed many tropical trees and bushes. “So Fluttershy,” Lyra began. “I didn’t take you to be the kind of pony who would want to come to a place like this. Did you try any water slides yet?” Fluttershy responded with her usual inside voice, almost to a level where it’s hard to hear what she’s saying. “Oh, no. I’m not here for the water slides. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash are riding them and Applejack and I are relaxing a little.” “Where’s Applejack?” “She’s taking a nap at the place where we dropped off our things.” “Well, you should probably try at least one of the slides. I’m sure there’s one here you might like.” “Oh, I don’t know. I mean, I’m not too keen on thrills. Especially the ones that are, um, thrilling.” “Aww, come on Fluttershy.” Lyra sat up as she spoke. “You gotta try something other than the lazy river. I know you’re scared of them, but you gotta live a little. You need to get over your fears and try something exciting for once.” Fluttershy thought about this a little as she gazed at the lush scenery around her. She looked upon the fully grown scrub palms and saw palmettos that sat at the edges of the lazy river. The pointy leaves looked as sharp as knives. Fluttershy looked back at Lyra, who was waiting for an answer. “I might consider it,” Fluttershy finally said. “Good to hear, Fluttershy. Like I said, I’m sure there’s one in here you’ll like. There’s plenty to choose from.” Lyra then leaned back into her relaxed position, closed her eyes, and put her hooves behind her head. Fluttershy continued to think about facing her fears and riding a water slide. “Which water slide could I try?” She thought to herself. “Should I try one of the big ones… no, no, that just won’t do. Maybe I should find a small one, just to get used to them. Yeah. No harm in trying one that isn’t big and scary like…” She glanced up at the Rainboom, which is still noticeable no matter where she or any other pony is in the park. “Uhh… yeah! Definitely not one like that.” She nervously chuckled at the thought of her trying the Rainboom or one of the two slides around it. “I wonder if Rainbow or Pinkie has been on it yet,” “WAAAAA HOOOO!” Pinkie yelled as she and Vinyl Scratch were tossed and turned in a double seat inner tube that was flying down the chute of another water slide they had boarded. Corner after corner, dip after dip, they swung left and right as they quickly progressed down the unforgiving fiberglass flume. “INCOMING!” Sitting in the front seat, Vinyl yelled and pointed straight ahead to warn Pinkie that something was about to come. “What is i-” Pinkie was cut off when the two riders shot through a waterfall that was cleverly placed directly in the middle of the chute. Both riders wiped the water out of their eyes. Once their vision was clear, they both suddenly noticed that they were approaching a drop very quickly. “Here we go!” Vinyl yelled. Soon the two mares were sent over the edge, floating slightly out of their inflated tube as they went down the drop. This time, both mares yelled. “WAAAA HOOOO!” Celestia’s sun was no longer in the middle of the sky, but it was still shining brightly over the land from its position closer west. The breeze that had been blowing through the park ceased, thus the sound of rattling leaves of the palm trees were removed from the ambience of rushing water and ponies having a fun time in the summer heat. One pony’s voice, however, was not being added to the fun ambience. Rainbow Dash continued to reserve her fun for a specific water slide in the park. She stood waiting for the Rainboom water slide to open so she could still claim the spot of being the first pony to ride it. She had been waiting for this day to come for over a week. Ever since she read the brochure for the water park she found in her mail box, she felt that the water park was practically calling her name. She felt especially excited about visiting when she read about the Rainboom speed slide within the brochure. The boring statistical facts that filled an entire page, the reviews from critics saying that the slides were too dangerous to be opened, and the one photo of the water park once being blanketed with morning fog, and the Rainboom slide tower was the only structure within the park that stuck out above the thick ground clouds. Since she was low on money, she thought she would travel with a group and pay them back at a later date when she had enough bits. She had first asked ponies in her weather patrol team that she thought might like to visit, but was turned down by all of them when some said they were going with their family and friends, and others said they were not going at all. She then turned to Applejack, who agreed if Rainbow assisted her in bucking apples from trees to make up for the time they would be gone. So Rainbow wasn’t left to go alone with just Applejack, she also went to Fluttershy. She, of course, refused to go when she saw the brochure and the many thrilling water slides that adorned its many pages. But Rainbow then mentioned about the lazy that was within the park, and told her that she didn’t have to ride the water slides if she didn’t want to. After that Fluttershy agreed to go. When the morning came, Rainbow woke up extra early to wake up her friends that would be accompanying her on the trip. Applejack was easy to get up due to her being a farmer that wakes up at the crack of dawn, and Fluttershy didn’t prove to be too difficult to get up as well. Unfortunately, Futtershy had to find somepony at the last minute to take care of the animals in her home while she was gone, which was what delayed the group from being early to getting to the park. They set off in a hurry after Fluttershy got Junebug to watch her cottage. By the time they arrived at the park, they found the enormous line to get in, and that’s where it all started. Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to waste a week of waiting for this day to come by not keeping her promise of being able to call herself the first rider on the Rainboom speed slide. She would be able to go back to her pegasi friends at the weather patrol and brag all about it in their faces and watch them feel bad for not going to the water park with her in the first place. That part was sure to be fun. Unfortunately, that part is starting to seem increasingly distant the longer she waits in front of the entrance for the park to repair the ‘leaky pipe’ that’s keeping the ride closed indefinitely. Rainbow’s frustration level continued to grow as she waited in front of the ride. She paced to and from the entrance to the slide, occasionally glancing upwards at the tall structure of fiberglass that stretched all the way from the top to the ground. Rainbow was still grunting and pacing, when she heard the sound of another pony approaching. She looked up to see an old stallion with an orange vest and a tool box walking toward the entrance to the slide. The top of his pale yellow striped mane was thinning, and his brown face was almost as wrinkly as Applejack’s grandmother, Granny Smith. He looked at Rainbow once he approached, and gave a warm smile. His accent was quite western and worn with his age. “We-he-hell, what do we have here? Somepony’s quite eager to be the first one on it, now isn’t she?!” Rainbow could already guess he was the pony responsible for getting the slide into operation, but wanted to be sure. “Uhh, I’m guessing you’re the mechanic that’s here to fix the ride, right?” “I sure am,” he said quite proudly. “I’m gonna get this puppy workin’ in no time, just you wait!” Rainbow was a little heated at the fact that the mechanic was now arriving to fix the slide. “I’ve been waiting here all morning for you to do your job. Where have you been?” she near-yelled back. “Now, calm down there, missy. I’m here now, aren’t I? Besides, you don’ have to wait for me to fix one slide for you to have fun; there are other slides in this park you can get on.” Rainbow Dash face-hoofed. This was the third time she was told that, and it’s gotten old fast. “Look, can you just get the slide going. Please?” she asked. “Alright, alright. I’ll see what I can do.” He ducked his head under the small hanging ‘closed for maintenance’ sign as he headed towards the back of the entrance, and disappear behind a bushel of trees to where the busted pipe must have been. Rainbow watched him as he left. She was still frustrated that somepony wasn’t working on it the entire time she was waiting at the entrance, but she also felt relieved that somepony was finally working on it. Maybe she was going to get to brag to her pegasi friends after all. “Come on, Fluttershy! You can do it!” “I… I can’t.” “Yes you can. Just do it, you’ll be fine. Trust me.” “I don’t know if… I just… it’s too big!” “No it’s not. You can handle it as easy as I did. It’s not that big.” “I… uh… oh dear!” “Just push yourself Fluttershy, come on!” “… uh… okay… here I come.” Fluttershy sat down and gently pushed herself forward on the slippery fiberglass surface. She rode down the dip and made a small splash in the 3 inch deep water. “I… I did it…” Fluttershy mused out-loud. “You sure did!” Lyra responded. Fluttershy stood back up and turned around to look back at her first water slide. It was a simple red water slide that started on a platform no taller than her head. After she moved out of the way, a little filly came down the small slide. Even though her first water slide was in a very shallow wading pool near the back of the waterpark and was built for fillies, she was proud of the fact that she rode one. “I really did it, didn’t I?” “I told you it would be alright,” Lyra said, trying her best to be supportive. “And the other slides are just like this one but longer, that’s all.” “Oh, well, if they’re not as bad as this, then I guess I wouldn’t mind trying another.” “That’s the spirit! There’s another I want you to try with me. It’s right over here.” Lyra started trotting in the direction of the next slide she wanted to get on with Fluttershy to help her get over her fear of them. Fluttershy thought to herself as she followed. “That wasn’t scary at all… that was… fun! I guess this is the excitement Rainbow was talking about when she wanted to get on the bigger slides. I can only imagine what it must be like to get on those.” Fluttershy looked at the other slides that were visible from the area she was in. She saw the water playground that had a large dump bucket that looked like a coconut on top of it, many built-in spray guns, and long colorful body slides that wound out of it and ended in a small pool of water. She observed another more thrilling slide near it where ponies shot out of a tunnel after picking up speed and slid around in circles on the inner-walls of a bowl shaped flume, before they would then slide down a hole in the middle of the bowl and fall into into a deep pool underneath. She also looked at the backside of the tall towering speed slide structure. She studied the tight curvatures of the yellow tunnels of the Filly Flashes, and the steep drop angle of the prismatic Rainboom slide. She wondered how much excitement those slides produced. Lyra stopped and began speaking to Fluttershy. “Okay, I know it’s quite a step up from what you just got off of, but I’m sure this one will be fun to try.” She then pointed to another water slide. The Swirling Hayseed was its name, and it was much different than the slide Fluttershy got off of. It was obviously larger too. The blue flume was very wide and it stretched a longer distance than most of the other water slides in the park. Riders came down the wide chute in groups bigger than two and were within large yellow circular rafts facing inward at each other. Fluttershy gazed at the large water slide, and felt her shivers return. “Oh… umm... are you sure about this?” Lyra stepped a little closer to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I want you to take a good look at the ponies occupying the next raft that comes down the slide.” Fluttershy glanced at where the slide ended in a pool. She saw a raft come around the last corner and ride down a small dip before splashing into the pool. There was a family inside the raft, and they were all smiling and laughing as they disembarked the circular raft. Two small fillies got out of the raft first before the parents did. “You see that Fluttershy?” Lyra pointed towards the happy family. “Those fillies and colts liked it. I’m sure you would too.” Fluttershy took notice of the young ponies. She signed before she spoke. “Okay. I guess I can try it.” Lyra grinned. “Really?” “...yes!” “Great, let’s go!” lyra lead Fluttershy towards the entrance and up the first flight of stairs that led to the top of the structure where riders boarded. Ch. 4 "Pie Time!"“… He took a bite out of the food, so I told him ‘hey, that’s not pudding!’” Both Pinkie and Vinyl fell into hysterics at the story Vinyl told. Pinkie’s laugh was a little stronger, and had a few snorts mixed in with it. Pinkie had a hard time speaking while she was still giggling. “Then what… what did he… what did he say after you said that?” Vinyl was still laughing as well. “Ha ha! He- he didn’t say anything. He just ran to the nearest bathroom!” Both broke out into a second wave of hysterical laughter. Pinkie nearly collapsed on the stairs as she laughed herself to tears, and Vinyl leaned on the railing due to her legs weakening from hard laughter. They both stood in line for another water slide they planned to board. They had gotten to catch up on interesting things that happened in each other’s lives as they waited. Vinyl told Pinkie a story about a prank she played on another customer of a restaurant she visited while she was in Canterlot on her tour as the famous DJ Pon-3. The laughing soon started to ease as the joke died away. Pinkie wiped a tear away before she spoke. “Hehe! Oh, Wow, I haven’t laughed that hard in quite a while!” Vinyl was calming down from her laughing fit as well. “Heh, well, you should have been there. I couldn’t stop laughing about it afterwards. It was just too funny!” Just then, two ponies trotted up to them from the bottom of the staircase. Pinkie recognized both and smiled at them. Before she greeted them, though, she noticed one of the ponies in particular and gasped. “Fluttershy?! Is that you?!” Pinkie asked, quite surprised to see the usually timid pegasus getting in line for the Swirling Hayseed with Lyra. Fluttershy tilted her head at Pinkie’s words. “Uhh, yes it is Pinkie.” “Wow, you’re getting in line for a water slide?” Pinkie asked, still surprised. Lyra responded to her question. “She sure is. I’m getting her to try a few after I met her at the lazy river. She’s already been on a smaller one and she seemed to like it, so we’re stepping it up a bit.” “Well, I’m sure Fluttershy’s gonna love this one. It’s big, and it’s fun, and we can all ride together!” Pinkie beamed at those last words before she turned to Vinyl. “You don’t mind if they ride with us, do you?” Vinyl waved a dismissive hoof towards her. “Not at all, Pinks!” Lyra glanced at the white unicorn that was with Pinkie. She believed that she's seen her before somewhere, but couldn’t quite put a hoof on where. Suddenly, the thought dawned on her faster than the speed it takes Rainbow Dash to clear a sky full of clouds. Lyra gasped. “Oh my goodness! You’re- you’re DJ Pon-3!” Vinyl Scratch noticed Lyra’s excitement and smiled. “The one and only!” Lyra was bubbling with excitement. “Wow! I can’t believe it! It’s really you! I have all of your CD’s! You’re my favorite DJ, ever!” Vinyl chuckled at Lyra’s enthusiasm. “Hehe, it’s nice to bump into a fan of my work!” “But, where are your purple glasses?” Lyra asked. “Don’t you usually wear them?” “I didn’t want the chlorine in the water to ruin them. So I didn’t wear them today.” Lyra tilted her head slightly while looking at Vinyl Scratch. “Wow, I’ve never seen you without your glasses. I almost didn’t recognize you at first.” The four ponies continued to talk and move forward in line, until they finally got to the top and waited for a raft. Rafts were lifted to the top by a lift since they were too large to carry up the stairs by hoof. Once their raft was set in the small pool of water, the lifeguard directed them to get in. All four ponies got on opposite sides of the raft and faced inwards while sitting on their flanks. Fluttershy started to shiver once she sat down, which was an action that didn’t go unnoticed by the pink earth pony sitting to her left. Pinkie didn’t know whether it was from what was about to come, or whether it was from the cool temperature of the water that seeped into the raft. Pinkie went with the first guess anyways. “Don’t worry Fluttershy, you’re gonna love this! Trust me!” Fluttershy smiled at Pinkie’s attempt to calm her down. “Okay… if you say so.” Once a stoplight signaled green, the lifeguard nudged their raft out of the station and onto the fiberglass flume. Applejack’s vision became less blurred as she stirred from her long day slumber. She stretched out all four hooves while giving a great big yawn, and then adjusted her cowpony hat so it wasn’t in the way of her vision. She stood on all four hooves and surveyed the land around her, taking note of the sun’s change of position while she had snoozed. “Well, I’m plenty rested,” she said to herself. “Might as well go find somethin’ ta eat.” Applejack slung her saddlebag with her bits over her back and began to trot away to find a place to eat. “I wonder how the others are doin’,” she mused to herself. Rainbow Dash continued to wait outside of the Rainboom water slide’s entrance for the mechanic to fix the leaky pipe and open the slide. As normal as that sounded, something was off. Rainbow was no longer pacing back and forward and grunting every few minutes for the slide to open. Instead, she was trotting quickly in one spot. Her forehead had small droplets of sweat forming and falling down her face, and her eyes were wide and wildly dancing. She clenched her jaw shut as small whimpers escaped her mouth from between her teeth. “Holditholditholditholditholdit!” she continuously told to herself in her head. “You can’t go now, the ride’s about to be fixed. You can’t leave your spot! You just can’t! You can’t! You-” Rainbow stopped pacing and her eyes went to pin pricks. “… uh oh!” Before Rainbow realized it, she was galloping full speed away from her spot and towards the nearest restroom. She wasn’t able to think clearly enough to take off the wing restraining vest, which doing so would have allowed her to fly there. “HOLDITHOLDITHOLDITHOLDIT,” she yelled as she zoomed past park guests. She galloped full-speed over a bridge, past a few vendors, and made a few turns before she spotted the little filly’s room and busted through the door. Water sprayed everywhere when the group rode through another turn on the long raft slide. Their raft would repeatedly ride down another dip before riding up the curvature of yet another turn as they progressed further and further down the flume and closer to the end. Pinkie was whooping and throwing her hooves into the air, Vinyl and Lyra were laughing at how much water continued to soak everypony around each turn, and Fluttershy held on the edge of the raft for dear life. All riders were tossed and turned, and their boat spun around along the way which gave everypony on board the chance ride forwards, backwards, and sideways. The raft came around one more high banked turn and rode down another dip before the raft finally reached the end with a splash. It floated across the pool to where a lifeguard pony stopped it to allow the riders to disembark safely. Pinkie and Vinyl were the first to get out, and they did so while laughing at how soaked they got on the ride and how droopy their manes looked. Soon, their attention turned back to the raft for them to see Lyra assisting the yellow pegasus in slowly disembarking the boat. Her mane covered her eyes due to the amount of water that had splashed all over her. Pinkie was the first to ask her the question on every other pony’s mind. “So, Fluttershy. How was it?” Fluttershy delayed her response and spoke very softly. “…it.” Pinkie cocked an ear towards her. “Yes?” “…was.” “Uh-huh?” Fluttershy brushed her mane from her eyes before she continued. “… That was… The most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced!” Fluttershy lit up significantly while giving her response. She extended her wings, raised her voice a little, and smiled wide. “I’m still buzzing with joy! I can’t believe how exciting that was! There was so much water going everywhere, and I was afraid I was going to fall out! It... It was so much fun!” “Woo Hoo! Glad to hear you loved it Fluttershy!” Pinkie cheered at her friend before she put a hoof around Fluttershy’s neck. “Yeah,” Lyra inserted. “It’s great to hear you liked it. I told you ya would!” “You guys were right,” Fluttershy responded. “They are fun! I can’t wait to ride the next one!” Suddenly, everypony was able to hear a loud and disturbing growl noise. Fluttershy’s excitement vanished immediately, and she ducked behind Pinkie after hearing the grotesque sound pierce the air. “W-what was that?!” she asked while shivering. Vinyl put a hoof on her stomach. “Hehe! Sorry! I guess we should eat before we get back on any rides, huh?” Fluttershy stepped from behind Pinkie and blushed. “Oh, um, eating does sound nice,” she said in her normal inside voice. “Okay then, time to eat everypony!” Pinkie said as she started trotting away, leading the group to where the concession stands were. As they walked, Fluttershy looked back at the water slide she just got off of. She smiled at her accomplishment in having fun in a much different way that she had planned before she came, and she was glad to have friends that helped push her into finding that new way of having fun. Fluttershy then directed her attention to the Rainboom. She was eager to hear any stories that Rainbow Dash might have of riding that slide. “It sure has been a while since I’ve seen Rainbow. I wonder how many times she’s been on the slide.” Rainbow Dash opened the door and stepped out of the restroom with a big sigh. “Ah, now that that’s over, time to get back in li-” She stopped mid-word once she saw the mechanic that was supposed to be fixing the Rainboom and Filly Flashes walk past the restroom with his tool box. “HEY!” Rainbow yelled as she galloped to the old earth pony and stand in front of him, blocking him from wherever he was going to go. “Where do you think you’re going?” “I’m going to get me a meal,” he said. “I’m starvin’.” Rainbow felt the urge to spread her wings to float above him in a threatening way, but couldn’t thanks to the vest she forgot to remove. She pointed a hoof at the mechanic instead. “Not until you go back and fix the Rainboom.” “But I did.” “I said go back and… Wait, what did you just say?” The old man continued. “After I replaced the pipe, I came out to tell you that I fixed the slide. But you weren’t there for some odd reason. Where were you?” Rainbow didn’t know what to say. First she was shocked, then she was happy, then she was absolutely euphoric and nearly on the verge of giving this old-timer a hug. She smiled an ear-to-ear grin before continuing. “You fixed it?! You fixed the Rainboom?! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it! I’m finally gonna get to be the first to ride the Rainboom!” “Well, I don’t know about bein’ first though.” Rainbow’s mood quickly changed to one of questioning. “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” The old man enlightened her. “Listen, if’n you want to be one of the first, ya’ll better high-tail it over there. Word got out fast, and ponies are linin’ up as we speak.” Rainbow’s brain locked-up and she froze in place with a twisted expression on her face over the dreaded realization of the situation at hoof. The old mechanic was nearly blown back by the ludicrous speed the cyan pegasus took off past him. “No, no, no-no-no-nonononono!” She sped past more ponies and eventually spotted the slide. This time, it was alive with water that flowed down the chute. Past the water slide, she spotted the unmistakable rainbow colored mushroom cloud painting that adorned the large sign above the entrance to the Rainboom. There were now fewer vests on the rack available for pegasi. The ‘closed for maintenance’ sign was no where to be found. Worst of all, a plethora of thrill-seeking multicolored ponies had filled the line from behind the entrance sign, all the way up the long and winding spiral staircase to the top. Rainbow decelerated her gallop until she was trotting slowly. She looked up at the full line with her mouth and eyes wide open as she slowly walked closer and closer to the entrance to where the back of the line started. She was moving at a snails pace by the time she crossed under the large sign and stopped behind the pony in front of her waiting to get on. Rainbow flopped down upon her flank and continued to stare at the top of the structure and the line that wound into it. Tears started to well up in her eyes, and her mouth was open with her bottom lip quivering. She sat dumbfounded from the back of the line of the finally-opened Rainboom water slide. She was no longer able to claim the title of the first pony to conquer the tallest, fastest, most awesomest water slide in Equestria. Some lucky pony at the front took that spot instead. Once the painful lump in her throat lessened, she uttered two words that summed up the way she felt about this situation. “…no… fair.” Applejack watched as her food was being processed. She had gone for a simple slice of apple pie to satisfy her hunger, which required the cook that maintained the stand to make a whole new batch and let it cook in the oven. The stall Applejack was at was located at the concession stands area of the park near the front, but off to the right and hidden within a large semi-circle of trees. Here, ponies could take a break from all the watery fun and grab something to eat and drink. The stalls were lined up side by side and offered a variety of food like ice cream, sandwiches, pie, and pizza to name a few. The stalls were themed to look like thatch buildings from a tropical island, complete with straw roof, bamboo framework, and stone walls. Applejack stood at the counter of the pie stall with her saddlebag full of bits she brought to spend on essentials like the park admission (which she never got to use thanks to Pinkie), and food. No bits were going to be unnecessarily sacrificed for souvenirs and gifts, and she made that clear to both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy before they left Ponyville to come to the park. Applejack continued to wait for the pie to cook in the oven behind the counter. during the wait, she looked at her surroundings. She looked at the wooden tables that were scattered around in front of the stalls, and she looked at the many groups of ponies that occupied most of the tables. Many were sitting on hay bundles and either conversing with each other or were simply enjoying their meals. Her attention started at a table that had a yellow mane, grey coat pegasus that was conversing with a brown mane, light brown coat earth pony stallion. Then her attention moved to a very old stallion with a metal red box he set on top of the table next to his food. Then her attention moved to a group of 4 ponies that were walking towards the stalls to order food. Applejack easily recognized two of the ponies within the new group. She smiled and waved a hoof at them to get their attention, which worked since the pink earth pony of the group smiled back and began to trot in her direction with the group in tow. Applejack spoke first. “Pinkie pie! Fluttershy! How’s the park been?” “It’s been super duper fun,” Pinkie gleefully answered. “And you’ll never guess what we did!” “And what’s that?” Lyra spoke up this time. “We got Fluttershy to try a water slide with us.” Applejack beamed at hearing the news. “Well I’ll be! That’s somethin’ ya don’t hear every day!” She turned towards Fluttershy. “How was it Fluttershy?” Fluttershy was softly blushing at everyone’s comment on her accomplishment in riding a water slide. She didn’t hide her enthusiasm when she explained her thoughts though. “It was really fun! Scary, but fun!” She spoke a little louder then her usual inside voice, which clearly showed that she was still feeling quite energetic from the slide. “We all came off super soaked,” she chuckled. “Well I’m proud to be hearing you finally tryin’ something new Shy!” Applejack smiled warmly at Fluttershy as she said that. “Say, why don’t I treat everyone to a freshly baked apple pie ta celebrate?” Pinkie, Vinyl, and Lyra shared agreeing nods with each other at Applejack’s offer. “Sounds great! I’m starved,” Vinyl responded. Applejack turned around and told the cook that she would be purchasing the whole pie instead of just one slice. Right when she did so, the cook removed the thoroughly-cooked apple pie from the oven, placed it in a cardboard box, and brought it to the counter. Applejack paid for the pie and slid it onto her back to carry to a table. Before they set off, Fluttershy said, “Oh. Umm, you guys can start without me. I’m, uh, going to go use the little filly’s room.” “Okay Fluttershy,” Applejack responded. “But ya’ll better hurry back before this here pie gets cold… or your slice gets eaten.” She glanced at the white unicorn when she spoke those last few words. Vinyl had been mesmerized by the pie ever since it left the oven, not taking her eyes off of it. She also had her mouth open and was near to drooling when she was able to get a whiff of the apple flavor in it. Once Applejack said what she said and glanced at her though, Vinyl snapped out of her daze and put a hoof behind her head. “Hehe, don’t worry Shy, I won’t eat your slice.” At that, Fluttershy smiled and started walking in the direction where the restrooms were believed to be. The other four went to find a table to sit down at and start eating. Fluttershy took another glance back at the group, whose attention was no longer on her. She turned another direction and started trotting down a path that did not lead to the little filly’s room. Ch. 5 "The View"The line to get to the top of the Rainboom was undoubtedly very slow. It took Rainbow an agonizingly long time to get to her point near the top of the structure. She had already gone through the majority of the long wooden staircase that wound up and around the supports that held up the platform to where the Rainboom and Filly Flashes speed slides started. She only had one more flight of stairs to go until she reached the top. She was still slightly upset by the fact that other ponies had been on the Rainboom slide before her, but she set that fact aside and looked forward to a new goal to reach. She was going to claim the title of being one of many ponies that rode Equestria’s tallest, fastest, most awesomest water slide on opening day! Sure that title didn’t seem as grandiose as the first title, but she accepted the fact that she couldn’t do anything about it anymore and went with it. Besides, all that really mattered was that she was finally going to be able to ride the slide. Rainbow Dash admired the view from how high up she was on the structure and how far across the Equestrian land she was able to see. She was able to look downwards toward a crevice between trees to where a river full of ponies lazily drifted along in their personal doughnut shaped rafts. Looking further forward, there was a large blue family raft ride with groups of ponies that slid down the wide flume in large yellow circular rafts. Further was the tall fence with big magical probes in it, then there was the forest of green trees that stretched all the way into the horizon. If one looked far enough, they could see the distant sky-scraping buildings of the city of Manehattan. Dash closed her eyes and bathed in the breeze that blew through her mane and past her face. The wind was no longer felt from the ground thanks to the trees, but it was as clear as day when high up above the ground. She was used to feeling the wind while being so high up whenever she rested on a cloud, but it didn’t feel the same when she was on a freakishly tall free-standing structure and unable to fly thanks to the vest she had on. Slowly, the blissful experience died away as that last thought lingered around in her head little longer than she would like to admit. She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at the protective vest that she had on. She made an attempt to tug her wings outwards, but they were barely able to move under the waterproof material that kept them locked to her body. She never thought about this, but she was usually comfortable with high heights because her wings would be able to redirect, slow, and even reverse her direction of descent if she were to ever plummet from the sky. If she were to fall now, she wouldn’t be able to get the vest off in time to save herself. Not being able to use her wings, and standing on a pony-built surface hundreds of feet away from the ground started to take a toll on her and make her feel uncomfortable. Her legs felt a little stiffer and nervousness started to settle in the pit of her stomach. She took a big gulp as she looked over the edge of the railing on the staircase and looked down. She took notice of the colorful ants that slowly grew to look like ponies as she traced the staircase from the ground up with her eyes. She also took a guess at how long it would take to reach the floor if she were to spit, throw something off, or even… even… She quickly pulled her head back and faced forward. Sweat had formed on her head and her eyes were pin pricks. She felt more and more suffocated and claustrophobic the more the vest that was still zipped up on her body stayed on. It no longer felt like a vest meant to keep her wings safe from harm during the slide. It felt more like a device that kept her from saving herself from an inevitable fall. “Okay Rainbow, calm down,” Rainbow Dash softly told herself. “This is ridiculous. You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine. You don’t need your wings. You don’t need to worry at all.” As she continued to initiate self-therapy, she felt herself ease a little. “Yeah! Besides, this thing is completely solid. It would take quite a few ponies to knock down this thing, let alone make it budge.” A stronger gust of wind blew, and the top of the tower was forced 6 inches in the direction of the breeze. Rainbow felt it. It wasn’t strong enough to make her lose her balance, but she did have to brace herself from tilting over and falling on her face embarrassingly. She regained her stance as she began shivering uncontrollably. “… I tried ta pick up playing the violin in school, but I just couldn’t hold the darn thing right.” Applejack held up her hooves like she was ready to play a musical instrument. “I think my hooves were too big ta roll on the strings. Most other fillies that were playin’ it had smaller hooves than me. Course when you’re workin’ in a field buckin’ apples from trees, you’ll need a good set of hooves ta keep your balance and knock even the most stubborn of apples down.” Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Vinyl Scratch, and Lyra were sitting at a wooden table near the tropical themed concession stands and conversing about musical instruments they may have played when they were younger and in school. Pinkie spoke next. “Well, I started playing the drums when I was in school. Oh, and I also started playing the trombone. Oh, and the tuba; and the flute; and the accordion; and the harmonica; and the guitar, which helped me later when I started playing the banjo, the double bass, and the-” “I think we get it, Pinkie!” interrupted Applejack, who had begun to get more irritated as more instruments were listed by the apparently gifted pink earth pony. Vinyl stifled a giggle. “Wow Pinkie, you must have had a lot of time on your hand to learn all those instruments!” “Oh, learning how to play each one was easy-peasy and took no time at all,” she responded with a wave of the hoof. “What wasn’t easy was the time I had to play many of them at once. I was helping my grandmother remove parasprites from the rock farm I lived on when I learned to play them all at once. You should have seen her play them. She was a pro! I guess being able to play musical instruments so easily runs in the family. I even got one of my sisters to play a musical instrument, and she learned it quick.” “What instrument was that?” asked Lyra, who was listening intently. “I got her to pick up a cello one day,” Pinkie answered. “She played that instrument ever since then. She got really good the last time I saw her. I haven’t heard from her for quite a while, but I heard from my mother that she’s really good at it now; even playing it at certain fancy parties.” Vinyl started to get curious to who Pinkie’s sister was when Pinkie explained her sister’s current occupation. “What was her name, Pinkie?” she asked. “I always called her Inky because of her black mane and grey coat. I think she later changed her name though because she didn’t like it. I can’t remember what her name is now.” Pinkie looked up and tapped a hoof on her chin in thought. “Gosh, what was it? It’s right on the tip of my tongue.” Vinyl perked at hearing the description of the mystery pony. “Wait. She has a black mane and tail, and a grey coat? Do you think by any chance she, I dunno, wears a pink bowtie and has a treble cleft as a cutie mark?” Pinkie smiled at Vinyl and pointed a hoof. “You know what, I think she does!” “Does Octavia Philharmonica ring any bells?" Pinkie continued to ponder hard, until she gave up entirely. "No, not really. But if you see her, ask her if she knows me." "Will do," Vinyl responded before she took a swig through her straw from her plastic cup. Lyra then brought up a new topic. "I wonder what's taking Fluttershy so long. She's been gone for quite a while. Her slice is probably cold by now." She looked at a slice of apple pie that was still in the cardboard box on top of a tin pie plate on the table. It had been sitting there untouched for quite a while after the other ponies had eaten their slices. "I dunno," Applejack responded, now also realizing how long Fluttershy had been gone. "It isn't like her to be gone this long... Unless she's... Well, ya know... really busy." Lyra and Pinkie looked towards Applejack with a look of slight disgust at the thought. Vinyl Scratch had a difficult time holding in her laughs as she chuckled out loud and nearly spat out her drink. Obviously she had a different sense of humor. A.J. continued. "Uhh, sorry everypony. But somepony should go check on her just in case." "I'll go," Pinkie volunteered. "I need to use the bathroom anyways. Be right back." At that, she sat up from her soft bundle of hay and hopped off to find the restroom. When Pinkie was out of ear shot, Vinyl spoke up. "Ya know, that description Octavia gave me of a hyper pink pony she once met is starting to sound more and more like Pinkie." "Well, how many hyper pink ponies do ya know?" Applejack asked sarcastically, before following up with a serious question. "Wait, she talked to you about Pinkie Pie?" "If she was the one that messed up her performance at one of the princess' Grand Galloping Galas, then yes she has talked about her. She'll never forget that night, and she’ll never listen to or perform the ‘Pony Polka’ ever again." Applejack remembered the Grand Galloping Gala Vinyl spoke of. She was there selling freshly baked apple flavored food. When she wheeled her food cart into a ballroom, she found Pinkie Pie attempting to throw a rave for the high class ponies to dance to; which they all refused. After an unsuccessful stage dive by the pink pony, and a destroyed ballroom minutes later, the two and the rest of her friends bolted out of the castle. This was something Applejack never wanted to relive, but the images of the gala were still vivid in her head like it happened the day before. Applejack sheepishly avoided eye contact with Vinyl Scratch. “Heh, must’ve been some wild party, huh?” “Alright, dudes! Lay back, cross your hooves across your chest, and wait for me to tell you when to go.” Aqua Splash, a lifeguard with green mane that covered his eyes and a silver colored coat that adorned his body, was in charge of sending ponies down the park’s three most intense water slides. During his shift, he had already seen strongly enthusiastic ponies, ready-to-break-down-and-cry ponies, and calmer-than-a-summer-breeze ponies come up to him in hopes of conquering the slide. Everypony who did make it to the top and made it to where Aqua Splash was standing have ridden the slide; even the nervous ponies who were ready to shamefully walk back down in opposition to facing their fears. He had a very special secondary talent of being able to convince ponies to try things they might be reluctant about trying. His main talent was being able to hold his breath underwater for an ungodly amount of time. He brushed his mane out of the way of his eyes and looked over the edge of the wooden railing. He looked out to the three lanes that were far from reach where the sliders would end up when they went down the slide, and then looked at another lifeguard that sat on a high lifeguard chair at the end of the lanes. A few beats passed before the two outer lanes that connected to the Filly Flashes tunnel slides simultaneously exploded like water cannons, with one pony coming out of each tunnel and making a big splash as they slowed to a stop. Aqua Splash saw them reach the end and glanced at the other lifeguard, who pointed back at him once she saw the riders slowly stumble out of their lanes. He turned around and addressed the ponies sitting in the tubs for the slides they were ready to experience. “All clear, dudes! Go for it!” At once, two ponies that were sitting in front of the small tunnel entrances to the Filly Flashes flung themselves into the tunnel, making sure to ride on their backs with their back hooves leading. The one pony in the tub for the Rainboom gently scooted himself further and further until he reached the edge where he laid back, crossed his front hooves, and let gravity take care of the rest. A fading scream was audible a second after he disappeared over the edge. Aqua then turned to the ponies still waiting in line. The staircase had a rope split it into two so ponies who waited for each slide had their own separate lines to wait in. “Okay, dudes and dudettes. Park your flanks to the slide of your choice.” A teenage stallion and a mare quickly trotted from the left line to the entrances of the Filly Flashes and sat in front of the tunnel entrances, replacing the ponies that were there moments ago. Another mare, who wore a pegasus wing restraining vest and was next in line for the Rainboom, was very hesitant in going towards the tub that connected to the free fall slide. Aqua watched as the prismatic mane, cyan coat colored pegasus trotted near the tub and stared over the edge to try to see where the slide ended. Much to her disappointment, the slide was too high and too steep to be able to see the bottom. Aqua was wondering what was wrong, until he saw her take a step back wide eyed and shiver. He smirked, knowing exactly what fear looked like on a pony. “Excuse me, ma’am?” He said to the pegasus. She turned to look at him and he continued. “I really think you should consider riding the slide. It’s awesome, trust me! I’ve already been on it, like, 3 times.” The pegasus noticeably eased after hearing from somepony who’s already been down the slide multiple times, but she was still shaking a little from her fears getting the best of her. She gave a nervous smile before she spoke up. “Heh, I’m usually not this nervous about heights; with me being a pegasus and all.” “Yeah, but it’s not the height that’s got you is it?” He asked like he was reading her mind. Before he let her speak, he answered his question with another question. “It’s the falling your afraid of, right?” The nervous smile faded from the mare, and she looked down to the wooden floorboards. “It’s my wings,” she said. “This vest I got on just doesn’t feel right. I hate the way it keeps my wings down. I feel like I can’t save myself from falling if I were to drop.” “But you don’t need your wings for this. You’re perfectly safe on top of this thing.” Aqua gave a comforting smile before continuing. “Think of what it’s like to spend the entire day up here like I do. I’m sure you’ve felt the tower sway at least once while you waited.” Rainbow thought for a little, before she softly chucked to herself and put a hoof behind her head. “Yeah, I guess you have it worse than me.” Aqua chuckled a little as well. “Well, I still seriously think you should try it. It sure is a lot less intimidating than the FF slides there.” He pointed a hoof towards one of the two ponies that were still waiting to go down the Filly Flashes slide. “Those things are much more intense than the Rainboom, and they take longer too. I’m not much of a fan of small pitch-black tunneled speed slides. This slide though is quick, gentle, and over with before you know it.” The blue mare looked at the two teenage ponies waiting to go down the Flashes, and wondered what they might think of the slides after they rode it. She looked back at Aqua Splash, who was glancing over the edge of the railing at the lifeguard at the bottom. Aqua looked back at the nervous mare before he spoke. “The slide’s clear. It’s now or never.” He gestured towards the two ponies at the Filly Flashes, who then took off down the yellow tunneled flumes yelling and whooping. The nervous mare looked in all directions, lost in thought whether she should go or not. After she looked down and bit her bottom lip, she looked forward with confidence. “Alright. I’ll do it.” Aqua only nodded, and gestured towards the tub full of constantly gushing water that started the Rainboom. The mare trotted into the tub and sat down in it. “Okay,” Aqua said. “When you go, lie down on your back and cross your front hooves across your chest.” The mare nodded at him, before scooting on her flank across the slippery fiberglass surface. Her rear hooves started pitching downward along with the slide, and at that she laid back, crossed her hooves, closed her eyes, and dropped. Pinkie trotted quickly back to her friends at the wooden table in the concession stands area. She wore an expression of pure worry, and was even starting to sweat. This was unusual for the energetic pink pony, who was usually seen hopping around with a smile on her face. She turned at a familiar corner, before she saw her group sitting around the rectangular wooden table and sitting on hay bundles. She quickened her pace to get to them faster. Vinyl noticed her approaching and was about to greet her, until she saw the look on Pinkie’s face. “Hey Pinks, what’s wrong?” Applejack and Lyra looked at the party pony once they heard what Vinyl asked. Pinkie was breathing unusually heavier than normal and looked very worried about something. “Girls,” she finally said. “I can’t find Fluttershy anywhere.” Lyra put a hoof to her mouth, giving an unaudible gasp at hearing what Pinkie said. Vinyl and Applejack just gave Pinkie a questioning look. “What do ya mean ya can’t find her ‘anywhere?’” Applejack asked. “I can’t find her anywhere!” Pinkie looked on the verge of freaking out. “I’ve looked in and around the bathrooms but she’s not there. I’ve even asked a few ponies if they’ve seen her and they all said no.” “That is odd,” AJ responded. “But I don’t think we should worry too much. I’m sure she’ll show up eventually. Maybe she went back in that lazy river.” “I don’t know,” Lyra spoke up. “I don’t think it would be normal for a pony to leave the bathroom and head straight for a lazy river. Do you guys even know how cold the water is in there?” “So what should we do?” Vinyl asked “Should we go look for her just in case or something?” Applejack gave it some thought before responding. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt. Sun’s gettin’ low, so the park’s probably gonna’ close soon.” Applejack stood up to give orders. “Lyra, you check back at the lazy river. Vinyl and Pinkie, ya’ll head back to the water slide ya’ll said ya rode with her, and check the back side of the park as well. I’ll search around the front-half of the park. When one of us finds her, report back to the other. Understood?.” Everypony saluted and then trotted off to their assigned locations for the search of the yellow pegasus. Ch. 7 "The Climax"“Ready... set... GO!” At the last word, three more ponies scurried themselves down the tunnels and flume of the Filly Flashes and Rainboom speed slides. Aqua Splash looked over the edge of the railing to watch the pony on the Rainboom reach the slow-down lane at the end and splash first before the ponies in the Filly Flashes did. He turned back around to address more waiting ponies. “Alright, who’s up next?” Three ponies immediately came forward and went to their designated water slides. One of the ponies with a wing restraining vest that went to one of the Filly Flashes didn’t immediately sit down once she got to the tunnel entrance. She glanced over the railing to observe what she was in for. Shivers were sent down her legs, and it was easily picked up by Aqua. Rainbow Dash trotted everywhere. She went to the palm tree that Applejack was supposed to be napping at, she went to the concession stands where she expected Pinkie to be eating, and she went to a few entrances to the lazy river expecting to eventually bump into Fluttershy. She couldn’t find anypony anywhere. She was now on her way to the last lazy river entrance, where she’ll hopefully bump into somepony she knows. She reached her destination, and did not find any of her companions. “Shoot! Where are they?” She then saw a familiar green mint colored unicorn standing near the lazy river water and trotted up to her. “Hey, have you seen a yellow timid pegasus anywhere?” Lyra, the green mint pony, responded. “You mean Fluttershy?” Rainbow nodded. “Yeah. Wow, I thought I’d have to be more descriptive than that!” “I’m helping your friends look for her,” Lyra responded. She went back to observing ponies that went through the lazy river. “She left to go to the bathroom a while back and we haven’t seen her since.” Many questions bombarded Rainbow’s mind at that moment, but one stood out that she had to ask. “Wait, Fluttershy is missing?” “Yes,” Lyra responded. “We split up to search for her. Applejack is searching the front-half of the park, and Pinkie and Vinyl are searching the back.” “Vinyl? Vinyl who?” “Vinyl Scratch. You know, the famous DJ Pon-3?” Rainbow looked surprised. “Wow, she’s here? I haven’t seen her ever since... well, I can’t remember. Anyways, when was the last time you saw her?” “She said she needed to use the restroom a while ago, and we let her go while the rest of us ate. We haven’t seen her since.” Lyra faced Rainbow. “Pinkie looked in the bathrooms already and said she wasn’t in there. After that, we split up to search the park for her before it closed.” Rainbow now began to feel worried for the yellow pegasus. Knowing that she had been gone for a while is very unusual. She must be scared out of her mind if she’s lost in this park, or worse. Just then, both Lyra and Rainbow could hear distant hoof clops getting closer. They turned to see Pinkie and Vinyl galloping full-speed toward their direction. They stopped to catch their breath once they reached Rainbow and Lyra. Pinkie tried to speak between gasps of air.”You guys... we think... we think...” “Go on,” said Rainbow. Vinyl caught enough breath to talk more coherently. “We think... we found Fluttershy.” Rainbow and Lyra perked at hearing the news. “Where is she?” Lyra asked. Pinkie was finally able to speak more coherently as well. “Uhh... we can’t say she’s there for sure... but it sure did look like her.” “Yeah, go ahead. Tell us,” Rainbow said quickly, tired of waiting to know where she was. Vinyl gave them the answer. “She’s in line for the Rainboom.” “You guys ready to slide?” Aqua Splash asked all three riders. All sliders responded by saying “ready,” except for the nervous pony, who closed her eyes and took a big gulp. Aqua took this as a chance to speak to her. “You’re a brave pony, you know that?” The nervous pegasus turned to look at Aqua Splash as he continued. “For riding the slide, of course. It’s a pretty intense one. For some, it’s too intense. But I’m sure anypony who’s never tried something like it should do it at least once so they know what it’s like. Have you been on the Daring Do-Over slide here yet?” The pegasus shook her head slowly. “Good, because it’s like this, but much smaller and less intense. Once you’ve been on this slide or that, you wouldn’t need to try the other.” “How sure are ya?” asked Applejack. “It looked just like her when we saw her,” responded Vinyl. “I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m very sure it’s Fluttershy.” Applejack looked toward Rainbow Dash and Lyra, who both shrugged. They obviously don’t know whether to believe Pinkie and Vinyl on something that just doesn’t sound like what Fluttershy would do. Applejack looked back towards Pinkie and Vinyl. “If we go to the slide, do ya’ll think we’ll see her come off of it?” “Probably,” responded Pinkie. “We should get going fast though, she was near the top when we last saw her.” “Alright, let’s find out,” Applejack said as she started trotting in the direction of where the Rainboom slide was. The other four ponies followed along behind her. Aqua heard a faint splashing noise, and looked over the railing to see that the two ponies that were in the Filly Flashes had made it to the end. The lifeguard pony at the bottom pointed to Aqua, and Aqua signaled back. He then turned towards the nervous mare. “Okay time to slide everypony,” he called out to everypony ready to go down their chosen slide. All the sliders, except the nervous pegasus, sent themselves down their slides. Aqua took a few steps closer to the mare to help talk her into going down. “Look, just clear your mind of anything you might be thinking of,” He said. “You waited in a long line to get on this ride, and I’m sure you’d hate to go back down the same steps. Just go for it, and don’t think about anything. Trust me.” The pegasus looked back at the tunnel entrance into the dark depths of the Filly Flash water slide. Water constantly splashed out of an opening on the tunnel edge and down into the darkness that is the tunnel. She then walked toward the slide entrance and sat down. Her long pink mane touched the floor when she did so. She took a deep breath and slowly released it before saying something. “When somepony shows intimidation...” She grabbed the edges of the tunnel entrance. “... show no cessation.” She closed her eyes and flung herself into the tunnel. Applejack, Vinyl Scratch, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Lyra Heartstrings stood waiting behind a fence beside the slow-down lanes of the Rainboom and Filly Flashes speed slides. They expected to see a yellow pegasus to come screaming down the Rainboom slide at any moment. So far, they’ve only seen one stallion scream his head off as he rocketed into a big splash finale. “I just don’t know what we’re doing here,” Rainbow Dash said. “Fluttershy would never get on something like this. I should be out trying to find her right now.” “Rainbow, we’ve already covered the entire water park,” Lyra responded to the impatient pegasus. "We couldn't find her anywhere else, so this is the last place to look." Just then, a pony shot out of the Filly Flashes tunnel nearest to the group and made a big splash as he stopped in the slow-down lane. The pony sat up from the lane and wobbled a little, before he stumbled his way out of the flume with a silly grin on his face. As he passed the five ponies, he softly uttered "woah!" All five mares watched as the shaken stallion continued trotting away from the slide. Rainbow was the first to react. "Wow! I should have tried that slide instead!" Fluttershy pressed her crossed hooves as hard against her chest as she could while she bolted through the flume on her back at a violent speed, constantly accelerating the further she slid. She would rocket through a helix with screaming speeds and pull g-forces that would melt her face against her skull and plaster her body against the walls of the flume. When she would transition into an opposite directional turn, water would be kicked up and splashed in her face, causing her to close her eyes in the already pitch-black tunnel. She peeked through her eye lids and saw a faint glimmer of light, before she changed directions again and had water splashed in her face, forcing her to shut her eyes again. Applejack was able to hear a faint sound of rushing water coming from the Filly Flashes tunnel furthest away from them. It steadily grew and grew until it was noticable by the other ponies. “Here comes somepony,” Applejack addressed to her friends. The five ponies carefully watched what was going to come from the exit of the dark tunnel that wound it’s way in zig-zags and helixes to the top of the structure far from them. Suddenly, the tunnel exploded water out of it’s end like a cannon. A faint yellow object could be seen within the watery mess. It reached half-way through the slow-down lane before it finally stopped completely and rested. “Hey! I think that was Fluttershy!” yelled Pinkie, while jumping and pointing pointing. “Well I’ll be,” said Applejack with a smile. “I think I saw her too! Ta think Fluttershy would get on something like this! Woo-wee!” The group continued to stare at the yellow fiberglass lane, expectant on somepony to eventually rise out of the water and reveal them self. A beat skipped, and nopony emerged. Rainbow called out to the mysterious pony. “Fluttershy...? Is that you...?” No answer. The lifeguard near the slide blew her whistle and crossed her hooves above her head, which was a signal to the lifeguard pony at the top of the structure to not send any ponies down the slides yet. She then got out of her high wooden chair and quickly trotted over to the stagnant object still in the flume. The impressed smiles that were worn on the faces of the five ponies slowly started to fade away into looks of worry as they observed the lifeguard pony staring into the lane. They saw her lean in closer to the pony obscured from their view and mouth something to it. The group couldn’t hear what the lifeguard said due to her being too far away. Lyra put a hoof to her mouth, Applejack removed her hat, Pinkie and Vinyl glanced at each other, Rainbow leaned on the wooden fence to try to get a closer look. Rainbow called out again. “Fluttersh-” Before she could finish, a yellow pegasus shot up and out of the flume while screaming. “I DID IT! I DID IT! YES! WOOOOOOO!!!” screamed the mare who was obviously Fluttershy. All five ponies behind the fence were dumbstruck at the explosive emotions expressed by the usually gentle Fluttershy. It’s quite rare to see her like this, let alone try something that should have scared her silly. They continued to stare as the yellow pegasus gave the startled lifeguard a big hug with a face-stretching grin on her face. Celestia’s sun had dipped into the horizon and continued to sink. The sky around the sun was ablaze with the color orange. Further away from the sun, the sky became a darker and darker shade of blue until it was nearly black on the east side. Luna’s moon would begin to slowly rise at any moment. The Pond waterpark was officially closed for the day, having ran it’s first successful day smoothly. It expects to open tomorrow at the same time, and it expects the same number of ponies to return for another day to soak in the sun. Ponies were still exiting the park through the front gate. Most of them had their towels hung around their necks and were carrying their coolers and saddlebags with them. Some ponies carried little fillies on their back that were too sleepy to make the walk back to their hometown. All ponies were in no rush, for the majority of them were satisfied with how their experience in Equestria’s first waterpark had been. The same could be said for a group of six mares, who made their way out the front gate. Five of them trotted out, one of them flew. They talked and laughed as they began walking further away from the water park and towards the trail that led back to Ponyville where all but one would be staying. “Hey Vinyl,” asked Pinkie Pie. “You should come with us back to Ponyville! There’s so much that’s changed ever since you left that I want you to see!” Vinyl thought about it before she responded. “As much as I’d love to Pinkie, I’ve got to get back to Manehattan. I promised my manager that I’d be back at my place after I was done with the park. Maybe some other time?” “Okay,” said Pinkie. “But be sure to let us know! I’ll have to set up a Welcome-Back-to-Ponyville party for you!” Vinyl chuckled at the pink pony’s enthusiasm in wanting to make a party for such an occasion. “Alright, Pinkie. I’ll be sure to let you guys know. See-ya!” And so, Pinkie, Lyra, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy waved as Vinyl Scratch began to trot off towards another trail that had a sign that read “To Manehattan.” Once Vinyl was far enough, the other five continued down the long trail back to their town. The town of Ponyville. “So Rainbow,” said Lyra. “You were all hyped about the Rainboom slide until you rode it?” “Yep,” replied the flying cyan pegasus. “I should have thought it wasn’t going to be as cool as I thought it would be. Any pegasus could easily fly higher and dive faster than that slide. They don’t need places like these to have a good time.” Applejack then chimed in. “Well, you’re a pegasus that would consider doin’ stunts like that. But there are others who just don’t do it for a livin’. Ain’t that right Fluttershy?” Applejack glanced at the yellow pegasus, who only glanced back at her. AJ then continued speaking. “I still can’t believe you got on that thing! None of us expected you ta do somethin’ like that.” “Yeah,” Rainbow inserted. “What made you want to get on the slide in the first place?” “Well, when I tried the other slides with Lyra, Pinkie and Vinyl, I got curious as to how exciting a water slide like that would be if I were to get on it.” Fluttershy spoke in her usual soft voice, and with a smile on her face. “I was too scared to ride the Rainboom, so I chose the Filly Flashes as an alternative. The lifeguard at the top told me that it was more intense than the Rainboom, so then I got even more scared. But I just cleared my thoughts and went for it anyways. I’m glad I did too. It was pretty intense, but it wasn’t as intense as I thought it was going to be.” “It’s good to hear that, Fluttershy,” Lyra said. “I was surprised to see you ride it too. I guess you’ve learned to overcome your fears on you own. I myself wouldn’t have gotten on that thing!” “Yeah,” Pinkie inserted. “I was thinking about getting on it too, but that slide has all kinds of curvy twists and twisty curves on it! I thought I’d get sick from all of those turns on it!” Fluttershy smiled at hearing her friends tell her they were too nervous to try the slide she went on. Maybe she was so full of surprises that she even surprises herself. Rainbow then asked her a question. “Do you think you’d ever get back on it Fluttershy?” Fluttershy thought to herself as she continued trotting down the dirt trail with her friends towards Ponyville. She thought about her experience on the slide. The dark tunnel, the fast speeds, the constant directional changes, and the water that splashed everywhere. She then gave her answer. “Sure! It was fun the first time. I don’t see why I wouldn’t try it again!” Rainbow shook her head at hearing what Fluttershy said. “Well, I guess that means we should come back someday, huh?” “Absolutely!” beamed Pinkie. “We should definitely come back someday. *gasp*! What if we came back next month? Or next week? No! What about tomorrow?!” “Woah there Pinkie!” said Applejack. “We shouldn’t rush things. Besides, I need ta get back to the orchard. I can already hear my apples callin’ for me to buck ‘em out of the trees.” “Oh. Well, we should still definitely come back soon! I can’t wait until then! It should be super duper awesome like today was!” Pinkie imagined what their return to the water park would be like and smiled at the thought of returning. “Yeah, sure,” Rainbow inserted. “Sounds like fun. I’d love to try some water slides with Fluttershy when we do!” And so, the five mares continued trotting north to their peaceful town called Ponyville as the sun continued to set in the west, dipping further and further into the horizon. Real-life waterpark influences: -Aquatica (Orlando, Florida) -Discovery Cove (Orlando, Florida) -Disney’s Blizzard Beach (Orlando, Florida) -Six Flags Hurricane Harbour (Valencia, California; near Los Angeles, CA) Thank you so much for reading this story! It's the most amount of effort I've put into any story ever. The last chapter sounded a little weak in my opinion, but I'd like to know what you may have thought of it. Was it weak? Just fine? Could be redone? Or should I not touch it at all? Again thanks everyone for reading! Ch. 6 "Recovery"Rainbow splashed water everywhere as she sat up quickly and coughed water out of her lungs. She shook excess water out of her mane, and hit the side of her head to clear water out of her ears. She looked around to take note of her current surroundings. Dash was no longer hundreds of feet in the air, but on ground level surrounded by trees and sitting in a purple fiberglass flume filled with 3 inches of water. Beside her on both sides were two yellow flumes. She turned around and observed the flume she sat in that stretched far high and away from her. Water flowed from the top of the flume towards and past her. “Excuse me ma’am?” Rainbow turned to look at a lifeguard pony that was sitting on the tall wooden chair in front of her. “You need to exit the slide please,” the lifeguard said. Rainbow stood up and stepped out of the flume. Water that was trapped between her body and the vest leaked out and left a trail on the wet cement ground as Rainbow walked away from the flume. She stopped and looked back at the female lifeguard, who pointed toward the top of the tall structure where there was another lifeguard pony. The other lifeguard gave a wave and turned to address other ponies at the top. After a beat, an earth pony came screaming down the Rainboom speed slide. Rainbow recollected her experience on the Rainboom. A sudden downward pitch, followed by the feeling of water rushing past her. She couldn’t see thanks to the water she kicked up along the way and sprayed in her face. After a few seconds of speeding through, she felt herself hit more water and was thrown around a little bit. She felt herself settle, and took that as the time to sit up believing the slide was done; which it was. Rainbow played this memory through her mind a few times, trying to come up with how she felt about this experience. She had just ridden the Rainboom water slide. Equestria’s tallest, fastest, most thrilling water slide and lived to tell other ponies about it. She went from a few hundred feet in the air to the ground in less than ten seconds. She did what she came to the water park for, and how did she feel about it? “... WHAT THE HAY? THAT’S IT?!” She caught a few ponies around her off-guard when she yelled her thoughts. She looked back at the Rainboom water slide, and then shook her head at it. “That’s what I came here for??? That’s what waited all day to do?!?!” she said out loud to nopony in particular. Obviously, the experience on the slide wasn’t what she expected it to be at all. She had spent her entire day at the water park waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Waiting to get in the park, waiting for the slide to get fixed, and waiting to get on the slide itself, only to coast down a flume and get beaten up and sprayed by water. Sure the freefall feeling she got when she dropped was fun, but she expected more from the speed slide, which was what led to her utter disappointment. She spoke as she pointed her hooves towards the structure. “I can’t believe I waited all day just for that. I’ve had more fun pulling off a real Rainboom than riding this thing!” Rainbow Dash took a few more seconds to watch other ponies come down the slide. Some were screaming their heads off, some whooped and yelled, others just went down silently. All of them created a big splash when the reached the slow-down lane at the end. Some ponies emerged from the slide shaken, but almost everypony had a smile on their faces. Another fact Rainbow noticed after observing the ponies for a few minutes more was that most riders were not pegasi. She then realized that thrills like this were probably directed to earth ponies and unicorns because they didn’t have the chance to do thrilling swoops and dives in the air like pegasi can. Their alternative to that is going to places like these where they can fulfill their thrilling desires, and cool off in Celestia’s hot summer sun at the same time. Rainbow sighed before she spoke. “I guess I should have seen this coming. It’s not like Unicorns and Earth ponies can dive from the air like pegasus ponies can. I guess I may have over-hyped it a little.” She turned and started to trot away, before she turned back around and looked at the structure; more specifically towards the other two yellow tunnel speed slides that snaked beside the Rainboom on both sides. She remembered how the lifeguard she spoke with told her that the Filly Flashes were more intense than the Rainboom. She considered trying those slides, before she noticed the position of the sun in the sky. It was getting late, and the park would probably close by the time she got on it. So, she just shrugged and started cantering off to find her friends. “Forever Today?” “No!” “Uhh, Ten Seconds Before Sunrise?” “Nope!” “Darn, umm. Elements of Life?” “Ooh, that’s a good one! But no!” “Darn it! Uhh. Oh! I Will Be Here!” “You’re getting closer Vinyl, I’ll give you that!” Vinyl Scratch and Pinkie Pie trotted past the wave pool and over a bridge above the lazy river to the back of the park towards the water slide they last rode with Fluttershy. If they didn’t find her there, they planned to continue searching the rest of the back-half of the park. On the way there, they decided to talk about music they liked. Pinkie asked Vinyl to guess what random electronic song she was thinking of. Pinkie helped Vinyl guess by giving her hints, which helped Vinyl to stay with one artist to guess from. “Aww, come on Pinkie. Those songs are all his fan’s favorites,” Vinyl said. “Sure, and I like them all,” Pinkie responded. “Its just that none of those are the one I’m thinking of right now.” Vinyl pondered for a little while longer before she took another shot at it. “Is it Kaleidoscope?” “Yes! You got it!” “Really?!” “No! It was Fresh Fruit!” “Aww, no fair. You cheated!” “How so?” “You changed your answer. Admit it!” “Nuh uh!” “Yeah huh!” “Nuh uh!” Both Vinyl and Pinkie went back and forward in a playful argument over whether Pinkie lied about changing her answer while they continued their journey. They stopped bickering once they arrived at the large blue family raft slide at the back of the park. Vinyl spoke first. “Well, if she is getting back on the slide, then we can’t just go up into the line to look for her. Should we wait until she comes off?” Pinkie shrugged. “I guess so. I can’t see her in the line from here, so she’s probably on it by now.” The two mares trotted to where the pool of the blue slide ended. They leaned against a rope fence that wrapped around the perimeter of the pool and waited there. They watched as raft after raft full of happy, laughing, and soaking wet ponies came sliding down the final dip and into the pool like clockwork. Unfortunately none of the rafts had the yellow and pink pegasus they were looking for. Pinkie was beginning to get worried again as more rafts splashed into the pool without Fluttershy. She hoped nothing would be wrong with her, but she was still expectant of something bad to happen to her. She wondered what she would be doing if she wasn’t on the water slide. She could have been led away by a group of bad ponies, or she could have gotten lost within the park, or maybe she made her way into the deep end of the wavepool and couldn’t swim. Maybe something worse beyond her imagination happened to her, which would be absolutely terrible considering that the imagination in question belongs to the mind of Pinkie Pie. She hoped for the best, but expected the worst. Vinyl didn’t seem worried at all. The pie she ate earlier had begun to settle in her stomach. That and the excitement she had with Pinkie in the water park made her feel drowsy in the mild intensity of the heat that radiated from the far-west sun. She slouched further in her stance as minutes crawled by, to the point to where she nearly hid her bright red eyes behind her heavy white eyelids. She tried to stay awake enough to help look out for Fluttershy, but it was beginning to get more and more difficult to handle the task of not allowing her body to shut down. Her vision repeatedly became blurry and her head bobbed under the fading amount of strength in her neck. Eventually, her mind blanked as her eyelids slowly slid shut and her entire head lowered to a more comfortable position. Vinyl Scratch slowly rose her head and opened her eyes to look outward into the darkness in front of her. She reached a hoof out and felt a table with nearly hundreds of small nubs on it. She continued to search the table, until she found what felt like a big rocker switch that was implemented into the table. She pressed it in, and soon a low, quiet, but somewhat very powerful hum surrounded her entire body and softly vibrated the ground. A few seconds passed, before a screen in front of her face and off to the right began to get brighter and brighter, until it revealed itself as a laptop screen. The screen showed a small photo of two vinyl records, with a small white box under it that read “password.” The light that was emitted from the laptop shone the table it was sitting on. The nubs she felt earlier tuned out to be a mixer, which had 32 inputs and a row of knobs and sliders to control each input. She recognized the mixer as the one that she would most often use as certain raves she would DJ at. She tried to take a look at her surroundings past the table she was at, but still couldn’t see anything due to the darkness. She looked back at the laptop, which was still at the welcome screen and asked for Vinyl to put in her password. She remembered that she set her password to be something that nopony, not even her good friend Octavia, could figure out. She brought her front hooves onto the laptop to carefully tap at the medium sized keys and spell out: “h-c-t-a-r-c-s-’space bar’-l-y-n-i-v.” A small beach ball replaced the photo of the vinyl records, and it spun for a while. Vinyl then heard the table in front of her moan to life. As it did, lights on it began to flicker on and off, including a green, yellow, and red bar meter that glowed brightly. The low humming noise instantly grew and Vinyl was able to pick up the sound coming from behind her. She turned around and saw a large black box that was very lowly lit by the now glowing table behind her. She reached out a hoof to touch it. When her hoof was only a millimeter away, a shock was sent through Vinyl’s hoof and she recoiled immediately with a yelp at the feeling. The black box immediately lit with a small red light in its top right corner, and the same happened to two black boxes next to it, and the same with the ones next to those, and so on. Vinyl watched as the row of lights stopped at the last of the few boxes. She then saw a few small red dots light up randomly in the air above her. Stage lights that were connected to the red dots above her clicked on with full power and illuminated the entire area Vinyl was in. She was momentarily blinded for a few seconds before her eyes adjusted to the brightness and revealed where she was. The black boxes turned out to be stage speakers as big as her. Vinyl also saw more speakers behind it, attached to a row of square metal girders. The girders supported what seemed to be a large room, and they had lights and lasers attached to them. On the back wall behind the speakers were a set of giant illuminated letters that spelled out “PON-3” in bright blue for every odd letter, and white for every even letter. Vinyl couldn’t believe what she saw. She was looking at a concert stage set-up. The lights continuously changed colors, a fog machine puffed very small blobs of smoke every few seconds, and the speakers hummed together in unison, ready to amplify any sound that came through them. Vinyl then turned back around to the table, and nearly collapsed from surprise when what sounded like thousands of ponies erupted into an ear shattering cheer. Thousands of colorful ponies jumped, stomped their hooves, yelled, whistled, and made as much noise as they possibly could. Many of them wore DJ Pon-3 related merchandise like hats, t-shirts, wigs, and the infamous purple glasses. Vinyl’s heart rate had slowed to normal speed after her adoring fans gave her the scare of her life. She surveyed the ponies that seemed to have been hiding in the darkness on the other side of the table the entire time she was there. She couldn’t believe where she was, or how she got there. All she knew was that she was supposed to perform for these enthusiastic party ponies. She spotted some ponies wearing her signature purple glasses and remembered about hers. She searched all over the table and ducked under to search below it. She couldn’t find it anywhere, and didn’t feel like performing without them. It just wouldn’t be the same without them. She had to find them. They had to be somewhe... oh, wait... She put a hoof to her forehead and felt something plastic sitting above her horn. “Duh!” She said out loud, which was almost inaudible under the sound of the still cheering fans. Vinyl removed the glasses from above her horn and glanced at them for a moment, before she put them on her face and walked up to a microphone that stretched out of a corner of the table and toward her face. “ARE YOU PONIES READY TO DANCE ALL NIGHT LONG?!” she yelled into the mic. To answer her question, the crowd erupted into even wilder cheers. Some threw their souvenir hats up into the air using their mouths, and others seemed to go into hysterical shrills of screams. Vinyl then looked to her left to see a rack full of vinyl records, and levitated a familiar one from out of its case. It read “The One.” This record was no ordinary record. It was one that the DJ pony perfected herself. This record was going to play the best beat Equestria will ever hear. This record will make ponies want her to repeat it all night until the sun came up, and then pay to do it again the next night. This record was going to make her millions once it’s played all around the world. This record was the one that will skyrocket her career. She set the record on a nearby turntable, flicked a switch to gt it spinning, and moved the needle on top of it. A few seconds passed before a beat pounded out of the speakers behind her. It pulsated from behind her and through the large crowd in front of her. She was able to feel the power of it beating her body as the bass vibrated her bones. As the song continued, she felt the pulsating beats get unusually stronger. Her body felt like it was it was being rocked forward under the force of the blasts from the subwoofers behind her. This was very odd to her, but her adoring fans didn’t seem to mind the noise increase as they danced and jumped to the beat. So she didn’t mind it either. The beat continued on, and then the chorus of the song came. Surprisingly the fans knew the lyrics to this part, even though this was the first time she’s ever presented it to the public. She listened as the ponies tried to chant the lyrics, but were unorganized which made them difficult to understand. “I can’t hear you!” Vinyl yelled into her microphone while putting a hoof to her right ear. Soon, the crowd were able to be better organized in chanting the anthem of the chorus of Vinyl’s new song. When Vinyl understood what they said clearly, she froze. “Viiiiiinnnnyyyyllllll... Waaaaakeeeee uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupppppp!” “Wha?” She must be hearing them wrong, or somepony told them all the wrong lyrics. She levitated her headphones to her ears to get a better sound of the pony singing through the speakers. Strange enough, the pony was repeating exactly what the crowd was chanting. What was even weirder was that the voice sounded like a close friend of hers. A friend she knew who had a squeaky voice. She kept chanting, “Viiiiiinnnnyyyyllllll...! Viiiiiinnnnyyyyllllll...! Waaaaakeeeee uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupppppp...! Viiiiiinnnnyyyyllllll...” “Vinyl? Viiiiiinyl! Waaaaaake uuuuuup!” Vinyl slowly opened her eyes and raised her head. She was no longer wearing her glasses and putting on a rave in some nondescript arena, but she was at a water park. She was leaning against a post that connected the rope fence that sat in front of the pool to a water slide. She felt something cold on her lips, and wiped a hoof across it to find out that it was drool. She looked over to her right to see Pinkie Pie with both of her hooves on the side of Vinyl’s back. When Pinkie saw Vinyl rouse, she got off of her. “You must be really tired or something! I’ve been trying to wake you up for a while,” Pinkie said. Vinyl stretched her front hooves before she fully stood up. “Must’ve been that pie I ate,” she said. Pinkie shook her head. “Whatever did it, worked! You were out cold.” Pinkie glanced back at the large blue water slide. “I didn’t see Fluttershy come off of the slide, so I think we need to start searching the area for her.” Vinyl gave a big yawn before she nodded. “Yeah, sure. Lets go.” They both started trotting away from the large water slide and toward a small fillies’ wading pool area. Vinyl was still a little dazed from her sudden nap, so her attention wasn’t exactly focused on looking around the wading pool for Fluttershy. Her attention went from a small bridge to her left that sat above the lazy river, to the water slide they were trotting away from, to a water playground to her right, to the Rainboom slide structure to her right, to the... wait a minute. Vinyl stopped trotting and looked back at the slide tower. She thought she picked up familiar colors within the line of ponies. She was far from thinking the shy pegasus got in line for the park’s most intense water slides, but she looked toward the slide anyways. She rescanned the line until she spotted a faint yellow and pink color within it near the top. She glared harder at it in an attempt to make out the subject she was looking at that was far away. The object seemed to be a pony, and the coat and mane colors were the same as Fluttershy, but she wasn’t exactly sure if it was the pegasus. Pinkie returned to Vinyl after she had accidentally not noticed Vinyl had stopped to look at something. “Vinyl, what are you looking at?” she asked. “Pinkie, look in the line of the Rainboom.” Vinyl pointed a hoof towards the Rainboom. “Do you see something familiar in there?” “Vinyl, we don’t have time for games,” Pinkie said. “We have to find Fluttershy.” “Well, that’s the thing,” Vinyl responded. “I’m not entirely sure if I’m just seeing things, but I’m pretty sure the girl you’re looking for is about to board the most intense water slide in the entire park.” Pinkie raised an eyebrow towards Vinyl. “What? what are you talking about.” Pinkie looked towards the Rainboom as well. “Count 5 ponies from the top, and tell me that’s not Fluttershy,” Vinyl said while pointing. Pinkie stared hard at the structure, trying to see what Vinyl was seeing. She looked at the top to a green pony reached the top of the stairs. She counted back 5 ponies and saw what Vinyl was seeing. “Oh, I see what you’re seeing. But I’m sure there’s plenty of other pones with a pink mane and yellow...” Pinkie stopped talking. As she continued to glare from far away at the subject in question, it started to look more and more like her dear friend. Pinkie shook her head. “No,” she said. “No... it can’t be... Fluttershy wouldn’t get on something like that... would she?” Both Vinyl and Pinkie exchanged glances, before they both bolted towards the front of the park.
Ch. 1 "Arrival"The Pond That’s the name of Equestria’s newest attraction. The name of Equestria’s mega waterpark. A waterpark that was said to have the scariest, most intense, most awesome water slides in all of Equestria. It is the only water park in Equestria. It opens for the first time on this day at 10:00am. It is 9:47am. Celestia’s sun was out and shining brightly over Equestria, cooking every plant, tree, and living being that was within its view. Inside a valley between Fillydelphia and Manehattan sat a new plot of land that seemed to be occupied by many unfamiliar structures. Raised platforms that protruded out and above the trees had colorful tunnels, flumes, and chutes snaking their way towards the ground and into various sized pools of water at different angles. All structures were surrounded by a forest of thick lush tropical trees that provided shade to the ground and covered the floor around the bottom of the slide structures. What surrounded this vast area was a tall stone fence with magical probes that partially extended upwards to beam an invisible shield to keep pegasi from entering the premises without first paying for admission at the front gate. A line full of brightly colorful ponies looking for a thrilling way to cool off in the blistering summer heat were lined in front of the gate, and the line seemed to go on forever; possibly miles. Many ponies can be seen with towels, saddlebags, sunscreen, sunglasses, and coolers in tow. Many ponies standing near the front that seem to have waited centuries for this day to come have begun to get impatient. Most tapped their hooves, checked their watches, and glanced over the ponies in front of them. Some ponies grumbled and groaned as they continued to bake in the sun. All are simply waiting for the gates to finally be thrown open so they can soak themselves in the cool oasis that is the water park in front of them. A few miles down the line, one could pick up an especially impatient pony waiting in line… or around the line it seems. She would pace in and out of the queue, leaving and returning to her spot within a distance of only a few meters. Sometimes, she would spread her wings and take to the air to get a good look at the front of the line and see if ponies have started entering yet. She would not sit or stand still, not for what she’s waiting for. She’s just too excited and full of energy to keep restraint. The cyan pegasus took to the air again after doing some more pacing, but this time to look at the back of the line. She brushed her prismatic mane out of her eyes to check if she’s seeing this correctly… Yep, fewer ponies behind her than there are in front. After staring a few seconds more, she let gravity pull her back to the ground and sat there on the spot with her front hooves crossed in front of her chest, and a frown worn on her face. “Now calm down Rainbow. Ya’ll get in eventually,” said an orange coat, yellow mane, Stetson hat wearing earth pony. “Ya’ll just have ta be patient. Now Fluttershy already apologized for makin’ us arrive a little late.” The orange pony looked at a yellow pegasus that stood by her right side. The yellow pegasus hid behind her long pink mane, acting like it was a shield for any outbursts anypony might have had against her; especially any outbursts that would have come from the blue pegasus. “She needed to make sure her animals were gon’ be taken care of before leaving her home. There’s nothing wrong with that,” the orange pony continued. “So what if were near the back of the line. So long as we get in, we’ll all be satisfied, right? I mean, it’s not like the park’s goin’ anywhere soon.” The grumpy cyan pegasus finally turned around to face the orange pony. “But Applejack, I wanted to be one of the first ponies to conquer the Rainboom!” Rainbow pointed towards the water park; more specifically towards a structure from within that was easily noticeable from anywhere in and around the water park. It was a single water slide structure that obviously towered above every other slide structure, and it had 3 slides that started from the very top. Two tunneled flumes that snaked their way left and right with noticeably intense high angle banking and helixes, and one very notable open-flume slide in the center that made a bee-line straight for the ground. The notable one was the Rainboom freefall speed slide. The slide shared the same colors as Rainbow’s mane, with the bright color of red starting at the top of the slide and having a shade of dark blue that was visible near the bottom before the trees cut off the view of the end; which was probably colored purple. The entire complex was also higher than a few carefully placed clouds that a few pegasus workers probably placed to make it seem taller, even though it was already hundreds of feet above the ground. “You see that? That’s what I’m waiting to get on,” Rainbow pointed. “It’s the baddest, fastest, most awesomest water slide in all of Equestria! They say ponies that have tested the ride have come off with less fur on their backs because of the sheer speed you gain burning them off, and ponies who’ve tested the Filly Flashes,” she swerved her hooves towards the structure, mimicking the other two slide’s directions, “passed out because of the insane g-forces they pulled on the helixes!” She clasped her hooves together towards Applejack. “I have to be one of the first to ride it Applejack! I just have to!” Rainbow looked as if she was beseeching Applejack to make the line move faster. “Well, you’ll get your turn. Now stop actin’ like a li’l filly Rainbow Dash, you’re embarrassin’ me!” Applejack said as she glanced around to make sure no other pony in line was watching. Rainbow turned back around, still on her flank, and crossed her front hooves across her chest with a frustrated look on her face. She gave a slight pause before she asked, “Why is Fluttershy here again? I didn’t know she liked water parks.” The yellow pegasus hesitantly glanced from around her mane to look at Rainbow. She spoke in a very soft inside voice like she was in a library. “Umm, I though this was the first water park in Equestria?” Rainbow Dash waved a dismissive hoof towards the shy pony. “Whatever. Why did you choose to come again?” “Oh. Well. I thought it would be nice to relax for a while. I hear they have this lovely thing they call a lazy river, where you can relax on a raft that floats in a stream that goes in a circle all around the park. There’s these beautiful trees and lush tropical plants along the way that are just blooming with color.” She looked as if what she recalled was a wonderful dream she had last night, even staring off at a distance as she spoke. “I’m not really here for the thrills. Especially not…” Her smile faded as she glanced at the towering behemoth from within the walls of the establishment. “Uhh… eep!” Fluttershy recoiled back into the safety of her mane after glancing at the Rainboom like it was going to attack her. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Just then, a screeching noise could be heard echoing out of a nearby loudspeaker. Some ponies covered their ears as they were assaulted by the sound. Others simply grimaced. After a few seconds of the onslaught, a stallion’s voice replaced it. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, are you ready to get wet, face your fears, relax and have the time of your life?!” Everypony in line erupted into cheers, including the eager cyan pegasus who had let her excitement loose when she shot to the air screaming “YES!” One pony in particular wasn’t as excited at the announcement. Fluttershy grew wide-eyed as she recalled one thing the speaker said. She repeated the words out loud, stuttering as her heartbeat increased. “F-face… y-y-your…f-f-f-FEARS?” The announcer continued. “That’s what I wanted to hear! Because guess what?! The Pond. Is. Now. OPEN!” At the last word, confetti cannons placed around the entrance exploded confetti and streamers up into the air. Somehow, the crowd erupted into even louder cheers than the previous one. Many ponies clopped their hooves on the ground, some threw their hooves in the air, and some jumped into the air; including a mint green unicorn pony that had an ear-to-ear grin. Rainbow did a few loops in the air before looking forward at the gates opening miles from her location, allowing the flood of ponies to enter. “Woo hoo! My prayers have been answered!” She finished by returning to the ground and joining Applejack and Fluttershy in the wait for the line to move forward. “I can’t believe this is happening,” the energetic pegasus said. “I’m finally going to get to ride the Rainboom! This is going to be so awesome!” She practically squeaked the last word out. “Wow Rainbow, ya’ll look like you’re about to meet the Wonderbolts for the first time,” Applejack responded while giggling a little at the cyan pegasus’ outburst of excitement and energy. “I’m just gonna relax a bit. All that applebuckin’ I did to make up the time I’m gone on this trip has done a number on me, and I need a place ta just lay down. I might even join Fluttershy on that river thing she spoke about.” When Applejack glanced at the yellow pegasus, she felt worried because of the expression she wore on her face. “Hey sugarcube, what’s wrong? Ya seem like you’ve seen a ghost or somthin’.” Fluttershy shook her head out of the daze and told Applejack, “Oh, no, I’m fine.” “Are ya sure. Ya didn’t look fine ta me a few seconds ago.” Fluttershy gave Applejack a reassuring smile. “No, really, I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” Applejack wasn’t sure she was telling the truth, but she let it slip anyways. “If ya say so.” The portion of the line they were in finally started advancing closer to the front gate. It moved at a pace that could match the sprinting speed of Rainbow Dash’s tortoise, Tank. Even with the torpid speed of progression, Rainbow was still excited to be getting closer and closer to the entrance. “Rainboom, here I come!” The strong aroma of sunscreen and chlorine wafted through the morning air. The chlorine smell came from the activated water slides from within the walls of the watery utopia, and the sunscreen smell came from the still-waiting patrons outside the front gate applying the lotion to avoid sunburn as Celestia’s sun continued to radiate down upon the land with full force. A few hours had passed and Rainbow’s mood eased significantly ever since the line started moving, but she was still very much euphoric in getting closer and closer to the front of the line to get inside. Applejack wasn’t as eager to go in, but she sure did want to relax the entire time the others were playing. She was going to do the same thing she did at home whenever she relaxed: lay back, pull her hat over her eyes, and nap peacefully. Applejack had also been making sure Fluttershy was okay. She couldn’t quite figure out what was wrong with her, but she knew the yellow pegasus was growing more uneasy as they came closer and closer to the entrance. Fluttershy kept glancing up at the slides in the park like she had Pinkie senses telling her something bad was going to happen once they got inside. She also wore a worried expression on her face and stayed very quiet for the entire wait. Applejack was about to ask Fluttershy if she really was okay, but Rainbow Dash cut her off before she could start. “Look, we’re close!” Dash exclaimed. She hovered slightly above the ground while pointing ahead. Sure enough, there were only a few more groups ahead of them left in line. The front ended at a window where a pony was administering tickets to enter the park. “Oh, that’s good. I can’t wait ta get inside and relax,” replied the orange country earth pony. She took a last look at Fluttershy, who had started to shiver because of how close they now realized they were, before reaching into her saddlebag to find the bits she brought to pay for admission. She counted her bits, and then removed her head from the bag to wait for the groups ahead of them to get their tickets and go. Soon, they reached the counter. Rainbow rushed up to the window immediately after the last pony of the last group moved away. She was greeted by the ticket lady, who had a very dull expression and spoke in a very uninterested attitude. “Welcome to the pond. How many ponies are with you today?” Rainbow was the one to answer her question, and did so with a completely opposite attitude. “Three mares, ma’am!” The cashier levitated three wristbands from under the desk for the ponies to wear in the park before responding. “That’ll be 18 bits please.” Immediately Applejack froze with a shocked expression on her face. “Pardon me?! Did I hear ya say eighteen bits?!” The mare behind the window responded in the same monotonous tone she had before. “Yes ma’am. Eighteen bits. Six bits per pony.” Applejack seemed upset by this. “Now hold on one minute! I thought I read in the brochure Rainbow showed me that it was 5 bits per pony. Are yall’ tryin’ ta trick me out of my money or somethin’?” “No ma’am,” the cashier responded. “The 5 bits per pony only applies when you order your tickets in advance. Here at the gate, it’s 6 bits per pony.” Applejack was shocked by that. “Hey, that’s not fair. Now who would make up a stupid rule like that anyway?” “Relax Applejack, just pay her the bits and we’ll get going,” said Rainbow Dash, obviously wanting the situation to get over with so she could get inside. Applejack looked at Rainbow with sweat forming on her head. “Umm… well, umm… ya see…” Something in Applejack’s throat kept her from saying what she needed to tell Rainbow. She simply swallowed the lump, rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, and gave her the bad news. “Well, the problem is… that we… don’t exactly… have enough bits to go inside.” Rainbow’s eyes slowly grew wide at what Applejack had said, clearly showing that what was said had sunk very deep into her. “W-… we… we WHAT?!” She couldn’t believe what she just heard. Maybe she heard her wrong. Maybe this was a cruel joke played on her for AJ’s benefit. As much as she would hate for it to be that, she just hoped that that was what it was and not what she thinks she just said. Anything but… “Uh… I only brought enough to pay 5 bits per pony, not 6… which means we’re short 3 bits.” Applejack turned away slightly from Rainbow, prepared for anything the pegasus might do. Fluttershy looked at Applejack, then at the now heated pony while taking a step back herself. Rainbow’s breathing deepened. No… this couldn’t be… this just can’t be, she thought to herself. Wait, what if… “Fluttershy, do you have anything on you?” Fluttershy slightly reeled back while she answered, “Umm… I gave Applejack my share to pay for the entrance fee. I’m sorry, Rainbow.” Rainbow was now livid. “I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! Now I won’t be able to ride the Rainboom because we can’t get into the park! This can’t be happening to me! THIS JUST CAN’T!” Rainbow looked on the verge of angry tears and was breathing heavily, obviously peeved that she traveled this far to turn away. The pony at the counter looked unmoved, and was growing impatient at the group in front of her. “Look, if you don’t have enough bits then you’ll just have to leave and come back another time. I’m sorry, but there are other ponies that have enough to enter and you’re blocking them.” Rainbow quickly turned to blast away at the pony behind the glass window. “YOU’LL FEEL MORE SORRY ONCE I’M THROUGH WITH YO-“ She was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and found a few guard ponies giving her a look that said “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Rainbow stared at the enforcers before laughing nervously. “Heh! Umm… I think I’ll be going now!” She held a nervous grin as she trotted away from the window. Applejack and Fluttershy hesitated before they followed along. Rainbow sat on her flank at a distance from the park entrance and continued watching ponies after ponies pay for their tickets to enter. They got to go in while she was left in the cold, dark, outside world. Well, that was how she felt about this situation, even though it was noon and scorching hot outside with the sun in the middle of the sky baking her and everything around her. Still, she kept a sorrowful look on her face as she continued to stare. Applejack and Fluttershy stood at a small distance away from the depressed pony. Applejack didn’t know what to do to make it up to Rainbow. She was afraid of talking to the pegasus for the fear that she might lash out at her for not bringing extra bits just in case something like this were to ever happen. At least she now only had Rainbow to worry about since Fluttershy seemed to be much more at ease. She still couldn't understand what got Shy so shaken before, but as long as she now seemed stable then Applejack didn't have to worry about her. While still staring at the line of ponies still advancing into the park, Rainbow decided to speak without looking at the other two ponies. “Hey guys?” Applejack and Fluttershy looked at her, waiting for what she had to say. Dash continued. “… I guess we can come back another day… It’s just a big slide after all, I guess.” Applejack took a few steps toward Rainbow and spoke gently. “That’s the spirit Rainbow. We can always come back another time, I’m sure of it. I’ll be sure ta bring extra bits along next time, I promise.” Rainbow sighed deeply before getting up off of the ground and turning to her fellow companions. “Yeah, sure… Thanks for coming with me you guys. Lets go home.” Soon they started trotting away from the park and in the opposite direction of the seemingly never-ending line of later-arrived ponies still waiting to get inside. They felt they were in no rush, so they walked slowly back in the direction of where they came from that morning; heading toward the long path that lead them back home to Ponyville. Rainbow took one last glance back at the park like it was going to be her last time ever seeing it again. Applejack and Fluttershy stood by her sides to share the same view. “I’ll be back,” Rainbow said softly. “I know it.” Rainbow then turned around to continue the path towards home, when suddenly… “BOO!” Rainbow yelped as she jumped a good 6 meters off the ground and landed on her back on the dirt ground. She stayed on the ground frozen stiff like a fainting goat for a few seconds when she was suddenly attacked by something that tightly grasped hold of her entire body. Due to the speed of everything happening, she yelled and flailed her hooves while trying to squirm her way free of whatever was holding her. She stopped yelling once she looked down to see something that resembled pink cotton candy that was brushing across her chest. The thing also had hooves and a really squeaky voice. “Ahh! I knew it, I knew it! It is you, Dashie!” Rainbow recognizes the voice, and remembers how that voice was the one voice that always called her Dashie whenever the voice’s owner said her name. She relaxed at hearing this pony’s voice, but was still quite bewildered at what was going on. “Huh? Pinkie Pie? Is that you?” Rainbow asked the pony still locking her in a tight hug. The pink party pony looked up to meet eye to eye with Rainbow. “It sure is! I’m so glad to be meeting you guys here!” Applejack and Fluttershy seemed to be giggling at what took place in front of them. When Rainbow noticed them giggling, she brushed Pinkie off and got up off of the ground while brushing her coat with a hoof. “Pinkie, what are you doing here?!” Rainbow asked, still bewildered at meeting the pink earth pony here. The Euphoric newcomer was wearing a blue visor hat and had her own saddlebags on her, with a pouch that seemed to encase a towel for herself. “I’m here for the water park, duh! Isn’t that why you’re here?” Applejack answered that question. “Well we were, but we didn’t bring enough bits to get inside. I hope you have enough, ‘cause it’s 6 bits at the gate.” “And have fun waiting in line to get to the park,” Rainbow inserted, pointing toward the large line that extended from the gate past the group of ponies. The pink pony glanced at the line. “Oh, I don’t have to wait in line. I already got my tickets a week in advance. They were only 5 bits then. I wonder what made them want to raise the price?” “Wait, did you just say you had tickets? Tickets?” Rainbow asked, obviously emphasizing the “s” in the word “tickets.” “Sure do! I have three extra ones right here!” Pinkie reached into her saddlebag and pulled out 4 park admission tickets. Rainbow’s jaw dropped at the sight of the four tickets. Four tickets right there! One for Pinkie and three that could be used for her and the other two! “But… but how did you get three extra tickets?” She placed the tickets back in the bag so she could speak. “Oh, I ordered four tickets so I could bring 3 other friends with me! I asked Rarity if she wanted to go, but she said she didn’t like the idea of getting her hair wet; especially if the water had chemicals in it. Then I asked Twilight if she could come, but she said that she needed to study for an exam the princess was going to give her. Spike wanted to come, but he had to stay and help Twilight with studying for the exam.” “Well, then why didn’t you come to us with the tickets? Me especially?” Rainbow pointed a hoof to her chest. “I did, remember? I asked each of you if you wanted to go do something together and you,” pointing to Rainbow Dash, “said you had more training to do, and you,” pointing to Applajack, “said that you were going to be busy doing something and wouldn’t tell me what it was you were busy with. I skipped Fluttershy though. I didn’t think she would like water slides.” Applejack looked guilty because of the way she avoided eye contact with Pinkie and swung her hooves above the dirt. Rainbow Dash simply face-hoofed. Obviously what they had told Pinkie were excuses to come to the water park without telling her. “You mean to tell me that you were asking us if we wanted to come here?” Rainbow asked, not believing what she had heard. “Yeah-huh!” Pinkie nodded while responding. “So since you’re here and not able to get in, would you like to use the tickets?” Pinkie looked towards Rainbow specifically, knowing full well that she would be the most eager pony to want to get inside. Rainbow looked at Pinkie with a stunned expression, still not believing what this mare in front of here just asked. “What? Y-you mean it? Even though we made up excuses not to go with you, you still forgive us?” “Well of course, silly! It wouldn’t be as fun without going with my bestest-best friends!” Pinkie beamed at what she said. Rainbow almost felt tears of joy well up in her eyes. “Wow, Pinkie! That’s so nice of you!” Rainbow then leaned in quickly to hug Pinkie. “Thank you!” Pinkie returned the hug. “Aww, it was nothing Dashie! Now come on girls, let’s go have some fun!” Rainbow let go of her friend and wiped a tear from her eye before speaking. “You’re right Pinkie. Let’s do this!” Then all four ponies turned towards the waterpark and marched back to the front gate to enter.
Ch. 2 "Let's Try Again!"“Thanks, and enjoy your day at the Pond.” Orchid Dew unenthusiastically waved off another park-goer before she used magic from her horn to move the now empty cardboard box from under the counter to the stacks of other empty cardboard boxes placed in the back corner of the booth that she was in. She then used magic to bring another box forward, but this box was full of plastic wristbands for the ponies to use in the park so workers can know who did and didn’t pay for admission to get in the park. She then looked up and saw a familiar group of ponies approaching the booth, obviously skipping the line and bringing an extra pony with them. She quickly placed her hoof near the silent alarm button, ready to call security again if they came back to do anything questionable. The group casually approached the ticket window, but went to the window next to Orchid Dew instead of the one she was currently at, which made her give a questioning look at them since that booth was reserved for ponies who pre-ordered tickets in advance. “Umm, if you collected enough bits to enter, you’ll have to wait in the line like everypony else,” Orchid said. Rainbow wore a sly smile on her face and chuckled. “Hehe, not unless you have these!” Rainbow placed the four tickets on the counter and slid it under the window. Orchid walked over to the other window and observed the tickets, then looked quizzically back at Rainbow. “Hey, how did you obtain these?” Rainbow pointed at the pink newcomer, who wore a big grin and waved back at Orchid. “She’s a friend of ours who had extra pre-ordered tickets that we could use. So if you wouldn’t mind, could we have our four wristbands?” Orchid looked at the group of ponies, then at the tickets. She shrugged and said, “Okay, here you go.” She levitated the wristbands into the air and snapped them onto one of all four ponies’ hooves. “Enjoy.” Rainbow gave an ear-to-ear grin towards the wristband attached around her hoof as her excitement peaked momentarily, then turned toward Orchid with her eyes closed before responding. “Thank you very kindly.” Rainbow then trotted off towards the gate like an uptight pony, and her company followed along behind her. Orchid shook her head before returning to her original window to attend to the next group of ponies in line. “Welcome to the Pond. How many ponies are with you today?” The group continued trotting through the front area of the park, taking in what they could while finding a spot to drop off their belongings. They passed by beautifully decorated wooden gift shop buildings themed to look like coastal surf shacks, the colorful exotic plants that adorned the gardens placed in certain parts of the park, and they bathed in the cool shading of the palm trees that were shading them from the intense sun shining from above. After a few minutes filled with referring to a park map twice, passing the same vendor three times, and arguing that they were going the wrong way and might be lost, they finally found a grassy place under a nice palm tree in the park to place their things. Applejack removed her saddlebags first. “Ah, much better! Well, I guess this is where I’ll be restin’. You girls have fun, I’ll stay here and watch the stuff.” Pinkie removed her saddlebags as well before looking at Applejack with a questioning look. “Aren’t you gonna go have fun Applejack?” “Nah, I came here to relax. I might soon join Fluttershy on that river thing she wants to try out, but for now, I’ll be restin’ here under the shade.” She looked up to the top of the palm tree that allowed a plentiful amount of shade and sunlight down as it swayed slowly in the warm day breeze. “Suit yourself, AJ,” said Rainbow Dash. “Rainboom here I come!” At those words, Rainbow flew off in a certain direction she believed to be the slide. “I hope you get plenty of rest Applejack, you deserve it!” Fluttershy sweetly told Applejack before heading off to find what she’s looking for. Pinkie simply smiled and waved before she removed her visor and dashed off to find a ride to get on, leaving Applejack alone at the palm tree with the saddlebags. Applejack walked to the bottom of the trunk, laid against it on her back in a position she found most comfortable, pulled her hat over her eyes, and rested there with her hooves crossed in front of her chest. Rainbow Dash stopped in front of a post that held an artist’s rendering of the layout of the park, so she could see where the entrance was to the water slide she was looking for. Once she traced her hoof to the exact location of her destination, she smiled and high tailed it towards the slide. Not long after, she gradually slowed to behold the view in front of her. Right in front of her stood one of the many amazing wonders of engineering in Equestria. In front of her stood a thing so terrifying, that it could send an Ursa Minor back to its mother in fear. In front of her stood a structure so tall that one must wonder how cold or windy it must be at the top. In front of her stood... THE RAINBOOM. Rainbow Dash took in the view as her excitement rose again. Her mouth stayed agape as she traced the long slender chute that formed one large L-shape that led from the sky in one long free-fall section to build up wicked speed, to the ground in a very long shutdown lane to allow riders to slow down from Celestia-knows how fast they would move. She also beheld the scary curvatures and spins of the yellow Filly Flashes turbo slides that wound in and out from under and beside the Rainboom. Rainbow couldn't wait any longer, so she made her way to the entrance. Her adrenaline kicked in when she saw the giant sign with a picture of a prismatic painting of a mushroom cloud and the words "RAINBOOM" and “FILLY FLASHES” spelled out in all capital letters on top of it. Next to the sign was a rack full of wing restraining vests for Pegasi to use. Knowing that such speed against water could damage her wings, she understood why they had them. She quickly found one in her size and started to slip it on. Just as she was zipping up her vest was when she looked down and saw a sign that hung from between the ride sign poles. What was written on it caused the pony to go wide eyed. It read ‘Closed for Maintenance.’ “Oh come on!” she yelled at the sign. She looked around her and caught site of a lifeguard pony staring in her general direction. He wore shades and had a flotation ring as a cutie mark. “Hey, what’s the meaning of this,” Rainbow yelled while pointing towards the sign in front of the line. “Both slides have had a leaky pipe ever since this morning,” he told her. “We’re trying to fix it as soon as possible ma’am.” “Well hurry up!” Rainbow retorted. “I can’t wait forever to ride this thing!” “Why not consider riding some of the other rides in the park?” “No way,” she responded wile waving her hooves in a fashion that emphasized the words. “I came all this way to be one of the first to ride the Rainboom, and that’s final. I’m not moving until the ride opens.” At those words, she parked herself in front of the entrance to the ride by sitting down and crossing her hooves across her chest. She was not going to move until the ride was fixed. The lifeguard stared at the stubborn pegasus a little. “Uhh, okay. Have fun with that.” He then walked away from the area. Pinkie Pie had wandered to the front-left side of the park where she saw a water slide that had caught her interest as she was entering the park earlier. It was a dark purple belly mat racer slide with 2 lanes that allowed sliders to race each other to the bottom. The two flumes were side-by-side, curving in and out of each other in left to right turns and helixes. Pinkie went to a basket to pick up her blue mat. She then spotted a familiar pony halfway up the stairs waiting in line before her. After she slung the wet mat over her back, she climbed the stairs to see if the pony really was who she thought it would be. “Vinyl Scratch, is that you?!” Pinkie asked when she reached the pony in line. The unicorn with a white coat and electric blue striped mane turned around to face Pinkie. She had ruby red eyes and a cutie mark that looked like two quavers (eighth-notes on a musical scale). When it finally dawned on the pony who was calling her name, she smiled. “Pinkie? Hey! Long time, no see! How’s it goin’?” “It’s going great!” the pink pony responded. “Wow, I never expected to meet you here! I haven’t seen you ever since the fashion show that came to Ponyville last year. It’s been a while!” “It sure has!” Vinyl said while chuckling. “I’ve been hearing a lot of things about Ponyville while I was on my last tour. Your town sure knows how to make some noise in Equestria.” Vinyl was referring to a tour she did in her career as a DJ with the nick name DJ Pon-3. She performed in cities like Manehattan, Canterlot, Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, Cloudsdale (in a blimp), and many other smaller cities. She remembered about the magazines she would pick up along the way that would sometimes feature articles on abnormal occurrences from within Ponyville. Things like a mysterious pony that saved many ponies’ lives in a single day, half of the town’s ponies going crazy over an old stuffed animal due to a spell gone wrong, a giant wingless purple dragon that nearly destroyed the town, a stallion that lives in Ponyville has the strength to move a house, and a few other smaller stories. The DJ unicorn continued. “Every other city I’ve been to hasn’t had as much stuff happen to them like what’s been happening to Ponyville. They’re boring compared to your town, if you ask me.” Pinkie responded while the line progressed forward a little more. “It can get super-duper exciting at times, like whenever the princesses visit, but most other times we’re just a quiet itty-bitty town south-west of Canterlot!” “If you say so,” Vinyl responded. “So what made you want to come here to The Pond?” Pinkie asked. “Since I’m taking a break from touring, I thought I’d find something to do. I read about this place in a brochure, and I figured that I’d stop by to have some fun. These slides do look sick!” “Yeah, I can’t wait until we get on this one. It sure looks like a doozy!” Pinkie looked over the railing to examine the slide she was about to experience; taking note of the speed one could pick up on this slide. She couldn’t see the sliders though, due to it being a tunneled slide. Both proceeded closer and closer until they finally reached the top and were only a few riders short of getting on the slide. “Which side do you think is faster?” The electric blue mane pony asked. “The left side, or the right?” “I think they’re both the same,” the party pony responded. “Nah. One of them’s gotta be faster.” Vinyl looked over the edge to see if one of the flumes was faster than the other, even though it was hard to tell from their vantage point. Just then, Pinkie was hit with an idea. “Ow!” She exclaimed. “What’s wrong?” The unicorn asked, surprised at Pinkie’s outburst. “Oh, uhh, nothing,” she said while rubbing her head. “But I have an idea.” “Sure. Let’s hear it.” “What if we were to find out which side was really faster? Let’s say if one of us were to make it to the bottom first!” Pinkie smiled and side-glanced at Vinyl Scratch while repeatedly raising and lowering her eyebrows. Vinyl was confused as to why Pinkie was doing that with her eyebrows, until she understood what Pinkie was getting at. “Oh! So you wanna race huh?” A light between the two entrances to the tunnels flashed green, and then the two stallions in front of Pinkie and Vinyl dove head-first into the tunnels while whooping and yelling on their way down. Pinkie walked up to the starting platform for the slide, grabbed the mat off of her back and slid her hooves in between the handles of the mat. “Yep! Whadda-ya say?” Vinyl repeated what Pinkie did before she responded. “You’re on sister!” They both stared at the red light between the tunnel entrances, waiting for it to change. Both Vinyl and Pinkie had confident smirks on their faces, only Pinkie had a tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. The light turned yellow, and the two mares crouched down. “Let’s go!” After Vinyl’s words, the light turned green. Immediately, the two leapt head-first into the small flume and landed on their stomachs, with the rubber mat softening the land. They rushed forward faster than the cool flowing water, and were soon blinded as they were engulfed in pitch blackness. “Okay, so I’m here… no, wait… aha! Here I am. Now, I’m supposed to walk this way and soon I’ll end up… here. Oh, wait, there’s more than one way to get on it. Hmm… This entrance seems much closer. I’ll go there. Perfect!” Fluttershy tapped at her destination on the park map with a hoof before she started to trot towards the direction of where she believed to be the entrance to the lazy river. She was ecstatic to see if what she read about it was to be true. She had also grown accustomed to seeing the giant structure within the park that Rainbow Dash wanted to get on so badly; the Filly Flashes and the Rainboom. She simply told herself that it wasn’t going to do any harm to anypony that doesn’t go on it. As simple as that thought was, looking at the monster still sent small waves of goose bumps down her body. “There’s no way I’m going on that,” she thought to herself as she looked above the tree tops at the speed slides. She continued through the paths that she remembered the park map had showed. She spotted a small wooden bridge she had to cross and went to it. Once she was on it, she looked over the edge to behold what she had been looking for, which was a calm flowing river with an assortment of ponies treading the shoulder-deep waters or laying down on floating rafts shaped like doughnuts, allowing the water to carry them onward. She smiled at the site of ponies relaxing in the water, and rushed off of the bridge. She came around the corner and found her way to the entrance to the lazy river. “This is it,” she said to herself. “Oh how exciting!” She climbed down the steps to the river and sunk a hoof in, immediately retracting it with a yelp due to the water’s temperature. “Oh dear,” she said out loud. “It’s so cold!” She stood and pondered the question of why the water was so cold, and how the other ponies wading in it could relax at all. Before she knew it, Pinkie Pie reached the pool with a spectacular ending. She skidded across half of the pool thanks to her mat keeping her temporarily afloat, before she stopped completely and started to sink in the shallow water. Once she felt the floor of the pool and stood up, she looked to her left and saw Vinyl Scratch standing in the water and soaked completely with her mane covering half her face; which was the same thing with Pinkie. Both looked at each other with big grins on their faces before they both exclaimed, “That. Was. AWESOME!” Both mares’ first time on a water slide, and they loved it! The only question that needed to be answered was who made it to the end first. Both turned quickly to see a lifeguard pony at the end of the pool on a tall wooden chair with a flag strapped to each fore-hoof to represent which rider was the winner. He had the flag on his right hoof pointing towards Vinyl, showing that she made it to the end first. “Aww yeah!” Vinyl hoof-pumped into the air. “Number one baby!” Pinkie giggled at Vinyl while they both exited the pool. “Well, congrats Vinyl. Maybe your side really was faster… unless, we were to switch sides to see if yours really was faster!” “Oh, so you want a re-match, is that it?” “Sure, why not!” “Ok, Pinks! You’re on!” The two mares then quickly re-entered the line to have another round. Small pockets of sunlight were able to pierce through to the ground from in between the thick palm leaves adorning the top of the cabbage palm trees. The leaves rustled as they were forced west by the gentle summer breeze that breathed through the land. The scent of salt and chlorinated water moved through the air with it. Soft sand was mixed in with the grass at the bottom of the thick and hard trunks of the trees. The softness of the floor and the supporting strength of the trunks provided comfort for a certain worn earth pony, who laid back against a particularly lush palm tree with a Stetson hat that covered her face and her hooves crossed in front of her stomach. The orange mare’s chest slowly rose and deflated as she was lost in her blissful day slumber. Having worked hard in an apple field for the past few days, she was happy to have spent this day doing absolutely nothing. She simply napped under the shade of the palm trees with a smile worn on her face.
Ch. 3 "Patience"Two pegasi stallion ponies, who had just entered the park, rushed towards the Rainboom water slide in hopes that they would be able to beat the possibility of having to wait in a long line to ride. “Dude, hurry!” said the stallion with brown mane and tan coat. “I’m going, I’m going!” said the stallion with the dark brown coat and the crème colored mane. “I knew we should have arrived earlier,” said the first stallion. Who knows how many ponies are waiting to get on by now?!” His question was answered when they finally approached the entrance, and only saw one pony in front of it. “Sweet Celestia! I can’t believe it. Dumb-Bell look, no line!” said the tan colored stallion. “It’s a miracle, Hoops!” Dumb-Bell responded. Both pegasi approached the entrance and met the cyan pegasus that was already in front of the entrance, wearing the waterproof vest that restrained her wings against her body. The cyan pegasus noticed the two who approached her, and immediately recognized them as her old school-mates who went to flight school with her. She lowered her expression to one of slight annoyance, obviously showing that she is not in favor of bumping into these nitwits. “Well, well, well! Look who it is! It’s Rainbow!” Hoops said once he noticed the prismatic mane pegasus. “What are you doing out here and not on the slide?” Dumb-Bell asked. Rainbow simply pointed a hoof at a small sign that hung between the two poles that held up the ride sign, and blocked anypony from entering the line. The two looked at what she pointed at, and then they both stood shocked at what it read. “Closed?!?!” Dumb-Bell said. “What do you mean closed?!” Hoops asked afterwards. It was surprising that he could have read the sign anyways since his brown mane covered his eyes. “They said there’s some sort of a leaky pipe or something,” Rainbow responded. “I’ve been waiting out here for them to fix it ever since I came in.” “How long ago was that?” Hoops asked, curious as to how long she had been waiting and to how long the ride has been down. “They said it’s been this way since this morning. I can’t remember how long ago it was, but it’s definitely felt like over an hour.” “An hour?” Dumb-Bell said, quite surprised that the mare’s been out here for that long. “You’ve been waiting out here for the ride to open for an hour?” “Yep, and I’m not moving until it does,” Rainbow responded matter-of-factly. The two stallions looked at each other, then to Rainbow, then up at the slide. “So you’re just gonna stand there?” Hoops asked. “There are other slides in the park you can get on ya know.” Rainbow rolled her eyes at having been told this twice. “Yeah, I know that. I’m just making sure that I’m going to be the first one to ride the Rainboom before any other pony.” “Whatever you say,” Hoops said while shrugging. “We’re gonna come back once the ride opens... IF the ride ever opens.” “Have fun,” Rainbow said sarcastically. The two stallions left Rainbow alone to wait in front of the Rainboom’s entrance. While they left, they started discussing what other slide to get on next. Rainbow Dash had returned to pacing back and forward in front of the slide again once the two stallions left. Her frustration level slowly grew as time continued. “Come on, open already,” she said quietly. Fluttershy slowly dipped a hoof into the water in an attempt to get used to the temperature. She continued to sink it in until the water reached her knee, where she yanked her hoof back out of the water. “There’s just no way, it’s too cold,” she said out loud to herself. She stared out at the moving water and the ponies floating lazily along it. “I wonder how those other ponies did it.” “Simple, you just jump in!” Fluttershy was mildly startled by somepony behind her answering a question that was mostly directed to herself. She turned around to see who answered her question, and she saw a mint green unicorn trot up to stand beside her. Fluttershy recognized her as another resident of Ponyville, and lightened up. “Lyra! It’s so nice to meet you here.” “Likewise!” Lyra responded. “And about the water, you just need to get in immediately so your body can get used to it.” “A-are you sure. I don’t know if I can handle it.” Fluttershy looked down at the crystal clear water, hesitant on giving it another try. Lyra tried to be helpful in movitating the shy pegasus to get in. “Sure you can. If those ponies can do it, then so can you. Just watch.” Fluttershy watched as Lyra entered the pool immediately without hesitation. She was submerged up to her shoulder by the time she reached out to hold on to a hand rail so she wasn’t swept away by the slow but strong current. She stuttered as she spoke. “S-s-see, n-n-no-nothing t-t-to it!” She was clenching her teeth as she forced a reassuring smile towards Fluttershy. “N-n-now y-you tt-t-try!” Fluttershy easily noticed Lyra shivering in the waters and was thinking about turning tail right then and there. But she still wanted to give the lazy river a try. All she had to do was get over the freezing temperature of the water. She gave it a thought before she breathed in deeply and let her confidence take over. She trotted down the first few steps and immediately sunk her hoof in just like the first time she tried to enter. She didn’t stop this time when the bitter cold water stung her legs, and didn’t stop when her chest was submerged as well. She bit her bottom lip as she braved the temperature with all her might. She looked at Lyra, who smiled back at her. “Good job Fluttershy! You’re in!” Lyra said. Fluttershy smiled at Lyra’s compliment. She then took a few more steps into the lazy river, before she was swept off of her feet and into the current. She yelped and flailed her hooves splashing the water, having not expect the current to be so strong. She stopped panicking once she felt Lyra’s hoof across her back. “Woah, calm down Fluttershy, it’s okay! You can stand up in the water you know,” Lyra said. Fluttershy then reached down and felt the bottom of the river. She began to walk when she got more comfortable moving with the current. Lyra let go of Fluttershy. “There you go! Now let’s find a raft.” Both ponies treaded against the current in an attempt to slow themselves enough to find an inner tube that they could float on. After they avoided bumping into other ponies that passed them, they found two stray doughnut-shaped tubes floating towards them. Fluttershy got hold of one of the rafts and lifted it over her head. She put her fore-hooves through the hole under it and held on to it so it could support her weight. She glanced at Lyra and saw that she had jumped out of the water to lie on top of her raft on her back and allow her flank to rest in the hole in the middle of the inner-tube. “This is great, isn’t it?” Lyra asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy didn’t answer. She simply allowed the water to drift her in the direction it took them. She noticed that the water didn’t feel as cold as it did when she first entered the river, which made her feel very relaxed. Lyra leaned back and closed her eyes to bask in the mixture of sunlight and shade as they slowly passed many tropical trees and bushes. “So Fluttershy,” Lyra began. “I didn’t take you to be the kind of pony who would want to come to a place like this. Did you try any water slides yet?” Fluttershy responded with her usual inside voice, almost to a level where it’s hard to hear what she’s saying. “Oh, no. I’m not here for the water slides. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash are riding them and Applejack and I are relaxing a little.” “Where’s Applejack?” “She’s taking a nap at the place where we dropped off our things.” “Well, you should probably try at least one of the slides. I’m sure there’s one here you might like.” “Oh, I don’t know. I mean, I’m not too keen on thrills. Especially the ones that are, um, thrilling.” “Aww, come on Fluttershy.” Lyra sat up as she spoke. “You gotta try something other than the lazy river. I know you’re scared of them, but you gotta live a little. You need to get over your fears and try something exciting for once.” Fluttershy thought about this a little as she gazed at the lush scenery around her. She looked upon the fully grown scrub palms and saw palmettos that sat at the edges of the lazy river. The pointy leaves looked as sharp as knives. Fluttershy looked back at Lyra, who was waiting for an answer. “I might consider it,” Fluttershy finally said. “Good to hear, Fluttershy. Like I said, I’m sure there’s one in here you’ll like. There’s plenty to choose from.” Lyra then leaned back into her relaxed position, closed her eyes, and put her hooves behind her head. Fluttershy continued to think about facing her fears and riding a water slide. “Which water slide could I try?” She thought to herself. “Should I try one of the big ones… no, no, that just won’t do. Maybe I should find a small one, just to get used to them. Yeah. No harm in trying one that isn’t big and scary like…” She glanced up at the Rainboom, which is still noticeable no matter where she or any other pony is in the park. “Uhh… yeah! Definitely not one like that.” She nervously chuckled at the thought of her trying the Rainboom or one of the two slides around it. “I wonder if Rainbow or Pinkie has been on it yet,” “WAAAAA HOOOO!” Pinkie yelled as she and Vinyl Scratch were tossed and turned in a double seat inner tube that was flying down the chute of another water slide they had boarded. Corner after corner, dip after dip, they swung left and right as they quickly progressed down the unforgiving fiberglass flume. “INCOMING!” Sitting in the front seat, Vinyl yelled and pointed straight ahead to warn Pinkie that something was about to come. “What is i-” Pinkie was cut off when the two riders shot through a waterfall that was cleverly placed directly in the middle of the chute. Both riders wiped the water out of their eyes. Once their vision was clear, they both suddenly noticed that they were approaching a drop very quickly. “Here we go!” Vinyl yelled. Soon the two mares were sent over the edge, floating slightly out of their inflated tube as they went down the drop. This time, both mares yelled. “WAAAA HOOOO!” Celestia’s sun was no longer in the middle of the sky, but it was still shining brightly over the land from its position closer west. The breeze that had been blowing through the park ceased, thus the sound of rattling leaves of the palm trees were removed from the ambience of rushing water and ponies having a fun time in the summer heat. One pony’s voice, however, was not being added to the fun ambience. Rainbow Dash continued to reserve her fun for a specific water slide in the park. She stood waiting for the Rainboom water slide to open so she could still claim the spot of being the first pony to ride it. She had been waiting for this day to come for over a week. Ever since she read the brochure for the water park she found in her mail box, she felt that the water park was practically calling her name. She felt especially excited about visiting when she read about the Rainboom speed slide within the brochure. The boring statistical facts that filled an entire page, the reviews from critics saying that the slides were too dangerous to be opened, and the one photo of the water park once being blanketed with morning fog, and the Rainboom slide tower was the only structure within the park that stuck out above the thick ground clouds. Since she was low on money, she thought she would travel with a group and pay them back at a later date when she had enough bits. She had first asked ponies in her weather patrol team that she thought might like to visit, but was turned down by all of them when some said they were going with their family and friends, and others said they were not going at all. She then turned to Applejack, who agreed if Rainbow assisted her in bucking apples from trees to make up for the time they would be gone. So Rainbow wasn’t left to go alone with just Applejack, she also went to Fluttershy. She, of course, refused to go when she saw the brochure and the many thrilling water slides that adorned its many pages. But Rainbow then mentioned about the lazy that was within the park, and told her that she didn’t have to ride the water slides if she didn’t want to. After that Fluttershy agreed to go. When the morning came, Rainbow woke up extra early to wake up her friends that would be accompanying her on the trip. Applejack was easy to get up due to her being a farmer that wakes up at the crack of dawn, and Fluttershy didn’t prove to be too difficult to get up as well. Unfortunately, Futtershy had to find somepony at the last minute to take care of the animals in her home while she was gone, which was what delayed the group from being early to getting to the park. They set off in a hurry after Fluttershy got Junebug to watch her cottage. By the time they arrived at the park, they found the enormous line to get in, and that’s where it all started. Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to waste a week of waiting for this day to come by not keeping her promise of being able to call herself the first rider on the Rainboom speed slide. She would be able to go back to her pegasi friends at the weather patrol and brag all about it in their faces and watch them feel bad for not going to the water park with her in the first place. That part was sure to be fun. Unfortunately, that part is starting to seem increasingly distant the longer she waits in front of the entrance for the park to repair the ‘leaky pipe’ that’s keeping the ride closed indefinitely. Rainbow’s frustration level continued to grow as she waited in front of the ride. She paced to and from the entrance to the slide, occasionally glancing upwards at the tall structure of fiberglass that stretched all the way from the top to the ground. Rainbow was still grunting and pacing, when she heard the sound of another pony approaching. She looked up to see an old stallion with an orange vest and a tool box walking toward the entrance to the slide. The top of his pale yellow striped mane was thinning, and his brown face was almost as wrinkly as Applejack’s grandmother, Granny Smith. He looked at Rainbow once he approached, and gave a warm smile. His accent was quite western and worn with his age. “We-he-hell, what do we have here? Somepony’s quite eager to be the first one on it, now isn’t she?!” Rainbow could already guess he was the pony responsible for getting the slide into operation, but wanted to be sure. “Uhh, I’m guessing you’re the mechanic that’s here to fix the ride, right?” “I sure am,” he said quite proudly. “I’m gonna get this puppy workin’ in no time, just you wait!” Rainbow was a little heated at the fact that the mechanic was now arriving to fix the slide. “I’ve been waiting here all morning for you to do your job. Where have you been?” she near-yelled back. “Now, calm down there, missy. I’m here now, aren’t I? Besides, you don’ have to wait for me to fix one slide for you to have fun; there are other slides in this park you can get on.” Rainbow Dash face-hoofed. This was the third time she was told that, and it’s gotten old fast. “Look, can you just get the slide going. Please?” she asked. “Alright, alright. I’ll see what I can do.” He ducked his head under the small hanging ‘closed for maintenance’ sign as he headed towards the back of the entrance, and disappear behind a bushel of trees to where the busted pipe must have been. Rainbow watched him as he left. She was still frustrated that somepony wasn’t working on it the entire time she was waiting at the entrance, but she also felt relieved that somepony was finally working on it. Maybe she was going to get to brag to her pegasi friends after all. “Come on, Fluttershy! You can do it!” “I… I can’t.” “Yes you can. Just do it, you’ll be fine. Trust me.” “I don’t know if… I just… it’s too big!” “No it’s not. You can handle it as easy as I did. It’s not that big.” “I… uh… oh dear!” “Just push yourself Fluttershy, come on!” “… uh… okay… here I come.” Fluttershy sat down and gently pushed herself forward on the slippery fiberglass surface. She rode down the dip and made a small splash in the 3 inch deep water. “I… I did it…” Fluttershy mused out-loud. “You sure did!” Lyra responded. Fluttershy stood back up and turned around to look back at her first water slide. It was a simple red water slide that started on a platform no taller than her head. After she moved out of the way, a little filly came down the small slide. Even though her first water slide was in a very shallow wading pool near the back of the waterpark and was built for fillies, she was proud of the fact that she rode one. “I really did it, didn’t I?” “I told you it would be alright,” Lyra said, trying her best to be supportive. “And the other slides are just like this one but longer, that’s all.” “Oh, well, if they’re not as bad as this, then I guess I wouldn’t mind trying another.” “That’s the spirit! There’s another I want you to try with me. It’s right over here.” Lyra started trotting in the direction of the next slide she wanted to get on with Fluttershy to help her get over her fear of them. Fluttershy thought to herself as she followed. “That wasn’t scary at all… that was… fun! I guess this is the excitement Rainbow was talking about when she wanted to get on the bigger slides. I can only imagine what it must be like to get on those.” Fluttershy looked at the other slides that were visible from the area she was in. She saw the water playground that had a large dump bucket that looked like a coconut on top of it, many built-in spray guns, and long colorful body slides that wound out of it and ended in a small pool of water. She observed another more thrilling slide near it where ponies shot out of a tunnel after picking up speed and slid around in circles on the inner-walls of a bowl shaped flume, before they would then slide down a hole in the middle of the bowl and fall into into a deep pool underneath. She also looked at the backside of the tall towering speed slide structure. She studied the tight curvatures of the yellow tunnels of the Filly Flashes, and the steep drop angle of the prismatic Rainboom slide. She wondered how much excitement those slides produced. Lyra stopped and began speaking to Fluttershy. “Okay, I know it’s quite a step up from what you just got off of, but I’m sure this one will be fun to try.” She then pointed to another water slide. The Swirling Hayseed was its name, and it was much different than the slide Fluttershy got off of. It was obviously larger too. The blue flume was very wide and it stretched a longer distance than most of the other water slides in the park. Riders came down the wide chute in groups bigger than two and were within large yellow circular rafts facing inward at each other. Fluttershy gazed at the large water slide, and felt her shivers return. “Oh… umm... are you sure about this?” Lyra stepped a little closer to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I want you to take a good look at the ponies occupying the next raft that comes down the slide.” Fluttershy glanced at where the slide ended in a pool. She saw a raft come around the last corner and ride down a small dip before splashing into the pool. There was a family inside the raft, and they were all smiling and laughing as they disembarked the circular raft. Two small fillies got out of the raft first before the parents did. “You see that Fluttershy?” Lyra pointed towards the happy family. “Those fillies and colts liked it. I’m sure you would too.” Fluttershy took notice of the young ponies. She signed before she spoke. “Okay. I guess I can try it.” Lyra grinned. “Really?” “...yes!” “Great, let’s go!” lyra lead Fluttershy towards the entrance and up the first flight of stairs that led to the top of the structure where riders boarded.
Ch. 4 "Pie Time!"“… He took a bite out of the food, so I told him ‘hey, that’s not pudding!’” Both Pinkie and Vinyl fell into hysterics at the story Vinyl told. Pinkie’s laugh was a little stronger, and had a few snorts mixed in with it. Pinkie had a hard time speaking while she was still giggling. “Then what… what did he… what did he say after you said that?” Vinyl was still laughing as well. “Ha ha! He- he didn’t say anything. He just ran to the nearest bathroom!” Both broke out into a second wave of hysterical laughter. Pinkie nearly collapsed on the stairs as she laughed herself to tears, and Vinyl leaned on the railing due to her legs weakening from hard laughter. They both stood in line for another water slide they planned to board. They had gotten to catch up on interesting things that happened in each other’s lives as they waited. Vinyl told Pinkie a story about a prank she played on another customer of a restaurant she visited while she was in Canterlot on her tour as the famous DJ Pon-3. The laughing soon started to ease as the joke died away. Pinkie wiped a tear away before she spoke. “Hehe! Oh, Wow, I haven’t laughed that hard in quite a while!” Vinyl was calming down from her laughing fit as well. “Heh, well, you should have been there. I couldn’t stop laughing about it afterwards. It was just too funny!” Just then, two ponies trotted up to them from the bottom of the staircase. Pinkie recognized both and smiled at them. Before she greeted them, though, she noticed one of the ponies in particular and gasped. “Fluttershy?! Is that you?!” Pinkie asked, quite surprised to see the usually timid pegasus getting in line for the Swirling Hayseed with Lyra. Fluttershy tilted her head at Pinkie’s words. “Uhh, yes it is Pinkie.” “Wow, you’re getting in line for a water slide?” Pinkie asked, still surprised. Lyra responded to her question. “She sure is. I’m getting her to try a few after I met her at the lazy river. She’s already been on a smaller one and she seemed to like it, so we’re stepping it up a bit.” “Well, I’m sure Fluttershy’s gonna love this one. It’s big, and it’s fun, and we can all ride together!” Pinkie beamed at those last words before she turned to Vinyl. “You don’t mind if they ride with us, do you?” Vinyl waved a dismissive hoof towards her. “Not at all, Pinks!” Lyra glanced at the white unicorn that was with Pinkie. She believed that she's seen her before somewhere, but couldn’t quite put a hoof on where. Suddenly, the thought dawned on her faster than the speed it takes Rainbow Dash to clear a sky full of clouds. Lyra gasped. “Oh my goodness! You’re- you’re DJ Pon-3!” Vinyl Scratch noticed Lyra’s excitement and smiled. “The one and only!” Lyra was bubbling with excitement. “Wow! I can’t believe it! It’s really you! I have all of your CD’s! You’re my favorite DJ, ever!” Vinyl chuckled at Lyra’s enthusiasm. “Hehe, it’s nice to bump into a fan of my work!” “But, where are your purple glasses?” Lyra asked. “Don’t you usually wear them?” “I didn’t want the chlorine in the water to ruin them. So I didn’t wear them today.” Lyra tilted her head slightly while looking at Vinyl Scratch. “Wow, I’ve never seen you without your glasses. I almost didn’t recognize you at first.” The four ponies continued to talk and move forward in line, until they finally got to the top and waited for a raft. Rafts were lifted to the top by a lift since they were too large to carry up the stairs by hoof. Once their raft was set in the small pool of water, the lifeguard directed them to get in. All four ponies got on opposite sides of the raft and faced inwards while sitting on their flanks. Fluttershy started to shiver once she sat down, which was an action that didn’t go unnoticed by the pink earth pony sitting to her left. Pinkie didn’t know whether it was from what was about to come, or whether it was from the cool temperature of the water that seeped into the raft. Pinkie went with the first guess anyways. “Don’t worry Fluttershy, you’re gonna love this! Trust me!” Fluttershy smiled at Pinkie’s attempt to calm her down. “Okay… if you say so.” Once a stoplight signaled green, the lifeguard nudged their raft out of the station and onto the fiberglass flume. Applejack’s vision became less blurred as she stirred from her long day slumber. She stretched out all four hooves while giving a great big yawn, and then adjusted her cowpony hat so it wasn’t in the way of her vision. She stood on all four hooves and surveyed the land around her, taking note of the sun’s change of position while she had snoozed. “Well, I’m plenty rested,” she said to herself. “Might as well go find somethin’ ta eat.” Applejack slung her saddlebag with her bits over her back and began to trot away to find a place to eat. “I wonder how the others are doin’,” she mused to herself. Rainbow Dash continued to wait outside of the Rainboom water slide’s entrance for the mechanic to fix the leaky pipe and open the slide. As normal as that sounded, something was off. Rainbow was no longer pacing back and forward and grunting every few minutes for the slide to open. Instead, she was trotting quickly in one spot. Her forehead had small droplets of sweat forming and falling down her face, and her eyes were wide and wildly dancing. She clenched her jaw shut as small whimpers escaped her mouth from between her teeth. “Holditholditholditholditholdit!” she continuously told to herself in her head. “You can’t go now, the ride’s about to be fixed. You can’t leave your spot! You just can’t! You can’t! You-” Rainbow stopped pacing and her eyes went to pin pricks. “… uh oh!” Before Rainbow realized it, she was galloping full speed away from her spot and towards the nearest restroom. She wasn’t able to think clearly enough to take off the wing restraining vest, which doing so would have allowed her to fly there. “HOLDITHOLDITHOLDITHOLDIT,” she yelled as she zoomed past park guests. She galloped full-speed over a bridge, past a few vendors, and made a few turns before she spotted the little filly’s room and busted through the door. Water sprayed everywhere when the group rode through another turn on the long raft slide. Their raft would repeatedly ride down another dip before riding up the curvature of yet another turn as they progressed further and further down the flume and closer to the end. Pinkie was whooping and throwing her hooves into the air, Vinyl and Lyra were laughing at how much water continued to soak everypony around each turn, and Fluttershy held on the edge of the raft for dear life. All riders were tossed and turned, and their boat spun around along the way which gave everypony on board the chance ride forwards, backwards, and sideways. The raft came around one more high banked turn and rode down another dip before the raft finally reached the end with a splash. It floated across the pool to where a lifeguard pony stopped it to allow the riders to disembark safely. Pinkie and Vinyl were the first to get out, and they did so while laughing at how soaked they got on the ride and how droopy their manes looked. Soon, their attention turned back to the raft for them to see Lyra assisting the yellow pegasus in slowly disembarking the boat. Her mane covered her eyes due to the amount of water that had splashed all over her. Pinkie was the first to ask her the question on every other pony’s mind. “So, Fluttershy. How was it?” Fluttershy delayed her response and spoke very softly. “…it.” Pinkie cocked an ear towards her. “Yes?” “…was.” “Uh-huh?” Fluttershy brushed her mane from her eyes before she continued. “… That was… The most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced!” Fluttershy lit up significantly while giving her response. She extended her wings, raised her voice a little, and smiled wide. “I’m still buzzing with joy! I can’t believe how exciting that was! There was so much water going everywhere, and I was afraid I was going to fall out! It... It was so much fun!” “Woo Hoo! Glad to hear you loved it Fluttershy!” Pinkie cheered at her friend before she put a hoof around Fluttershy’s neck. “Yeah,” Lyra inserted. “It’s great to hear you liked it. I told you ya would!” “You guys were right,” Fluttershy responded. “They are fun! I can’t wait to ride the next one!” Suddenly, everypony was able to hear a loud and disturbing growl noise. Fluttershy’s excitement vanished immediately, and she ducked behind Pinkie after hearing the grotesque sound pierce the air. “W-what was that?!” she asked while shivering. Vinyl put a hoof on her stomach. “Hehe! Sorry! I guess we should eat before we get back on any rides, huh?” Fluttershy stepped from behind Pinkie and blushed. “Oh, um, eating does sound nice,” she said in her normal inside voice. “Okay then, time to eat everypony!” Pinkie said as she started trotting away, leading the group to where the concession stands were. As they walked, Fluttershy looked back at the water slide she just got off of. She smiled at her accomplishment in having fun in a much different way that she had planned before she came, and she was glad to have friends that helped push her into finding that new way of having fun. Fluttershy then directed her attention to the Rainboom. She was eager to hear any stories that Rainbow Dash might have of riding that slide. “It sure has been a while since I’ve seen Rainbow. I wonder how many times she’s been on the slide.” Rainbow Dash opened the door and stepped out of the restroom with a big sigh. “Ah, now that that’s over, time to get back in li-” She stopped mid-word once she saw the mechanic that was supposed to be fixing the Rainboom and Filly Flashes walk past the restroom with his tool box. “HEY!” Rainbow yelled as she galloped to the old earth pony and stand in front of him, blocking him from wherever he was going to go. “Where do you think you’re going?” “I’m going to get me a meal,” he said. “I’m starvin’.” Rainbow felt the urge to spread her wings to float above him in a threatening way, but couldn’t thanks to the vest she forgot to remove. She pointed a hoof at the mechanic instead. “Not until you go back and fix the Rainboom.” “But I did.” “I said go back and… Wait, what did you just say?” The old man continued. “After I replaced the pipe, I came out to tell you that I fixed the slide. But you weren’t there for some odd reason. Where were you?” Rainbow didn’t know what to say. First she was shocked, then she was happy, then she was absolutely euphoric and nearly on the verge of giving this old-timer a hug. She smiled an ear-to-ear grin before continuing. “You fixed it?! You fixed the Rainboom?! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it! I’m finally gonna get to be the first to ride the Rainboom!” “Well, I don’t know about bein’ first though.” Rainbow’s mood quickly changed to one of questioning. “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” The old man enlightened her. “Listen, if’n you want to be one of the first, ya’ll better high-tail it over there. Word got out fast, and ponies are linin’ up as we speak.” Rainbow’s brain locked-up and she froze in place with a twisted expression on her face over the dreaded realization of the situation at hoof. The old mechanic was nearly blown back by the ludicrous speed the cyan pegasus took off past him. “No, no, no-no-no-nonononono!” She sped past more ponies and eventually spotted the slide. This time, it was alive with water that flowed down the chute. Past the water slide, she spotted the unmistakable rainbow colored mushroom cloud painting that adorned the large sign above the entrance to the Rainboom. There were now fewer vests on the rack available for pegasi. The ‘closed for maintenance’ sign was no where to be found. Worst of all, a plethora of thrill-seeking multicolored ponies had filled the line from behind the entrance sign, all the way up the long and winding spiral staircase to the top. Rainbow decelerated her gallop until she was trotting slowly. She looked up at the full line with her mouth and eyes wide open as she slowly walked closer and closer to the entrance to where the back of the line started. She was moving at a snails pace by the time she crossed under the large sign and stopped behind the pony in front of her waiting to get on. Rainbow flopped down upon her flank and continued to stare at the top of the structure and the line that wound into it. Tears started to well up in her eyes, and her mouth was open with her bottom lip quivering. She sat dumbfounded from the back of the line of the finally-opened Rainboom water slide. She was no longer able to claim the title of the first pony to conquer the tallest, fastest, most awesomest water slide in Equestria. Some lucky pony at the front took that spot instead. Once the painful lump in her throat lessened, she uttered two words that summed up the way she felt about this situation. “…no… fair.” Applejack watched as her food was being processed. She had gone for a simple slice of apple pie to satisfy her hunger, which required the cook that maintained the stand to make a whole new batch and let it cook in the oven. The stall Applejack was at was located at the concession stands area of the park near the front, but off to the right and hidden within a large semi-circle of trees. Here, ponies could take a break from all the watery fun and grab something to eat and drink. The stalls were lined up side by side and offered a variety of food like ice cream, sandwiches, pie, and pizza to name a few. The stalls were themed to look like thatch buildings from a tropical island, complete with straw roof, bamboo framework, and stone walls. Applejack stood at the counter of the pie stall with her saddlebag full of bits she brought to spend on essentials like the park admission (which she never got to use thanks to Pinkie), and food. No bits were going to be unnecessarily sacrificed for souvenirs and gifts, and she made that clear to both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy before they left Ponyville to come to the park. Applejack continued to wait for the pie to cook in the oven behind the counter. during the wait, she looked at her surroundings. She looked at the wooden tables that were scattered around in front of the stalls, and she looked at the many groups of ponies that occupied most of the tables. Many were sitting on hay bundles and either conversing with each other or were simply enjoying their meals. Her attention started at a table that had a yellow mane, grey coat pegasus that was conversing with a brown mane, light brown coat earth pony stallion. Then her attention moved to a very old stallion with a metal red box he set on top of the table next to his food. Then her attention moved to a group of 4 ponies that were walking towards the stalls to order food. Applejack easily recognized two of the ponies within the new group. She smiled and waved a hoof at them to get their attention, which worked since the pink earth pony of the group smiled back and began to trot in her direction with the group in tow. Applejack spoke first. “Pinkie pie! Fluttershy! How’s the park been?” “It’s been super duper fun,” Pinkie gleefully answered. “And you’ll never guess what we did!” “And what’s that?” Lyra spoke up this time. “We got Fluttershy to try a water slide with us.” Applejack beamed at hearing the news. “Well I’ll be! That’s somethin’ ya don’t hear every day!” She turned towards Fluttershy. “How was it Fluttershy?” Fluttershy was softly blushing at everyone’s comment on her accomplishment in riding a water slide. She didn’t hide her enthusiasm when she explained her thoughts though. “It was really fun! Scary, but fun!” She spoke a little louder then her usual inside voice, which clearly showed that she was still feeling quite energetic from the slide. “We all came off super soaked,” she chuckled. “Well I’m proud to be hearing you finally tryin’ something new Shy!” Applejack smiled warmly at Fluttershy as she said that. “Say, why don’t I treat everyone to a freshly baked apple pie ta celebrate?” Pinkie, Vinyl, and Lyra shared agreeing nods with each other at Applejack’s offer. “Sounds great! I’m starved,” Vinyl responded. Applejack turned around and told the cook that she would be purchasing the whole pie instead of just one slice. Right when she did so, the cook removed the thoroughly-cooked apple pie from the oven, placed it in a cardboard box, and brought it to the counter. Applejack paid for the pie and slid it onto her back to carry to a table. Before they set off, Fluttershy said, “Oh. Umm, you guys can start without me. I’m, uh, going to go use the little filly’s room.” “Okay Fluttershy,” Applejack responded. “But ya’ll better hurry back before this here pie gets cold… or your slice gets eaten.” She glanced at the white unicorn when she spoke those last few words. Vinyl had been mesmerized by the pie ever since it left the oven, not taking her eyes off of it. She also had her mouth open and was near to drooling when she was able to get a whiff of the apple flavor in it. Once Applejack said what she said and glanced at her though, Vinyl snapped out of her daze and put a hoof behind her head. “Hehe, don’t worry Shy, I won’t eat your slice.” At that, Fluttershy smiled and started walking in the direction where the restrooms were believed to be. The other four went to find a table to sit down at and start eating. Fluttershy took another glance back at the group, whose attention was no longer on her. She turned another direction and started trotting down a path that did not lead to the little filly’s room.
Ch. 5 "The View"The line to get to the top of the Rainboom was undoubtedly very slow. It took Rainbow an agonizingly long time to get to her point near the top of the structure. She had already gone through the majority of the long wooden staircase that wound up and around the supports that held up the platform to where the Rainboom and Filly Flashes speed slides started. She only had one more flight of stairs to go until she reached the top. She was still slightly upset by the fact that other ponies had been on the Rainboom slide before her, but she set that fact aside and looked forward to a new goal to reach. She was going to claim the title of being one of many ponies that rode Equestria’s tallest, fastest, most awesomest water slide on opening day! Sure that title didn’t seem as grandiose as the first title, but she accepted the fact that she couldn’t do anything about it anymore and went with it. Besides, all that really mattered was that she was finally going to be able to ride the slide. Rainbow Dash admired the view from how high up she was on the structure and how far across the Equestrian land she was able to see. She was able to look downwards toward a crevice between trees to where a river full of ponies lazily drifted along in their personal doughnut shaped rafts. Looking further forward, there was a large blue family raft ride with groups of ponies that slid down the wide flume in large yellow circular rafts. Further was the tall fence with big magical probes in it, then there was the forest of green trees that stretched all the way into the horizon. If one looked far enough, they could see the distant sky-scraping buildings of the city of Manehattan. Dash closed her eyes and bathed in the breeze that blew through her mane and past her face. The wind was no longer felt from the ground thanks to the trees, but it was as clear as day when high up above the ground. She was used to feeling the wind while being so high up whenever she rested on a cloud, but it didn’t feel the same when she was on a freakishly tall free-standing structure and unable to fly thanks to the vest she had on. Slowly, the blissful experience died away as that last thought lingered around in her head little longer than she would like to admit. She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at the protective vest that she had on. She made an attempt to tug her wings outwards, but they were barely able to move under the waterproof material that kept them locked to her body. She never thought about this, but she was usually comfortable with high heights because her wings would be able to redirect, slow, and even reverse her direction of descent if she were to ever plummet from the sky. If she were to fall now, she wouldn’t be able to get the vest off in time to save herself. Not being able to use her wings, and standing on a pony-built surface hundreds of feet away from the ground started to take a toll on her and make her feel uncomfortable. Her legs felt a little stiffer and nervousness started to settle in the pit of her stomach. She took a big gulp as she looked over the edge of the railing on the staircase and looked down. She took notice of the colorful ants that slowly grew to look like ponies as she traced the staircase from the ground up with her eyes. She also took a guess at how long it would take to reach the floor if she were to spit, throw something off, or even… even… She quickly pulled her head back and faced forward. Sweat had formed on her head and her eyes were pin pricks. She felt more and more suffocated and claustrophobic the more the vest that was still zipped up on her body stayed on. It no longer felt like a vest meant to keep her wings safe from harm during the slide. It felt more like a device that kept her from saving herself from an inevitable fall. “Okay Rainbow, calm down,” Rainbow Dash softly told herself. “This is ridiculous. You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine. You don’t need your wings. You don’t need to worry at all.” As she continued to initiate self-therapy, she felt herself ease a little. “Yeah! Besides, this thing is completely solid. It would take quite a few ponies to knock down this thing, let alone make it budge.” A stronger gust of wind blew, and the top of the tower was forced 6 inches in the direction of the breeze. Rainbow felt it. It wasn’t strong enough to make her lose her balance, but she did have to brace herself from tilting over and falling on her face embarrassingly. She regained her stance as she began shivering uncontrollably. “… I tried ta pick up playing the violin in school, but I just couldn’t hold the darn thing right.” Applejack held up her hooves like she was ready to play a musical instrument. “I think my hooves were too big ta roll on the strings. Most other fillies that were playin’ it had smaller hooves than me. Course when you’re workin’ in a field buckin’ apples from trees, you’ll need a good set of hooves ta keep your balance and knock even the most stubborn of apples down.” Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Vinyl Scratch, and Lyra were sitting at a wooden table near the tropical themed concession stands and conversing about musical instruments they may have played when they were younger and in school. Pinkie spoke next. “Well, I started playing the drums when I was in school. Oh, and I also started playing the trombone. Oh, and the tuba; and the flute; and the accordion; and the harmonica; and the guitar, which helped me later when I started playing the banjo, the double bass, and the-” “I think we get it, Pinkie!” interrupted Applejack, who had begun to get more irritated as more instruments were listed by the apparently gifted pink earth pony. Vinyl stifled a giggle. “Wow Pinkie, you must have had a lot of time on your hand to learn all those instruments!” “Oh, learning how to play each one was easy-peasy and took no time at all,” she responded with a wave of the hoof. “What wasn’t easy was the time I had to play many of them at once. I was helping my grandmother remove parasprites from the rock farm I lived on when I learned to play them all at once. You should have seen her play them. She was a pro! I guess being able to play musical instruments so easily runs in the family. I even got one of my sisters to play a musical instrument, and she learned it quick.” “What instrument was that?” asked Lyra, who was listening intently. “I got her to pick up a cello one day,” Pinkie answered. “She played that instrument ever since then. She got really good the last time I saw her. I haven’t heard from her for quite a while, but I heard from my mother that she’s really good at it now; even playing it at certain fancy parties.” Vinyl started to get curious to who Pinkie’s sister was when Pinkie explained her sister’s current occupation. “What was her name, Pinkie?” she asked. “I always called her Inky because of her black mane and grey coat. I think she later changed her name though because she didn’t like it. I can’t remember what her name is now.” Pinkie looked up and tapped a hoof on her chin in thought. “Gosh, what was it? It’s right on the tip of my tongue.” Vinyl perked at hearing the description of the mystery pony. “Wait. She has a black mane and tail, and a grey coat? Do you think by any chance she, I dunno, wears a pink bowtie and has a treble cleft as a cutie mark?” Pinkie smiled at Vinyl and pointed a hoof. “You know what, I think she does!” “Does Octavia Philharmonica ring any bells?" Pinkie continued to ponder hard, until she gave up entirely. "No, not really. But if you see her, ask her if she knows me." "Will do," Vinyl responded before she took a swig through her straw from her plastic cup. Lyra then brought up a new topic. "I wonder what's taking Fluttershy so long. She's been gone for quite a while. Her slice is probably cold by now." She looked at a slice of apple pie that was still in the cardboard box on top of a tin pie plate on the table. It had been sitting there untouched for quite a while after the other ponies had eaten their slices. "I dunno," Applejack responded, now also realizing how long Fluttershy had been gone. "It isn't like her to be gone this long... Unless she's... Well, ya know... really busy." Lyra and Pinkie looked towards Applejack with a look of slight disgust at the thought. Vinyl Scratch had a difficult time holding in her laughs as she chuckled out loud and nearly spat out her drink. Obviously she had a different sense of humor. A.J. continued. "Uhh, sorry everypony. But somepony should go check on her just in case." "I'll go," Pinkie volunteered. "I need to use the bathroom anyways. Be right back." At that, she sat up from her soft bundle of hay and hopped off to find the restroom. When Pinkie was out of ear shot, Vinyl spoke up. "Ya know, that description Octavia gave me of a hyper pink pony she once met is starting to sound more and more like Pinkie." "Well, how many hyper pink ponies do ya know?" Applejack asked sarcastically, before following up with a serious question. "Wait, she talked to you about Pinkie Pie?" "If she was the one that messed up her performance at one of the princess' Grand Galloping Galas, then yes she has talked about her. She'll never forget that night, and she’ll never listen to or perform the ‘Pony Polka’ ever again." Applejack remembered the Grand Galloping Gala Vinyl spoke of. She was there selling freshly baked apple flavored food. When she wheeled her food cart into a ballroom, she found Pinkie Pie attempting to throw a rave for the high class ponies to dance to; which they all refused. After an unsuccessful stage dive by the pink pony, and a destroyed ballroom minutes later, the two and the rest of her friends bolted out of the castle. This was something Applejack never wanted to relive, but the images of the gala were still vivid in her head like it happened the day before. Applejack sheepishly avoided eye contact with Vinyl Scratch. “Heh, must’ve been some wild party, huh?” “Alright, dudes! Lay back, cross your hooves across your chest, and wait for me to tell you when to go.” Aqua Splash, a lifeguard with green mane that covered his eyes and a silver colored coat that adorned his body, was in charge of sending ponies down the park’s three most intense water slides. During his shift, he had already seen strongly enthusiastic ponies, ready-to-break-down-and-cry ponies, and calmer-than-a-summer-breeze ponies come up to him in hopes of conquering the slide. Everypony who did make it to the top and made it to where Aqua Splash was standing have ridden the slide; even the nervous ponies who were ready to shamefully walk back down in opposition to facing their fears. He had a very special secondary talent of being able to convince ponies to try things they might be reluctant about trying. His main talent was being able to hold his breath underwater for an ungodly amount of time. He brushed his mane out of the way of his eyes and looked over the edge of the wooden railing. He looked out to the three lanes that were far from reach where the sliders would end up when they went down the slide, and then looked at another lifeguard that sat on a high lifeguard chair at the end of the lanes. A few beats passed before the two outer lanes that connected to the Filly Flashes tunnel slides simultaneously exploded like water cannons, with one pony coming out of each tunnel and making a big splash as they slowed to a stop. Aqua Splash saw them reach the end and glanced at the other lifeguard, who pointed back at him once she saw the riders slowly stumble out of their lanes. He turned around and addressed the ponies sitting in the tubs for the slides they were ready to experience. “All clear, dudes! Go for it!” At once, two ponies that were sitting in front of the small tunnel entrances to the Filly Flashes flung themselves into the tunnel, making sure to ride on their backs with their back hooves leading. The one pony in the tub for the Rainboom gently scooted himself further and further until he reached the edge where he laid back, crossed his front hooves, and let gravity take care of the rest. A fading scream was audible a second after he disappeared over the edge. Aqua then turned to the ponies still waiting in line. The staircase had a rope split it into two so ponies who waited for each slide had their own separate lines to wait in. “Okay, dudes and dudettes. Park your flanks to the slide of your choice.” A teenage stallion and a mare quickly trotted from the left line to the entrances of the Filly Flashes and sat in front of the tunnel entrances, replacing the ponies that were there moments ago. Another mare, who wore a pegasus wing restraining vest and was next in line for the Rainboom, was very hesitant in going towards the tub that connected to the free fall slide. Aqua watched as the prismatic mane, cyan coat colored pegasus trotted near the tub and stared over the edge to try to see where the slide ended. Much to her disappointment, the slide was too high and too steep to be able to see the bottom. Aqua was wondering what was wrong, until he saw her take a step back wide eyed and shiver. He smirked, knowing exactly what fear looked like on a pony. “Excuse me, ma’am?” He said to the pegasus. She turned to look at him and he continued. “I really think you should consider riding the slide. It’s awesome, trust me! I’ve already been on it, like, 3 times.” The pegasus noticeably eased after hearing from somepony who’s already been down the slide multiple times, but she was still shaking a little from her fears getting the best of her. She gave a nervous smile before she spoke up. “Heh, I’m usually not this nervous about heights; with me being a pegasus and all.” “Yeah, but it’s not the height that’s got you is it?” He asked like he was reading her mind. Before he let her speak, he answered his question with another question. “It’s the falling your afraid of, right?” The nervous smile faded from the mare, and she looked down to the wooden floorboards. “It’s my wings,” she said. “This vest I got on just doesn’t feel right. I hate the way it keeps my wings down. I feel like I can’t save myself from falling if I were to drop.” “But you don’t need your wings for this. You’re perfectly safe on top of this thing.” Aqua gave a comforting smile before continuing. “Think of what it’s like to spend the entire day up here like I do. I’m sure you’ve felt the tower sway at least once while you waited.” Rainbow thought for a little, before she softly chucked to herself and put a hoof behind her head. “Yeah, I guess you have it worse than me.” Aqua chuckled a little as well. “Well, I still seriously think you should try it. It sure is a lot less intimidating than the FF slides there.” He pointed a hoof towards one of the two ponies that were still waiting to go down the Filly Flashes slide. “Those things are much more intense than the Rainboom, and they take longer too. I’m not much of a fan of small pitch-black tunneled speed slides. This slide though is quick, gentle, and over with before you know it.” The blue mare looked at the two teenage ponies waiting to go down the Flashes, and wondered what they might think of the slides after they rode it. She looked back at Aqua Splash, who was glancing over the edge of the railing at the lifeguard at the bottom. Aqua looked back at the nervous mare before he spoke. “The slide’s clear. It’s now or never.” He gestured towards the two ponies at the Filly Flashes, who then took off down the yellow tunneled flumes yelling and whooping. The nervous mare looked in all directions, lost in thought whether she should go or not. After she looked down and bit her bottom lip, she looked forward with confidence. “Alright. I’ll do it.” Aqua only nodded, and gestured towards the tub full of constantly gushing water that started the Rainboom. The mare trotted into the tub and sat down in it. “Okay,” Aqua said. “When you go, lie down on your back and cross your front hooves across your chest.” The mare nodded at him, before scooting on her flank across the slippery fiberglass surface. Her rear hooves started pitching downward along with the slide, and at that she laid back, crossed her hooves, closed her eyes, and dropped. Pinkie trotted quickly back to her friends at the wooden table in the concession stands area. She wore an expression of pure worry, and was even starting to sweat. This was unusual for the energetic pink pony, who was usually seen hopping around with a smile on her face. She turned at a familiar corner, before she saw her group sitting around the rectangular wooden table and sitting on hay bundles. She quickened her pace to get to them faster. Vinyl noticed her approaching and was about to greet her, until she saw the look on Pinkie’s face. “Hey Pinks, what’s wrong?” Applejack and Lyra looked at the party pony once they heard what Vinyl asked. Pinkie was breathing unusually heavier than normal and looked very worried about something. “Girls,” she finally said. “I can’t find Fluttershy anywhere.” Lyra put a hoof to her mouth, giving an unaudible gasp at hearing what Pinkie said. Vinyl and Applejack just gave Pinkie a questioning look. “What do ya mean ya can’t find her ‘anywhere?’” Applejack asked. “I can’t find her anywhere!” Pinkie looked on the verge of freaking out. “I’ve looked in and around the bathrooms but she’s not there. I’ve even asked a few ponies if they’ve seen her and they all said no.” “That is odd,” AJ responded. “But I don’t think we should worry too much. I’m sure she’ll show up eventually. Maybe she went back in that lazy river.” “I don’t know,” Lyra spoke up. “I don’t think it would be normal for a pony to leave the bathroom and head straight for a lazy river. Do you guys even know how cold the water is in there?” “So what should we do?” Vinyl asked “Should we go look for her just in case or something?” Applejack gave it some thought before responding. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt. Sun’s gettin’ low, so the park’s probably gonna’ close soon.” Applejack stood up to give orders. “Lyra, you check back at the lazy river. Vinyl and Pinkie, ya’ll head back to the water slide ya’ll said ya rode with her, and check the back side of the park as well. I’ll search around the front-half of the park. When one of us finds her, report back to the other. Understood?.” Everypony saluted and then trotted off to their assigned locations for the search of the yellow pegasus.
Ch. 7 "The Climax"“Ready... set... GO!” At the last word, three more ponies scurried themselves down the tunnels and flume of the Filly Flashes and Rainboom speed slides. Aqua Splash looked over the edge of the railing to watch the pony on the Rainboom reach the slow-down lane at the end and splash first before the ponies in the Filly Flashes did. He turned back around to address more waiting ponies. “Alright, who’s up next?” Three ponies immediately came forward and went to their designated water slides. One of the ponies with a wing restraining vest that went to one of the Filly Flashes didn’t immediately sit down once she got to the tunnel entrance. She glanced over the railing to observe what she was in for. Shivers were sent down her legs, and it was easily picked up by Aqua. Rainbow Dash trotted everywhere. She went to the palm tree that Applejack was supposed to be napping at, she went to the concession stands where she expected Pinkie to be eating, and she went to a few entrances to the lazy river expecting to eventually bump into Fluttershy. She couldn’t find anypony anywhere. She was now on her way to the last lazy river entrance, where she’ll hopefully bump into somepony she knows. She reached her destination, and did not find any of her companions. “Shoot! Where are they?” She then saw a familiar green mint colored unicorn standing near the lazy river water and trotted up to her. “Hey, have you seen a yellow timid pegasus anywhere?” Lyra, the green mint pony, responded. “You mean Fluttershy?” Rainbow nodded. “Yeah. Wow, I thought I’d have to be more descriptive than that!” “I’m helping your friends look for her,” Lyra responded. She went back to observing ponies that went through the lazy river. “She left to go to the bathroom a while back and we haven’t seen her since.” Many questions bombarded Rainbow’s mind at that moment, but one stood out that she had to ask. “Wait, Fluttershy is missing?” “Yes,” Lyra responded. “We split up to search for her. Applejack is searching the front-half of the park, and Pinkie and Vinyl are searching the back.” “Vinyl? Vinyl who?” “Vinyl Scratch. You know, the famous DJ Pon-3?” Rainbow looked surprised. “Wow, she’s here? I haven’t seen her ever since... well, I can’t remember. Anyways, when was the last time you saw her?” “She said she needed to use the restroom a while ago, and we let her go while the rest of us ate. We haven’t seen her since.” Lyra faced Rainbow. “Pinkie looked in the bathrooms already and said she wasn’t in there. After that, we split up to search the park for her before it closed.” Rainbow now began to feel worried for the yellow pegasus. Knowing that she had been gone for a while is very unusual. She must be scared out of her mind if she’s lost in this park, or worse. Just then, both Lyra and Rainbow could hear distant hoof clops getting closer. They turned to see Pinkie and Vinyl galloping full-speed toward their direction. They stopped to catch their breath once they reached Rainbow and Lyra. Pinkie tried to speak between gasps of air.”You guys... we think... we think...” “Go on,” said Rainbow. Vinyl caught enough breath to talk more coherently. “We think... we found Fluttershy.” Rainbow and Lyra perked at hearing the news. “Where is she?” Lyra asked. Pinkie was finally able to speak more coherently as well. “Uhh... we can’t say she’s there for sure... but it sure did look like her.” “Yeah, go ahead. Tell us,” Rainbow said quickly, tired of waiting to know where she was. Vinyl gave them the answer. “She’s in line for the Rainboom.” “You guys ready to slide?” Aqua Splash asked all three riders. All sliders responded by saying “ready,” except for the nervous pony, who closed her eyes and took a big gulp. Aqua took this as a chance to speak to her. “You’re a brave pony, you know that?” The nervous pegasus turned to look at Aqua Splash as he continued. “For riding the slide, of course. It’s a pretty intense one. For some, it’s too intense. But I’m sure anypony who’s never tried something like it should do it at least once so they know what it’s like. Have you been on the Daring Do-Over slide here yet?” The pegasus shook her head slowly. “Good, because it’s like this, but much smaller and less intense. Once you’ve been on this slide or that, you wouldn’t need to try the other.” “How sure are ya?” asked Applejack. “It looked just like her when we saw her,” responded Vinyl. “I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m very sure it’s Fluttershy.” Applejack looked toward Rainbow Dash and Lyra, who both shrugged. They obviously don’t know whether to believe Pinkie and Vinyl on something that just doesn’t sound like what Fluttershy would do. Applejack looked back towards Pinkie and Vinyl. “If we go to the slide, do ya’ll think we’ll see her come off of it?” “Probably,” responded Pinkie. “We should get going fast though, she was near the top when we last saw her.” “Alright, let’s find out,” Applejack said as she started trotting in the direction of where the Rainboom slide was. The other four ponies followed along behind her. Aqua heard a faint splashing noise, and looked over the railing to see that the two ponies that were in the Filly Flashes had made it to the end. The lifeguard pony at the bottom pointed to Aqua, and Aqua signaled back. He then turned towards the nervous mare. “Okay time to slide everypony,” he called out to everypony ready to go down their chosen slide. All the sliders, except the nervous pegasus, sent themselves down their slides. Aqua took a few steps closer to the mare to help talk her into going down. “Look, just clear your mind of anything you might be thinking of,” He said. “You waited in a long line to get on this ride, and I’m sure you’d hate to go back down the same steps. Just go for it, and don’t think about anything. Trust me.” The pegasus looked back at the tunnel entrance into the dark depths of the Filly Flash water slide. Water constantly splashed out of an opening on the tunnel edge and down into the darkness that is the tunnel. She then walked toward the slide entrance and sat down. Her long pink mane touched the floor when she did so. She took a deep breath and slowly released it before saying something. “When somepony shows intimidation...” She grabbed the edges of the tunnel entrance. “... show no cessation.” She closed her eyes and flung herself into the tunnel. Applejack, Vinyl Scratch, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Lyra Heartstrings stood waiting behind a fence beside the slow-down lanes of the Rainboom and Filly Flashes speed slides. They expected to see a yellow pegasus to come screaming down the Rainboom slide at any moment. So far, they’ve only seen one stallion scream his head off as he rocketed into a big splash finale. “I just don’t know what we’re doing here,” Rainbow Dash said. “Fluttershy would never get on something like this. I should be out trying to find her right now.” “Rainbow, we’ve already covered the entire water park,” Lyra responded to the impatient pegasus. "We couldn't find her anywhere else, so this is the last place to look." Just then, a pony shot out of the Filly Flashes tunnel nearest to the group and made a big splash as he stopped in the slow-down lane. The pony sat up from the lane and wobbled a little, before he stumbled his way out of the flume with a silly grin on his face. As he passed the five ponies, he softly uttered "woah!" All five mares watched as the shaken stallion continued trotting away from the slide. Rainbow was the first to react. "Wow! I should have tried that slide instead!" Fluttershy pressed her crossed hooves as hard against her chest as she could while she bolted through the flume on her back at a violent speed, constantly accelerating the further she slid. She would rocket through a helix with screaming speeds and pull g-forces that would melt her face against her skull and plaster her body against the walls of the flume. When she would transition into an opposite directional turn, water would be kicked up and splashed in her face, causing her to close her eyes in the already pitch-black tunnel. She peeked through her eye lids and saw a faint glimmer of light, before she changed directions again and had water splashed in her face, forcing her to shut her eyes again. Applejack was able to hear a faint sound of rushing water coming from the Filly Flashes tunnel furthest away from them. It steadily grew and grew until it was noticable by the other ponies. “Here comes somepony,” Applejack addressed to her friends. The five ponies carefully watched what was going to come from the exit of the dark tunnel that wound it’s way in zig-zags and helixes to the top of the structure far from them. Suddenly, the tunnel exploded water out of it’s end like a cannon. A faint yellow object could be seen within the watery mess. It reached half-way through the slow-down lane before it finally stopped completely and rested. “Hey! I think that was Fluttershy!” yelled Pinkie, while jumping and pointing pointing. “Well I’ll be,” said Applejack with a smile. “I think I saw her too! Ta think Fluttershy would get on something like this! Woo-wee!” The group continued to stare at the yellow fiberglass lane, expectant on somepony to eventually rise out of the water and reveal them self. A beat skipped, and nopony emerged. Rainbow called out to the mysterious pony. “Fluttershy...? Is that you...?” No answer. The lifeguard near the slide blew her whistle and crossed her hooves above her head, which was a signal to the lifeguard pony at the top of the structure to not send any ponies down the slides yet. She then got out of her high wooden chair and quickly trotted over to the stagnant object still in the flume. The impressed smiles that were worn on the faces of the five ponies slowly started to fade away into looks of worry as they observed the lifeguard pony staring into the lane. They saw her lean in closer to the pony obscured from their view and mouth something to it. The group couldn’t hear what the lifeguard said due to her being too far away. Lyra put a hoof to her mouth, Applejack removed her hat, Pinkie and Vinyl glanced at each other, Rainbow leaned on the wooden fence to try to get a closer look. Rainbow called out again. “Fluttersh-” Before she could finish, a yellow pegasus shot up and out of the flume while screaming. “I DID IT! I DID IT! YES! WOOOOOOO!!!” screamed the mare who was obviously Fluttershy. All five ponies behind the fence were dumbstruck at the explosive emotions expressed by the usually gentle Fluttershy. It’s quite rare to see her like this, let alone try something that should have scared her silly. They continued to stare as the yellow pegasus gave the startled lifeguard a big hug with a face-stretching grin on her face. Celestia’s sun had dipped into the horizon and continued to sink. The sky around the sun was ablaze with the color orange. Further away from the sun, the sky became a darker and darker shade of blue until it was nearly black on the east side. Luna’s moon would begin to slowly rise at any moment. The Pond waterpark was officially closed for the day, having ran it’s first successful day smoothly. It expects to open tomorrow at the same time, and it expects the same number of ponies to return for another day to soak in the sun. Ponies were still exiting the park through the front gate. Most of them had their towels hung around their necks and were carrying their coolers and saddlebags with them. Some ponies carried little fillies on their back that were too sleepy to make the walk back to their hometown. All ponies were in no rush, for the majority of them were satisfied with how their experience in Equestria’s first waterpark had been. The same could be said for a group of six mares, who made their way out the front gate. Five of them trotted out, one of them flew. They talked and laughed as they began walking further away from the water park and towards the trail that led back to Ponyville where all but one would be staying. “Hey Vinyl,” asked Pinkie Pie. “You should come with us back to Ponyville! There’s so much that’s changed ever since you left that I want you to see!” Vinyl thought about it before she responded. “As much as I’d love to Pinkie, I’ve got to get back to Manehattan. I promised my manager that I’d be back at my place after I was done with the park. Maybe some other time?” “Okay,” said Pinkie. “But be sure to let us know! I’ll have to set up a Welcome-Back-to-Ponyville party for you!” Vinyl chuckled at the pink pony’s enthusiasm in wanting to make a party for such an occasion. “Alright, Pinkie. I’ll be sure to let you guys know. See-ya!” And so, Pinkie, Lyra, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy waved as Vinyl Scratch began to trot off towards another trail that had a sign that read “To Manehattan.” Once Vinyl was far enough, the other five continued down the long trail back to their town. The town of Ponyville. “So Rainbow,” said Lyra. “You were all hyped about the Rainboom slide until you rode it?” “Yep,” replied the flying cyan pegasus. “I should have thought it wasn’t going to be as cool as I thought it would be. Any pegasus could easily fly higher and dive faster than that slide. They don’t need places like these to have a good time.” Applejack then chimed in. “Well, you’re a pegasus that would consider doin’ stunts like that. But there are others who just don’t do it for a livin’. Ain’t that right Fluttershy?” Applejack glanced at the yellow pegasus, who only glanced back at her. AJ then continued speaking. “I still can’t believe you got on that thing! None of us expected you ta do somethin’ like that.” “Yeah,” Rainbow inserted. “What made you want to get on the slide in the first place?” “Well, when I tried the other slides with Lyra, Pinkie and Vinyl, I got curious as to how exciting a water slide like that would be if I were to get on it.” Fluttershy spoke in her usual soft voice, and with a smile on her face. “I was too scared to ride the Rainboom, so I chose the Filly Flashes as an alternative. The lifeguard at the top told me that it was more intense than the Rainboom, so then I got even more scared. But I just cleared my thoughts and went for it anyways. I’m glad I did too. It was pretty intense, but it wasn’t as intense as I thought it was going to be.” “It’s good to hear that, Fluttershy,” Lyra said. “I was surprised to see you ride it too. I guess you’ve learned to overcome your fears on you own. I myself wouldn’t have gotten on that thing!” “Yeah,” Pinkie inserted. “I was thinking about getting on it too, but that slide has all kinds of curvy twists and twisty curves on it! I thought I’d get sick from all of those turns on it!” Fluttershy smiled at hearing her friends tell her they were too nervous to try the slide she went on. Maybe she was so full of surprises that she even surprises herself. Rainbow then asked her a question. “Do you think you’d ever get back on it Fluttershy?” Fluttershy thought to herself as she continued trotting down the dirt trail with her friends towards Ponyville. She thought about her experience on the slide. The dark tunnel, the fast speeds, the constant directional changes, and the water that splashed everywhere. She then gave her answer. “Sure! It was fun the first time. I don’t see why I wouldn’t try it again!” Rainbow shook her head at hearing what Fluttershy said. “Well, I guess that means we should come back someday, huh?” “Absolutely!” beamed Pinkie. “We should definitely come back someday. *gasp*! What if we came back next month? Or next week? No! What about tomorrow?!” “Woah there Pinkie!” said Applejack. “We shouldn’t rush things. Besides, I need ta get back to the orchard. I can already hear my apples callin’ for me to buck ‘em out of the trees.” “Oh. Well, we should still definitely come back soon! I can’t wait until then! It should be super duper awesome like today was!” Pinkie imagined what their return to the water park would be like and smiled at the thought of returning. “Yeah, sure,” Rainbow inserted. “Sounds like fun. I’d love to try some water slides with Fluttershy when we do!” And so, the five mares continued trotting north to their peaceful town called Ponyville as the sun continued to set in the west, dipping further and further into the horizon. Real-life waterpark influences: -Aquatica (Orlando, Florida) -Discovery Cove (Orlando, Florida) -Disney’s Blizzard Beach (Orlando, Florida) -Six Flags Hurricane Harbour (Valencia, California; near Los Angeles, CA) Thank you so much for reading this story! It's the most amount of effort I've put into any story ever. The last chapter sounded a little weak in my opinion, but I'd like to know what you may have thought of it. Was it weak? Just fine? Could be redone? Or should I not touch it at all? Again thanks everyone for reading!
Ch. 6 "Recovery"Rainbow splashed water everywhere as she sat up quickly and coughed water out of her lungs. She shook excess water out of her mane, and hit the side of her head to clear water out of her ears. She looked around to take note of her current surroundings. Dash was no longer hundreds of feet in the air, but on ground level surrounded by trees and sitting in a purple fiberglass flume filled with 3 inches of water. Beside her on both sides were two yellow flumes. She turned around and observed the flume she sat in that stretched far high and away from her. Water flowed from the top of the flume towards and past her. “Excuse me ma’am?” Rainbow turned to look at a lifeguard pony that was sitting on the tall wooden chair in front of her. “You need to exit the slide please,” the lifeguard said. Rainbow stood up and stepped out of the flume. Water that was trapped between her body and the vest leaked out and left a trail on the wet cement ground as Rainbow walked away from the flume. She stopped and looked back at the female lifeguard, who pointed toward the top of the tall structure where there was another lifeguard pony. The other lifeguard gave a wave and turned to address other ponies at the top. After a beat, an earth pony came screaming down the Rainboom speed slide. Rainbow recollected her experience on the Rainboom. A sudden downward pitch, followed by the feeling of water rushing past her. She couldn’t see thanks to the water she kicked up along the way and sprayed in her face. After a few seconds of speeding through, she felt herself hit more water and was thrown around a little bit. She felt herself settle, and took that as the time to sit up believing the slide was done; which it was. Rainbow played this memory through her mind a few times, trying to come up with how she felt about this experience. She had just ridden the Rainboom water slide. Equestria’s tallest, fastest, most thrilling water slide and lived to tell other ponies about it. She went from a few hundred feet in the air to the ground in less than ten seconds. She did what she came to the water park for, and how did she feel about it? “... WHAT THE HAY? THAT’S IT?!” She caught a few ponies around her off-guard when she yelled her thoughts. She looked back at the Rainboom water slide, and then shook her head at it. “That’s what I came here for??? That’s what waited all day to do?!?!” she said out loud to nopony in particular. Obviously, the experience on the slide wasn’t what she expected it to be at all. She had spent her entire day at the water park waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Waiting to get in the park, waiting for the slide to get fixed, and waiting to get on the slide itself, only to coast down a flume and get beaten up and sprayed by water. Sure the freefall feeling she got when she dropped was fun, but she expected more from the speed slide, which was what led to her utter disappointment. She spoke as she pointed her hooves towards the structure. “I can’t believe I waited all day just for that. I’ve had more fun pulling off a real Rainboom than riding this thing!” Rainbow Dash took a few more seconds to watch other ponies come down the slide. Some were screaming their heads off, some whooped and yelled, others just went down silently. All of them created a big splash when the reached the slow-down lane at the end. Some ponies emerged from the slide shaken, but almost everypony had a smile on their faces. Another fact Rainbow noticed after observing the ponies for a few minutes more was that most riders were not pegasi. She then realized that thrills like this were probably directed to earth ponies and unicorns because they didn’t have the chance to do thrilling swoops and dives in the air like pegasi can. Their alternative to that is going to places like these where they can fulfill their thrilling desires, and cool off in Celestia’s hot summer sun at the same time. Rainbow sighed before she spoke. “I guess I should have seen this coming. It’s not like Unicorns and Earth ponies can dive from the air like pegasus ponies can. I guess I may have over-hyped it a little.” She turned and started to trot away, before she turned back around and looked at the structure; more specifically towards the other two yellow tunnel speed slides that snaked beside the Rainboom on both sides. She remembered how the lifeguard she spoke with told her that the Filly Flashes were more intense than the Rainboom. She considered trying those slides, before she noticed the position of the sun in the sky. It was getting late, and the park would probably close by the time she got on it. So, she just shrugged and started cantering off to find her friends. “Forever Today?” “No!” “Uhh, Ten Seconds Before Sunrise?” “Nope!” “Darn, umm. Elements of Life?” “Ooh, that’s a good one! But no!” “Darn it! Uhh. Oh! I Will Be Here!” “You’re getting closer Vinyl, I’ll give you that!” Vinyl Scratch and Pinkie Pie trotted past the wave pool and over a bridge above the lazy river to the back of the park towards the water slide they last rode with Fluttershy. If they didn’t find her there, they planned to continue searching the rest of the back-half of the park. On the way there, they decided to talk about music they liked. Pinkie asked Vinyl to guess what random electronic song she was thinking of. Pinkie helped Vinyl guess by giving her hints, which helped Vinyl to stay with one artist to guess from. “Aww, come on Pinkie. Those songs are all his fan’s favorites,” Vinyl said. “Sure, and I like them all,” Pinkie responded. “Its just that none of those are the one I’m thinking of right now.” Vinyl pondered for a little while longer before she took another shot at it. “Is it Kaleidoscope?” “Yes! You got it!” “Really?!” “No! It was Fresh Fruit!” “Aww, no fair. You cheated!” “How so?” “You changed your answer. Admit it!” “Nuh uh!” “Yeah huh!” “Nuh uh!” Both Vinyl and Pinkie went back and forward in a playful argument over whether Pinkie lied about changing her answer while they continued their journey. They stopped bickering once they arrived at the large blue family raft slide at the back of the park. Vinyl spoke first. “Well, if she is getting back on the slide, then we can’t just go up into the line to look for her. Should we wait until she comes off?” Pinkie shrugged. “I guess so. I can’t see her in the line from here, so she’s probably on it by now.” The two mares trotted to where the pool of the blue slide ended. They leaned against a rope fence that wrapped around the perimeter of the pool and waited there. They watched as raft after raft full of happy, laughing, and soaking wet ponies came sliding down the final dip and into the pool like clockwork. Unfortunately none of the rafts had the yellow and pink pegasus they were looking for. Pinkie was beginning to get worried again as more rafts splashed into the pool without Fluttershy. She hoped nothing would be wrong with her, but she was still expectant of something bad to happen to her. She wondered what she would be doing if she wasn’t on the water slide. She could have been led away by a group of bad ponies, or she could have gotten lost within the park, or maybe she made her way into the deep end of the wavepool and couldn’t swim. Maybe something worse beyond her imagination happened to her, which would be absolutely terrible considering that the imagination in question belongs to the mind of Pinkie Pie. She hoped for the best, but expected the worst. Vinyl didn’t seem worried at all. The pie she ate earlier had begun to settle in her stomach. That and the excitement she had with Pinkie in the water park made her feel drowsy in the mild intensity of the heat that radiated from the far-west sun. She slouched further in her stance as minutes crawled by, to the point to where she nearly hid her bright red eyes behind her heavy white eyelids. She tried to stay awake enough to help look out for Fluttershy, but it was beginning to get more and more difficult to handle the task of not allowing her body to shut down. Her vision repeatedly became blurry and her head bobbed under the fading amount of strength in her neck. Eventually, her mind blanked as her eyelids slowly slid shut and her entire head lowered to a more comfortable position. Vinyl Scratch slowly rose her head and opened her eyes to look outward into the darkness in front of her. She reached a hoof out and felt a table with nearly hundreds of small nubs on it. She continued to search the table, until she found what felt like a big rocker switch that was implemented into the table. She pressed it in, and soon a low, quiet, but somewhat very powerful hum surrounded her entire body and softly vibrated the ground. A few seconds passed, before a screen in front of her face and off to the right began to get brighter and brighter, until it revealed itself as a laptop screen. The screen showed a small photo of two vinyl records, with a small white box under it that read “password.” The light that was emitted from the laptop shone the table it was sitting on. The nubs she felt earlier tuned out to be a mixer, which had 32 inputs and a row of knobs and sliders to control each input. She recognized the mixer as the one that she would most often use as certain raves she would DJ at. She tried to take a look at her surroundings past the table she was at, but still couldn’t see anything due to the darkness. She looked back at the laptop, which was still at the welcome screen and asked for Vinyl to put in her password. She remembered that she set her password to be something that nopony, not even her good friend Octavia, could figure out. She brought her front hooves onto the laptop to carefully tap at the medium sized keys and spell out: “h-c-t-a-r-c-s-’space bar’-l-y-n-i-v.” A small beach ball replaced the photo of the vinyl records, and it spun for a while. Vinyl then heard the table in front of her moan to life. As it did, lights on it began to flicker on and off, including a green, yellow, and red bar meter that glowed brightly. The low humming noise instantly grew and Vinyl was able to pick up the sound coming from behind her. She turned around and saw a large black box that was very lowly lit by the now glowing table behind her. She reached out a hoof to touch it. When her hoof was only a millimeter away, a shock was sent through Vinyl’s hoof and she recoiled immediately with a yelp at the feeling. The black box immediately lit with a small red light in its top right corner, and the same happened to two black boxes next to it, and the same with the ones next to those, and so on. Vinyl watched as the row of lights stopped at the last of the few boxes. She then saw a few small red dots light up randomly in the air above her. Stage lights that were connected to the red dots above her clicked on with full power and illuminated the entire area Vinyl was in. She was momentarily blinded for a few seconds before her eyes adjusted to the brightness and revealed where she was. The black boxes turned out to be stage speakers as big as her. Vinyl also saw more speakers behind it, attached to a row of square metal girders. The girders supported what seemed to be a large room, and they had lights and lasers attached to them. On the back wall behind the speakers were a set of giant illuminated letters that spelled out “PON-3” in bright blue for every odd letter, and white for every even letter. Vinyl couldn’t believe what she saw. She was looking at a concert stage set-up. The lights continuously changed colors, a fog machine puffed very small blobs of smoke every few seconds, and the speakers hummed together in unison, ready to amplify any sound that came through them. Vinyl then turned back around to the table, and nearly collapsed from surprise when what sounded like thousands of ponies erupted into an ear shattering cheer. Thousands of colorful ponies jumped, stomped their hooves, yelled, whistled, and made as much noise as they possibly could. Many of them wore DJ Pon-3 related merchandise like hats, t-shirts, wigs, and the infamous purple glasses. Vinyl’s heart rate had slowed to normal speed after her adoring fans gave her the scare of her life. She surveyed the ponies that seemed to have been hiding in the darkness on the other side of the table the entire time she was there. She couldn’t believe where she was, or how she got there. All she knew was that she was supposed to perform for these enthusiastic party ponies. She spotted some ponies wearing her signature purple glasses and remembered about hers. She searched all over the table and ducked under to search below it. She couldn’t find it anywhere, and didn’t feel like performing without them. It just wouldn’t be the same without them. She had to find them. They had to be somewhe... oh, wait... She put a hoof to her forehead and felt something plastic sitting above her horn. “Duh!” She said out loud, which was almost inaudible under the sound of the still cheering fans. Vinyl removed the glasses from above her horn and glanced at them for a moment, before she put them on her face and walked up to a microphone that stretched out of a corner of the table and toward her face. “ARE YOU PONIES READY TO DANCE ALL NIGHT LONG?!” she yelled into the mic. To answer her question, the crowd erupted into even wilder cheers. Some threw their souvenir hats up into the air using their mouths, and others seemed to go into hysterical shrills of screams. Vinyl then looked to her left to see a rack full of vinyl records, and levitated a familiar one from out of its case. It read “The One.” This record was no ordinary record. It was one that the DJ pony perfected herself. This record was going to play the best beat Equestria will ever hear. This record will make ponies want her to repeat it all night until the sun came up, and then pay to do it again the next night. This record was going to make her millions once it’s played all around the world. This record was the one that will skyrocket her career. She set the record on a nearby turntable, flicked a switch to gt it spinning, and moved the needle on top of it. A few seconds passed before a beat pounded out of the speakers behind her. It pulsated from behind her and through the large crowd in front of her. She was able to feel the power of it beating her body as the bass vibrated her bones. As the song continued, she felt the pulsating beats get unusually stronger. Her body felt like it was it was being rocked forward under the force of the blasts from the subwoofers behind her. This was very odd to her, but her adoring fans didn’t seem to mind the noise increase as they danced and jumped to the beat. So she didn’t mind it either. The beat continued on, and then the chorus of the song came. Surprisingly the fans knew the lyrics to this part, even though this was the first time she’s ever presented it to the public. She listened as the ponies tried to chant the lyrics, but were unorganized which made them difficult to understand. “I can’t hear you!” Vinyl yelled into her microphone while putting a hoof to her right ear. Soon, the crowd were able to be better organized in chanting the anthem of the chorus of Vinyl’s new song. When Vinyl understood what they said clearly, she froze. “Viiiiiinnnnyyyyllllll... Waaaaakeeeee uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupppppp!” “Wha?” She must be hearing them wrong, or somepony told them all the wrong lyrics. She levitated her headphones to her ears to get a better sound of the pony singing through the speakers. Strange enough, the pony was repeating exactly what the crowd was chanting. What was even weirder was that the voice sounded like a close friend of hers. A friend she knew who had a squeaky voice. She kept chanting, “Viiiiiinnnnyyyyllllll...! Viiiiiinnnnyyyyllllll...! Waaaaakeeeee uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupppppp...! Viiiiiinnnnyyyyllllll...” “Vinyl? Viiiiiinyl! Waaaaaake uuuuuup!” Vinyl slowly opened her eyes and raised her head. She was no longer wearing her glasses and putting on a rave in some nondescript arena, but she was at a water park. She was leaning against a post that connected the rope fence that sat in front of the pool to a water slide. She felt something cold on her lips, and wiped a hoof across it to find out that it was drool. She looked over to her right to see Pinkie Pie with both of her hooves on the side of Vinyl’s back. When Pinkie saw Vinyl rouse, she got off of her. “You must be really tired or something! I’ve been trying to wake you up for a while,” Pinkie said. Vinyl stretched her front hooves before she fully stood up. “Must’ve been that pie I ate,” she said. Pinkie shook her head. “Whatever did it, worked! You were out cold.” Pinkie glanced back at the large blue water slide. “I didn’t see Fluttershy come off of the slide, so I think we need to start searching the area for her.” Vinyl gave a big yawn before she nodded. “Yeah, sure. Lets go.” They both started trotting away from the large water slide and toward a small fillies’ wading pool area. Vinyl was still a little dazed from her sudden nap, so her attention wasn’t exactly focused on looking around the wading pool for Fluttershy. Her attention went from a small bridge to her left that sat above the lazy river, to the water slide they were trotting away from, to a water playground to her right, to the Rainboom slide structure to her right, to the... wait a minute. Vinyl stopped trotting and looked back at the slide tower. She thought she picked up familiar colors within the line of ponies. She was far from thinking the shy pegasus got in line for the park’s most intense water slides, but she looked toward the slide anyways. She rescanned the line until she spotted a faint yellow and pink color within it near the top. She glared harder at it in an attempt to make out the subject she was looking at that was far away. The object seemed to be a pony, and the coat and mane colors were the same as Fluttershy, but she wasn’t exactly sure if it was the pegasus. Pinkie returned to Vinyl after she had accidentally not noticed Vinyl had stopped to look at something. “Vinyl, what are you looking at?” she asked. “Pinkie, look in the line of the Rainboom.” Vinyl pointed a hoof towards the Rainboom. “Do you see something familiar in there?” “Vinyl, we don’t have time for games,” Pinkie said. “We have to find Fluttershy.” “Well, that’s the thing,” Vinyl responded. “I’m not entirely sure if I’m just seeing things, but I’m pretty sure the girl you’re looking for is about to board the most intense water slide in the entire park.” Pinkie raised an eyebrow towards Vinyl. “What? what are you talking about.” Pinkie looked towards the Rainboom as well. “Count 5 ponies from the top, and tell me that’s not Fluttershy,” Vinyl said while pointing. Pinkie stared hard at the structure, trying to see what Vinyl was seeing. She looked at the top to a green pony reached the top of the stairs. She counted back 5 ponies and saw what Vinyl was seeing. “Oh, I see what you’re seeing. But I’m sure there’s plenty of other pones with a pink mane and yellow...” Pinkie stopped talking. As she continued to glare from far away at the subject in question, it started to look more and more like her dear friend. Pinkie shook her head. “No,” she said. “No... it can’t be... Fluttershy wouldn’t get on something like that... would she?” Both Vinyl and Pinkie exchanged glances, before they both bolted towards the front of the park.
