Episode Thirteen: Swimming Lesson – [Silly]
It was way too hot. Too hot to play, too hot to be outside, almost too hot to do as little as move or talk.
Of the three fillies currently collapsed in the Cutie Mark Crusaders' Clubhouse, Scootaloo was lucky to be the coolest – thanks to her pegasus blood giving her a little more protection from the Sun's wrath. Unfortunately, in this case, being 'the coolest' simply meant that the pool of sweat in which she lay was slightly smaller than those of her peers.
“Guys,” she groaned. “...Guys.”
“What?” said Applebloom.
“...I'm melting.”
This elicited a lazy groan of acknowledgement from the other two.
“Guys,” said Scootaloo again. “I think Twilight's invention is broke.”
A moment passed, before all eyes turned to the little, spinning metal fan on the floor beside them.
“...Turn up the power,” Applebloom suggested.
“You're closer,” said Scootaloo, wiping her nose on her hoof. “Besides, I don't know how.”
“It's magic-powered,” said Applebloom. “Sweetie Belle has to do it.”
Sweetie Belle let out a loud moan. She stared at the contraption for a while, before closing her eyes and screwing up her face. Her horn sparked with a vague, half-hashed sort of pink.
There was another moment of silence.
The fan tipped over backwards.
Scootaloo blinked sleepily at it. “...Well, horseapples.”
“Now what do we do?” asked Applebloom.
Sweetie Belle shuffled limply. “You're the leader – you think of something.”
The only sound that followed was that of the ticking cuckoo clock on the wall. It struck the hour. The cuckoo emerged and began to chirp its annoying tune.
Applebloom twisted her head to grab the paper aeroplane behind her hoof and tossed it towards the offending avian. Said aeroplane got half-way to its mark before being caught in the updraft from the fan and being blown towards the open window.
“Hey, guys!” came a voice from outside. “You in here? I-- Ow! What the...?”
Recognising the voice, Scootaloo summoned the energy to twist her body and roll over onto her back, staring over at the window. A sweaty-looking Rainbow Dash hovered outside, rubbing her nose, and the aeroplane lay, with its own nose crumpled, on the Clubhouse floor.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash,” said Scootaloo. “Enjoying the weather?”
Rainbow Dash quirked a brow and hovered inside. “Uh, yeah... You guys don't look so good...”
“Twilight's fan blows,” Sweetie Belle explained. “...But not very effectively.”
“Uh... huh,” said Rainbow, looking between them and the fan for a moment, before shaking her head. “Yeah, so... I came to let you guys know that AJ, Rarity and I are going down the lake this afternoon. Figured you might want to come with.”
“The lake?” Scootaloo repeated.
“You know, to swim?” said Rainbow archly.
Scootaloo's eyes widened a little.
“Hey, that's actually a good idea,” said Sweetie Belle, pushing herself up a little.
“Why didn't I think of that?” said Applebloom.
There was a pregnant pause, before their faces both went a little blank.
“Oh, right,” said Sweetie Belle. “You did, but--”
“Good idea!” said Scootaloo hurriedly, cutting her off. “Yeah, c'mon – let's go with Rainbow Dash!”
She was quick to push herself up to her hooves and flap the dampness from her wings, only to receive a pair of questioning looks from her friends.
“Um, Scoots, you can't--”
“Can't go out without sunscreen!” Scootaloo interrupted. “Good thinking, Applebloom!”
Scootaloo felt everypony's eyes on her as she hurried over to the corner to fish the sunscreen out of her school bag. She was determined not to look around and let her friends see the redness of her face.
“Uh, so, I'll tell the guys to wait for you?” said Rainbow Dash.
“I... guess so,” said Applebloom, and Scootaloo didn't have to be looking to notice the sidelong look she was being given.
“Great! Hurry down once you've got your sunscreen or whatever!”
The lake, and the area surrounding it, was awash with Ponyville citizens. Younger children were paddling in the shallows, whilst older ponies either relaxed atop towels on the lakeside or played loud, splashing games in the centre of the lake itself.
It was a big lake, of course, so it had been easy enough for Scootaloo's party of six to find a quiet-ish bank. Said bank naturally dropped off into one of the deepest parts of the lake, just a few strides in. And, for the other five, this wasn't a problem at all...
Scootaloo sat on the water's very edge, with her hooves all soaking in the gently lapping ripples. She watched with a solemn frown as her friends laughed and splashed each other with water, swimming circles around one another as they did.
The grown-ups seemed to be a little more relaxed, though they were still clearly enjoying themselves – because the smiles never left their faces. Rarity was floating on her back, some distance away from the others, whilst Rainbow and Applejack had just finished swimming another length of the lake, and were about to start a fourth.
“H-hey, Applejack!” chuckled Rainbow Dash, with a mischievous grin on her face. “Check this out...”
With all the speed of pouncing tiger, Rainbow snapped her wings out of the water and beat them downwards, launching herself up and gaining some impressive air. Applejack, having only just rubbed the water from her eyes, gasped as she saw Rainbow angle herself for a dive.
The farmpony ducked under the water just in time, and Rainbow crashed down a split-second later, kicking up a huge splash that even reached Scootaloo.
They both resurfaced, and Applejack spat out a mouthful of water. “You varmint!” she cried, voice shaking with laughter. “C'mere!”
Rainbow Dash laughed as Applejack jumped forwards and tackled her under the water again, and the two of them began struggling and splashing with one another, hooves flailing every which way.
Rarity shook her head in their direction, though she was still smiling. “Honestly...” She cast a look over at Scootaloo. “Scootaloo, aren't you getting in, darling?”
“Pfft!” Rainbow spat water as she resurfaced, holding Applejack at fetlock's length. “Yeah, c'mon, squirt! Give Applejack a hoof!”
“I don't need an extra hoof to take you down, 'Waterbolt'!” said Applejack, surging forwards and grabbing her again, drawing a round of uncontrollable laughter from Rainbow.
“I-I'm fine,” said Scootaloo, flashing Rarity a smile.
In truth, she was anything but fine. The Sun was blazing down against her back, and the little water she'd had splashed on her thus far was only a reminder of how good a dip in the lake would feel. She hung her head and sighed.
The splashing and laughing of her friends continued for a few minutes more. Scootaloo tried to brush off the feelings of discomfort and enjoy the little relief she had from the heat, paddling her hooves on the edge of the water. It felt nice enough, she reasoned, as always.
She hardly noticed when the noise died down after a while, though she did hear Rainbow Dash muttering to Applejack.
“Hey, give me a minute. I've got to go--”
“Yeah, go on, ya softie.”
“Am not... Hey, Scootaloo!”
Scootaloo raised her head and smiled, to see Rainbow Dash paddling towards her. She couldn't help thinking that her idol looked even more awesome than usual, with her mane all wet and stuck to her face like that.
“What's up, squirt?” said Rainbow, as she drew up to the bank. “Water's great! You must be frying up there.”
“Oh, well, yeah,” said Scootaloo, rubbing her burning neck. “I don't mind, really. I think I'll get a tan or something.”
Rainbow blinked at her. Scootaloo countered with a cheesy smile.
“...You can't swim, can you?” said Rainbow shortly.
Scootaloo's face fell. “...No.”
Rainbow's hoof met her face. “Well, now I feel kinda stupid,” she muttered. After a moment, she shook her head and extended a hoof to Scootaloo. “...C'mon then.”
“Huh?”
“Come on in!” said Rainbow, beckoning her forward. “I'll hold you like a float 'til you get the hang of it.”
Scootaloo mouthed at her, and glanced out towards the deeper parts of the lake, in which everypony was dipping and diving in the water. “But... what if I sink?” she said.
Rainbow let out a chuckle. “Pegasi don't sink, squirt – we float.”
“We do?”
“Yeah, didn't--” Rainbow broke off and adopted a lop-sided smile. “Well, I guess your mom doesn't know a whole lot about this pegasus stuff, huh? That's cool though – you've got me to teach you. Now, you coming, or what?”
Scootaloo eyed the proffered hoof. A glance at Sweetie Belle and Applebloom later, the smile returned to her face, albeit nervously. “O-okay.”
Carefully, Scootaloo rose to her hooves and stepped forwards, lowering herself into the water as she would a bath. Rainbow Dash brought the hoof to Scootaloo's chest, holding it there as a firm support to guide her down.
There was a brief shock at the sudden change in temperature, but before long, Scootaloo was resting on her front on the water, with all but her head submerged just below the surface. The heat of the Sun's glare had disappeared almost entirely, and it felt like a massive weight was lifted from her shoulders.
“Alright, first things first,” said Rainbow Dash, still holding her up with a hoof. “Unfurl your wings and lay 'em at your sides.”
Scootaloo did as she was told. Her wings were kind of heavy from being soaked in water, but somehow they still listened to her. “At my sides... Like this?”
Rainbow nodded. “That's it. Simple, right?”
“Okay, now what?” said Scootaloo.
“Now just chill out,” said Rainbow. “That's all there is to it. You ready?”
“W-wait!” said Scootaloo. “I don't have to... paddle my hooves or anything?”
“Nope. Just breathe slow and stay cool. If you panic, your wings'll lock up and somepony'll have to come get you. And that's... kind of embarrassing, so let's try to not panic, okay?”
“But--” Scootaloo hesitated. “I mean, okay, I'll try. But, if I did... you'd come help me, right?”
Rainbow flashed her a sidelong smile. “'Course I would, squirt! Now, c'mon, you ready?”
Scootaloo bit her lip. Nopony else seemed to be having trouble staying afloat – even Rarity, who wasn't even moving at all, just bobbing along on her back.
“Okay, I guess so.”
Scootaloo steadied her breath as Rainbow told her. Slowly, Rainbow traced her hoof across her chest before letting go completely. Scootaloo had a moment of worry, in which she closed her eyes part-way, but she didn't sink. In fact, it felt very much like Rainbow was still holding her. Sure enough, she was floating.
“This feels weird,” she commented, eyeing the water's surface suspiciously.
“But cool, right?” said Rainbow. “It sure takes the edge off of that Sun.”
Scootaloo wiggled her hooves a little beneath the water, and turned herself slightly. She felt a smile creeping onto her face. “Yeah, it does...”
The sound of familiar laughter drew her attention to the side, where Sweetie Belle and Applebloom had their eyes closed as they splashed each other.
Scootaloo's smile widened. “Hey, guys!” She instinctively made to walk towards them. And, to her surprise, it actually seemed to be working. She grunted in amusement, before remembering what she was doing. She turned to cast a hopeful look over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash. “Um, can I?”
Rainbow smiled and nodded grantingly, at which Scootaloo gave a wide grin. She turned again and made her steady way over to her friends.
It was a long, relaxing afternoon. The three fillies spent hours playing in the lake, then what must've been hours more relaxing on the lakeside with Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity. The Sun had gradually begun to set, and its oppressive glare was hardly even noticeable after their swim.
Now, Scootaloo walked home alongside Rainbow Dash, enjoying the cool breeze that blew through the streets in the light of the sunset. They'd already parted with the others at the lake – the grown-ups having agreed that it was a school night and they needed to get home.
As they came up to Scootaloo's place, Rainbow rolled her neck by way of easing the break of the silence in which they'd been walking 'til now. “Well, this is your stop, squirt.”
“Yup,” said Scootaloo idly, staring at her door. She was kind of tired and hungry, but it really had been too short a walk for such a cool evening. Then again, it was always a shame when she had to say goodbye to Rainbow Dash.
She turned to give the older pegasus a wide smile. And then, gripped by a random urge, she jumped forwards and wrapped her forehooves around Rainbow's fetlock. It was something she'd seen Applebloom and Sweetie Belle do when they were happy to see their sisters, and so it just felt like the right thing to do.
Rainbow let out a quiet chuckle at the gesture, and then unfurled a wing to wrap it around Scootaloo's side, hugging her back.
After far too short a time to be cuddled up against the awesome pegasus, Scootaloo felt Rainbow pull back. “Go on, squirt. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?”
Scootaloo drew back and started towards the door, smiling back over her shoulder.
“...And tell your mom I said 'Hi'!” Rainbow added, returning the smile.
“Okay!” said Scootaloo. “Bye, Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow unfurled her wings and beat them, kicking off from the ground as she did. “Later, squirt!”
Reaching the doorway, Scootaloo found herself stopping to turn and watch Rainbow Dash. The awesome pegasus flipped over, midair, and started off towards the sunset, and her cloud home in the distance.
It was a more pensive smile that crossed Scootaloo's face then. Rainbow Dash taught her all kinds of things about being a pegasus, and for that, she was incredibly grateful. But the one thing that continued to elude her was the one thing she wanted most – to be able to fly alongside Rainbow Dash.
Someday, perhaps, Rainbow would find a way to teach her to do that. But until then, she reasoned, there were still plenty of other things to learn. One day at a time.
“...Yeah,” she muttered, finally turning to make her way inside. “See ya later.”
~FIN