Crystal Waters

by SparkBrony

Crystal Waters

This was the life.

Warm, golden sunlight splashed into the pool, fracturing through its impossibly blue waters and causing an intricate web of light to dance on the smooth, white surface below. Rarity floated on the pool’s surface, surrounded by the rubbery comfort of an inner tube adorned with a pattern of two-dimensional diamonds. An umbrella sprang up from her floatation device, lending its overhang to shade her from the bright sun, which was currently beating mercilessly down on Ponyville. She lazily adjusted the maroon sunglasses perched on her nose and took a long, slow sip of the ice cold lemonade floating next to her, enveloped in her soft blue magical aura. The sweet taste did somersaults on her tongue for several seconds as the liquid filled her body with a calm coolness.

Closing her eyes, she leaned back, completely relaxed. The battle between the lemonade’s chilliness in her belly and the sun’s heat surrounding her bestowed the perfect mix of hot and cold on her pure, white fur. This… this was definitely on par with her and Fluttershy’s weekly trips to the spa. She didn’t even need massage ponies out here – she was content enough just to be relaxing in the first place. Celestia knows I deserve it – having been fighting monsters all this cursed week and all…

For the past week, it seemed every creature under Celestia’s sun had come out to terrorize Equestria. Everything from parasprites to dragons had decided it was a good time to wreak havoc on different parts of the land. Twilight Sparkle had lead (or in Rarity’s case, dragged) her friends back and forth across mountains and plains, meadows and hills, deserts and forests. Rarity had never gotten so sick and tired of riding the train so much. She probably could have sewn several years’ worth of dresses in the time she spent staring out the window, memorizing the ever-changing landscapes racing past her. Somehow, she didn’t think knowing the number of tumbleweeds within fifty miles of Appleoosa was going to impress Photo Finish as much as the clothing line she had planned.

She sighed in melodramatic despair. She had moved projects and deadlines around in order to allot for herself about a week’s worth of vacation days, days when she didn’t have to completely stress out about getting new designs finished in time or spend hours on end sorting through order forms in her shop. Now all of these days but one had been mercilessly robbed from her. This was the worst possible thing. Well – maybe not; at least she still had this one day left (providing King Sombra didn’t resurrect himself and start attacking the Crystal Empire, or something equally as schedule-shattering). And she was going to enjoy it while she could.

She opened one crystal-blue eye, glancing over at the two companions who had accompanied her to this palace of relaxation and rejuvenation. Twilight sat curled up on a folding bench, completely immersed in The Complete History and Modern Use of Today’s Enchanted Artifacts and Arcane Sciences: Volume Sixty-Four [Collector’s Edition!] (or something to that effect), every once in a while stifling a little giggle at some side-splittingly hilarious joke the dusty old tome cracked. Her faithful assistant, Spike, who was warming his lavender and lime green scales on the concrete surface surrounding the pool, quickly averted his spellbound gaze from Rarity when he realized she was watching him stare at her. She flashed a warm smile at him, but he was suddenly too busy fiddling with a particularly interesting piece of gravel to notice.

When Twilight had suggested (actually, demanded would have been more accurate) that she and Rarity come to this pool, the white unicorn had been skeptical and tentative to go. But Twilight was determined to scout out the newly installed site… as a reading venue, anyway. In the end, everything had turned out fine. The weather was perfect, and the water itself was mostly devoid of any other ponies, so the unicorn practically had the pool all to herself. Not to mention there was a plethora of cute stallions lounging about on the dry land. A particularly muscular lifeguard trotting toward his raised white chair caught Rarity’s eye, and she found herself intently admiring his rippling chocolate-colored flanks. Yum. She succulently licked her lips. Just to savor the taste of the lemonade, of course. She decided she was going to have to come back here more often.

Rarity took another sip of her drink, stirring the ice while keeping her gaze on the stallion and contemplating whether or not to give him a reason to jump in and save her. She ultimately ruled that plan of action out, not wanting to destroy the pristine manestyle she’d tirelessly worked on for today. She’d tied her deep purple mane up in a bun consisting of perfect, gorgeously crafted curls. She’d even added a few more stray curls for good measure – one behind her ear, another larger one dangling alluringly just inches in front of her nose. It was an experimental style she’d never tried before, and she couldn’t have been happier with it. She would definitely need to take several pictures of its perfection before she altered it in any way. Besides, she knew enough about stallions to know that they practically toppled head over hooves for mares with curls like this. Any that had a remote sense of style, anyway.

Speaking of style (or lack thereof), the unicorn glanced over at Twilight again, who hadn’t moved from the same position. Her cheeks had a twinge of red and she looked rather flustered; no doubt she was reading a particularly saucy part of the magical potions chapter. Rarity wanted to scream at her to get her nose out of the book and start talking to the stallions around her, but at the same time she didn’t want to embarrass one of her closest friends. Oh well, more for me, I suppose, the unicorn thought, smiling mischievously.

A final sip of lemonade and the cup was empty, save for the half-melted ice cubes. Rarity made a mental note to ask Twilight later if refills were free. Seeing that her locked-on target had now slid down out of his lifeguard chair to attend to something else, she took her chance. Daintily propelling her inner tube toward the brick poolside opposite the lifeguard chair, careful to dip as little of her recently pedicured hooves as possible in the water, she slid out of the floatation device into the cool water, lowering herself just enough to soak half her body. Placing her front hooves on the brick that lined the poolside, she slowly raised herself back out of the pool, acutely mindful of her dripping wet hindquarters. Her waterlogged tail sagged slightly but retained its general shape and more importantly, its shine. She smirked as the naughty thought briefly crossed her mind that it was like the beacon of a lighthouse, drawing every single stallions’ (and probably several mares’) gaze straight to her butt. She didn’t even have to look behind her to know that it was doing just that. She could practically hear jaws hitting the concrete walk surrounding the pool, not to mention several whistles.

Making sure to briefly shake her plump flanks from side to side (to wring all the water off – why else?) Rarity hoisted herself the rest of the way out of the water and onto dry land. She flashed a warm and probably rather sultry smile at the audience she had gathered on the other side of the pool. The hunky lifeguard, she noticed, had stopped in his tracks, looking almost as if he’d seen a cockatrice, save for his eyes that followed her every move. She trotted around the pool and right up to him, still floating the tiny lemonade glass next to her, leaving a trail of puddles in her wake.

“Pardon me, darling,” she began in her most innocent, admiring tone, “but I was wondering if a strong, young stallion such as yourself could refill this for me? I’m afraid I simply don’t know where to go to do so!” Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced past him at a sign that was clearly and garishly marked “LEMONADE REFILLS HERE.”

After several moments of being lost in her crystal eyes, he finally choked out an answer. “Of course, miss. I would be delighted to!” His voice was husky but with a tender twist, like warm, freshly melted chocolate. Rarity felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. She couldn’t imagine a voice more attractive than that. Besides her own, of course.

The stallion returned several moments later with a fresh, mouthwatering new drink for her. He’d even re-iced it. After cooing a thank you and batting her eyes profusely at him, she turned, careful to brush the tip of her damp lavender tail gently against his nose, giving him a faceful of her delicious scent and letting out a flirtatious giggle. At this rate she was going to have to ask if the staff let visitors take “souvenirs” home for a night. Starting back to her float, which was currently bobbing against the opposite side of the pool, she glanced to her left and realized with a jolt that the whole exchange had taken place directly in front of Twilight and Spike.

The alicorn had momentarily looked up from her book. “Jeez, Rarity – looks like somepony’s about to have herself a new coltfriend!” The unicorn winked at her in agreement.

Spike, on the other hoof, was looking positively heartbroken, his gaze shifting between Rarity with a look of dismay and the lifeguard with a look of burning jealousy. The white unicorn immediately felt awful for flirting so hard with the stallion right in front of Spike, whom she knew (everypony knew, to be honest) had a huge crush on her.

However, it didn’t take her long to mend the situation. One well-placed kiss to the cheek was enough to send Spike’s stomach into a butterfly frenzy, turn his eyes distinctly heart-shaped, and seemingly erase his memory of the entirety of the past few minutes. She trotted past him as if nothing had happened, making her way around the concrete walkway, sensing the yummy lifeguard stallion’s eyes glued the whole time to her rump. She gave it several gentle sways as she stepped, smiling naughtily, just to make him drool a little bit more. As she lowered herself back into the inner tube, the realization dawned on her that she was probably having way too much fun teasing this poor stallion. But she was enjoying the hell out of it. And, if everything went off without a hitch, she was planning to make it up to him later. Passionately.

She leaned back, enjoying the sunlight, the new lemonade, and the soaring sensation in her heart.

Of course, there was a hitch.

She’d barely lain there for ten seconds when she abruptly sensed a significant change in her surroundings. She could still hear the chattering of the other ponies and the repetitive slosh of the water against the pool walls, still feel the warm rubber of the inner tube against her thighs and upper back and the cold water against her flanks and tail, but it seemed the sun had suddenly given up on trying to pierce through her closed eyelids, and the cloud of intense heat around her caused by direct sunlight had seemed to quickly fade away. A product of her long, hectic week of battling monster after monster and repeatedly saving Equestria from certain peril, the first crazed thought that came to Rarity’s burnt-out and exhausted brain was that an enormous dragon had just swallowed the sun. However, upon slowly opening one eye, then the other, she discovered that it was nothing of the sort and silently chastised herself for being so foalish. A small cloud, no bigger than a hay cart, had simply parked itself directly above her.

A cloud that hadn’t been there ten seconds ago. Its sudden appearance was rather suspicious and more than a little bit odd, but Rarity quickly brushed it off as a loose cloud that had somehow escaped its pegasi captors. One of the flying ponies would undoubtedly pick it up in a half an hour at most, if not in the next few minutes. They were diligent ponies (well, some were) and had no problem rounding up runaway clouds. Even so, longing for the sunlight’s kiss on her fur again as soon as possible, Rarity carefully guided her float out from under the cloud’s cover. It wasn’t until she was clear on the other side of the pool that she realized something was off. She should have been out from under the cloud by now. She started propelling herself in the opposite direction, back towards where she’d started, pushing her umbrella out of the way to better watch the puffy white ball warily, studying its every move. With a sudden jolt, she realized that the cloud was actually moving on its own! In fact, it was following her!

Something was definitely fishy here, and it wasn’t just the gourmet seafood the pool staff was serving. Floating her sunglasses up so that they rested upon her horn, Rarity glanced at the busy poolside, her eyes searching desperately for Twilight. Whatever was up with this stalker cloud, an alicorn could certainly put it out of commission. However, her purple friend was nowhere to be seen. Rarity guessed that Twilight must have stepped into the main building when she wasn’t looking. Spike was still sitting next to the bench Twilight had claimed, the book she had been engrossed in still open on it, the tiny dragon’s worried gaze cast well above the unicorn’s head. Pointing up, his mouth agape, he let out a yell of warning. “Rarity, look out!”

Did he think she hadn’t seen it? But upon naturally looking up, Rarity’s jaw dropped too, along with her stomach. The cloud, which had been puffy and white and at least cheerful-looking just seconds ago, had suddenly turned an ugly shade of obsidian black. The first fat, sparkling raindrop exploded at the base of the white unicorn’s horn. The second detonated squarely in her right eye.

“Augh!” Rarity cried as a volley of equally ugly raindrops followed. Quickly, using her magic, she set the umbrella on her float back into place and huddled under it. The raindrops began smacking against it harmlessly, leaving Rarity with only the pattering of their collisions a hoof’s reach above her head. Thanking Celestia that her immaculate manestyle hadn’t been hit, the white mare scanned the notably dry crowd at the poolside again. Clearly, the impossibly tiny cloud had positioned itself so that its load of water showered down on Rarity and Rarity alone. Some of the bystanders were pointing and watching in awe as Rarity’s gloomy mood from the past week appeared to manifest itself into concrete existence. Some ponies were even laughing at her predicament; at first, she was furious at this, but granted, the sight must have looked absolutely ridiculous. The lifeguard she had been admiring (or maybe ‘ogling’ was a more accurate word) had managed to tear his gaze away from her body to watch the angry cloud with a mixture of incredulity and awe.

Rarity craned her neck to try and get a better view of her attacker, attempting to shield most of herself under the umbrella at the same time. Above her was basically a miniature version of the rainstorm that had forced her to stay overnight at Twilight’s house with Applejack so long ago. She was staring at the cloud, wondering what in Equestria she had done to infuriate it so much, when she spotted, just for a second, a twinge of cyan atop the dark cloud.

That was all she needed to know exactly what was going on.

Rainbow Dash! That insufferable pegasus pony must have been back to her old pranks. And it appeared that this time, Rarity was the target.

So Rainbow is trying to ruin my last free day of vacation, the unicorn glowered, narrowing her eyes. The only relaxing day I’ve had for the past week. Fine then! But I’m not going to give her the satisfaction she’s striving for. IT. IS. ON! Listening to the small volley of raindrops still surging against her umbrella, Rarity leaned back in her float, shifted her sunglasses back into place, and took another sip from her drink. She was determined to deny Dash the luxury of success, and if that meant staying in the pool through her friend’s rainstorm, she would do it. Besides, the handy umbrella that normally protected her from the sun would shield her now from the droplets that seemed intent on ruining her mane. She would just wait it out until Dash got bored (which usually wasn’t long) and then continue her day at the pool just as normal once the pegasus left. There was no reason for her to panic over a little rainstorm-

Rarity jumped as a loud crack boomed from the sky above her, causing her magical aura to slip, her lemonade nearly crashing into the water before she caught it again with her telekinesis. Make that a thunderstorm. Dash was clearly upping her game, and Rarity was struggling to remain unfazed. Impossibly, the rain suddenly seemed to pound down even harder. Rivulets of water streamed off the umbrella’s top like tiny waterfalls, pouring their contents into the pool or bouncing off the rubbery surface of her float.

Rarity watched as the muscular lifeguard slid out of his seat and trotted down the outer walkway until he was directly in front of her on dry land. His gorgeous voice, obviously wrapped in panic but still silky smooth and heart-wrenchingly sexy at the same time, rang out across the pool. “Miss, you need to get out! I’m not sure what’s up with that cloud, but it looks bad!”

“Oh, don’t mind that little old thing, dear!” Rarity called back, struggling to keep the panic out of her own voice, hardly able to hear herself over the roaring patter of rain. Then, her voice descending into a growl, she added, “It’s simply my so-called ‘friend’ playing a prank on me. She’ll get bored and go away… eventually.” The unicorn silently thanked Celestia for Rainbow’s short attention span. Once it was clear that the pegasus wasn’t getting a reaction out of Rarity, she would surely fly off to find somepony else to prank.

Another crack of thunder split the sky, and Rarity found herself considering how surprising it was that such a small source could emit such an earsplitting sound. A dark thought briefly crossed her mind, and a spasm of panic shot through her body. Surely Dash wouldn’t be so cruel as to start sending down lightning strikes?

But as Rarity waited out the miniature storm under the safety of her umbrella, Rainbow did no such thing, and the unicorn began to relax again. After several minutes of tense waiting, the downpour was finally starting to die, and the once-booming thunder now sounded more like a faraway wheezing cough from the sky. Well, well, looks like I’ve won, the white mare assumed. To be honest, she hadn’t expected her friend to give up this fast, but it was all for the better that she did. Rarity was dry, but seriously annoyed, fuming as she tried to come up with a way to pay Rainbow back for this little “joke” in full. She was so lost in her thoughts of retribution and vengeance that at first, she did not even sense her surroundings changing once again.

The rain had finally stopped completely, leaving Rarity with the sounds of the ponies around her chattering quietly, in awe or unable to comprehend exactly what had just occurred. But the unicorn realized with a shock that the temperature seemed to have inexplicably dropped significantly, at least around her. She felt herself breaking out in goosebumps and pulled her limbs closer to herself in an effort to keep warm. What in Equestria are you doing now, Rainbow…

No sooner had the question posed itself than Rarity received an answer, in the form of small, white flakes peacefully and silently showering down around her, few and far between at first, but gradually creeping more and more toward ‘blizzard’ status.

It was snowing. In the middle of summer!

Obviously, Dash had done the opposite of giving up. Rarity felt her heart sink in time with the increasingly enlarging snowflakes around her, along with an eruption of anger that could have roasted them all. The umbrella was enough to protect her from the flakes themselves, but the column of uncomfortably chilly air prevented her from ignoring Rainbow entirely as she had planned. The army of goosebumps under her fur begged her to yield to the pegasus and get out of there, but she quickly forced that notion away. She tried wrapping her towel around her, even with the knowledge that she would look incredibly silly, being all bundled up in the pool, but even that gave her no respite from the cold. Teeth chattering, she rehearsed in her mind what she would say to Twilight the second the alicorn emerged from the building. Dearest Twilight, could you please blast my friend here Rainbow Dash into endless oblivion? I promise I won’t miss her, not one bit.

Soon, the snowflakes were pouring out of the sky in droves. Had they not been doomed to collide with lukewarm water on this hot summer’s day, Rarity was certain there would have been enough to build several snowponies. They seemed to form a silent curtain of white on all sides, clouding and blurring the unicorn’s vision of the speechless pool guests watching her on dry land. Her umbrella creaked dangerously as an obscene amount of snow continued to pile on top of it. It didn’t look like it could hold much more weight, and Rarity didn’t like the mental image of the umbrella snapping and the snow sailing down unceremoniously to meet her. If she didn’t act fast, she was certain she would become a snowpony herself!

As Rarity lay there, panicking and quickly turning into the most gorgeous popsicle in Equestria, a brilliant idea flashed through her frozen mind and she cursed herself for not thinking of it earlier. Throwing the towel off and focusing her magic, she conjured a crystal-blue bubble that completely encased her and her float. The snowflakes battered against it and swiftly melted harmlessly, but, to the unicorn’s dismay, the cold air remained trapped in the protective magic shield with her. However, she speedily devised a solution to that issue, too. Removing the umbrella from above her head, she used her telekinesis to propel the inner tube to the other side of the pool, much faster than her hooves could have paddled her. Rainbow (who was probably too distracted with laughing fits to watch her closely enough) was slow to realize that Rarity had moved clear across the pool in a manner of seconds. Even in the few moments that the white mare was out from under the dark cloud, before Dash positioned herself overtop of her again, the sun’s rays were magnified through the surface of her bubble and rapidly heated up the chilly air. Thank Celestia for blisteringly hot days, Rarity thought victoriously.

She glanced to the poolside again, only to spot the lifeguard watching her again within her bubble, looking impressed. Clearly, her quick thinking under pressure had not gone unnoticed. She flashed him a smile warm enough to melt all the snow around her on its own, and, to her delight, he tentatively grinned back. Well, well, maybe this day isn’t completely ruined after all, the unicorn mused.

However, although she was now safe from Rainbow Dash’s malicious weather pranks, the magic bubble shield was sound-proof and therefore entirely severed her contact with the rest of the pool-goers, and most importantly, the lifeguard. Oh, and Twilight and Spike, of course. Rainbow obviously wouldn’t stay camped out on that cloud forever, but Rarity wasn’t sure how long she could bear waiting the pegasus out while cooped up in this tiny little bubble, cut off from the rest of society. She wasn’t quite back to enjoying herself fully yet, and that was her goal. She needed her alicorn friend as soon as possible. Where in Equestria was she, anyway? She’d been gone at least fifteen minutes now.

Speaking of Twilight, where was Spike? Now the small dragon had also disappeared from the edge of the pool. Their belongings, however, were still there, so Rarity assumed they must have intended to come back at some point.

The unicorn’s thoughts were interrupted once again by a strange sound from above her. Oh, what is it this time?! She looked up and watched incredulously as large chunks of ice came sailing down out of the sky, bouncing loudly off the shield surrounding her. Apparently, Dash was now pounding hail out of the cloud. The pegasus really had thought of everything, Rarity had to give her that. She suddenly wondered if Pinkie Pie, Rainbow’s partner in crime, was hiding somewhere in the bushes that encased the pool’s property, ready to blast Rarity with her party cannon the moment she stepped onto dry land. She definitely would not put it past those two.

Although the strikes of the hail on Rarity’s magic shield were getting disturbingly loud and relentless, the unicorn remained unfazed. There was no possible way the little balls of ice could break through or even damage the protective cover. She and Dash were undoubtedly at a stalwart impasse.

Trying to think of a way she could put the pegasus out of commission by herself, Rarity stole a glance at the clock mounted on the wall of the main building and realized with a jolt that the pool’s closing time was nearing. She and Dash had been at it for longer than she’d thought! With a sinking feeling, the white mare remembered that she hadn’t even buttered up the lifeguard enough to learn his name (not that she usually bothered with names, but this stallion was particularly… enticing). She considered giving up on stubbornly waiting out Dash’s siege and getting out of the water to talk to him, but she saw no reason why the pegasus wouldn’t continue to follow her with the cloud and rain down hail on her mercilessly. She could try to shield herself with her umbrella, but it was more of a parasol than anything, and was most certainly not designed to withstand a furious hailstorm, even in miniature. Her stunning manestyle would be absolutely ruined! And there was no way she could let that happen.

Rarity cursed herself for failing to be proactive, and cursed Dash too for putting her in this predicament in the first place. Every second that ticked by now was a second wasted – a second that she could have been relaxing and purging herself of the stress of the week, or drinking that heavenly lemonade, or seducing – er, chatting with – the lifeguard stallion. But here she was, trapped within a bubble of her own magic, seeing no way out. She had fifteen minutes now at best, and providing the pegasus didn’t start summoning tornadoes and columns of fire to annoy her, those fifteen minutes would be spent exactly like this. How could this be happening? Dash was actually succeeding! In an effort to be obstinate and unwavering, refusing to leave her place or change her routine, Rarity had actually guaranteed victory to the cursed pegasus! This was the. Worst. Possible. THING!

I really need to get new friends, Rarity thought bitterly.

As if on cue, right as the unicorn accepted defeat and the fact that she was going home alone, considering her fate sealed, Twilight Sparkle burst out of the main building onto the concrete walk surrounding the water, her faithful assistant close at her side. The sparkling purple alicorn looked ready to fight several manticores should the need present itself. She was armed with only a book (The Complete History and Modern Use of Today’s Enchanted Artifacts and Arcane Sciences: Volume Sixty-Five [Now a Major Motion Picture!], if Rarity could make out the title correctly, which, as the unicorn quickly pieced together, was the sole object Twilight had rushed home to get) but the expression of determination on her face could have rivaled Fluttershy’s Stare. Finally! Rarity’s savior had arrived! Thank Celestia!

Praying her umbrella would hold out for a few seconds longer, Rarity dispersed the bubble around her and called out to her friend. “Um, Twilight, dear? Little help here?” She jerked a hoof casually upwards at the category five hailstorm perched above her head, and the cyan pegasus crouched on top of the source of the disturbance. As soon as the protective bubble disappeared, there was a sickening snapping sound as the umbrella began to give way to the force of the ice chunks attacking it.

Visibly sighing and rolling her eyes, muttering what Rarity swore was “I cannot believe you guys,” Twilight illuminated her horn with a lavender aura and wasted no time bridging the gap between it and the cloud with a column of purple light. Immediately upon being hit, the dark cloud seemed to explode, spitting its fluffy contents in all directions, the pieces quickly dissolving into nothingness on the breeze. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

Twilight’s work was done, and she began trotting back toward her bench, casting Rainbow Dash disappointed looks, but Rarity had her own agenda to pursue with her pegasus tormentor. She now had a clear, unobscured view of Rainbow Dash, which was all she needed. Mentally noting to repeatedly thank her alicorn friend for her help later, Rarity lit her horn with a soft blue light and, concentrating, felt her telekinetic grip tighten around her target: Rainbow’s wings. She held them completely still in place with her magic, rendering the pegasus unable to fly. Being suspended in the sky like she was, this was not great news for Rainbow. With a yelp of panic, she plunged straight down, landing with an almighty splash in the pool she’d been gradually cooling the temperature of considerably. Rarity didn’t even want to know how freezing cold that water was now.

As soon as Dash broke the surface of the water again, sputtering and coughing as she wiped her now-soaked and matted prismatic mane out of her eyes, Rarity smirked victoriously, leaning back in her float and stirring the ice in her drink as if she’d hardly batted an eye at the pounding hail, merciless blizzard, or torrential downpour of the past hour or so. She simply couldn’t hold herself back from making a clever comment to rub her triumph in her friend’s face. “Why hello, Dash, didn’t see you there – so nice of you to drop in.”

At first she expected Rainbow to say something equally as snarky or witty, but the drenched pegasus remained silent for several moments before blurting out the most Rainbow Dash-like phrase Rarity could possibly conceive.

“Holy crap, did Twi just shoot me with a laser? That’s sick!”