Unexpected Dive
It was a warm, mid-spring Saturday afternoon in Ponyville. One that qualified as just about perfect, with lush green grass, a nice clear sky that allowed for miles of visibility, and a much-appreciated intermittent breeze to keep things from getting too warm for comfort.
Up the hills west outside of town, right on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres, was the widest, and deepest swimming hole of Apple Float Creek. While it technically belonged to the Apples they opened it to the public so it was alright to go swimming in without a great deal of hassle, so long as those who used it behaved themselves.
Currently it was the intended destination of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie as the two hiked along with gear in tow for thoroughly enjoying the day, with Pinkie currently bringing up the rear and decked out in a bright pink T-shirt over her bathing suit. It managed to stand in sharp contrast to the one-piece suit Rainbow Dash herself wore, looking almost like a school-issued swimsuit.
It has been more than three months since Rainbow joined the elite track team the Wonderbolts and has grown a name for herself. Also it was a much-needed day off from practice, and the two were going to make the most of that time.
" Hey Dashie?"
"Yeah, Pinkie?"
"I know I said I'd help you do swimming laps and all. But it just occurred to me; why're you doing swimming laps if you're on the track team? Shouldn't you practice running laps instead?"
"Because we're not limited to just track stuff. Everybody on the team has different sports for recreation and such," Rainbow Dash replied and shrugged. "Plus it helps us develop in other fields. Fleetfoot likes wall climbing because she can tighten her grip on the obstacle courses. Soarin bikes to work on his legs. Meanwhile Spitfire and I do swimming for resistance training."
" Oh I get it."Pinkie replied enthusiastically.
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah Spitfire told me water resistance is like wind resistance. Meaning if I do well in the water I'll do really well on the track and be able to run even faster!"
Pinkie laughed. It figured that Rainbow Dash would do anything to work on her speed.
The rest of the trip to Apple Float Creek had been short enough, and once they arrived they proceeded to get their sets deployed and set up, before Pinkie dug the stopwatch out of the picnic basket they'd brought along for later.
"Okie Dokie Dashie Lokie, I'm ready when you are!"
Rainbow Dash nodded and proceeded to do some last minute stretches to loosen up before approaching the edge of the water.
"Alright. Just so we're clear, you'll be timing the seconds it takes for me to resurface from jumping into the water. I'll take my position from those rocks and start with five laps from their to the center of the creek."
"got it," Pinkie replied, a look of concentration upon her face as she made ready with the stop watch.
Rainbow Dash nodded, satisfied Pinkie was ready to go, before making her way to the aforementioned rocks to take up her position. "Ready?"
"Ready Steady Dashie!" Pinkie replied as she gave a thumbs up. Rainbow Dash nodded and proceeded to make her dive.
Carefully watching both the watch and the water Rainbow roused up singling Pinkie to stop and check the watch that had stopped at 0.06 seconds and then sits back and waits for the laps to be finished.
Finishing the fifth lap Rainbow Dash swam back to the sore climbed out, and walked to Pinkie to find out her result.
"So? How'd I do?" she asked as she caught her breath.
Pinkie picks up the watch and says, " You came back up at 0.06 seconds of the time you entered, that's not bad."
A sigh came out from the swimmer as Rainbow looked at the watch to see for herself. " Ah that's my usual time."
The lack of improvement was displeasing. She was going to need to do something about that if she was going to impress the rest of the Wonderbolts.
She had an idea for what could be done. Something Spitfire recommended. But Pinkie wasn't Spitfire. And there was no telling how she might react when confronted by it. Honestly, trying to figure Pinkie out was something just better left alone.
What to do? What to do? . Play it safe and leave the time alone or take the chance and possibly benefit greatly. Decisions... Decisions...
Pinkie was her friend. Surely she wouldn't freak out too badly. Right?
She then takes a nerve-steadying breath and proceeded to take a seat next to said friend. "Pinkie?"
"Dashie?" Pinkie asked in turn as she looked towards her.
"Listen. I'm gonna give it another try. But this time I'm gonna try something different that I learned from Spitfire."
"Ooh, you mean like some super secret training stuff that only the Wonderbolts know?" Pinkie asked enthusiastically.
The utter ridiculousness of Pinkie's delivery had Rainbow Dash laughing, which served to break some of the apprehension she had. "
No, nothing like that, although it would be cool if it was," she replied. " You see a few weeks ago..."
Flashback
Raindow Dash stood alone it the shower of the Canterlot City Gym washing away the sweat and chlorine smell as best she could when she heard another shower turn on and look to see Spitfire the Wonderbolts team captain, " Hey Crash, what's up?"
Crash was the nickname the team gave Rainbow after she tried showing a few flips only to crash into a garbage bin on her first day.
"Oh ah Captain Spitfire what a surprise," Rainbow Dash replied uncertainly.
Her response earned her a small chuckle from Spitfire. "Relax Rainbow when we're not practicing it's just Spitfire."
"Oh. Right. Right."
With that matter over with, it allowed them both to continue the shower in peace. Or at least until Spitfire spoke up again.
" You now I clocked you earlier and your resurface time the same averaged as it was when you started taking swimming."
Rainbow Dash could feel something inside of her wilt. She wasn't any better than when she'd started swimming? How was that even a thing?
"Oh no don't worry so much, it's still a good time," Spitfire pointed out in a cheering up tone. "But if you want some advice, there's something you could try at home."
The promise of an increase in performance speed had Rainbow Dash's attention, and a begging sort of smile on her face.
Spitfire regarded Rainbow Dash, before poking her head out to look around and see if they had any company, before she spoke up again. "Try swimming naked."
Rainbow Dash blinked, failing to take notice of the increase in heat in her cheeks. "Swim naked? As in skinny dipping?"
"Yep. Swim naked. Without the suit to weigh you down or produce greater surface drag, you come up a lot quicker. It's all basic physics. When I first joined I was like you.I started average then one day I just suddenly thought to wear less in my house pool, so I asked Fleetfoot to clock me while wearing a plain bikini. Turns out I could move faster. Then right out of the blue Fleetfoot says 'If you're really wanting to increase your time like this then just try swimming nude.' I thought it was kind of crazy at first, but then I took her advice and tried it, and my time was reduced two more seconds. Plus it lets you get further while wasting less energy, since you have less resistance to fight against."
Present
"And that's more or less it," Rainbow Dash concluded as her story drew to an end.
"So lemme see if I've got this right," Pinkie replied slowly, expression unreadable as she spoke. "You wanna try skinny dipping because Spitfire does it?"
"More or less." Rainbow Dash replied and shrugged uneasily, wondering if this was a bad idea.
"Well then why didn't you say so in the first place, silly? Go for it!"
That wasn't the sort of reaction Rainbow Dash was expecting. But she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. If Pinkie was alright with the idea, all well and good. "Well I didn't wanna risk freaking you out," she admitted.
"Silly Dashie," Pinkie giggled, before ducking behind some conveniently placed bushes. She popped out almost immediately after, stripped down bare not even her sandals were on without so much as an ounce of hesitation about herself. Not even a shred of an ounce of hesitation.
A sudden breeze appeared tickling Pinkies body making her giggle as she sets back down and says, "There! Now we can both be naked together so it doesn't have to be awkward if only one of us is naked!"
Rainbow at that moment felt a serge of confidence in her friend's bravery but asked once more, " Pinkie are you sure?" and got a nod silently saying of course silyl so with a smile she placed her hands over her shoulders and began taking off her suit.
Making her way back on the rocks and know naked Rainbow Dash took up her position. "Ready?"
"Ready Steady Dashie!" Pinkie replied as she gave a thumbs up again. Rainbow Dash nodded and proceeded to make her second dive.
Pinkie pressed the button just as Rainbow hit the water and quickly again as she saw her friends head, she looked at the time and checked again the new time was indeed different 0.04 seconds and it was amazing.
Rainbow stopped her lap and called out to pinkie, " So how did I do? "
Pinkie called back, " You did it, the time is shorten."
The news of her time change was overwhelming that for one second Rainbow Dash was silent then the following minutes were meet with a screamed Yahhhhahhhh and sounds celebratory splashes.
Later Rainbow Dash waved her hands forward and shouted, " Come on in Pinkie the water's great."
Pinkie didn't need to be told twice she ran and dove on in.
After hours of splishing and splashing having fun the girls got out and rested on the beach chairs having the picnic which was some sandwiches, two cupcakes and a picture of lemonade.
Rainbow looked over to Pinkie and said, " Pinkie I want to thank you for listening to me and trying to make me feel comfortable."
And Pinkie answered, " Well of course Dashie you now I do anything for my friends." She then takes a sip of her lemonade and continues, " Besides this was whole lot of fun, we should do this more often."
And the two agreed that when ever they had Apple Float to themselves they would swim naked.