Swimming - The only chapter
"Hey Twi!!!" Twilight looked up to see her friends calling out to her further down the beach. "Come here!" Rainbow shouted. "Hurry!"
Twilight smiled as she approached the group. "So, what are we gonna do today huh?" She asked as she placed her items on the chair. "Build sandcastles? Take pictures?"
"More like swim..." Sunset said as she stood up from the sand. "We have never actually hit the water together, so we decided it would be good to do so now, didn't you get the text?" Sunset asked as she looked up at the sky. "Today is a great day to swim anyway..."
"Text? What text?" Twilight asked as she whipped out her phone to check. "Oh, that text..." Twilight looked at her friends. Ohh...I should have double checked before coming! How would I tell them that I hate swimming, that I am afraid of...water? That I don't know how to swim?! Twilight felt her breathing increase.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sunset asked. "You seem....I don't know, tense?"
"Nope! Nothing to worry about...." Twilight said quickly. "I'm definitely not afraid of the water or swimming or...." She looked at the sea as a chill ran down her spine.
"Wait..." Sunset turned back. "You are afraid of swimming?"
"No I'm not!" Twilight shouted back a little too aggressively. "I just....just.....don't feel like going into the water today you know?" She said, smiling awkwardly.
"Uh huh...." Sunset said. "You are." She sat down next to Twilight as the other girls approached them. "But why?" Sunset asked.
"What's goin on here?" Applejack asked. "We came here for swimmin, not for restin."
"Everything all right there darling?" Rarity asked as she looked at Twilight's terrified expression. "Is there something we should know?"
"Okay okay!" Twilight said as she leaned back in the chair. "I'm scared of the water!" A collective gasp could be heard across the group. "Yeah, I am. Ever since what happened a few years ago..."
Everyone looked at Twilight, waiting for an explanation.
"Well, back when I was still in Crystal Prep, we had swimming lessons, at the pool near our school. I...I was about the only one who had absolutely no swimming experience, so I needed to be taught in front of everyone, so obviously, it was embarrassing for me. Worst still, the coach was extremely impatient with me and my 'stuns' so...." Twilight looked up at her friends.
"Well, so to teach me, he sorta just picked me up and dumped me inside the deep end...." Twilight shuddered at the sheer thought of the memory. "And I didn't cope with it very well....I kinda freaked and next thing I knew, I was on the floor near the rim of the pool, spitting out mouthfuls of water, it was horrible..."
"That wasn't even the end..." Twilight continued. "After that day, since almost half the school was there at the pool, the word was spread through the whole school and everyone knew about it."
"That must have been most awful..." Fluttershy said as she stroked Spike, who bounced on her. "I remember when I first learned that swimming was important so that I could help other creatures........"
"It was before I even met any of you, before I came to CHS. I was just walking home from the animal shelter when I heard some voices that sounded like an animal in need, so of course I followed the sound to the source. What I found was totally unexpected! In the middle of the lake, there was a poor little puppy that was trying to paddle its way out of the deep waters! Its paw looked like it was injured and it looked as if it was getting tired of trying."
"I knew that I had to save him as there was no one else around to do so. I was really scared too, but I knew it had to me who saved it so I slowly got into the lake. The moment I stepped in, I slipped and drank a whole mouthful of water. I really wanted to get out but I knew that it would die without me, so I tried my best to paddle towards it, holding by breath. Once I felt the rhythm of how to move my legs, it was much easier."
Fluttershy smiled at Twilight. "See nothing to be afraid of...."
"Me too, ya see." Applejack said as she raised her hand. "Well, being a farmer of sort, of course I needed to know how ta swim. So granny just dumped me in a pool with Winona and she taught me how ta swim in a jiffy. Well, not that quick, actually....."
"Of course I struggled for a while. Every time I reached the edge to try to climb out, I'll get pulled right back in by the little rascal. She showed me how to stay afloat and how to move my legs, and after a while, I was swimmin even better than she was! I was beat by the time I went to hit the showers!"
"Since then, I would always bring Winona with me when I went swimming so that I would not be that borin." Applejack said. "Maybe you should bring Spike with you to swim Twilight."
"What, erm..." Twilight stuttered. "I mean, that good, but....."
"We've tried that before....heh heh...." Spike cut in. "It didn't end that well, I lost a lot of fur." Twilight glared at Spike. "Oh, I mean....eh heh heh..." Spike laughed as he hid his face in Fluttershy's hands.
"Weeeelll......" This time, Pinkie spoke up. "I learned how to swim in a....wait for it.....in a PARTY!!!" She waved her hands in the air. "Yup! A party."
"Wow, how unexpected." Rainbow said sarcastically from the corners of her mouth.
"Yeah, it went like this....." Pinkie said as she took a deep breath. "Okay, so I was attending one of my friend's birthday party when I was still quite young and not able to hold parties of my own I also didn't know how to swim. But I knew, even if it was a party held at the biggest swimming pool ever, I would never give up the chance to be there."
"So after we had some normal party games, everyone decided that it would be fun to hit the water, you know to swim. So we all went to change into swimming gear, me included. The only difference was that i was the only one who sat out when everyone else cannonballed in the pool."
"After a while, things got a little boring and everyone looked like they were having so much fun! I felt a little left out so I decided that I would join them, only I was the youngest and shortest there, my feet could not even reach the ground without my head being completely submerged in the water! So I went to the kids area to paddle."
"But what i didn't know, was all the other older kids came to join me after I got into the kids pool and we played together. They also told me not to be afraid to try out new things, no matter how extreme they may seem to be! I had one of the best days in my whole life! After that, I decided that I would take on swimming lessons!"
"So there you have it!" Pinkie said as she gave a small bow. "My swimming story."
"That was cool and all, but my story would be better! It would make you sit on the edge of your seats!" Rainbow said as she stood up, giving her friends a confident look. She walked in front of Twilight. "It's so good, it'll change your view on swimming! Here goes!"
"Well, before I came to CHS, my primary school had a lot of teams, like this school. But, before you think that I am too cocky, i wasn't the leader of anything! My build then versus now was very different. I was small and not that strong. I could not jump that high and leap that far, and of course, I couldn't swim. But since I was needed to at least join one group, I picked swimming as it was the only one left open with vacancy."
"So, i was like Pinkie, I started off with absolutely no swim experience! I was also a little afraid of the water and sinking in it. Everytime I messed up, people would laugh at me because I was the senior in the school and half the juniors could swim way better than me!"
"Then one day, the couch was choosing members of the club to be in a swimming competition! So of course I wanted to join! More than that, I wanted to win! To show them all that I wasn't the loser that they saw in their eyes. But of course, the couch held auditions every week and picked only the best of the best members to compete and participate. But I wanted to be in that competition more than anything in the world at that point of time."
"So I vowed to train everyday like I do with soccer now! After school, I would head down to the nearest swimming complex near my house to practice my strokes and stuns. It was unbelievable! I got better and better, stronger and stronger, I even grew a bit taller within the week! After the first few auditions, the couch realised my steady improvement and invited me to compete! Everyone was so shocked! I can still remember the looks on their faces!" Rainbow laughed to herself.
"During the competition, I swam with all my might. My opponents were really fast too, but I was faster. Weeks and weeks of cold hard practice flashed through my mind as I held up the trophy, my face beaming with pride. I was so happy! Since then, I realised that I really liked competing and doing stuff that was you know? Like physical and involves moving around a lot! That's how I am the captain off all athletic clubs now!"
Rainbow sat down. "You see? Trying something new is always great! you may not know it, but it may help to shape your future and determine what you may be next time!"
"Wow darling! Fancy you giving us an inspirational speech!" Rarity said as she removed her sunglasses. "It's so unlike you!" She crossed her arms as she stared at her friends. "What?!" She asked when they just stared back.
"Well, do you have a story then? Or did you learn how to swim because it was the 'hottest, newest fashion'?" rainbow asked with a snigger. "Or did a piece of your precious fabric fly into the water and you just had to retrieve it?" Rainbow asked. "Because I wouldn't be surprised."
"Oh don't be ridiculous darling!" Rarity said with a wave of her hand. "What made you think of something so absolutely absurd?" rainbow shrugged in amusement as rarity stood up, clearing her throat. "So basically, it was a normal day at home with my sowing machine when..."
"Sweetie Belle rushed into my room, making all my fabric fly all over the place, she grabbed by hand and without warning, she pulled me out of my room and into her's. 'Hey sis! I was just thinking,' she said, 'I would love to have some swimming lessons! But mom said that you'll have to take them too! Please say yes!' I would have said no, but I knew that Sweetie had always wanted these lessons and that she enjoyed playing in the waters so i agreed, simple as that!"
Rainbow burst out laughing. "That's it!? That's your story?" She rolled her eyes. "From how you made fun of me just now, I was kinda expecting more from your story rather than a boring old 'I took swimming lessons with my sis' story!"
"Okay fine." Rarity said. "Now I think we have heard all stories expect for Sunset's, would you like to shared how you learned to swim?" Rarity asked as she motioned towards Sunset, who stood up and brushed herself off.
"Okay, but my story, is set back in Equestria, when I was still a filly."
"As you all know, I was Princess Celestia's student, meaning that I spent most of my time in the castle, with her only. I also used to hate parties and hanging around people, so I didn't take swimming lessons of any sort, I also didn't aften hang around pool parties as I had not many friends and studying was my top priority. I also did not see much use knowing how to swim, after all, I thought that knowing how to was useless."
"That was, until one day. There was something wrong with the pipes in the hallways, I think they were too old and worn out to even be used anymore. So one day, they just gave way and flooded the halls and rooms, filling the whole castle! Fortunately, almost every on...pony could swim. Unfortunately, I could not. So next time I knew, I was waving my hooves around as I floated through the halls, gasping for air as I swallowed nothing but water."
"Lucky, the pegasus in the castle came in to save us. Since I was in the far back of the castle, i was not the first few to be saved. Even after the water calmed down, I still struggled to stay afloat in the water. As I never ever had swimming lessons, I could not hold my breath for long and was quickly tired out with waving my legs all around to stay afloat. By the time I as found, I was floating unconscious in the main hall."
"I was in a coma for a few hours before I coughed up so much water, I could fill Equestria. From then on, I learned the importance of always being prepared no matter what. So I took on swimming." Sunset sat back down. "Yup, you should really take on swimming Twi, you'll never know when you may need the skill."
Twilight stood up. "Wow! I never knew that swimming could forge friendships, win competitions, shape your future and save lives! maybe i will try!"
"Err..." Sunset said. "Okay, if you view these as the benefits of swimming, we ain't stopping you."
"Great! Now come on! Let's go and swim!" Rainbow shouted as she ran towards the waters. "don't worry Twilight, we will help you through it all!"
end
Author's Note
Okay, I got bored so i wrote this random thing, hoped you enjoyed reading it!
Thanks for reading! 😁
