//------------------------------// // The Show // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -- Off The Record // by The King of Hearts //------------------------------// //// The Show //// “Jesus kid,” Chet said, as Alex pulled his shirt over his head in the changing room at the malls swimming pool, “When the hell did you lose all the fat?” Alex looked down at his stomach and felt a jolt of pride run through his brain, “I do look pretty good, don’t I?” And really, it wasn’t too debatable. He was somewhere between absolutely ripped, and skinny. His stomach had a defined six-pack, and his chest wasn’t too far behind. Something told him that if he had taken his royal guard training a little more seriously, he would have been a little too muscled. “Well, be careful,” Chet said, chuckling to himself, “The last time I looked that good, I couldn’t keep the girls off of me.” “Somehow I don’t think it’ll be a problem for me,” Alex said, as the two turned away from one another, slipped off their pants, and slipped on their swim trunks, “Girls weren’t exactly tossing themselves at me before.” “You were an awkward little shit back then,” Chet said, turning back and gesturing to Alex, “You’ve changed.” “I haven’t changed that much,” Alex said dismissively, tossing his clothing in the locker, “I’m still the same guy I was… however many years ago.” “Alex, from what you’ve told me, you’ve been through more growing experiences than a kid looking at his first Playboy,” Chet said, not even laughing at his quip, “Sure, you’re still silly, and immature. But… you have this look in your eyes. Behind all the humor, and whatever else… There’s a man that would bring the entire world to a stop, just to get his way. I remember your dad having the exact same look from time to time.” Alex didn’t answer. It was weird for Chet to be this meaningful in what he said. But, he also knew that he wouldn’t be talking that way if he didn’t truly mean what he was saying. “Look, I’m not trying to make anything uncomfortable for you,” Chet said, “I just really think you’ve grown up. Your dad would be proud of you.” “Thanks.” Alex said, giving a small smile to his uncle, “It’s really nice hearing that.” “Well, why don’t we head out to the pool?” Chet asked, looking toward the door and wondering to himself for a moment, “Do you think the girls are alright on their own?” “Of course they are,” Alex said, wrapping his locker key around his wrist and jingling it for a second, “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how to put on a bathing suit. And aside from that, what other trouble could they get in?” “Hey, Alex!” Dash said, walking in to the changing room, clad in her colorful bikini, with Twilight just behind her, “What’s taking you guys so long?” The scattering of nude men was truly staggering, as they all reached for the nearest towel, or hid in the changing stalls. “W-what are you guys doing in here?” Alex said, taken by surprise, “This locker room is for men… men…” Alex slowly stopped his complaint, as he looked to a man well in to his sixties, who hadn’t moved an inch when the girls arrived , just standing buck naked, doing nothing but looking at the girls and smiling. Twilight and Dash were completely oblivious. “Okay…”Chet said, looking away from the old man’s wrinkly ass to face the girls, “The change rooms are separated by sex. You can’t come in ours, and vice versa… It’s kinda a serious thing.” “Oh!” Twilight said immediately, “We’re so sorry everyone!” “Oh, don’t be.” The old man said, his smile growing as his eyes narrowed to them. “Okay, let’s just get out of here,” Alex said, walking toward them, grabbing their hands and leading them out, “That guy’s gonna be thinking about you two tonight.” //// Exiting the hallway that connected to the change rooms, Twilight and Dash both went wide eyed when their eyes made contact with the majesty that was the water park. There were so many tubes swirling around above their heads, each of them leading from a high point in the building, down to the pool. The water itself was rolling, as if some kind of tide had come in to the pool. “This is amazing…” Dash said, her mouth hanging open slightly at the sight. “Do you go through those pipes?” Twilight asked, following each one from beginning to end, “They seem like they go on for miles!” “Well, I’d be happy to show you guys, just so long as you’re willing to put on life-jackets.” Alex said, patting Dash on the head, “I can’t go having my favorite ladies drown.” “Favorite ladies?” Dash asked, rolling her eyes, “You sound like my dad.” “The life jackets are right over there.” Chet said, pointing to a wall across from them, “I’ll run and grab you some.” “Don’t slip and die!” Alex called, as he walked past the girls and stepped in to the water, relishing in the feeling of it running through his toes, “Man, I almost forgot how nice this feels.” The girls looked to each other, before following his course down in to the water. “it’s so weird having your feet separate like they do,” Twilight noted, bending down and tapping the floor in between her big toe and her long toe, “But once you get the hang of it, they really do a great job of keeping you upright.” “Oh yeah, way better than being a pony.” Alex laughed, “With hands, you don’t need to use your mouth for picking everything up… huh.” “What?” Dash asked looking at Alex after he trailed off. “What are those girls looking at?” Alex asked, tilting his head as he looked at three girls, each of whom was staring directly at him, “Why are they giggling? Is there something on me? Do I have a boner?!” “I think they’re checking you out, Alex.” Twilight said, smiling inwardly as she glanced at an obviously jealous Dash. “What? Me?” Alex laughed, “Jeez, that’s something I don’t remember happening.” “I told you, kid.” Chet said, approaching them with two jackets in his hands, “You look good. Every single girl in this place is looking at you right now.” Looking around quickly, Alex realized that he was indeed being checked out from several directions… It was so foreign. What was he supposed to do? Dash, during the entire conversation was uncharacteristically silent. “Don’t feel bad, Sarah. Or you Twilight.” Chet said, picking whatever names came to his head first, “You guys are drawing some looks too.” This threw Alex in to a completely different panic, as he looked at all the hunky dudes checking out his girlfriend. “Well, maybe this place isn’t so bad,” Dash snickered, feeling her happiness come right back to her, “Come on! Let’s go down that slide!” //// The wait for the slide wasn’t the worst Alex had experienced in his life. He remembered coming here years ago, and having to wait almost ten minutes just to get a chance at the biggest slide in the place. Now, however, they were only being put off by about two minutes. The slide itself was the longest in the pool, and criss crossed from one end of the area to the other, with several dips, twists, and turns. Alex figured that he might as well start big. “So, what am I supposed to do?” Dash asked, looking down in to the dark hole as she reached the top, “Just… sit down?” “Yes ma’am.” Alex said, stepping in front of her, “I’ll go first, then you just follow my lead.” Alex stepped up to the entrance and looked to the lifeguard next to him. “Please keep your hands at your sides, don’t try to stand up on the way down, and don’t go down with anyone else.” The zitty teenager said apathetically, not even looking up from his cell phone, “Go whenever you’re ready.” Sitting down, Alex looked over his shoulder to the girls behind him and smiled, before lifting his arms over his head, and pushing himself down the slide. He vanished instantly. The girls both gulped as the pubescent lifeguard looked to them and involuntarily had his voice squeak. “Hey- um, can we go?” Twilight asked, tilting her head at the flustered teenager. “Sure!” He said, nodding quickly, “You can go together if you want!” “Oh,” they both said, looking to one another, “Thanks!” Looking at the entrance, Dash slowly inched forward, and sat down in the flowing water, taking care not to slip down before Twilight sat down behind her, slipping her legs past Dash’s hips. “Have fun!” The guy said, “And if you two ever need something, come find me! I get half price on the corn dogs at concession!” “Sure thing!” Dash said excitedly, not really listening to him. Placing their hands on the plastic slide by their legs, both of them heaved forward, and followed behind Alex in to the depths of the pipe network. //// Chet sat in the hot tub overlooking the pool alone, as he watched Dash and Twilight go down the slide. “Man, those guys are missing the real party,” He said, looking to the exit of the slide as Alex came shooting out, and landed just to the left of a group of girls. In fact, it was the same group of girls that had been admiring him a few minutes ago. Smiling, Chet relaxed for the show that was sure to take place. He was happy he was far away from it. Of course, it didn’t take long for the girls to notice Alex and make their way over to him, where they instantly started talking to him. “I wonder what they’re saying,” Chet said to himself, as he started to imagine the conversation that would go along with the silent scene in front of him. “Wow, you sure look good!” A small blonde said, as Alex looked to her before looking back to the slide, “And you have a really nice butt!” Chet frowned. Was she really saying that? Well, wouldn’t it be funny if she was? Alex said something back to her, and Chet just had to fill in the blanks. “Thanks, that’s why I bought these trunks. They make my butt look amazing,” Alex clearly didn’t say, “You have a nice butt too.” “What is with me and all the butts? I sound like a creep.” Chet muttered. Chet then saw one of the girls start pulling on Alex’s arm, as she gestured to another slide across the pool. Alex clearly politely declined, but these girls weren’t taking no for an answer, as they all started saying something to him. Chet assumed it was some kind of chimed begging. “Please, we all wanna stare at your muscles for a while!” Chet said for the girl, “Then we can all fight over who gets to be your girlfriend, some of us breaking lifelong friendships as we do it!” Chet’s ears perked up as he heard someone shout from that same direction that he had been staring. Turning his gaze, he looked to three young guys, no older than eighteen, that were gesturing to the girls, and then to Alex, and then back to the girls. “Boyfriends,” Chet said, realizing that Alex might be in a bit of trouble now, “This’ll make this show way more fun to watch!” Finally, however, Dash and Twilight rocketed out of the slide, and past Alex, who obviously just wanted to vacate the area. Again, Chet was there to fill in the blanks. “Where do you think you’re goin’ see?” The largest of the young guys said to Alex, “You were just hittin’ on my dame, see?!” Chet had no idea why the voice he gave this teenager was one of a 50’s gangster, but he rolled with it. “I’m not looking for any trouble,” Alex replied in Chet’s head, “I don’t want to have to use my magical unicorn powers on you!” Alex, seeing that this guy was clearly not going to back off, started swimming to more shallow water, so he could try to intimidate this kid off of his back. “Yer’ in big trouble now, ain’t he Scooter?” The tall kid said with the hillbilly accent Chet gave him, “Let’s git’em!” Both groups of girls, meanwhile, decided to simply float in place and watch the exchange between the guys. The teens that had been pestering Alex were probably waiting for their boyfriends to show everyone their manliness, while Dash and Twilight sat silently, waiting to see how Alex would deal with the little shits. Chet was equally excited to see Alex toss them aside. “How do you like me now?” Alex said, raising out of the water and revealing his rather muscular body to the three guys, “You sure you wanna take all this on?” The largest of the three guys stepped up on to the shallowest portion of the pool, and revealed a body that was a little more defined that Alex. “Like what you see, see?” The gangster kid asked, “I’ll kick your ass, see?!” “Yeah! You tell’em Scooter!” The hillbilly agreed. By now, most people in the pool were looking the direction of the testosterone fueled youths, each one waiting for someone else to break it up. Chet was surprised to see Alex look across the large area right to him, as he scratched his chin, as if to say that he didn’t know what to do with them. Chet broke in to a big smile and gave Alex a very easy to understand gesture with his hands. Instantly, Alex pointed his finger at the three guys, and said something Chet couldn’t understand. He assumed it was some kind of warning. But, when they didn’t listen, and kept approaching him, he shrugged, and snapped his finger. Immediately the swim trunks on the three of them fell down in to the water. The three were so shocked that they weren’t able to compensate for the sudden rush of water that Alex conjured, sweeping them underwater just long enough for Alex to teleport their swim trunks on to the roof without anyone seeing. The yelling in the pool was louder than Chet, Alex, or the girls expected, as people started freaking out that there were people naked in the pool. Mothers were shielding their children’s eyes, and teenagers were shrieking like banshees. It got the apathetic lifeguards at attention real quick. “Where are my pants, see?” The boy said, “Everyone can see my wiener, see?” The chaos continued for a few more minutes as the boys tried to find their missing bathing suits. But, the yelling continued, and the real management had to step in and bring everything to a stop. “Excuse me sir,” A polite girl said to Chet from behind him, dressed in lifeguard attire, “We’re closing the pool for a little while to calm things down.” “Oh, that’s fine,” Chet said, standing up and starching, “I think it’s worth the show I got.” “We’ll give you a coupon on the way out to come back another day.” She said, still apologizing in her tone. “Thanks,” Chet said, walking away as he went to join his nephew, “So much for a day of swimming. Maybe I’ll come back next week. Or… maybe I’ll try it when I’m a horse.” ////