Practice, practice, practice
Smolder’s arms pulled her through the pool quickly and confidently. She was new to swimming through water, but it was nothing compared to the lava she’d known growing up in the Dragon Lands. This meant that not only could she swim well, she could swim fast.
“Time!” Smolder gasped as she slapped the edge of the pool and eagerly waited to hear her results.
Ocellus, who’d been buzzing her wings and tapping a pseudo-hoof from her perch on the concrete, ran some quick mental math.
“Two minutes and forty five seconds. Or maybe forty three. One of the two. Definitely not forty four, though. They really need to hang a clock in here.”
Smolder waved it off as she reclined against the curb with her legs still idly kicking.
“Even rounding down to two forty-four, it’s not fast enough to beat S.T.’s record.”
Ocellus didn’t have to follow Smolder’s line of sight to know she was fixating on the bulletin board on the gym’s far wall. Old pamphlets and ads hung from its aged staples, most of them promoting upcoming school sporting events, but a few were newspaper clippings from expos that had already happened. One was last year’s freestyle swimming finalists.
Smolder had scoffed when Silverstream pinned it up, teasing that the ability to conjure a seapony tail at will was a bit of a game breaker. The scoffing stopped after she saw Silverstream had only placed second in the rankings. Someone identified only by the initials “S.T.” had beaten her by a whole nine seconds.
“How many tries did it take me to beat Silverstream’s time?” Smolder asked. Ocellus rolled her compound eyes, knowing the question was rhetorical.
“You did it on the first attempt.”
“By Faust I did. But how long have I been coming here to try and beat S.T.’s?”
“Every evening for about six weeks. Which is way longer than what’s probably healthy. I don’t get it. Why is it so important you prove yourself faster than some faceless goober? Isn’t beating Silverstream enough?”
“It’s a dragon thing. You wouldn’t understand.”
Ocellus kicked the water. Not hard enough to lose balance and fall in, but just at the right angle to splash Smolder indignantly.
“Don’t gimme the cold shoulder like that. I’ve impersonated dragons before, and while I’m not proud of doing it, I did at least learn firsthoof that your kind doesn’t give a Parasprite’s leg hair about organized sports. I told you straight up during the first session I’d be mooching off the endorphins you get from working out. But there’s been less of them lately. Something’s eating at you. Something other than me.”
Smolder harrumphed and let go of the poolside so she could bob lazily on her back. By now she really should’ve learned to not lie to an empath. Then again, she also should’ve beaten S.T.’s time too, given how hard she’d been pushing. Stubbornness was Smolder’s hammer, and it hadn’t had much luck with her life’s most recent nails.
“Hey Cel, do you remember that canoeing field trip where Professors Dash and Jack argued nonstop?”
“I wish I could forget. Gave me a bitter aftertaste that lasted til the next afternoon.”
“Uh huh. Well what I most remember about that day was how you turned into a fish to save Yona after everyone capsized.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Right away you were able to change into something custom built for speed in the water. Silverstream is the same way. She’s got that magic pearl piece or whatever it’s called. But knowing there’s a pony at this school who’s a better swimmer than her using nothing but grit made me think maybe I could work hard to be that good, cuz I never imagined I'd ever have a chance to be the best at anything, so…. bleh, this all sounds super lame now that I say it out loud.”
Ocellus traced a lazy line on the water’s surface, literally chewing on Smolder’s aspirations.
“How’re you so sure S.T. is a pony? And a stallion too?”
“He’s gotta be. Only five nonponies go to this school, all of them in our friend group. And S.T. has got to be a big beefy stallion with leg muscles to match, because even my hardest kicking can’t keep pace with him. I’m just not as good as he is. And I probably never will be no matter how hard I try. Bleh. Scooch over, will ya? I’m getting out. Gonna grab my towel so I can metaphorically throw it in.”
A week went by after Smolder stopped swimming. Then on Saturday several tentative knocks sounded on her dorm room door.
“It’s for you,” Ocellus predicted without looking up from the moonga she was reading.
Smolder frowned, but answered anyway. She wasn’t the easily surprised type, but the pony who’d come calling certainly caught her off guard. She’d never seen a hairless one before.
“Hiya,” he mumbled, pawing a fleshy hoof on the carpet bashfully.
“Er… hi. Do you want… do you want to come in?”
“Nah. I mean no thank you. I’m uh, just on my way to swim practice and was only stopping by because your roommate asked me to.”
Smolder threw a glance behind her, but Ocellus must’ve strategically left the room or changed into a microscopic life form or something, because her moonga volume was laying unattended on the couch.
“She said you were a swimmer too and that we might hit it off if we met. My name is Salmon Tone.” The hairless pony was apparently also featherless, and he extended a functionless right wing in a gesture of friendship.
“Smolder,” came the reserved reply. She gripped Salmon’s wing and gave a firm shake.
“Ocellus came up to me the other day saying you were aiming for my record. That’s pretty wild. I don’t have a Cutie Mark, ya know, cuz of my whole alopecia thing, but the spot where it should be glows strong when I’m in the water. That’s how I know what my special talent is. Guess it makes sense, since I got no mane or tail to slow me down. But enough about me. What’s your trick?”
Smolder blinked. “Mine?”
“Yeah! Ocellus said you’re able to beat Silverstream’s time without sweating, and she’s able to turn half fish! I had to kick and flap for all I was worth to rocket past her in the finals last year, and that’s even with my… um… ‘special advantage.’ So what’s your secret? Something that a non-dragon like me can learn, I hope.”
Smolder shuffled from one foot to the other, a smile tugging at the edges of her mouth.
“No trick. I just… push myself really hard, I guess.”
“Well Tartarus; I already do that. Was hoping you had some technique to share.”
“Sorry.”
“Hey, no need to apologize. I’m sure those scales of yours are way harder to drag in the water than my slippery hide is. If practice is all it takes, then practice is what I’ll do. Gotta defend my record, after all!”
Salmon gave a jovial laugh, which Smolder returned with a slow but sure nod. The bald pony’s passion was making it progressively easier to get past his plucked chicken appearance.
“So… I’ll see you around the pool then… Smolder? Did I get that right?”
“Yes sir. Uh, both my name and that you’ll definitely be seeing me in the water again.”
“Looking forward to it. Feels good to size up the competition in person, huh? Helps remember that you're not up against some force of nature who can't be beat.”
“It does, Salmon. It really does. You take care now.”
Author's Note
Another person's success can be seen at a glance. The road they took to get there requires a little more looking.
Work with what you're given, and you'll be surprised how far it takes you.
