'How could Fluttershy be afraid of the pool?’
This is what Fluttershy’s long-time best friend, Rainbow Dash, had on her mind as she watched the yellow pegasus cower near the edge of the pool. Great. Just great. She’d had to practically drag her here in the first place, and now she wouldn’t even go in the water.
She claimed she could have plenty of fun at the pool without swimming, but she still came over every five minutes or so and cowered in fear before the all powerful might of the two foot drop into the shallow end of the public pool.
Why was this such a problem for her? She waded into ponds and streams all the time to take care of the fish in her animal sanctuary. There had been multiple times that she’d fallen into the ocean just that Rainbow could remember. Why was she struggling so much with an enclosed pool?
Sure, the water was slightly tinted, but that was just because it was chlorinated. She wouldn’t even talk to Rainbow about it before once again returning to her lawn chair, only to come back to the water’s edge after a few minutes had passed.
Dear Celestia, she was really going to have to do it, wasn’t she? Rainbow really didn’t want to do this to Fluttershy, but she had too much respect for the mare to allow her to continue cowering to something as harmless as a public pool.
‘Oh, Celestia help me,’ Fluttershy thought, once again hoping she was wrong about the pool. ‘Rainbow’s going to try something, isn’t she?’
She watched as Rainbow got out of the pool, shaking her wings to dry them. A couple loose feathers came off when she shook. Fluttershy just continued wondering what the other pegasus was planning. Knowing Rainbow, it was most likely going to be some kind of prank. Or, worse yet, a ploy to get her swimming in the pool.
She didn’t fear swimming. Much to the contrary, she had actually been getting much better at it through helping the aquatic creatures at Sweet Feather Sanctuary. She went for multiple swims on most days at the aforementioned sanctuary, so she could understand Rainbow’s confusion at her not wanting to use an honestly much cleaner pool.
She had her reasons. If she was right about that water, she’d be glad she skipped the swim. The only question had been whether to warn Rainbow. Honestly, she’d been so excited to go swimming today that Fluttershy didn’t have the heart to ruin it for her. In retrospect, maybe she should’ve told her why she was so reluctant.
“Hey, Flutters,” yelled her friend as she approached. “Are you gonna come swim or what?”
“What,” she replied bluntly.
Rainbow facehoofed harshly.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because I don’t think I’d enjoy it very much,” Fluttershy replied, lying through her teeth.
She knew for a fact she’d enjoy the swim, but she had to be careful. If she was right about the water, Rainbow was going to wish she hadn’t gone swimming. Hopefully, she was wrong.
She was probably wrong. It happened pretty often. She’d get worked up over something, only to find out later that she’d been wrong. She once thought she saw Apple Bloom strangling her sister. Turns out she was just helping Applejack put on a necktie for one of Rarity’s “black tie affairs.” Who knew?
Well, she thought she was wrong. She knew she was wrong. Why spoil Rainbow’s fun with her pointless worries, then? After all, it was Rainbow’s idea to come here today. If she didn’t have fun here, then what was the point of coming?
She looked around, noticing that her friend had disappeared from her sight while she was lost in thought. She eventually gave up and leaned back in her chair once more.
“Flutters,” Rainbow said, causing Fluttershy to jump. This action was boosted by her wings, so the height she managed with one jump was astonishing. Even Rainbow would’ve been impressed if she wasn’t laughing too hard to breathe. At some point between Fluttershy looking around and her speaking, Rainbow had sneakily made her way onto the chair next to Fluttershy’s.
After Fluttershy returned from the stratosphere (only a slight hyperbole) and Rainbow calmed down her laughter, Rainbow began drying off her wings with a towel. A few more loose feathers made their way to the ground. Well, swimming always had been a good way to loosen feathers that were soon to fall off, so Rainbow obviously didn’t care.
Now, onto her plan.
“You know, Flutters,” she said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
Rainbow was obviously trying to sound as innocent as possible. That meant she was planning something. Since Fluttershy knew this, she might be able to avoid whatever she was scheming.
“It’s been quite a while since we’ve played a game together,” her friend continued with the same feigned innocence. “Hasn’t it?”
“I suppose,” Fluttershy responded, already worried about where her friend was going with this.
“Well, then why don’t we play one?”
“OK,” Fluttershy replied, knowing the only way out of whatever plans Rainbow cooked up was through them.
“What should we play?” she asked. It was already obvious Rainbow wasn’t going to let her pick the game anyways, so why not cut out the middle man?
“How about Hide & Seek?” said the rainbow-maned friend that wanted to torment her.
“Sure,” she said, since agreeing quickly would get Rainbow to hurry along with her devious plot. “I’m seeking first, right?”
“Sure are.”
A count of ten was initiated, with Fluttershy’s eyes closed of course. About halfway through, she heard a big splash.
‘Great,’ she thought as she finished counting. ‘Just how stupid does she think I am?’
Having finished her count, she made her way to the edge of the pool.
“Rainbow, I know you’re down there,” she yelled, knowing her friend couldn't hear her, but not really caring, “but I have my reasons for not wanting to swim, so you better be ready to stay down there for quite a while.”
Suddenly, there was a sharp kick to her hindquarters, and she was sent tumbling… directly into the pool.
She coughed and sputtered. Rainbow was sitting by the edge of the pool, completely dry except for her hooves.
Clever girl. She’d kicked the water to make Fluttershy think she was in there, but had actually flown out of view and waited for the right moment to strike.
As Fluttershy realized where she was, she immediately took off, flying above the water back to the edge. She growled in anger at her friend.
Looking across the pool for a moment, she caught sight of a poolboy pouring cleaner into the pool. Perfect.
She quickly excused herself, making her way far from the pool. As she left, she saw a sign near the exit that clearly said No Pegasi Allowed. She chuckled.
She’d been right. The cleaner they used for this pool wasn’t chlorine. It was another common cleaner, with an unfortunate effect for pegasi. It made their feathers fall out. She quickly rushed home to wash the chemical out of her wings before it started taking effect, leaving her friend to her fate. Oh, sweet, sweet revenge. Discord would love this story come Tuesday tea.
Rainbow continued swimming for hours afterwards. A lot of blue feathers floated alongside her. Wow, that’s a lot of feathers. Was she molting? She’d just gone through a molt a couple weeks ago!
If only she’d known what Fluttershy knew.
Author's Note
Thank you so much to all my friends over on Quills And Sofas Speedwriting! Especially, Snow Quill, Red Parade, Silent Whisper, Flashgen, DriderPony, Astral Mouse, Vis-A-Vis, and all the other writers who participated in the contest for all of your fantastic praises, suggestions, and criticisms. And of course a huge thank you to TheLegendaryBillCipher for hosting the contest!
