//------------------------------// // A Quick Dip // Story: Oh no, they're Goddesses now! // by James Pwyll //------------------------------// "Okay...just a little bit longer...a little bit longer..." Spike's eyes never strayed from the skies above, watching as that large blanket of cloud crept ever closer to the brightness of the sun. He knew he couldn't do what he wanted until he was certain that he was out of full view of the most powerful of their number, and only when the face of the sun was covered could that be done. Finally, the anticipated moment arrived, and the cloud finally drifted over, blanketing the surrounding land in its shade. Spike knew the Lady of the Sun could not see him now, and so he smiled widely, looking down to the unassuming meadow before him. He raised his hand, snapping his fingers, and within but a moment, the land shifted. It was like a mirage, a false image, disappearing before his eyes. A simple illusion he himself had placed there, and now that it was gone, he rubbed his hands together. "Now it's Spike's time!" Before him was a massive gaping hole in the field, and within was nothing short of what appeared to be a paradise. A pristine blue lagoon of calm and inviting water, surrounded by a ring of flora like that of a tropical island, complete with palm trees. It was clearly not meant to be here, and undoubtedly had been crafted by the young god himself, but regardless, he looked upon it with joy, walking to the edge of the hole. "I love this part." With quick motions, he slid off his outer garment, leaving himself in nothing but his under-shorts, and after taking a brief moment to stretch, he leapt off the side, plummeting speedily down while hugging his knees to his chest. "CANNONBAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!!" He splashed down straight into the lagoon, sending a torrent of water up with the impact. After just a few seconds, he re-emerged, spitting out some of the water that had spilled into his mouth. He laughed to himself, wiping back some of his hair as he released a contented sigh. "Ah! Now this is what it's all about!" "Not bad. I'd give that jump about an eight." The colour drained from Spike's face, and his head snapped to the left. Sure enough, his fears were true, and Scootaloo was snickering to him from the side of the lagoon, accompanied by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They were all sitting together on a large boulder with palm trees on either side, and they waved simultaneously to the dismayed God, eliciting an expected blush from him. "Wha...what are you three doing here?!" he demanded to know. Apple Bloom, keeping her knowing smile, folded her arms. "Ah was about ta ask' y'all the same." Nervously, Spike scratched the back of his head. "Well, er...I figured I'd spend my free time with a little swim. Nothing wrong with that, right?" Scootaloo looked around, pointing to the gaping chasm above that led to this place. "Oh? A swim in a magically-hidden lagoon that just exists in the middle of nowhere? Sounds pretty fishy to me." At that moment, an actual fish leapt out of the water beside Spike before flopping down back into it, much to his annoyance. "Not helping, Dory." Sweetie, looking the most innocent out of all of them, leaned forward and spoke sweetly to him. "Spike. Did you have permission to just create a place like this and conjure life out of thin air for it?" she asked, pointing both to the trees and the tiny bees that buzzed around them. Spike blushed again. "Well...not permission exactly. I just...er..." "Translation, he's totally breaking the rules right now," Scootaloo pointed out. Their fellow deity grunted. "Ugh! Fine! You caught me! I didn't ask before making this place. I just, you know, wanted a place to myself." Apple Bloom smiled to him. "Hey, we ain't judgin'. This place is mighty sweet ta be in. Don't blame ye fer comin'." Spike, now calming down, considered something as he continued to float in the water, and looked to the girls with curiosity. "Say...how did you three find this place?" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom turned to Sweetie Belle, who blushed similarly to how Spike was doing, all while nervously poking the ends of her fingers together. "Well, I like to come and smell the flowers up in the field up there, and sometimes run around in it. So I did that about a week ago and...you know..." Scootaloo chortled, looking back to the boy. "And she fell through your illusion and right into the lagoon! It was hilarious!" Sweetie frowned to that, giving her a quick punch to the arm, which Scootaloo nursed even as she continued to stifle a laugh. Apple Bloom, meanwhile, wagged a finger at Spike. "Y'all might wanna make somethin' a bit more substantial when coverin' yer secret hidey-hole, Spike. Don't want no mortals fallin' in here, right?" Spike turned away, continuing to grumble. "I'll try to remember that." After a while though, his face softened, and he sighed, looking back to the girls. "You're...not gonna tell Celestia about this, are you?" The three looked to one another, then smiled, glancing back to the boy. "Nah! We ain't gonna make trouble fer ya like that," Apple Bloom announced. "That'd just be mean," Sweetie added. Then, of course, Scootaloo looked to him a bit more mischievously. "Although, we'd probably keep a lot more quiet if you were, you know...nicer to us?" Spike's eyes narrowed, his danger senses tingling. "And by 'nice', you mean...?" Scootaloo shrugged. "Simple. Just let us use this place too." Spike grimaced at the prospect of having to share the place he made especially to be by himself, but given that they already knew about it and were here anyway meant that there was pretty much nothing he could do to stop them coming here at all. That plus a thousand memories of lectures on the value of sharing by Twilight flooded into his mind. Besides, even though he knew that they wouldn't outright blackmail him, it was always better to be safe than sorry. Exhaling, he nodded. "Sure, why not?" The girls cheered at the new agreement, and immediately jumped off their boulder and ran towards the water. Spike blushed as, just for a moment, he feared having to see them undress right in front of him. Fortunately for the sake of his tenuous grasp on his embarrassment, they instead just kicked off their sandals before unceremoniously leaping into the swimming hole. The resulting splash sent water right into Spike's face, leading to an expectedly deadpan look on his part. When the three rose up again, they giggled together, splashing further water towards each other. In this moment, Spike began floating on his back, his head partially submerged in a vain attempt to literally drown out the sound of all that playing. But his solitude in this did not last, as he soon noted Sweetie Belle swimming up close to him. "So...how's your shape-shifting coming? Still doing that adorable baby dragon?" Spike resumed his earlier blush, trying to deliberately deepen his voice as he responded. "No! I, er, I've been trying other things! Things for the water even!" Sweetie clapped her hands together, clearly eager to see what her fellow immortal could do. Spike, now realising he'd put himself on a metaphorical stage here, cleared his throat, then closed his eyes. There was a moment of quiet, as even the other two girls had stopped what they were doing to see what he would turn into. Then, there was a flash, signalling his transformation, and the three shielded their eyes from it. When the light faded though, and they looked back to where he'd been, they saw, to their confusion, that he was gone. No matter where they looked, there was no sign of him, leading to some slight worry. Then, without warning, Spike re-appeared, as his normal self, from under the water, gasping for air as he did so. After catching his breath, and seeing the confused looks he was getting, he gave his explanation. "Remind me next time...crabs can't float." A smile touched Celestia's lips as she saw the three girls giggle at Spike's transformation oversight, though he himself soon joined in on the laughter soon afterwards. Seated upon her golden throne, which rested on the highest cloud in all the skies, the Lady of the Sun sipped her tea elegantly, her dress flowing ethereally in the gentle breezes that were found up here. But she was not alone for long, as a second figure, clad in azure armor, soon stood beside her, glancing down to the same sight. After a time, the second figure smirked to her sister. "So, when are you going to tell them that having the sun covered by clouds doesn't obstruct your omniscience?" Celestia chuckled, taking another sip before finally looking to her sister. "Oh, I'd say we can just let them have this little 'secret' retreat of theirs. Much more entertaining that way."