14: Way out in the water, see it swimming.
Way out in the water, see it swimming
Chapter published 28th Dec 2013
***************
August AC1216
Outskirts of Ponyville
One thing parents from all over the universe(s) will tell you is that, during a school week, getting your precious little cherubs out of bed and off to school is not an easy task. In fact, it’s generally located on the list of ‘easy tasks’ somewhere above getting the same little devils into a warm soapy bath for a good cleaning and just below getting them to brush their teeth without either constant supervision, bribery or the intervention of an well armed militia.
But equally true the universe over is that on a weekend, school holiday or indeed any other day where parents would rather they would continue to sleep in, the little buggers are almost guaranteed to be up before the cock crows and be causing untold mischief and mayhem before their parents have even had the slightest chance to locate their first god-sent cup of coffee of the day.
Equestria was no exception to this rule.
And so, early on this bright and sunny saturday morning, parents and guardians from all over Ponyville found themselves beside one of the larger lakes on the outskirts of town.
Bleary of eye and rumpled of mane they gathered around a large fold-out table that Mr and Mrs Cake had set up a good way back from the water’s edge. Steaming cups of coffee were passed out to grateful hooves (at no charge) while a tray piled high with morning muffins sat to the side, the blissfully sugary treats available for just a bit each.
Many of these adults had been practically dragged out of their beds in order to accompany their children so there were a lot of grumbling tummies that needed filling and the Cakes were more than willing to oblige. The extra bits certainly didn’t hurt either.
A number of the more nervous parents were paying close attention to the gathering a short way around the lake while others with a more confident attitude were content to leave their children be. The human had more than proved himself worthy of their trust by now, so it was the least they could do to give him the room to let his plan unfold.
Of course, the small flock of pegasi hovering over the lake coupled with a similar number of unicorns and earth ponies patrolling the water’s edge - all clad in matching vests of brilliant red - helped to allay their nerves and assuage their fears. After all, confidence and trust were one thing, planning ahead against potential mishaps was entirely another.
***************************
Just a few body lengths from the lake’s edge sat two dozen eager foals. Usually when that many kids were gathered together then it was a recipe for disaster just waiting to happen, though today they were all being remarkably well behaved. Even the CMC, who even the most generous of souls would have to admit were usually at the forefront of any foal-based trouble, had one hundred percent of their attention on the large biped standing in front of the group.
It probably helped that this was the most skin that any of the kids - and most of the adults - in Ponyville had ever seen the human display, dressed as he was in just a pair of shorts and a bright red vest which, except for the bright yellow stripe across the middle of the human’s vest, matched those of the pegasi hovering above them.
Most of these kids had never seen this much bare skin in their lives at all and their fascinated eyes followed his legs and arms as he moved, intrigued by the tiny amounts of fur his limbs possesed, limbs that he usually went to great lengths to keep covered up.
Most of the town had never actually seen his toes before and when Twist had asked about them earlier he’d balanced himself up on one leg and wiggled all five toes of the other foot at them in a display that the foals had thought was both totally awesome, really funny, and maybe just the tiniest bit gross. A few of them had even tried standing on one leg themselves - with varying degrees of success - until Miss Cheerilee had brought them all back to order and made them settle down.
After checking off her headcount against her checklist one more time, Miss Cheerilee then took it to Mister Lero who looked over it himself before giving it back to the teacher with a large smile. Not so long ago many of the kids present would have been startled by the show of teeth, those big shiny, pointy, meat-ripping teeth. But now those same teeth, along with his long arms and legs and odd face, seemed reassuring to them.
Once, in the not too distant past some of their parents, and even other children, had said they should keep away from him, that he might steal them away and gobble them up. But then, they’d said that about Nightmare Moon as well and she wasn’t at all like that. Well, not now that she was Princess Luna again. Sure, she could be a bit loud at times, but she always dressed up for them when she came to see them every year on Nightmare Night and then she’d chase them all around the town pretending she was going to eat them. She wasn't scary really, no matter how much they all liked to play make-believe otherwise.
But like Princess Luna, Mister Lero wasn’t really scary, in fact he was really nice. He was always willing to lend a hoof whenever any pony asked him for help and he’d always come around to pony’s houses and fix things when they were all broken or had gone wrong in some way that made their parents say lots of rude words until either the human or Scootaloo’s mom fixed it for them.
And as the Cutie Mark Crusaders had said again and again that princesses had trusted him enough to ask for him to go look after them when they were sick, aaaand that all six of the elements thought he was pretty cool, then that was good enough for the kids of Ponyville to see him as a friend.
As far as they were concerned, he might have been a big funny looking biped, but he was their big funny looking biped, and now that they’d made their minds up no silly adults were going to tell them otherwise.
****************
Handing Cheerilee back her clipboard, Lero turned back to the group of kids gathered around down by his feet. Hunkering down to put himself closer to their eye level - and giving silent thanks to Rarity for designing his shorts in such a way that nothing untoward could be visible as he did so - he made sure that he had every foal’s attention.
Twenty four pairs of young eyes focused on him, which to be honest was more unnerving that having two dozen adults do the same. Adults at least didn't try to run riot if you turned your back on them for too long. Well, Pinkie or the Flower Girls maybe, but generally not the rest of them... Well not that much anyway.
“Hi kids. I’m glad you’re here this morning.” Lero started, trying to make himself loud enough to be heard but not so loud as to sound threatening. “As both myself and Miss Cheerilee told you in class last week, and also when we came to talk to each of your parents, Humans think it’s very important that we make sure our children are as safe as they can be when they’re out playing with their friends. Normally when something happens that you can’t cope with by yourselves you’re supposed to go and find your moms or your dads or another adult, and this is very good advice, but sometimes if you get into trouble around water it can take too long for an adult to reach you. So, what we’re going to teach you over the next few weeks is how to keep yourselves safe in the water.”
Twenty four pairs of eyes were still on him, so he’d managed to keep their attention which was good. He couldn't shake the feeling though that some of them were planning something. They were always planning something, especially those three.
“But it’s not just about keeping safe. Swimming can be a lot of fun too and it’s also fantastic exercise for the whole body, keeps you nice and cool on hot summer days and is a great way to get out and spend lots of time with your friends. But rather than just have me tell you about it how about we show you how cool it can be?”
Looking up, Lero soon found the hovering pegasus he was looking for. Higher than all the red jacketed pegasi was one grey-coated blonde-maned mare who was patiently waiting for her signal. Putting two fingers into his mouth, Lero let loose with three whistles, two short and one really long one, that even without pegasus hearing Miss Doo would have been able to hear a mile away.
After whistling back in reply, the grey mare pulled her wings in close to her sides and let gravity pull her into a long plummet towards the lake surface over a hundred body lengths below.
As Miss Doo fell further and further, faster and faster, tumbling mane over tail as she fell, gaining momentum the whole time, every foal watching expected her to spread her wings and level out - or at least to try to - before she met a wet and messy end. Instead they were amazed when she instead pushed her forehooves out in front of her as she met the surface at high speed, disappearing under the surface leaving nothing but a mass of ripples in her wake.
***********************
Hovering far above the surface of the lake, Derpy could see Lero crouch down in front of the group of foals by the waterfront. Knowing that it wouldn’t be long before he gave her the signal to begin, she reached up to her forehead and pulled her goggles down over her eyes.
These goggles weren’t just ordinary goggles. No, these were the special goggles that Mister Lero, Twilight Sparkle and Dr Chart had made for her. With the lenses fitted with both a special prescription and a powerful enchantment, they allowed the pegasus to focus both of her eyes properly for a short period of time. She knew she’d only have about ten minutes tops before she started to develop a headache, but ten minutes would be more than enough to show them all what she could do.
Hearing the shrill whistles come from far below her, she whistled back before closing her eyes, pulling in her wings and letting herself fall.
*************************
As the first of the waves from Miss Doo’s dive into the lake reached the shore, the grey pegasus still hadn’t resurfaced. Many of the foals started to look towards Dinky to see if the filly was alright, what with her mother disappearing under the waves and all, but all they found was the young unicorn sitting at the edge of the water, watching a point across the lake far across from where her mother had entered. Well, if Dinky wasn’t worried, and Mister Lero didn’t look at all worried either, then it must be part of the show.
As the crowd looked on, the surface of the lake at almost exactly the point where Dinky was staring started to bubble and churn. Suddenly, from the middle of all the bubbles, a grey pegasus burst from under the surface of the lake, water spraying from her coat and wings as she spread them wide, arching up into the air, only to flip over as she reached her peak to dive down under the surface again.
After a few moments another part of the lake started to bubble but this time, instead of a pony bursting from the depths, the mass of bubbles started to move at speed across the surface of the lake, making their way much faster than an earth pony could run, maybe even as fast as a pegasus could fly.
As the bubbles’ path curved towards the group sitting by the lake edge, Miss Doo burst from the water, streaking away from the lake while leaving the spray of water flying from her tail shimmering in the bright morning sun, creating a trail of tiny glittering watery diamonds in her wake.
As the crowd turned to follow the pegasus as she arched back over their heads before heading back towards the lake, they didn’t notice three large coloured rings being levitated from the water’s edge up to a trio of red vested pegasi hovering well above the surface. Each of the three flyers took a ring in their hooves and let it hang below them roughly a dozen body lengths above the surface. With each of the rings held in a line, the crowd watched as Miss Doo powered across the lake, flying directly though all three rings before diving back into the water with a large splash.
Moments later bubbles started to form under the first ring, followed quickly by the grey pegasus bursting from the surface, arcing through the air, through the ring and then back into the water again.
Within seconds the same bubbles formed under the second ring before Miss Doo again burst from the lake and arced her way through the ring but this time performing a quick somersault before disappearing back under the surface.
By the time bubbles began to form under the third ring, the foals by the water side were bouncing up and down to get a better view, shouting encouragement to Dinky’s mother or, in the case of a few, just standing dumbstruck. As the mare once again burst from the water, the joyful shouting from the foals reached an all new high.
***********************
With her forelegs pulled against her side and her hind legs held tightly together, her rear limbs working in unison to act like a ‘tail’ to push her through the water, Derpy powered her way though the lake’s crystal clear depths. With both of her wings partly extended to act as what Mister Lero had called ‘hydroplanes’, she instinctively angled them for a sudden ascent towards the surface.
Mister Lero had said that once under water she moved like a cross between a penguin and a dolphin. Derpy wasn’t too sure what either of those animals looked like, but if they could swim like this all the time then they must be very happy creatures indeed.
Powering though the water she felt more at peace than she had in years. When she’d received her cutie mark all those years ago she’d assumed that the seven bubbles had meant to reflect her natural ability to detect and interact with air currents, and to a degree it seems she’d been right. But she’d also been quite wrong, it wasn't just air currents that she could ‘see’ and ‘feel’ by instinct, but also water currents.
While submerged like this she could sense not just the water that pressed directly against her fur, but also the water further out. She could feel how it moved, could feel how it wanted to move, could sense just what it was that she needed to do to make it her plaything, to take it under her control, to bend it to her will as she swiftly slipped through its embrace.
All these years of thinking that she was a failure as a pegasus because she couldn't fly that well or because she couldn't control the weather the way that other pegasi could. All these years of blaming her earth pony heritage for making her bad pegasus. All these years of thinking she wasn't as good as the others. And now look at her, she could soar and swoop and dive just like the others, she could move and twist and turn at speeds they could only dream of. And even better than that, she could do it in a way that no other pegasus ever could... she could do it under water.
All these years she’d missed something that had been staring her in the face every single day.
Bubbles weren’t just made of air, they were also made of water.
And bubbles were fantastic.
******************
Launching herself from the water, Miss Doo pulled in her wings and tucked herself into a ball as she somersaulted through the third ring. Sliding back into the water smoother than a warm knife through butter she resurfaced again seconds later, double somersaulting her way though the second ring before diving back under the surface. Scant seconds later she reappeared once more, this time triple somersaulting back through the first ring before again disappearing into the depths.
As the three rings were carried away from above the lake by the pegasi that had been holding them aloft, a large trail of bubble started to form on the water’s surface. The trail arced around and around until they formed a large circle, the most active section, the area indicating where Miss Doo must be powering away under the surface right at that moment, gaining speed with every lap until it was easy to see that she was moving in a tight underwater circle faster than most pegasi would be able to fly above it.
Pretty soon, in the middle of the circle of bubbles, a small whirlpool started to form, quickly becoming larger and deeper as the submerged swimmer kept up her performance. Second by second the whirlpool became ever deeper until it reached the point where it was possible for the lifeguard pegasi still hovering overhead to start to make out the lakebed far below them, at which point Miss Doo burst out through the side of the whirlpool and rocketed towards the sky. With nothing to maintain its motion or form, the whirlpool collapsed, tonnes of liquid crashing together at its centre with a mighty splash, sending a large glob of water skyward where the blonde-maned pegasus was waiting for it.
As the watery globe’s ascent reached its peak, Miss Doo dove into its core, spinning herself around with outstretched wings as she did so, causing the large ball to burst into a fine spray which glinted and shone across the sky, thousands of tiny organic lenses shining like miniature suns in the bright morning light, floating in the air for a scant few seconds before gravity finally took hold and it rained back down onto the lake below.
***********************
As a shower of a million watery diamonds rained down upon them, Ponyville’s foals - and quite a large number of adults too - shouted and cheered at Derpy’s display.
Surrounded by their cheers the pegasus of the moment floated down to land at the lakeside, her daughter charging over to greet her, throwing herself bodily around one of her mother’s legs.
“Mommy!” the tiny unicorn cried “you were fantastic, even better than last time.”
“Thanks, muffin.” Derpy replied, lifting her foreleg, and her daughter with it, up towards her face so the child could launch herself into a hug.
From over where the rest of the foals were standing - or bouncing as was the case for many of them - Derpy could hear Mister Lero ask the crowd to give her a round of applause. Turning to face them, she gave a small bow, spreading her wings slightly so she could keep her balance. Though swimming may now come naturally to her, she still had trouble on - or above- dry land, and the last thing she wanted to do right now was take a faceplant straight into the dirt in front of her entire audience.
********************
Watching as Dinky threw herself at her mother, Lero put his palms together and began clapping.
“Okay, kids, let’s make some noise for Miss Doo and her amazing display. Believe me, the last time I saw anything this impressive in the water was at Orlando Seaworld when I was about your age. And that was a looong time ago.”
The kids, and a lot of the nearby adults too, didn’t need to be asked twice... or even at all, as the cheering and stomping made its way around the lakeside.
After a quick bow, Miss Doo used her wingtips to give the youngsters a few waves before heading off to grab a morning muffin (or three) from the Cakes’ breakfast table.
“Okay, kids. Settle down please.” Lero held his hands out in front of himself, palms down, as the kids sat themselves back down in front of him, young Dinky joining them at the back. “There, that’s great, thanks.”
“As you can see, swimming can look really cool, and it can be a lot of fun too. But it requires practice and effort. Humans are kinda lucky in that we find learning to swim to be pretty easy. Some people thought it was because the creatures we evolved from were swimmers so our bodies just have to remember.”
As the gathered foals watched, Lero mimed a human doing the front crawl, showing them just how easy it was for humans to swing their arms around through the water. Lots of the kids giggled and waved their forehooves around in front of them in as close an approximation as their pony physiology would allow.
“I’ve talked to a lot of big ponies about swimming and do you know what most of them told me?” Lero asked the assembled crowd, manes flapping left and right as they shook their heads at him.“Most them told me the exact same thing: either a pony can swim or they can’t and that’s just how it is. Well I can tell you all something right now that will prove them wrong.”
As the human waved a hand off to his side, his three herdmates came over from where they’d been standing next to Miss Cheerilee. Both Rainbow Dash and Lyra had the backs of their manes tied in braids while Twilight had her longer mane stuffed up inside a bright yellow bathing cap. Her herdmates may have been growing their manes out over the last few months, but for now Twilight still had the both of them beat on length.
“Last year, none of these three mares here could swim.” Lero crouched down to put himself back at the foals’ level, spreading both hands out in front of himself and wiggling his fingers like a storyteller telling a scary story, “Well, Miss Sparkle could a little but Miss Dash and Miss Heartstrings would just sink like stones.”
While their stallion was talking, Lyra leant over and whispered into Rainbow’s ear, “Some more than others”, which just caused the pegasus to stick her tongue out at the minty unicorn with a loud ‘pfffft’.
Rolling onto his back Lero gave his best impression of a drowning pony, waving all four limbs in the air as he wiggled his large frame from side to side in the grass.
“Oh no!” Pipsqueak cried as the human made gurgling noises, the tiny colt running forward to grab one of Lero’s arms as if he was going to pull him to safety. Within seconds Lero was covered in half a dozen laughing foals, all trying to pull him to safety, through having not decided before-hoof on which way ‘safety’ was meant that the heavy human was going nowhere fast.
Sitting himself upright, Lero gathered up the two closest foals, which happened to be Twist and Pipsqueak, and stood up, carrying a giggling foal under each arm while Snips and Snails dangled from around his neck.
Returning his two underarm passengers back into the crowd of foals, and letting the third and fourth hop down for themselves, Lero crouched down before them all once more.
“But now all three of them can swim really well. They just had to believe in themselves and try really hard.” Lero turned to his herdmates just in time to catch some friendly bickering between two of his mares which had just reached the point where RD and Lyra were trying to push each other closer and closer to the water’s edge using the age-old childhood method of oneupmareship... the bumping of the cutie marks. All the while their more studious - and less physically active - herdmate rolled her eyes in exasperation and let them get on with it.
“I think...” Lero interjected, “that Miss Dash and Miss Heartstrings would like to give us a demonstration. Okay kids, who’d like to see the pair of them do some laps of the lake... and I mean while they’re in it?”
At this point it would have been easier to say how many of the foals present didn’t have a hoof in the air so fast that they almost fell over.
It was none of them by the way.
“Okay, ladies,” Lero pulled a whistle from his vest pocket and gave it a blow. “Two laps, off you go. Twi, could you go referee them, please? We’ll never hear the end of it if someone doesn't declare a winner.”
As one the two mares turned and raced towards the water’s edge - muttering such things as ‘your fault’ and ‘no, yours’ the entire way - before they both leapt into the lake’s shimmering depths. Once they resurfaced, drenching each other with great scooped hoof-fulls of water the whole time, they then proceeded to swim away from the crowd - Lyra with just a little more elegance than her herdmate - still playfully bickering as they went.
Behind them their more reticent herdmate eased herself into the water with what she’d like to think was a touch of grace but in reality was better described as a series of increasingly comical facial expressions as more and more of her body came into contact with the cold water.
“As I was saying,” Lero said, turning back to the two dozen excited foals at his feet, “none of my herdmates could swim last year but now they can not only swim but it’s great fun and something we can all do together.”
As he nodded to a nearby group of scarlet clad lifeguards, two ponies whose red vests sported a wide yellow stripe which matched that of the human’s stepped forward.
“This is Pinkie Pie,” Lero waved to the pink party pony that every foal in town already knew “and this is Raindrops,” this time he waved to a jasmine coloured pegasus pony that the foals were less familiar with, “and over the next couple of months we’re going to be teaching all of you how to swim. The rest of the red jackets you can see around us will be our lifeguards, they’ll be keeping an eye on you to make sure you don’t get into trouble.
“Some of you will probably find it real easy to learn, and hey, that’s great. But some of you will probably find it a bit harder, and that’s not a problem; We all have to learn at our own speed. And it doesn’t matter if you’re an earth pony, pegasus or unicorn,” reaching out the human ruffled the manes of first Applebloom, then Scootaloo and finally Sweetie Belle, “it’s possible for every type of pony to learn how to swim even if we are all a bit different to each other. But there’s some rules we’re going to have to follow if everypony’s going to be safe. I hope you all read the rule cards I left with your parents so you can repeat them with me now.“
Pulling himself back up to him full height - more for the parents’ benefit than for the foals - Lero paced back and forth in front of the group of kids.
“So, okay kids, say it with me,” Lero said loudly, again more for the gathered parents could hear him than the foals, “what’s the first rule of Swim Club?”
“Everypony is welcome at Swim Club!” two dozen young voices called back to him.
“And what’s the second rule of Swim Club”
“Everypony. Is welcome. At Swim Club.”
Lero laughed as the chorus died away. While no one else on the planet got the joke, at least he still thought it was pretty funny.
“Okay, kids, you know the rest,” the human held up a hand, two fingers already extended, as he counted off the rest of the club’s rules.
“Three: If either myself or any other red vest yells ‘everypony out’, the swim is over; Four: there’s a minimum of two foals to a group, no partner, no swim; Five: if it takes days, weeks or even months to learn, we will help you for as long as it takes.
“And the final and most important rule: if it’s your first time at swim club...” a huge grin spread across the human’s face as he took in the collection of eager youngsters at his feet, “we’re going to make sure you have lots of fun.”
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So Derpy's cutie mark represents... bubble acrobatics?
Works for me.
Way out in the water, see it swimming
These are the girls I love the most
I've been looking forward to this chapter. It's cute as all heck.
D'aww
Ahhh the Buddy System I remember that.
Also This might be the first time I've seen this aspect of Derpy's Mark coming into play.
That was adorable, and I really want to see Derpy show off her swimming to the Wonderbolts now. It sounds like she could actually make it as a specialist for the times when they have water to work with.
I would really want Derpy's acrobatics animated, because that scene was awesome!
I love the way you have given Derpy a talent that, most likely, is unique in all of Equesteria.
The ability to fly underwater, penguins everywhere are jealous. Does this make her the first aerophibian ?
Best pegasus finally gets an official (semi-)canon appearance in the Leroverse!
mlpchan.net/anon/src/1385054153133.gif
3695512
I'm thinking along the lines of Currents instead. If there was a fancy way of saying how a pony interacts with a greater force of movement, i'd say it.
Adorable indeed.
3696054 hydro- and aero- dynamics?
3695618 Like if they ever do a show out near the coastal pegasus town of Tempest, aye?
I just hope that honeydew not try to ruin the swimming club
we all know how annoying that she is
Now this is a good reference.
Lero gains all stats up.
Hmmm. Yup. Penguins aren't exactly graceful outside the water either.
templeofcuteanimals.com/wp-content/gallery/gifs-used/penguin-fall.gif
Same for a certain pegasus it seems ^^
Nice reference to great film but what I really like about series are those short moments when herdsisters are playfully butting heads.
Also
I don't understand the reference to Scootaloo's Mom, is she some kind of tradespony in this universe?
Ah, the Aquatic Ape Theory. Yes, that's an interesting one, though most in the scientific community consider it to be debunked.
Yay, Derpy gets time to shine! I have the feeling Dash still has the edge over Lyra in the water, just due to pure physical conditioning and natural strength, but Lyra might be better at adapting to the different physical movements needed for swimming, whereas Rainbow Dash might be hindered by long-trained flight reflexes that don't work as well in a more resistant medium.
3697819
I consider the debunkers to be full of bunk, but hey, each to their own.
3695512
I think, possibly, it is more to do with water magic. We are familiar with Pegasi air magic; it's how they fly, after all. However, they also can use a kind of water magic too; it's how they manipulate and walk on clouds. I think that Derpy's special talent is hydrokinesis. She's a water-bender and that allows her both to create those water shapes but also makes her a spectacular natural swimmer.
You definitely had an air of writing action and acrobatic scenes.
3696415 Honeydew should reluctantly join swim club! Comedy awkwardness ensues!
aaaand this came to mind when you posted this title
http://youtu.be/bG_dlOrcgbU
Loved this chapter, especially Derpy's awesome demonstration.
Epic swimming from best pony. Awesome. As are the goggles that do something.
Dat fight club reference.
I enjoyed this chapter so damn much! xD
Its actually pretty cool Lero would be teaching ponies who couldn't swim to swim when they as an equine race think you either do or don't.
For the town of ponyville its just the start I wouldn't be surprised if the classes got spread out to bigger cities and eventually decades down the line ponies knowing how to swim would be as common as a human knowing how to ride a bike :P
Derpy makes me happy.
Really happy.
I like this version of Ditzy's Cutie Mark
This is by far my favorite Derpy chapter on this site.
i.imgur.com/YyRZ77Y.jpg
Bubbles by hereticofdoom
It's more astonishing that the CMC and Diamond Tiara agree on this fact.
Derpy "Dolphin" Doo? Guess this is what that bubbles cutie mark is for?
Ease down on the megalomania, Derpy.
*bubbles
I imagine that if he republished Fight Club in Equestria, everypony would assume it was about Dash.
D'aww, such a cute chapter.
You know, this does have a practical side to it, to be honest - cold, hard calculation. If he saw, or heard, anything no pony should know... they'd have the perfect hook for him - his herd. They could hold them hostage without them even knowing, as a threat should he ever consider going public with anything... and should that ultimately fail, he was one non-pony they could just expunge from their world one way or another, and they'd at least be minimally satisfied that they didn't sacrifice a pony.
I'm not sure it would, in Tia's words, make the guilt any easier to bear... but in the interest of her ponies, she'd bear it all the same. It would probably break her, to sacrifice Twilight's heart this way... but even Twilight, no matter how big to Celestia, ultimately wasn't as important as keeping Equestria together for the good of all ponies. She'd probably spend eternity carrying that guilt, but if the alternative was simply unacceptable...
I daresay - he wasn't the most-trusted choice: he was the only choice, and long before his immunity to magic was a consideration (which, I suppose, is both a blessing and a curse in these circumstances).
I know most of this stuff is rather feel-good, but there are a few somber undertones here and there, and on the whole it seems like Lero is generally unaware of exactly how thin - despite everypony's, including the diarchs', heart-felt best intentions - the ice he's treading on really is. The only consolation in all this, I suppose, would be in the fact that it's not about Lero specifically: any person, human or otherwise, Lero or otherwise, would be in exactly the same position - it simply comes with the territory, being the 'token non-pony' in the mix.
My good Author, you've succeeded where many before you have miserably failed - you've given Ditzy Doo something to excel at. My hat is off to you - that was absolutely fantastic and incredibly moving.