//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Crash Landing // Story: Drowning in Love // by Silentpegasus //------------------------------// Drowning in Love Chapter 1 Crash Landing. Wake Breaker, a light blue Pegasus stallion with a white mane and deep blue eyes woke up to the sound of his alarm clock blazing. He shut the alarm off and quickly got to his hooves. He stretched his wings and back as he let out a yawn. The stallion trotted into his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. Wake wasn’t like most Pegasi, his wings were featherless and a layer of skin interconnected the bones. He could still fly, just not as long or as fast as the other Pegasi. The stallion picked up a necklace with a bronze sea turtle and a shark tooth hanging in the center. Wake put it over his head and yawned. The stallion’s wings suddenly changed from the almost bat webbing to a normal feathered look. Wake felt best to hide his deformity for his and his parents sake. The necklace produced an illusion that made his wings look normal like the other Pegasus’s. The blue stallion collected the morning paper and sat down to eat his cereal. After finishing his breakfast he trotted out of his home and made his way towards the pool. Wake had moved to Ponyville six months ago from Colt Cod. Ponyville had recently built a pool in the park and they needed to hire a life guard. The stallion touched down at the sign in office and let out a pant as he stretched his wings. The blue stallion walked up to the desk and signed his name on a chart. He trotted into the locker room and withdrew a whistle and a red base ball cap with a white cross in the center. He always arrived an hour before the pool was opened for to the public. The stallion climbed into the pool and let out a relaxed sigh as the water washed over his body. He started with some basic strokes. After he warmed up he spread his wings and started to fly through the water. That was his domain, the water. Since he was a poor flier he put all of his time into developing his swimming techniques. The stallion dove straight down and touched the bottom of the pool and stayed there until his collective air supply ran out. He flapped his wings and he rocketed towards the surface. Wake broke the surface of the water and landed with all four hooves on the side of the pool. He shook his body and mane dry as he walked back into the office to see that a few ponies were already waiting to get into the pool. Wake walked over to the gate and opened it allowing the ponies to walk inside and take their usual lawn chairs. Wake had been given a very warm welcoming by Pinkie and her other five friends. As the day went on more and more ponies showed up. By mid day the place was packed. The only problem about being the only lifeguard on duty is dealing with the mares who’d either fake a heart attack or drown in hopes of getting mouth to mouth resuscitation with him. Wake liked mares just as much as the next stallion but there were times when it just became annoying, especially when it’s always the same mares pulling the same stupid stunts. “Oh my gosh! She’s fainted!” A mint green mare cried out. Like bucking clock work. Wake thought as he hopped off the stand and hurried over to the seemingly unconscious red maned mare. The stallion trotted over to her and put his ear above her mouth. He felt a faint breath and a small giggle escape her lips. “Maybe you should give her mouth to mouth.” The green mare said trying to keep a straight face. “No, she just needs to be in the shade, have a cold glass of water and stop wasting my time.” He said in a colt tone. The cream colored mare let out a groan and sat up. “Honestly Rose, this is the third time this week you’ve done this. Try it again and I’ll have you banned from the pool for a month. Got it?” “Ugh, you’re no fun.” She said as she stuck her tongue out at the stallion. “Comes with the job.” He said as he returned to his stand. As he adjusted his hat he saw an orange mare come up to him. “Hey AJ.” “Howdy partner.” She said with a grin. “How goes the life guarding?” “Pretty mellow. Rose tried to pull another one of her moves again.” He said with a groan. “Again? That mare will never learn.” She said as she rolled her eyes. “Still, Rose is pretty enough. Why don’t you just humor her?” “Like I’ve explained before, I’m not interested in dating anypony right now.” He said as he sipped his bottled water. “Ah guess ah can......What’s that?” She asked as she pointed towards the sky. Wake sat up and looked to see a bright blue object on a collision course with the pool. “Uh-oh.” He said as the object splashed into the pool. Ponies sun bathing on the side instantly got drenched with the wall of water that shot up as the object collided with the blue surface. Wake blew his whistle and everypony instantly got out of his way. Wake dove into the water and raced towards the object as he got closer he noticed that it was a cyan Pegasus mare with a flowing rainbow mane. Damn it Rainbow. He thought as he grabbed the mare and pushed off from the bottom of the pool. As he broke the surface a small group of ponies had crowded around the edge. Wake laid the mare on her back and put his ear to her mouth. He proceeded to use compressions on her chest to try to get her heart started again. As he leaned in to give her mouth to mouth her eyes snapped open and she instantly slugged him in the face. “Pervert!” She yelled as she got to her hooves. “Nice to see you too Dash.” He said in a sarcastic tone as he rubbed his swelling right eye. Rainbow couched up the water she had swallowed and then noticed the group of ponies that were staring at her with frowns on their faces. “What?” “You just punched the stallion that saved your flank.” One of the mares yelled. Wake looked behind him and frowned. “Everypony go about your business. This doesn’t concern you.” He said as he narrowed his eyes. The group quickly dispersed and went back to what they were doing. Applejack trotted up to the mare and quickly explained the situation to Rainbow. The cyan mare instantly blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry about that Wake.” She said with a sheepish grin. “Don’t worry, I’ve taken worse hits.” He said as he shook off the pain. His eyes shrank as he noticed blood coming from the mares scalp. “Rainbow, are you okay?” “Yeah, why wouldn’t I-” The mare instantly began to collapse. Wake caught her and laid her on a lounge chair and inspected the wound. “AJ, get the med kit under my stand. Somepony call an ambulance!” He yelled. Applejack hurried over and handed him the small white box. He pulled out a bunch of bandages and applied pressure to the bleeding wound. The paramedics soon arrived and carried the mare off to the hospital with Applejack following close behind. Wake let out a sigh and started to trot back to his stand and grabbed his megaphone. “Okay everypony, wrap it up. The pool is shutting down early today.” “What?” He heard several mares say. “Sorry girls, but I need to disinfect the pool after that little....incident.” He said in a calm tone. He heard several mares grumble and mention the cyan mares name in spite. The ponies began to leave the pool one by one until only wake remained. He walked over to a shed where the pool controls were kept. He pulled out a small little rover like thing and dropped it in the deep end of the pool. Wake inserted a red key and turned the slot. The stallion watched as the automatic pool cover was deployed and covered the water with a plastic bubble wrap. Wake trotted back inside. He put his hat and whistle in his locker and made his way out of the office. The stallion trotted back into town and headed towards the hospital. Wake gave friendly nod to the nurses and doctors as he entered the massive white building. Wake looked over and saw Twilight by the vending machine. Wake made his way over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. The purple mare jumped in surprise. “Oh, hey Wake.” She said with a smile. “You here for Rainbow?” “Yeah, good thing you were there and-” She stopped as she noticed his black eye. “What happened to your eye?” “Not to self; don’t get too close to Rainbow when she’s unconscious.” He said as he rubbed his eye. “She hit you?” The mare said in shock. “Not her fault. How would you react if a stallion was looming over you as you woke up?” He said as the two walked through the white sterile hall. “True. Typical Rainbow, always jumps the gun.” She said with a sigh. “So how is she?” “Not too bad. She’s got a concussion and her right wing is sprained.” She said as they entered the room where the other four mares were crowding around the injured cyan Pegasus. The mares smiled as the two made their way over to the group. Rainbow hung her head as the stallion looked at her. “How are you feeling?” He asked. “Fine, sorry about hitting you.” She said in a low tone. “It’s fine I’ve taken worse hits.” The stallion eyed her bandaged wing and white bandage on her head. “What made you crash anyway?” “Oh.....I was testing out a new trick when my wing cramped up and I started to fall. Luckily I controlled where I crashed.” She said as she looked at her bandaged wing. “I see. How long are they keeping you here for?” “I’ll be out tomorrow, but I can’t fly for another two weeks.” She said with a groan. “Well, I just came by to see if you’re okay. If you need me, I’ll be around town.” He said as he turned to leave. “Wait, what about the pool?” Rarity asked. “I put the rover into sterilize it. I’m pretty sure no pony wants to swim in a pool that somepony bled in.” The mares all nodded in agreement. The blue stallion gave a wave and trotted out of the room. Wake walked out of the hospital and took flight towards his home. The stallion touched down and stretched his wings. He walked inside his house and trotted over to the staircase and made his way down. He flipped the light switch on to reveal a massive pool with crystal blue water. He took off his necklace which made the illusion evaporate and showed his webbed wings. The stallion dove into the pool and started doing laps. Unlike to twenty-five fool long, ten foot deep public pool his was easily one hundred feet long and fifty feet deep. Wake even had to instal lights at the bottom of the pool so he could see through his goggles. The stallion started out with some simple breast strokes. After ten laps he took a rest on the side of the pool and panted heavily. He got to his hooves and trotted over to his hot tub and turned it on medium He sat down in the pool and let the warm water wash over his wings. After relaxing for about an hour he got out and stepped into the shower to rinse the chemicals off his coat. He threw his sea turtle medallion back on. Concealing his wings. The stallion walked upstairs and laid down to rest.