//------------------------------// // Swan Lake // Story: The Last Days of Summer // by Twi-Fi //------------------------------// As the pier shrank away with each stroke of the oar, Silver Spoon turned her kayak to follow the shoreline. Judging from the location the flare had shot up at, she knew exactly where they went. Not far from the pier was a little cove of shallow waters and low hanging tree branches. Of all the times working at this place with daddy, no one ever uses a flare! What did those blank-flanks do? Silver Spoon increased her rowing. They are going to get it! But even as her kayak increased in speed, she realized she was fighting a current, and she had to slow down. If any of them got a cutie mark, it would be for failing at life! Of course they’d get stuck out there. Close to the cliffs, she could make out every detail, every tree, and every rock. The cliffs jutted out in front of her a little ways out. She knew that once she rounded it, she wouldn’t be far from the cove. Let’s see, Sunpetal Grove is fifteen nautical strides away… what’s a nautical stride again? Silver Spoon panted slowing her rowning and flexing her shoulders. A normal stride is twenty paces at a canter. A pace is fifteen steps at a trot, and a lope is two and a half steps as it is neither a walk or a trot. And a step is equal to the normal step taken by Celestia. I think a nautical stride is smaller than a normal one… five point two—how did Cheerilee show us how to convert it? I even made fun of Scootaloo for not figuring it out! Wait… did I ever figure it out? “Oh, who cares. I’ll be there in, like, ten minutes!” Silver Spoon shouted. After all, silly things such as the intricacies of the Equestrian units of measurement weren’t of her concern. Those were things only eggheads and nerds knew. It had been a while since Silver Spoon had been out in a kayak. Popular fillies definitely didn’t do such dorky things. She was slightly embarrassed at how well she could still do everything, or the fact that she even knew the difference between a kayak and a canoe. She never told anyone about any of this, and the most she had ever told Diamond Tiara was that her dad owned a lodge by Swan Lake. However, it was more of a bragging point than anything else. Silver Spoon sat down her oar as her thoughts came to an abrupt halt. If those three see me in this kayak.... They will tell everyone— “Ugh!” She smacked the oar against the hull of her kayak. “I can’t believe this!” Rounding the jutting cliff, Silver Spoon was presented with a perfect view into Sunpetal Grove. It had a perfect beach, shallow crystal clear water, and low hanging tree branches that were perfect for diving. The water was picturesque and calm, completely undisturbed. “Where are they?” Silver Spoon asked herself. She tried to recall the location of the distress flare in her mind, and also how long they had been gone before it was set off. “It was to my left, and it looked like it was from this area… but maybe they made it further, despite them being really bad at it. If I can compare the location I saw to the time it took them to the, um, something…” She paddled deeper into the cove as she tried to reason with herself the absence of the Crusaders. Yet, a slight uneasiness was settling in at the complete absence of the trio. “If they aren’t in here, maybe they made it to the Cove of the Willow.” She jammed her oar into the water and held firmly, causing her kayak to about face. She started rowing again, now facing the vast lake; only the mountains on the side indicated its other shore. Silver Spoon sighed as her boat picked up speed again and she found a comfortable rhythm. “The next cove is only five strides away, so it will only take me a few minutes at this rate… I think. I bet Sweetie Belle could figure it out, no problem. That dork is good at these things, what with her dorky personality, perfect coat, and cute mane—” Silver Spoon gulped. Despite the fact that she was nowhere near land or even any other pony, she still had to look around to make sure no one overheard her. “Actually, the more I think about it... she is the only one out of the three that has any sort of class. If she gets her cutie mark, I might be able to associate with her. As for the other two… ick,” she shuddered. Just thinking about actually hanging out with Scootaloo or Apple Bloom made her squirm with discomfort. After a few minutes of rowing, she came around the second cliff, to a smaller cove. This one had only a small sand spit for a shore against the sheer jagged cliffs behind it. In the middle of the cove, however, was a massive and ancient weeping willow that had grown straight out of the water as an island of its own. Its massive drooping branches created a curtain, that blocked everything from the outside world. Not far from the tree, a spot of red caught her eye. In the midst of some logs and other shallow-water brush, was the red canoe. Inside, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle sat huddled together, shivering and soaked to the bone. Sweetie Belle’s ears perked up at the sight of Silver Spoon coming around the corner. “Over here!” she squeaked. “We’re s-s-saved!” Apple Bloom exclaimed through her chattering teeth. Silver Spoon brought her kayak to a gentle stop in front of the canoe. “What. In. Equestria. Happened?” she panted. “Well, what happened was…” Apple Bloom began but trailed off. “Let’s just say we lost the oars. Me and Scoots dove in after them, but they got picked up by the current and carried away before we could catch them.” “You guys seriously lost all three oars?” Silver Spoon deadpanned. “We flipped the canoe over—” “Ya mean, you flipped the canoe over!” Apple Bloom cut across Scootaloo. “I don’t even want to know...” Silver Spoon muttered. “We swam onto these logs. I used my magic to get the canoe back. I was trying to use that spell to get the oars back…” Sweetie Belle’s ears drooped. “We’re sorry we lost them.” “You three are the worst,” Silver Spoon grumbled. “I guess I’ll pull you losers back to the lodge.” She pulled a rope out of the back compartment of her kayak and tossed it to towards the other boat, not caring if it hit anyone or not. Apple Bloom caught the rope in her mouth and quickly tied it to the metal ring at the bow of the canoe. “Alright.” Silver Spoon dug her oar into the water, trying to gain momentum, but the ran-aground canoe wouldn’t budge from the brush holding it. “Can’t you use some dumb magic to move that thing without the oars?” Silver Spoon wined. “It doesn’t work that way. And I don’t know any other spells,” Sweetie Belle said while fixing her eyes on the water. “Sorry.” That last word Sweetie Belle spoke at barely a whisper, and Silver Spoon felt little twinge of guilt in her stomach. She quickly shook it off, because there was no way she was going to feel bad for them. Sweetie Belle jumped out of the canoe. She wobbled a little as she balanced herself between the log and the boat. She gave the canoe the slightest of nudges, and it broke free from the retaining brush. As the canoe drifted free, Sweetie Belle hopped back inside at the last second. The canoe listed violently from the impact, and both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had to grab hold of the sides so they wouldn’t be tossed out. Silver Spoon repressed a smile as she looked away from Sweetie Belle, and focused on turning her kayak about. At least we can ride the current back. She dug her oar into the water, and she moved forward. She increased her efforts when she felt the resistance of the rope tightening. But to her amazement, towing the other boat wasn’t as hard as she thought. Slowly, Silver Spoon picked up a decent rhythm, gaining an even speed. As soon as she left the cove, she felt her kayak get picked up by the current. It gave her just enough of a boost to make her rowing less intense. After she cleared the sharp hook of the cliff, she executed a couple of maneuvers to stay along the shoreline and in the current. “Wow, you’re really good at this,” Sweetie Belle said in what she hoped what an encouraging voice. “Turning was always the hard part for us.” Silver Spoon didn’t react immediately due to the burning in her cheeks. She took a few deep breaths before turning around with her most threatening glare. “You three better not say anything! Got that? Anything.” “Okay,” Sweetie Belle said, flashing a toothy smile. “What? No! Sweetie,” Scootaloo groaned. Her face lit up with a wide grin as she looked Silver Spoon in the eyes. “I mean, we’ll do it for a price. Right girls?” Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle looked uncertain while Apple Bloom held a hoof to her chin, really thinking it over. “Ah don’t know. Can we get a cutie mark for blackmail?” “Why would want that to be your special talent?” asked Sweetie Belle in a serious tone. “Why not? Ah mean we tried almost everything else.” “Oh come on, Apple Bloom, you can’t want your cutie mark that bad,” Scootaloo said, chiming into the conversation again. “Oh, my, gosh! Will you three just stop talking!” The three fillies shrank into the canoe under Silver Spoon’s glare. “Please. I won’t charge you those extra ten minutes, if you three stay quiet.” They exchanged confused glances and shrugs. Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to say something, but Apple Bloom silenced her with a hoof and nodded vigorously. Thank Celestia. They are so annoying. The dodo is right though. I have to keep them quiet. Somehow… I just don’t know what’s worse; them telling everyone about me saving them, or that they think I’m really good at this outdoorsy thing? What if Diamond finds out? Silver Spoon gulped, her face still burning as the lodge came into view. After returning to the pier, Silver Spoon put all of the boats back in the shed. To her amazement, the Crusaders managed to stay quiet the rest of the return journey. The three fillies laid themselves on the pier, under the hot sun, in hopes of drying off. Silver Spoon had to suppress a giggle at Sweetie Belle’s fuzzy coat as she approached them. I hope this works. The pegasus blank-flank is craftier than she looks. At least Sweetie Belle is somewhat reasonable. Her heart pounded as she started walking down the pier. As she got closer, the three fillies woke from their sun bath. They rose to their hooves and waited for Silver Spoon to close the gap. “Okay, blank-flanks, if you three keep quiet about—um… what we discussed earlier, then I won’t charge you for the rest of the summer. But you have to pay for the hour today.” Silver Spoon watched as they considered it carefully. “We just need a second to discuss this in private,” Apple Bloom said. Silver Spoon tapped her hoof impatiently as the Crusaders huddled together whispering. The time seemed to pass at an extremely slow rate. Come on already. What’s there to talk about? It’s more than fair! High-pitched giggles and hoof bumps concluded their secret huddle session. Sweetie Belle stepped forward, approaching Silver Spoon. “We accept under one condition…” “A-and what would th-that be?” Sweetie Belle closed the distance until her nose was nearly touching Silver Spoon’s. Neither one blinked as they fixed their eyes on each other. “You don’t get to call us blank-flanks. You have to use our real names,” Sweetie Belle said softly then flashed another toothy grin. “I-ye—oh, but—” Silver Spoon clenched her jaw and resorted to simply nodding. “Okay. Well, here are the five bits from each of us for the hour with the canoe.” Sweetie Belle held out fifteen bits in her outstretched hoof. Silver Spoon remained motionless, her eyes glazed over. Sweetie Belle shook her head and placed the bits in Silver Spoon's saddlebag. “We're very sorry we lost the oars. We'll see you tomorrow. Have a fun rest of the day.” The three fillies left the pier, talking and giggling as a transfixed Silver Spoon stood on the pier, red-faced, and confused.