//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Help // Story: Drowning in Love // by Silentpegasus //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Secret Wake woke up on a sandbar with the sun shining down on his face and single palm tree hanging over head. As he got to his hooves a massive pain ripped through his body. He fought through the pain and looked around to see that he was the only stallion on the beach. He heard a massive noise coming from the crystal blue ocean, he looked behind him to see a massive tidal wave about to crash onto the small sandbar. Wake stood there, waiting for the crushing force to engulf him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wake’s eyes snapped open to the sound of his alarm clock going off. He quickly shut off his alarm and made his way down stairs to eat. After he locked up his house he decided to trot to the pool and give his wings some rest from his swimming practice from yesterday. As he made his way through town a familiar cyan mare walked up to him with a smile on her face. “Hey Wake.” “Hey Rainbow what’s up?” He asked as she trotted next to him. “Not much. Just really bored.” She said with a groan. “Twilight is giving me a place to crash till my wing gets better.” She said as she looked at her bandaged wing. “That’s very nice of her.” “Yeah, Twi’s a real pal. The only problem is that she is just such an egg head!” She said as she grabbed her head with her front hooves. “How so?” “She kept rambling on about some unicorn. Starswirl the Hairy.” “It’s Starswirl the Bearded.” He corrected her. “Oh Celestia, not you too.” She said as she face hoofed. “Relax, I’m not obsessed. I’ve just heard of him and there’s nothing wrong with reading.” “I know that. I read too. Just cool stuff.” She said in a stern tone. “What falls under ‘cool’ in the world of Rainbow Dash?” He said in a playful tone. “Daring Doo.” She said in a proud tone. “Really? I read them too.” “Seriously? You don’t look like the reading type.” “I could say the same thing about you. Rainy.” He said with a smug grin. She immediately slugged him in the side. “Ow! what was that for?” “You know I hate that nickname.”She said as she hit him again. “What’s with you and hitting me?” He said as he rubbed his side. “It's fun.” She teased. “Whatever. Did you need something?” “I thought we could hang out.” “I need to go to work Dash.” He said in a flat tone. “Yeah, I know, but everypony else is busy.” She said in a defeated tone. “I don’t know Dash my job is-” He was cut off as Rainbow pushed her lips out and made pouting face. Damn you Dash. Why do you use that look on me? The stallion looked back at the mare and let out a sigh. “Fine, just don’t do anything stupid.” Rainbow looked at him with a wide grin. “Oh come on when have I don anything stupid?” “Well, there was the time when-” “Don’t answer that.” She said in a stern tone. The stallion chuckled and continued to walk down the dirt road. Wake opened up the shop and retrieved his hat and whistle. He walked back out to see Rainbow patently waiting by the locked gate. Wake unlocked the gate and removed the cover. The stallion jumped into the pool and retrieved the small rover. “What’s that?” “This is the thing that filtered out your blood from yesterday. Water get’s sucked in and then spit’s it out clean. I mostly use it to keep bacteria and agley from forming.” He said as he put the small device in the shed. He walked back to the gate and saw that ponies had already lined up. He opened the gate allowing the ponies to claim their spots. Wave got on his stand and watched attentively as Rainbow sat on the edge beside him. The cyan mare kept walking around the pool and talking to various ponies. As he sat on top of his chair he felt a small vibration go through it. He looked down to see a grey Pegasus mare with a blonde mane and golden off center eyes. She was accompanied by a grey unicorn filly. “Hey Ditzy, what’s up?” He asked with a smile. “Dinky doesn’t know how to swim and I was wondering if you could teach her.” Ditzy said with a smile. “Sure, I run a swimming class on Saturday mornings at eight o’clock. I’ll add her to the list.” He said as he looked at the smiling filly. “Thanks, see you then.” She said with a grin. The stallion nodded and returned to the stand. Rainbow climbed up beside him and let out a sigh. “What’s wrong Dash?” He asked in a grumbly tone. “Just bored.” She said in an annoyed tone. “This is a pool. Go swimming.” The mare looked at him with an unsure look on her face. “Um....no thanks. My wing is still bugging me.” She said as she looked at the damaged appendage. “Suit yourself. The water could help sooth the muscles.” “I SAID NO!” She yelled as she narrowed her eyes. “Fine. Geez it was just a suggestion.” He said as she hopped off the stand and walked away from him. The stallion rolled his eyes and kept watching as the ponies swam and played. The day started to end more and more ponies started to vacate the area leaving the blue stallion alone in the pool area. He pulled the cover over the crystal blue pool and locked the gate. Wake made his way back to his home at a relatively good pace. He walked inside and made his way down to his pool to practice his laps. He dove down to the bottom and quickly shot back up. As he grabbed a towel he heard someone knocking on his door. He put the towel around his neck and quickly made his way through his home. He opened the door to see Rainbow Dash with a sad look on her face. “Hey.” She said in a weak tone. The cyan mare was adverting her gaze. “Hey, what’s up?” He asked as he held the door open for her. The mare walked inside and faced the stallion. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.” She said in an apologetic tone. “It’s fine I shouldn’t have pushed you.” Rainbow bit her lip and looked at the stallion. “We’re friends right?” “Yeah. I’d like to think so. Why?” He asked as he cocked an eyebrow. “Can you keep a secret?” She asked in a nervous tone. “Sure.” “Promise?” “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” He said as he went through the gestures. The mare sat down on his couch and let out a sigh. “I......I can’t swim.” She said as she hung her head. “Go ahead laugh it up.” “What’s there to laugh about?” He asked as he walked over to her. “That I can’t do something that’s so basic.” She said as she hung her head. “Why can’t you swim?” “Just never learned how.” She said with a shrug. “Well, I have a swimming class on Saturdays you could-” “NO! No pony can know about this. I’d never hear the end of it.” She said in a stern tone. “Fine, tomorrow we’ll go to the pool after the lesson and-” “No! What if somepony sees us?” “Rainbow, who in this town is gonna berate you for taking a swimming lesson?” He asked as he cocked an eyebrow. “You’d be surprised.” The mare then noticed the stallions wet mane and the damp towel around his neck. “Did you just get out of the shower or something?” “No, I just got done swimming. I have a pool in my home I use to practice.” The mare’s eyes lit up and smiled. The stallion let out a sigh as he put the pieces together. “Let me guess, you want to practice in my pool?” “Yeah! If that’s okay with you I mean.” She said with a grin. The stallion scratched his chin and rolled the idea around in his head. “Okay, so long as you do everything I say and don’t try to push yourself too hard. Especially with that wing.” He said as he pointed to the mares damaged appendage. “Got it.” She said with a salute. “How much do you charge?” “No payment. I’m doing you a favor.” He said as he held up a hoof. The mare smiled at him and wrapped him in a hug. “Thanks Wake. When should we start?” “Meet me back here after my eight o’clock class. So around nine thirty.” He said as he broke embrace. “Alright, see you then and remember don’t tell anypony.” She said in a serious tone. “I won’t.” He said as the cyan mare left his home with a smile on her face. Wake closed the door and walked back inside. The stallion let out a sigh as he walked upstairs and stepped into the shower to wash the chlorine off his coat and mane. The stallion trotted out of the shower and shook himself dry. He removed his pendant and set it beside his nightstand next to a photo of himself, a Unicorn mare, a dark blue Pegasus stallion and a light red unicorn colt smiling. He looked at the picture and smiled. The blue stallion laid down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling until he felt himself fall asleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pain. That was the first thing that came to the blue colt’s mind as his eyes opened. He looked around to find himself on a piece of driftwood in the middle of the open sea. He called out for help but saw no pony around. He felt the unforgiving sun beat against his body. He slowly started to kick his back hooves along with the current. As it reached noon he was exhausted and no sign of land was anywhere to be seen. As he laid against the piece of wood and soon passed out. As his eyes started to close he managed to make out the shape of a dorsal fin slowly approaching him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wake awoke with a cold sweat on his forehead. The stallion looked over at the clock to see that it was two in the morning. The blue stallion laid in his bed staring up at the ceiling. Wake let out a groan and walked down stairs to his living room and flipped the television on. “Colt Cod, a paradise only a-” The stallion turned the screen off and threw the remote at the screen. The device bounced off the surface and landed on the tan carpeted floor. The stallion got to his hooves and walked out the door. He let the early morning air fill his lungs as he took flight into the night sky. He felt a small ripple of pain go through his wings and landed on a nearby cloud. He looked out towards the open sky and let out a sigh. He spent the next hour sitting watching the clouds move and change shape. The stallion quickly hopped off the cloud and slowly descended back to his home.