The sun barely peeked over the horizon, everything was quiet and still. Most creatures--with the exception of a few birds--liked to wait until the sun was fully in the air before they woke from their slumber. Ever since the addition of several animal friends, both nocturnal and not, Fluttershy wasn't allowed the pleasure anymore. Instead, she woke as the sun did, filling food bowls and cleaning what she could without waking the animals. By the time she made her first rounds, the sun was fully in the air, and it was time for her to make her second rounds waking them all up.
It was mid-morning by the time she made it to a somewhat large building that settled between the chicken coop and the Everfree Forest. It housed only one thing; a large fish tank that consisted of fish from every river between Ponyville and its surrounding areas. It was a recent addition, but one she was happy to care for all the time. The pegasus let out a smile at the swirling colors of oranges and blues and yellows and every other color imaginable. A yellow hoof pressed against the glass, but they seemed to shy away from it. Her ears folded against her head.
"Oh... I guess you guys don't want to be bothered. Is that it?" The fish in the tank paid her no mind, swimming around as if she didn't exist. Fluttershy frowned, but did nothing more. She walked out of the aquarium, feeling distressed.
She wondered why her fishy friends didn't connect to her like the other animals. Animals were usually so accepting of her, and they loved her as much as she loved them. She tamed a manticore, but she couldn't get fish to like her! It was disheartening to the pegasus.
The morning chores completed, she returned to her cottage to relax, since she didn't have any other plans that day. She was greeted by a furious white rabbit that hopped around with a book in its paw. He flipped open the book and pointed to a sheet of paper with Ponyville Library written across the top, and a circle around the date.
Fluttershy let out a gasp. "I almost forgot that book was due back today! Oh, thank you Angel." She leaned down to nuzzle the rabbit in an appreciative manner, which caused him to blush but encourage her to rush to the library. "Alright, I'm going. I'll be back in a little while." With that, she flew out of the cottage door towards Ponyville.
With the sun high in the air, the streets of Ponyville were crowded with all types of ponies, in every shape, size, and race. Some were shopping, some entered and left buildings, and some were simply taking a stroll to enjoy the beautiful day. Some noticed the yellow pegasus floating by, and they would say 'hello' and 'good morning'. She would smile with a response, and continue towards the large tree that served as Ponyville's library, clutching the tome close to her chest.
She landed just outside of the door, and hit the wooden door with three gentle knocks. She wasn't sure if her friend had officially opened the library, and she was never one to just barge in to a home--even if that home doubled as a place of business. The door opened, and her eyes drifted down to see a small, purple-and-green dragon looking up at her.
"Morning, Fluttershy. Twilight and I were just eating breakfast, but you can come on in." He said, opening the door wider and stepping to the side to let the pegasus in.
"Thank you, Spike. I just came to return a book. I almost forgot it was due today, but then Angel reminded me."
It was then that a purple unicorn appeared from another room, freshly rejuvenated from her breakfast. She gave her friend a wide smile. "Good morning, Fluttershy! Oh, is that Living With The Fishes? You know you could have brought it back any time during the day!" Twilight brought a hoof to her lips and giggled. "Not that I don't mind you coming over so early, of course. Spike, can you go to the Checkout List and take Fluttershy's name off?"
Fluttershy gave a shy smile as the book was released from her hold in a grasp of magic, returning it to the shelf where it belonged. "I'm sorry for coming over so early. I just wanted to return it before I forgot again. I suppose I should return home now--" Her stomach let out a growl, and she let get out an embarrassed squeak.
Twilight only smiled sympathetically. "Spike made croissants this morning, you're welcome to have some. I think there's still a few left."
"Oh, no, I couldn't..."
"I insist! Come on into the kitchen. We could talk for a bit."
Twilight nodded to encourage her shy friend, and Fluttershy eventually gave in. The two entered the kitchen, where three plates and two cups were still sitting on the table. Two were covered in crumbs, while a large plate in the middle had two freshly made croissants. Twilight poured a glass of orange juice and set it in front of her friend, who had started to take small bites into the breakfast. The unicorn sat next to her with a new glass herself.
"How is the new aquarium? Carpenter Wood told me the other day that you put your new friends in there almost as soon as he finished it." Twilight asked, taking another sip of her juice.
"Oh, he did a wonderful job, Twilight. I really think they love it in there..." She frowned and avoided Twilight's worried gaze.
"But?"
Fluttershy hesitated before answering. "I don't think they like me, Twilight. I try to talk to them, but they just swim away and ignore me. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm feeding them and talking to them every day just like all the other critters..." Her ears pressed flat against her head as she contemplated just what she was doing wrong.
Twilight let out a soft 'hmm'. While she wasn't the expert on animals like her friend, yet she figured that if Fluttershy's normal methods of connecting with animals weren't working, then there would have to be another way.
"And nothing in the book helped?" Fluttershy only shook her head in response. "Hmm."
She stood, leaving the pegasus at the table, and trotted into the main room of the library. With a quick search, she pulled out several books from their places on the shelves, much to an annoyed Spike's chagrin. He knew better than to get in Twilight's way, and instead he went to cater to other patrons of the library.
By the time Fluttershy had strolled in from the kitchen, Twilight had already found a possible solution from the stack of books she had created. She walked over to the unicorn and looked over her shoulder. The book showed a unicorn swimming, yet their mouth was wide open, as if they were breathing underwater. Twilight gave her a smile as she pointed to a passage.
"This spell is used by oceanographers so that they can study the underwater wildlife. It will enable anypony the spell is cast on to breathe underwater like it's normal. No repercussions or anything that would occur by trying to breathe underwater, like passing out, drowning, burning sensation in the lungs--" When Twilight heard a scared 'eep', she smiled sheepishly. "...Sorry."
Fluttershy bit her lip. "B-But you said those things wouldn't happen, right?"
"Right. The spell only lasts an hour at a time though. Is this what you want to do?"
The pegasus nodded. "I just want to connect with them any way I can."
With a smile, Twilight returned the unused books to the shelves and kept the spellbook with her. "Spike! Fluttershy and I are going out for a bit." A thumbs up from the dragon was all that was needed, and the two made towards Fluttershy's home.
The pegasus was both nervous and excited by the prospect of being able to speak to her fishy friends on their home turf. But she couldn't help but think of the downsides: What if the spell doesn't work? What if it works too well and she has to live as a fabled merpony? What if, after all this, the fish still didn't like her? Before she could voice any of her questions to Twilight, the two were already standing in front of the aquarium.
Her ears folded against her lowered head and she took a step back, suddenly unsure if she wanted to go through with it. Twilight glaced between the large fish tank and the book as she prepped the spell. Sensing the hesitation, she turned her head towards her friend.
"Are you okay?"
Fluttershy jumped slightly at the sudden question. "O-Oh... Yeah... I..." The pegasus took a deep breath. "What if something goes wrong, Twilight?"
Twilight placed a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, hoping it would calm her. "I'll be right here if you need help. If anything goes wrong--and I doubt it will--you won't be alone. Alright?"
She hesitated before nodding. "Alright... Do it."
Twilight took several steps from the pegasus, lowered her head, and closed her eyes in concentration. A beam of magenta aura engulfed Fluttershy, who squirmed in response. While she had been on the receiving end of Twilight's magic before, she never grew used to the feeling of active magic. In the next second it was over, and Twilight was grinning ear to ear.
"There! See if it worked."
Fluttershy glanced at the fish tank, then took a deep breath. Flying overhead, she slowly lowered herself into the cold water with her eyes closed and her breath held. Once she could feel water surrounding her, she opened one eye, then the other. Her eyes locked with the eyes of an orange Koi fish, and she let out a scream. It startled the fish--it startled her--and then she realized that she had screamed underwater. The spell worked perfectly.
She flailed her legs and stretched out her wings to get a feel of her new environment. Fish both floated near her out of curiosity and away from her in fear. Once she felt comfortable, the pegasus swam towards a small school of fish.
"Um... Hello... I'm Fluttershy." She spoke in a softer-than-normal tone in hopes that she wouldn't scare any of them away. "You're really pretty, you know."
Twilight watched her friend interact with the fish. She had her doubts that anything would come of this, but she didn't want to doubt Fluttershy's special connection with animals of all types. She could see the pegasus get used to being submerged underwater, and smiled when the fish no longer seemed to fear her.
When the two species knew that there was no need to be scared of the other, Fluttershy spoke to the variants of fish just as she did with her other animals. She complemented their scales, let them gently brush against her fur, and even gave them names. She swam with them--as much as she could given how much space she took up--and played with her newly-formed friends. She was in true awe of everything that was happening.
So much so that so that she didn't notice that an hour had flown by. Twilight tapped furiously on the glass and pointed a hoof up. Fluttershy, catching the meaning, held her breath and swam back up. When she resurfaced she had a coughing fit from suddenly having water enter her lungs.
"Fluttershy?! Are you alright?" Twilight asked, panicked, jumping from hoof to hoof in case she needed to run to get someone from the hospital. Luckily, Fluttershy held up a hoof to calm her.
"I--" She let out a cough, "I'm fine, Twilight. I guess I just let time get away from me."
Slowly, Fluttershy slid out from the tank and let her wings glide her to the floor since they were too heavy with water to let her properly fly. Twilight still looked at her with concern, but she just let it go.
"How was it?"
The pegasus couldn't help but gush. "Oh, it was amazing, Twilight! I just wish I could do it every day. But I know you're always busy..."
Twilight cocked her head to the side as she thought.
Several weeks later, Fluttershy happily swam in the large fish tank. There was no one else around, but she was not alone. She was surrounded by fish of every color imaginable, from orange to yellow to blue. Of every size shape, and mannerisms.
Around her neck was a glowing, dark blue stone that was imbued with the spell of oceanographers that enabled her to swim with her fishy friends for one hour of every day.
Author's Note
Inspired by the amazing coverart! Once I saw it, I just knew I had to write a one-shot based off it. Shout out to awsde for creating such amazing art.
