//------------------------------// // Splash War // Story: Poor Boy’s Greatest Saviors // by Lonely Fanboy48 //------------------------------// Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and the others are done with the surfing again. Just when they get back to their spot, Rarity is back with the others. Oliver is hiding behind Rarity because he’s still scared to show his new swimsuit to Sunset’s friends. “Keep it calm, Oliver, darling,” Rarity said, as they approached her friends. “Hey Rarity. How is that Oliver kid doing?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack. I present you, Oliver’s new swimsuit,” Rarity said. She stepped out of the way to allow Oliver into the girls view. The boy was so nervous his legs were shaking. The girls refrained from giggling at the adorable sight, and expressed their thoughts as best they could. “Awwww!” Rainbow, Applejack and Pinkie all said. “He looks like my brother when we were little kids,” Applejack commented. “And check out that ripped figure,” Dash said, “You’ve been swimming a while now, haven’t you?” Tony laughed as Oliver covered up his stomach. True, he had been swimming for many years, but never thought anyone could tell by looking at him. “Hey, why don’t you join our splash party, Oliver?” Pinkie suggested. For the day he had been having, there was no way he was going to refuse. Even if he didn’t know one crucial detail. “Let’s do it. What are the rules?” He asked. Pinke reappeared with a bucket full of water balloons. “First, we take the water balloons, like so,” she explained. “Next, we divide into two teams of four. We’ve already decided that you’re on my team, with Fluttershy and Twilight. “And it’s me, Applejack, Sunset and Oliver on the other team,” Rainbow Dash added. “You’re all on my team?” Oliver asked Pinkie. “O’ course sugarcube. Nothin’ like spendin’ time with yer new pals,” Applejack said. “Anyway, once the teams are ready, we take these here water balloons an’ go to town!” “How do you decide who’s out?” Oliver asked. “Out?” Applejack wondered. “Don’t the people who get hit have to sit out the rest of the game?” “Kid, let me tell you something,” Dash began, “Putting players out is for competitions. This is just fun with your friends.” A week ago, Oliver never thought that he would be playing a game on the beach, surrounded by his friends. And now, he couldn’t believe where he was. It was almost like a dream. The two teams took their places, and readied a water balloon in each of their hands. “Don’t worry. We’ve got your back,” Pinkie Pie assured Oliver. Twilight gave the camera to Rarity, who would be sitting on the sidelines with Spike. “Make sure you get everything. And I mean everything. Every time you see Oliver laughing or smiling. Every hit he makes on us. I want his mom to see how happy he’s become,” Twilight said. “Of course, Twilight, dear,” Rarity affirmed, before she sat down on her beach chair. Spike hopped on her lap, and the games began. “Ready,” Applejack said. “Set,” Pinkie added. “Splash!” Rainbow shouted Over the next thirty seconds, it was utter and complete chaos. Water balloons zipped through the air, pelting their targets with loud, splashing pops. Teams ganged up on each other. Sometimes, a team member was hit by their own teammate. Others, however, were somewhat hesitant to join. “Come on Fluttershy, throw your balloon at someone,” Pinkie said. “But throwing is mean. And, what if I hit Oliver?” Fluttershy meekly said. “Don’t worry about that. I already accidently hit him twice.” “You what!?” Oliver said, having overheard Pinkie. In an act of retribution, he took the two balloons he was holding, and pelted Pinkie with them both. “So, that’s how it is, huh?” Pinkie said, mimicking rolling up her sleeves. “This is it! Every Pinkie for themselves!” Pinkie started flinging water balloons in all directions, not caring who she hit, allies or enemies. “Looks like we’re changin’ the rules,” Applejack said, gleefully popping a balloon over Rainbow Dash’s head. “Traitor!” Rainbow Dash shouted. She took her two balloons and popped them on either side of Applejack’s head. Sunset returned to the ammo bucket, and yelped when she was hit in the butt when she bent over. “Bullseye!” Tony said, as he high-fived Oliver. “You little jerks!” Sunset laughed. She loaded up on her ammo and chased after the two boys. “Get back here and get what’s coming to you!” The boys tripped on the battlefield, and were pelted by Sunset. The only thing that saved them was when Sunset got a facefull of water from balloons thrown by Twilight. Oliver and Tony crawled through the sand under the firefight. It was almost like they were storming the beaches of Normandy the way they were carrying on. And it became more so when they saw they were a man down. “Soldier down! We got a soldier down over here!!” Oliver said, when he saw Fluttershy lying down in the sand to avoid the fight. He and Oliver quickened their pace to crawl to Fluttershy’s aid. Pinkie, Twilight and Dash all saw the boys and threw their balloons at them. Oliver saw the oncoming volley, and thought they were aimed at Fluttershy. He quickly rose to his feet and rushed to his friend’s aid. “NOOOOOO!!!!” Oliver shouted, as he dove through the air in front of Fluttershy. Three popping water balloons stung his belly, and he landed hard in the sand next to Fluttershy. “Oliver!” Fluttershy said. She knelt by the boy’s side and lifted his head. “Oliver, speak to me!” “Say something, man! Tell us you’re still in the fight!” Tony said, after he knelt on Oliver’s other side. “Oh...I don’t think I’m gonna make it…” Oliver groaned. “Don’t say that man! You’re gonna pull through it! It’s just direct hits!” Tony said. “You have to pull through! Do it for you’re mother! She’s waiting for you a few hundred feet down the beach! She wants to know her boy’s become all he can be!” Fluttershy added. “But, I already did...Thanks to you guys, I’ve remembered what life was like before those bullies...This has been one of the greatest days of my life, and it’s all because of you…” Oliver answered. Even though they were playing a game, and Oliver was clearly being melodramatic, Fluttershy still felt touched by the boy’s words. Oliver grabbed both Fluttershy’s and Tony’s hands. “Tell my mom I love her…” “You got it,” Tony said. This was not where Fluttershy was going to leave things. Empowered and emboldened by the boy’s words, she stood tall and proud on the field of battle. The boys looked up, and saw her silhouetted grandly against the sun, which shone behind her head. “You can tell her yourself!” Fluttershy said. In the blink of an eye, she whipped around and picked up the half-full bucket of water balloons. She whirled around at blinding speeds, and thrust her arms forth. Every single balloon in the bucket flew out into the battlefield. Not a single shot was wasted, as every balloon splashed loudly against a target. The force was too much for any of them to handle. After being hit, everyone else was knocked to the ground, and looked up in a stupor to see Fluttershy holding her empty ammo bucket. “Holy…” Dash began, but couldn’t think of any appropriate words to finish. “Where did that come from?” Rarity wondered, as she approached with the camera in her hand. “It came from Oliver,” Fluttershy explained. “What do you mean? You were the one holding the bucket,” Sunset said. “I know. But, it was something he told me that made me want to be as great as I can be. Just like we’ve been trying to do for him,” Fluttershy explained. “I was only returning the favor,” Oliver said, as he sat up and put his finger in his ear. “Ew...I think I got some sand in there.” The girls all felt their hearts flutter at what Oliver told them. Now, it felt like they had truly succeeded in helping him remember his life before his problems. Rarity continued to film as Tony and the girls all crowded around Oliver for a group hug. Once she had established a shot of all of them, she too joined the love, along with Spike who nuzzled his way through everyone’s ankles to reach Oliver and lick his face. Oliver wanted to do more than say a few simple words and give a hug to express his thanks. He had until sunset to leave for home with his mother. That would be plenty of time for what he had in mind.