(SiC) Part 8 - They Will Know By Our Love

by Brian Jacko

Fluttershy's New Best Friends

Rainbow Dash looked around the gym from the second balcony. She saw Rarity in the ballet class doing some kind of fancy stretches, she saw Applejack bucking holes in punching bags, she saw Twilight Sparkle pedaling slowly on the recumbent bike while doing crossword puzzles, she saw Pinkie Pie not walking, not running, but bouncing along a treadmill while trying to hold a conversation with the two ponies walking on the treadmills next to her. The two ponies next to her really didn't seem like they wanted to engage in a conversation with her being so hyper and manic and talking a million words per minute. Now, where was her yellow meek companion, Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash thought to herself for a moment and said, "That's right. She said that she was interested in the whirlpool. It's time to see how she's doing."

Fluttershy was leaning back against the whirlpool. She had her eyes closed and began to sing. "Do you know you're all my very beeest frieeeeends."

"Uh, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What were you singing?"

Fluttershy opened up her eyes and let out a high pitched squeal. She turned her body and covered her chest.

"Hey Flutters, it's just me. Why are you covering yourself up like that?"

"Oh, I just felt naked and vulnerable and I had no idea that you even came in."

Rainbow Dash put her two front hooves on her hips and said, "We don't normally wear clothes, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy's cheeks were red with embarrassment and she turned her body towards Rainbow again. "Ooops. I kind of forgot about that."

"What song were you singing?"

"I uh, just something random that popped into my mind," the shy mare said.

"Please tell me that you haven't been sitting here the entire time we have been here."

"Um, I was not sitting here the entire time we have been here," Fluttershy said.

"Truthfully?" Rainbow asked.

"Well you did ask me to tell you that," Fluttershy said.

Rainbow Dash slapped her front hoof against her forehead and said, "Were you or were you not sitting in the whirlpool this entire time? Be honest with me. No wait, be Applejack honest with me."

Fluttershy splashed the water with her hoof in frustration and said, "That darn brutal Applejack honesty! Ok, yeah. I was sitting here the whole time."

"And what do you think you're going to accomplish by sitting in a whirlpool all day?" Rainbow asked.

"Um, warm water and bubbly goodness helps to keep my muscles relaxed. I need to take the stress off of my body," Fluttershy answered.

"The Bible says that the desire of the sluggard kills a pony, for his hooves refuse to labor," Rainbow said.

"Oh, no," Fluttershy said. "That reminds me of that verse, Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider its ways, and be wise. I actually went and observed my little ant friends after I read that passage."

"That's right!" Rainbow Dash said. "I'm not letting you leave this gym until I see you work out on at least one machine. Let's go out now and find a machine for you."

"Do I have to go now?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes, or else you'll just sit here forever. I bet your hooves are like prunes."

Fluttershy picked up her front hoof and looked at it. It was all wrinkled like that of a prune. She sighed and got out of the water.

"Um, you're coat and mane is full of gunk. Is that a soggy french fry that I see in your mane?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh, yeah. There were two water buffalos eating food in the whirlpool and they kind of dropped a lot of food in there. I guess it must have gotten caught in my mane and tail."

Rainbow Dash pointed at the sign and said, "The sign says no food or drinks."

Fluttershy shrugged and said, "They had their reasons. Let me just rinse my mane and tail off first."

Rainbow Dash watched her friend go over to the shower faucets and quickly rinsed off her mane and tail.

Fluttershy turned off the nozzle and came back over to her cyan colored friend. "Ok, that's much better!"

"You're not going to dry yourself off with a towel?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I learned how to dry off from one of my animal critter friends. Watch this." Fluttershy spread her legs apart and shook her body exactly like how a dog shakes their body after getting wet.

Water splashed all over Rainbow Dash's coat. "Gee, thanks for getting me wet, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy put her front hoof to her mouth in embarrassment when she saw Rainbow Dash now soaking wet. "Ooops. Sorry about that. At least it's a clean wet, right?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and said, "Come on, let's go find you a machine."

The couple walked out of the locker room and eyed each machine.

Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy and asked, "Hey Flutters, how much use has that dumbbell gotten ever since I gave you that as your birthday gift?"

"Um, tons of use actually!"

"Really?" rainbow asked. "Do you use it everyday?"

Fluttershy nodded her head yes very quickly and said, "Uh-huh! and it's made the best doorstop I have ever owned!"

Rainbow Dash slapped the side of her face with her front hoof and said, "Oh, for Pete's sake, Fluttershy! That's it, you're working out now!" Rainbow Dash pushed her friend into the machine that she happened to be standing behind. She then took out the pin and let it dangle by it's cord. "Alright, Fluttershy! You're going to give me at least ten repetitions! Got it?"

"Um, I'm getting deja-vu from that time you were helping me train. Do you remember when I was helping bring all that extra rain water back up into Cloudsdale? We formed a giant tornado with at least eight hundred wing power. It was pretty silly that one of the world's best fliers, Spitfire, just stood there and did nothing even though she could have jumped in at any moment and fixed that little bit of lacking wing power that we needed."

"That's true," Rainbow Dash said. "That was pretty strange of her to do that, but look on the bright side. God decided to use you instead of her to make our mission complete."

Fluttershy's cheeks blushed. "Aw, that's really sweet of you to say that. I guess I can try ten repetitions without the pin in any weight." Fluttershy braced herself and took in a deep breath. "Here we go." Fluttershy was sitting on a wing weight lifting machine for Pegasus ponies and she had to push her wings upward against the weight. Fluttershy lifted up her wings against the cushioned pads and said, "O-o-one!" She dropped her wings down and then said, "Yaaaay. T-t-two! Yaaay. T-t-three! Yaaay. F-f-f...."

"Fluttershy, why do you keeping saying yay?"

Fluttershy dropped her wings down and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I being too loud?"

"No," Rainbow Dash said. "I just don't understand what those soft sounding yaaays are for."

"It's just that nopony ever cheers for me whenever I do anything so I figured that I'd cheer for myself."

"That's really heartbreaking, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said. "It's too bad Pinkie Pie isn't around. I think she's busy covering other gym members in streamers and confetti as they do their workouts. Well, do what you have to do to keep you motivated. I should seriously be all the motivation you need by me just standing here.

"You are really awesome, but that sounds a bit arrogant, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash felt convicted after Fluttershy said that and said, "Aw horse apples. I can still be a bit arrogant when it comes to competitive things. I'm sorry, but please continue with the repetitions."

Fluttershy pressed upward again with her wings. "f-f-five. Yaaay. S-s-six. Yaaay." Fluttershy continued with the repetitions. "T-t-t..." Fluttershy's wings were shaking because she felt the deep burn inside her wings and was straining herself to do one last repetition. She put her head down and closed her eyes shut tightly. "T-t-t-teeee-ten!" Her wings fell down and she sat there panting. "Yaaay for me. Whoo-hoo, I rock!"

"You sure do! Nice job, Flutters. Ok, at least you did that much. Try to find some other kind of exercise to do while I go check out more exercise machines for my wings." Rainbow Dash quickly trotted away and left Fluttershy alone.

Fluttershy went around and tried several other machines, but every other machine she tried, she could not even do one single repetition even without the pin in the weights. She was exhausted from that one wing lifting machine. She looked around a little more and noticed the swimming pool and trotted on over. "Lifting weights or running can be terribly dangerous and stressful on one's joints. Swimming is the safest form of exercise, but I'd be terrified of drowning in the deep end of the pool." Fluttershy looked around and noticed that they had a large storage bin. She went over and peeked inside. "I think that I just might be able to get over my fears of drowning now."

The life guard sitting on a chair watching over the pool stared at Fluttershy with the most dumb founded look on his face. He had no idea of what to think of her and what she was wearing. He was an athletic looking earth pony with a blonde wavy mane and a blonde tail with golden streaks in them. His coat was a caramel colored brown and he had a lifeguard rescue can as a cutie mark.

Fluttershy put the tip of her hoof in the water and let out an "Eeep!" she dipped her hoof several times in. "It's so cold and I need warm water to be able to feel just right. Fluttershy shook her head no quickly several times and said, "Come on, Fluttershy. Don't be such a baby. Be strong like Applejack. She wouldn't complain about the water being too cold." Fluttershy put her hooves on the first step of the pool. "Ok, now on the count of three, just go down to the next step. "Onee.....twooooo...t-t-three..." Fluttershy stepped down and her face scrunched up from the cold water against her chest. She went down another step and the water was now up to her neck. "Ok, you did it. Now just lift your hooves up and you'll be fine." Fluttershy lifted all four legs up and she floated in the water. She blinked and out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie had popped up from under the water and was in front of her face. "Eeeeeep!" Fluttershy cried out. "Pinkie Pie, what kind of strange sorcery is this? You just appear out of no where and you're not even a unicorn!"

Pinkie Pie took the swimming goggles off of her eyes and slid them up on her forehead. "Hi Fluttershy! I just dropped by to ask you a question." Pinkie Pie paused for a moment and then asked, "Water you up to?"

"Fluttershy bit her lower lip and asked, "Pinkie Pie, did you seriously come swimming in this pool just to come up to me, surprise me, and then throw a pun on top of it all?"

"Maybe!" Pinkie Pie answered. "Hey! How can you even hear me with those ear plugs shoved into your ears?"

"Oh, I have very sensitive ears and I need to hear well so that I can hear the tiniest cries of my little animal critter friends. I even hear the tiniest of tiny cries when baby ants are being born," Fluttershy answered. "It's really amazing."

"Do you know why you should never tell mean jokes to ants and other insects, Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked.

"Um, I have no idea, Pinkie Pie."

"Because you might hurt their feelers!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Oh...." Fluttershy said. "That was quite clever."

Pinkie Pie observed Fluttershy from head to hoof. "You look ridiculous though and seem like quite the hydrophobic to me! Have fun!" Pinkie Pie perked up and added, "Oh! Oh! Oh! They have a super cool, awesome machine that uses the same muscles used when giving ponies hugs! I'm going to max out the weight on that machine so that I can crush Rainbow Dash's bones the next time I hug her!"

"That sounds.....really sweet and violent at the same time. Just try not to burn down the gym in your manic states," Fluttershy said.

"I can't make any promises on that! Hey! You look really cold. Want to know the best way to warm a pony up in the pool?" Pinkie Pie asked as she raised her eye brows up and down.

Fluttershy was horrified. "No, Pinkie Pie! That's crazy! Don't pee in the pool, Ponies don't swim in your toilet!"

Pinkie Pie giggled madly and hugged her friend. "I was just referring to a nice warm hug."

"Oh...." Fluttershy put her head down and felt guilty for thinking that Pinkie Pie was crazier than she assumed. "Thanks for the warm hug."

"You're welcome!" Pinkie Pie got out of the pool and happily bounced her way across the gym. She was having a blast meeting new ponies and asking what day their birthday was on.

Fluttershy had quite a few items that she was wearing. She sported a giant inflatable tube around her body, two flippers for her back hooves, inflatable swimmies for toddlers on her front legs, swimming goggles, a snorkel, a nose plug so that she wouldn't risk getting any water in her nostrils, ear plugs to keep her ears safe from getting water logged, and a kick board that she was holding between her two front hooves. She was quite the sight. She kicked her back legs and swam away until she became terrified because she drifted too far away from the pool's steps. "Help!" Fluttershy yelled. "I'm drowning!" She kicked frantically, but the current that was making her drift away was too strong.

The lifeguard got out of his seat and plunged into the water. He swam quickly after her. He put his one front leg around her neck and paddled with his other front leg. He gently guided her back over to the steps.

"Oh, thank you for saving my life. I would only expect Big Macintosh to do something so heroic like that."

"Whose Big Macintosh?" the lifeguard asked.

"Fluttershy put her head down. There was some blush on her cheeks. "Oh, he's just a really handsome stallion that I like," she mumbled. She suddenly perked up and said, "They call him Big Macintosh because he's so big and strong but I call him Big Macintosh for whole different reason. He has a really, really big..." Fluttershy spread her front legs apart just to try to emphasize how big and finished the last word of her sentence. "Heart."

The lifeguard didn't hear her because her words trailed off as she mumbled. All he heard was the second sentence. "So you truly felt that your life was in danger?"

Fluttershy nodded her head yes innocently with sad eyes. "I really thought that I was going to drown."

"Well, if you need me again, you'll know where I'll be." He turned to swim back to his chair, but he stopped when he felt a tug at his tail. He turned around to see the little yellow mare looking up at him with sad and worried eyes.

"Please don't go," she said. "I'd feel really unsafe without you being close to me."

"But I'm just a few feet away from you, out of the water. I'll jump back in again if you feel like you're in danger."

Fluttershy tugged at his front leg and said, "Pleeeeease stay in the water with me. I can't go past the three feet mark in the water. You should have seen how terrified I was at my Baptism. They had to pry me off of the Pastor's body after he dunked me. Have you ever been Baptized? It's a very scary experience to get dunked."

"I'm Jewish," the lifeguard answered.

Fluttershy perked up and said, "That's awesome! Jesus was Jewish too!"

"Oy vey," he said. The lifeguard sighed and stayed in the water with her. She would kick her back legs and apologize after each kick because she was afraid of splashing too much. Every time she would drift away from the steps, he would gently push her back over to them. This was not going to be a fun day for him. He had seen little colts and fillies who had traumatic experiences with swimming in the past act braver than this. At least this pony was kind and sweet even if he was annoyed by having to stay in the pool with her. This lasted for quite a while until Fluttershy heard two very distinct and familiar voices.

"Hey Louie, watch this! Geronimo!" Frankie, the water buffalo jumped into the pool cannon ball style and caused a massive splash.

"Eeeep!" Fluttershy desperately tried to kick her back legs to get away from what seemed like a tidal wave coming toward her in the water. She tried to get back over to her safety zone on the pool steps, but the water came splashing down around her. "Help! Help! I'm drowning!"

"You're actually standing on the pool steps now," the lifeguard said.

The wave must have pushed her back to the steps and she didn't even realize that she was standing on them. "Ooops," she said as she put her front hoof to her mouth in embarrassment. "I-I-I knew that."

The lifeguard was extremely annoyed and turned to Frankie and said, "You guys have been told hundreds of times NOT to jump into the water like that! It's like half of the water is now outside of the pool. Don't you guys see that big yellow sign there that says no diving or jumping into the pool?

"Yeah, but I didn't think that referred to us because you have a picture of a pony diving into the water with a red x over the picture. We're not ponies, we're water buffalos. You should at least update the sign so that it can be more accurate. That's misleading information right there!"

"Yeah," Louie said. "Can I jump in too since Frankie got to do it?"

The life guard ran his front hoof thorugh his mane and said, "Absolutely not! It's bad enough that my mane is now wet from being splashed upon!"

"But you're a life guard, isn't it your job to get wet?" Louie asked.

"Yes, but only when there is immediate danger, and I also am so upset because I spend like a full hour in the bathroom gelling my mane so that it has just the right wavy appearance and now my work is ruined." He splashed the water in anger with his front hoof just to show how upset he was about his mane style being ruined.

"You sound just like my friend, Rarity," Fluttershy said. "Maybe you two would get along nicely."

The lifeguard had no idea who she was talking about, but he was already so upset that he didn't care.

"So does that mean I can't jump into the water too?" Louie asked.

"No! You can use the stairs like a normal individual," the lifeguard said.

"Aw shucks! You're no fun!" Louie said as he put his front hoof in the water.

"And you guys seriously better not sneak any Mickedees food in here!" the lifeguard warned.

"You guys bring food in here too?" Fluttershy asked. "Isn't this pool for working out? That must be terribly upsetting to your tummies."

"Hey, we're hardy eaters and nothing gets in the way of our eating. Not even exersice. I guess you ponies aren't as hardy as us water buffalos and need to take time to digest your food because you're so delicate."

"Um, I guess. What are you guys doing in the pool anyway? I thought you guys loved the whirlpool," the timid mare asked.

"Oh, we love the whirlpool, but that's our special break time. Did you forget that we already told you that we come to work out in the aquatics program?" Frankie asked.

"The aquatics program is going on now?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah," Louie said as he pointed his hoof over to where a mare who was dressed in a bathing suit and was wearing a swim cap on her head. "She's the instructor and another class is about to begin."

"Oh, I see," Fluttershy said.

Frankie got closer and picked a soggy french fry out of her mane and ate it. "Hey Louie. She's got food in her mane!"

Louie came over and looked at her tail. There was a piece of bread stuck in her tail that was from when they were eating in the whirlpool earlier. Louie put his mouth on her tail and began nibbling furiously.

"Um, guys. this is really weird. I have never been nibbled on both ends like this before."

Frankie stopped nibbling and said, "Be quiet yellow horse! We are snacking! You taste delicious!"

"Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting. I'm not a horse, I'm just a little yellow pony."

The two giant water buffalos continued to nibble on her mane and tail.

"I think we got all of the food out," Frankie said. He looked at Fluttershy and said, "Hey! We did you a favor while you did us a favor. You fed us some food while we groomed your mane and tail. It's a win-win situation."

"Oh, thanks. I guess," Fluttershy said.

The swimming instructor blew her whistle loudly and herds of water buffalos and a few other ponies came into the water.

"Hey Frankie, it looks like it's time to go. Fluttershy was nice enough to bring us a snack in the water. She's like our new best friend. Let's take her with us and work out with her."

"Oh, I was just about to get out of the water and I..."

"Nonsense!" Frankie said. "You're our new best friend whether you like it or not." Frankie grabbed a hold of her tail and swam towards the swimming instructor with his buddy.

"Hey! I didn't give you permission to take me away like this!" she cried out.

"Be quiet yellow horse and enjoy our friendship. Friendship is magic, right?" Louie asked.

"Uh, um, I guess so," she replied. "I'm just afraid of drowning and..."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Louie said. You're like the unsinkable ship decked out with all those swimmy tubes and accessories. We'll save you if you start to drown."

Fluttershy looked up at the lifeguard with sad eyes as if to ask him to come to her rescue.

The lifeguard laughed and said, "Don't look at me! I'll be on the chair watching." He waved his front hoof good bye at her and then got out of the pool. He had a bag that had his special hair gel and a mirror in it. He needed to fix up his mane right now.

Frankie let go of Fluttershy's tail and she began frantically kicking all of her legs because she got scared when she looked down and saw how deep the water was.

"Chill out, yellow horse, we got your back," Louie said.

"Yeah," Frankie added. "We won't let you drown. Hey! Since you're a horse and everything, what would happen if we took you to swim in the sea? Would that make you a sea horse? Sea horses are kind of yellow too, right?"

Fluttershy stopped panicking and put her head down low. "I'm not a horse guys, I'm just a little yellow pony."

Comments

[sapiking]

No!!! CheeriMac Forever!!!!

[DarthWill3]

I see that Dashie has taken the role of big sister once again.
Aw... Fluttershy hints of her crush of Big Mac again!
Louie and Frankie are a lot like Bulk and Skull:

[TheLordInsanity]

A blonde Jewish pony? Wow! I find that pretty funny being despite being a 60% plus Irishman. You should give the entire Mane six ethnicities!