//------------------------------// // Back at the Gym // Story: (SiC) Part 8 - They Will Know By Our Love // by Brian Jacko //------------------------------// A few more days went by and Rainbow Dash was already at the gym with Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash wasn't able to do much exercise in her wheelchair, but the aquatics program was perfect for her since it did not strain her body and exercising in the water was the safest for ponies suffering with joint pain. Fluttershy had learned a lot about hurting ponies and rehabilitating them through aquatics exercise. She studied what the instructor did with them and learned which movements helped specific injuries. Fluttershy splashed her two front hooves with excitement in the water. "Come on, sugar cube. Just lift your wings a little bit and..." "Did you seriously just call me sugar cube?" Rainbow asked. "Ooops," Fluttershy said. "I guess Applejack's terms and phrases can be a bit catchy." "At least you're not summoning rubber chickens like Twilight and Rarity were doing by mistake," Rainbow said. She lifted her wings slightly and Fluttershy gave her praise for her efforts. All was going well until Fluttershy's ears perked up when she heard two discinct voices. "Hey Louie, want to jump into the water?" Frankie asked. "Yeah, bro. Let's make another tidal wave. Geronimo!" Fluttershy turned to them and waved her two front hooves in the air frantically. "Wait!" she cried out. Surprisingly, both water buffalos stopped right at the edge of the pool. "What's the matter, yellow horse?" "We have a pony in here who is suffering with excrutiating pain and splashing would tense her body up and amplify the pain. Please be considerate and use the steps today. "But the sign doesn't say no diving for water buffalos," Frankie said. "You might want to look again," Fluttershy said with a sly smirk. Both water buffalos quickly looked at the sign. "Aw shucks! No way, Louie! They updated the sign and included a picture of a water buffalo next to the pony with the big red x going through it. That's so not cool!" "Well, what are we going to do?" Louie said as he began to climb down the steps. "Maybe we can propose for them to build a diving board in the deep end." "But they said that they lose about half of the pool's water when we dive in just the shallow part of the pool. There'd be no water left if we did a high dive off of a diving board." "I don't know," Louie said. "They could sweep it all back in I guess." "Frankie shrugged and climbed into the pool as well. "It's whatever, bro." "Thank you for being so considerate," Fluttershy said. Frankie and Louie swam up to the two ponies and stopped to look at Rainbow Dash. "Uh, guys. Don't group hug her or even touch her, please. She's in a lot of pain," Fluttershy admonished. "Oh, we only save our hugs for you, sweetie!" Frankie said. "Isn't this your pony friend, or something?" Louie asked. "Yes, and for once you're correct. She is a pony and not a...." "Not a yellow horse like you! We know already!" Frankie butted in. Fluttershy looked down and sighed with depression. "What's her name again? Rainbow Crash?" Louie asked. "Her name is Rainbow Dash and she is suffering from a very traumatic crash, guys," Fluttershy said. "Yeah, so Rainbow Crash! That makes a lot more sense to me," Frankie said. Rainbow Dash glared at Fluttershy with anger. "Are these guys going to just move on, or are they going to bother us forever?" Fluttershy leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "You have great patience. They'll go away soon....I hope." "So check out that tattoo on this one's butt," Louie said. "See! These tattoo's don't make any sense. She's a really in-shape pony, yet she has a cutie mark that says she should be fat." "What the heck do you guys mean by that!?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Well, you have a bolt of lightning on your flanks. That should mean that you have thunder thighs, right?" Louie asked. "Lightning can be seen. Thunder is just the sound caused by lightning," Rainbow said in an annoyed tone of voice. "No way, bro!" Frankie said. "Her cutie mark tattoo thingy just means that she can probably shoot lightning out of her butt when she farts or something. I bet the cloud has something to do with that too. No one farts better than us though. Maybe it's her specialty." "Well, what's up with the lightning bolt being colored like a rainbow?" Louie asked. "It appears that she has some kind of rainbow on her rear. Frankie shrugged and said, "I don't know, bro. Maybe it has something to do with her mane and tail being the colors of a rainbow?" "Or maybe she farts rainbows out of her butt!" Louie said with excitement. "That's what the rainbow on her rump means." "Louie, that doesn't even make any sense," Frankie said. "Shut up!" Louie yelled. "No, you shut up!' Frankie shot back. The two water buffalos began arguing incessantly over Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. Fluttershy whispered in Rainbow Dash's ear. "Now is our chance to get away before they realize." Fluttershy helped Rainbow Dash get out of the pool. The two ponies both realized that something was missing. "My wheelchair...." Rainbow Dash said. "Who would steal a wheelchair from a pony who needs it?" "Oh, dear," Fluttershy said. "I'm not much of a strong pony, but I'll try to carry you out. I just hope that it won't be too painful for you. I'll try to walk as gently as I can." Fluttershy got low to the ground and Rainbow Dash gently climbed onto her back. Fluttershy began to head towards the exit with Rainbow Dash on her back. Rainbow's front legs were wrapped around her neck. "Hey Fluttershy, can we make a pitstop at the front desk? I brought some bits to pay for something." Fluttershy obeyed and stopped at the front desk. "Rainbow Dash?" Vinyl Scratch asked. "Why are you being carried like that? Where is your wheelchair?" "Somepony stole it, I guess," Rainbow said. "I saw some fillies walking out with a wheelchair about an hour ago, but I didn't say anything because I didn't know it was yours. I guess they wanted to play a mean prank or something," Vinyl Scratch said. "Do you need any help, or will you be ok with Fluttershy carrying you around like that?" "I'll be fine," Rainbow said. "I just don't understand who would do such a thing. Anyway, I just came over because a birthday is coming up and I'd like to pay for a year's worth of boxing lessons as a gift." Rainbow Dash gave Vinyl Scratch a bag of bits. "Eighty bits for a once a week boxing lesson for a year. I'd like that deal please." Vinyl Scratch took the bag of bits and handed her the gift certificate. She then quickly scribbled something down on a pad with a quill. "Whenever they want to start, just have them stop by with this certificate. If it gets lost or stolen, I wrote down the number and your name next to it. I'll just need forms to be filled out before the lessons start. Thanks, Rainbow Dash, and I hope that you can get your wheelchair back and find out who stole it." "Thanks, Vinyl Scratch. I'll see you later with Octavia at Twilight's Bible study tonight," Rainbow said as she took the gift certificate. Fluttershy turned and walked out the door. Back at the swimming pool, Louie and Frankie were still debating. "And that's my final word! Those tattoos don't make any sense!" Frankie said. "Fine!" Louie said. "Fine!" Frankie said. Both water buffalos turned to talk to the ponies, but they were gone. "Aw, shucks Louie. Where did they go? Do you think that we scared them away?" "I don't know, Frankie. It's kind of hard to believe that Fluttershy can sneak away like a ninja when she's so noisy and talkative." Louie gasped when he saw a pool water skimmer. "He swam over to it and cried out, "Oh no! I think our yellow horse friend got sucked into this thing." He put his two front hooves to his mouth and called out, "Fluttershy, are you in there? Can you hear me?" He then put his ear to the skimmer and waited for a response for several seconds. "I don't know Frankie, I think the yellow horse can teleport too. Maybe she teleported out of the gym or something." "No way!" Frankie said. "I didn't see horns on their heads. Only really smart unicorns can do that, like that lavender colored one at the gym who does crossword puzzles as she rides the recumbent bike." "That doesn't even make sense!" Louie said. "What about that pink pony who can just appear out of nowhere? She can teleport too and she doesn't even have a horn." "Maybe our yellow horse friend can teleport because she stores the magical powers in her wings," Frankie said. "No! Shut up! That's stupid!" "You're stupid!" Louie said. The two water buffalos began arguing once again. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had stealthily avoided the two water buffalos and were now out of the building. "Wow, Fluttershy. Those two guys had to be the most annoying two that I have ever seen. How do you even deal with them?" "Oh, I just learned to be patient and kind. We're all a work in progress in Christ and so are they. Some progress faster than others," Fluttershy said. "You're really good at carrying ponies for not being so strong, Fluttershy," Rainbow said. "I thought this would hurt a lot more." "Being kind and gentle is so very important to me. I'm not exactly a clunker," the yellow meek mare said. "A clunker? Do you mean like Derpy Hooves?" Rainbow Dash asked. "She can be a bit of a clunker sometimes." "Um, no comment," Fluttershy said. "I can't believe how stealthy you were when you snuck away with me on your back without letting those two water buffalos see us. You're like a ninja," Rainbow said. "Jesus was like a ninja too," Fluttershy said. "Huh?" Rainbow asked. "You don't remember in the book of Luke? He literally was like a ninja recorded in the book of Luke, chapter four. Don't you remember this?" Fluttershy cleared her throat and retold the story of ninja-like Jesus. "And all they in the synagogue, hearing these things, were filled with anger. And they rose up and thrust him out of the city; and they brought him to the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But He passing through the midst of them, went his way. "Wow, Jesus really was like a stealthy ninja," Rainbow said. "His hometown had so many ponies dwelling there. It's kind of odd how your own hometown can hate you so passionately. He seemed to be loved everywhere else except for the one place that should have been rooting for him." "It was all prophesied before it ever happened," Fluttershy said. "It's kind of funny how Pinkie Pie has that skin tight black spy suite and sometimes goes around like she's some kind of ninja spy. She's by far the least stealthiest pony out of our group." "Hey, it's Pinkie Pie. No pony can figure her out," Fluttershy said. "She also loves to call Jesus's miracles, party tricks." As the two ponies approached the corner of the building, some very familiar giggling could be heard. Fluttershy turned the corner and was met with three fillies and what seemed like a brand new sparkling wheelchair. Sitting in the wheelchair was Scootaloo. "Scoots?" Rainbow asked. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stopped pushing the wheelchair and stood next to Scootaloo's side. "Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cried out as she hopped out of the wheelchair. She ran up and wrapped her front legs around Rainbow Dash's front leg. "Rainbow Dash! We're so sorry that we were late. We tried to get it back in time, but it took a while! Oh, how I have missed my hero so much!" "Please be gentle with her, Scootaloo. She's still in a lot of pain," Fluttershy said. Scootaloo let go of Rainbow Dash's front leg and pointed to the wheelchair. "Do you like what we did? It's our gift to you!" Rainbow Dash looked at the wheelchair. It was completely decked out with art work inspired by Rainbow Dash's cutie mark and had hints of the Wonderbolts designs as well. "You did that for me, girls?" Rainbow asked. "We sure did!" the three fillies said in unison. "It was Scootaloo's idea so you should thank her. We just helped her make this for you," Sweetie Belle said. "Wow, you girls have touched my heart," Rainbow said. "So does that mean you like it?" Scootaloo asked. "It's wonderful, Scoots. Thank you for doing this for me. Let me sit in it now." Rainbow Dash slowly got off of Fluttershy's back and the ponies helped Rainbow Dash sit in her newly designed wheelchair." "Is it at least twenty percent cooler?" Scootaloo asked. "It sure is, Scoots. Wow, I really didn't expect this." "You're so very welcome, Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo said. "Hey! Will you be around later on or can we stop by and visit you at Fluttershy's cottage?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Rarity needs me home right now." "And Applejack needs me to do some farm chores. We only took the time out to help Scootaloo with her ideas," Apple Bloom said. "You girls can visit me at any time," Rainbow said. "Thank you both for the gift." The two fillies said good bye and then were on their way. "Hey, Rainbow Dash. Can we spend some time together? Like, just me and you alone?" Scootaloo asked. Rainbow Dash patted her on her head and said, "Sure, Scoots." She turned her head to Fluttershy and asked, "Would that be ok, Fluttershy?" "Sure!" Fluttershy said. "I'll let you two bond a bit while I prepare supper. You can stay and have dinner with us. Let's get going now." Fluttershy pushed Rainbow Dash in her wheelchair and the ponies made their way back to her cottage.