Fluttershy was leaning back and had her two front legs spread out and resting on the sides of the ledge of the whirlpool. She was quite relaxed until she heard the striking of very heavy hoof steps getting louder and louder.
Flutterhy opened up her eyes and her ears perked up when she heard a rather high pitched voice that also had a slightly deep and silly sounding tone to it. The voice almost sounded forced and unnatural. "Hey, Louie. Did you sneak in the Mickedees?"
Fluttershy heard another voice respond that sounded even higher pitched in a tone compared to the first voice that she heard. "Yeah, Frankie. I hope that we don't get caught munching in here again."
Fluttershy closed her front legs and looked shyly away as they entered her sight.
They noticed Fluttershy and Frankie said, "It looks like we got company. Hey sweetheart, what's your name?"
Fluttershy looked down and said, "M-m-my name is Fluttershy and I'm sorry if I'm in your way. I can leave if you want me to. It's not a big deal to me."
"Not at all cutie," Frankie said. "We'll just squeeze right in with you.
The two large buffalos got in the small whirlpool. They practically sandwiched Fluttershy in.
Frankie laughed and said, "It looks like we sandwiched Fluttershy. What do they call those cookies that we love to eat again? Flutter Butters?"
"No, I think they're called, Nutter Butters," his friend replied.
Fluttershy looked around and asked, "Um, isn't this whirlpool for females only?"
"I didn't see a sign, did you Frankie?"
"No way, bro. I didn't see one either," Frankie lied.
They both came here because all of their other friends were crammed in the other whirlpool for males and because the employees knew to watch for them because they often caught them bringing in bags of food and drinks into the whirlpool which was against the gym rules.
Louie took out the Mickedees bag and gave his buddy Frankie a large shake, a triple stacker grass deep fried veggie burger, and an extra large box of fries. "Ok, Frankie, we got our Big Macs. Let's dig in!" Louie took out his own meal and together, they began chowing down furiously.
Fluttershy perked up and thought to herself, "Big Mac! Oh no! They made pony patties out of my precious Big Macintosh who is kind of my boyfriend! Pinkie Pie often told me that one day Big Macintosh would make tasty burgers!" Fluttershy thought more about it and then realized that Big Mac just refred to the name of a special kind of veggie burger. "Phew," she thought to herself. "I almost forgot that Big Mac is also the name of a burger that some ponies like to clog their arteries with."
The two water buffalo's chewed loudly as they ate.
Fluttershy looked at the sign that said, "NO FOOD OR DRINKS ALLOWED!" She spoke up and said, "Um, excuse me, but I think that the sign says no food or drinks are allowed in here."
Frankie was already dropping crumbs and fries into the water as he inhaled his food. He looked at the sign and said, "I think that just means beyond the whirlpool point. It's safe to eat in here, but not in the locker room."
"Oh," Fluttershy said. "I see."
Both buffalos became very gassy and Fluttershy heard what sounded like a bomb going off under water. She nearly jumped out of the pool in fear. The buffalos continued with their flatulence non-stop.
Fluttershy watched the massive bubbles form underneith the water. "Um, excuse me, but I don't think those bubbles are coming from the whirlpool."
"Ain't nothing wrong with a little gas," Louie said. "It's natural and it compliments the chef. It's part of our culture."
"Yeah," Frankie added. He burped very loudly and said, "It's just our bodies way of expressing thanks for the food and we just love to eat!"
"Oh," Fluttershy said as she held her front hoof to her nose. "Your culture really stinks, I mean....it smells....Um, sounds interesting is what I meant to say."
About twenty minutes later, the two buffalos and Fluttershy were still sitting there.
Fluttershy was hoping they would leave soon, but it appeared to her that they weren't going to be gone anytime soon. She decided that she might as well attempt to strike up a conversation with them. Fluttershy twirled her front hoof nervously around the steaming water and asked, "So, you guys really like to spend a lot of time in the whirlpool, huh?"
Frankie looked over to her and said, "Yeah! We like to spend as much time in the water as we can because we're a special kind of buffalo."
"What kind of special buffalo are you referring to?" Fluttershy asked.
"It isn't obvious?" Louie asked the yellow mare.
Fluttershy shook her head no.
Both buffalos spoke in unison, "WE'RE WATER BUFFALOS!"
"Oh dear," Fluttershy said. "That makes a lot more sense to me now. So do you guys actually do any exercise at the gym?"
"Yeah," Frankie said. "They have an aquatics program for water buffalos like us and we do special water exercises. We come here and relax in the whirlpool after our exercise program is over in the pool."
"And I can bench press over six hundred pounds for hours without getting tired," Louie said. "Although Frankie is still a weakling and can only bench press about five hundred and fifty pounds."
"Wow! That's impressive. How do you manage to bench press so much weight for that entire time?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh, we just sit on the benches and eat food. Our body weight pressing against the bench is what counts, right?" Louie asked. He then picked up a soggy french fry that was floating in the water and ate it.
"That was rather anti-climatic," Fluttershy said with a sigh.
Louie looked down in the water and was just barely able to see Fluttershy's cutie mark. "So, you like butterflies, huh?"
"Yes," Fluttershy said. "Butterflies saved my life in the past."
"Say, how come we don't have any pictures tattooed on our flanks?" Frankie asked.
"I think that's because our behinds are way too big and that it would be too distracting to others," Louie answered.
"But I think ponies get these cutie marks because it represents what they are supposed to be really good at something," Frankie said. "Some of them get them as early as grade school."
"I think it's like magic and wouldn't make sense to us anyway," Frankie said.
"Wait a second. You're right! They don't even make sense half of the time!" Louie said.
"Well, what about that orange one that runs an apple farm? Doesn't it make sense that she has apples on her ass? Frankie asked. "What about that pink one that has balloons on her butt? Doesn't that represent that she has fun on her flanks?"
"Well yeah, but what about the grey Pegasus that crashes into everything? Why does she have bubbles on her bum? How come that mare who plays the cello has a treble clef on her flank? Cello players read in bass clef."
"I don't know," Frankie said. "I guess that it's because all of the bass belongs to Vinyl Scratch. I don't think non-musicians would know what the heck a bass clef looks like anyway. Treble clef looks a bit more prettier for a cutie mark, right? Who would want a bass butt anyway?
"Well, why does that blue dentist pony named Colgate have an hour glass as a cutie mark!?" Louie asked.
Frankie shrugged and said, "I don't know. Maybe it's her passion in life to make her patients wait in the waiting room. You do know that Doctors and Dentists can really make their patients learn great patience! I thought she was called Minuette anyway."
"No! Shut up, Frankie! She's called Colgate!"
Fluttershy spoke up and said, "Um, guys, I think Jesus is the answer and..." Fluttershy was cut off by both water buffalos.
"Be quiet yellow horse! You talk WAY too much! We are discussing important matters here!" They both cried out in unison.
Fluttershy looked down and said, "I'm so sorry. I-I-I'm actually a pony, and I'm just a little one."
Frankie looked at Fluttershy's flank and said, "So you have butterflies on your behind because you got saved by a bunch of butterflies, right?"
Fluttershy nodded her head innocently and said, "That's right, but it also represents that I can talk to animals and..."
"Louie cut her off and said, "See! I told you that they are just tattoos and don't make any real sense! Butterflies are insects and her cutie mark doesn't give any kind of indication that she has this special ability that lets her communicate with animals."
"Maybe cutie marks are just for ponies or maybe we're not good at anything," Louie suggested.
"Nonsense! We know how to eat! We should have a cutie mark of food or something," his buddy said.
"What about that zebra named Zecora?" Louie asked. "She has a cutie mark and she's not a pony."
"I actually think that her cutie mark might be some kind of tribal drawing that she may have had tattooed on her body purposely. You know that she belongs to those strange tribes that dance around fires and chant, Ooga-booga all day. I have never seen a cow, or any other creature with a cutie mark. Not even asses have cutie marks on their asses."
Louie shrugged and said, "Maybe we shouldn't try to figure this all out and just let ponies enjoy their special pictures on their butts. Maybe our special talents show up in other ways. Maybe we just don't need cutie marks to be awesome."
Both buffalos continued to discuss this matter back and fourth.
Fluttershy's eyes darted left to right as each water buffalo said something. She spoke up and said, "I-I-I think that all you need is Jesus to be awesome in life. Just look at Rainbow Dash. She's so awesome and cool because of God."
Neither water buffalo heard her because of their incessant bickering.
That bickering soon ended when everyone inside of the tub heard the sound of hoof steps.
"Quick, Louie! Hide!" Frankie ducked under the water and so did his friend.
Vinyl Scratch stepped in and looked at Fluttershy. "Excuse me, but have you seen a couple of water buffalos back here?"
Fluttershy nervously looked around and said, "Um, maybe?"
Vinyl Scratch sighed and walked on over closer. She immediately saw the food particles floating around in the water. Upon closer inspection, she saw the two water buffalos cowering under the water. She stomped her hoof angrily and yelled, "Come out you guys! You both are busted, once again!"
The two buffalos heard the vibrations from her voice and looked up.
"Aw, shucks, Louie. I told you that we would get caught again," Frankie said as bubbles came out of his mouth.
Frankie shrugged and said, "I guess you can't blame a buffalo for trying. We might as well face the music."
"Talk about literally facing the music. I heard that she's a big shot D.J. too. I hope she doesn't blast us with her bass cannon," Louie said and then floated up to the top of the water.
His buddy also came up to the surface as well.
Vinyl Scratch pulled at her stylish mane with her two front hooves in distress and said, "How many times do I have to tell you both NOT to come in here, and especially not to bring food or drinks into the whirlpool?"
"It's not our fault! The other whirlpool is jam packed with other water buffalos and we paid good money to use the whirlpool here."
Vinyl Scratch hit the side of her head with her front hoof hard, almost knocking off her trademark sunglasses. "I told you that the gym owners are working on adding another whirlpool for you guys. You just have to be a little more patient with us. Now get out of the whirlpool now!"
Both water buffalos sighed and made their way out.
"If I catch either of you in here again, I may have to suspend you from coming to this gym. Do you understand me?" Vinyl Scratch asked and lowered her sunglasses on her face so that her two eyes could be seen as if to show just how serious she was about her warning.
"We're sorry, Miss Scratch," Both water buffalos said. "It won't happen again." The two water buffalos then headed out of the locker room.
Vinyl Scratch looked at the food floating in the water and said, "I'm really sorry that you had to put up with those two. It's probably going to take a long time to get this whirlpool cleaned up. I'd get out if I were you. There's probably food particles stuck in your mane and tail."
"Oh, um, I'll be fine. It's not really a big deal to me," Fluttershy said.
"Suit yourself, but if you ever see those two come back in here again, please let me know."
"O-o-ok," Fluttershy said.
Vinyl Scratch turned and quickly left. There were probably more customers at the front desk that she needed to attend to.