The River and the Rain

by AzhureMist

Chapter 2: The River Monster

Several weeks later, Rain Song tottered unsteadily into the sunlight on the back porch of her parents' house. Her legs still bore the faint marks of their casts, but she hoped her time of confinement would soon be a distant memory.

"Come on, we're never going to make it to the river at this rate!" her youngest sister called from the bottom of the porch steps, blazing orange in the sunlight. Song gingerly stepped down to the first step- so far, so good.

"I don't have time for this. I'll meet you there," Rain Style called, and kicked off from the ground. But just as she started to hover above the trees, a nearly identical white pegasus appeared from the doorway.

"You two are not going anywhere without your sister!" their mother commanded. "Her legs are fragile right now. What if she were to re-injure herself?"

"Mo-om..." Rain Song whined.

"You're lucky I'm letting you go at all," Rain Sparkle snapped. "Rain Spirit, stay down on the ground with her. You know she can't just decide to fly instead of walking. And Rain Style, don't fly off again."

Song's face burned, and she descended the steps as quickly as possible.

"Fine." Style alighted delicately on the ground, and pranced ahead of her sisters.

"Have a nice time now!" their mother called, waving to them with one of her wings.

After a few minutes of slow walking, Rain Style decided to circle back and talk with her sisters.

"I guess it isn't so bad being on the ground," she conceded. "You can see the plants and flowers a lot better."

"Yeah, but the best ones are on top of the trees!" Spirit exclaimed, before she was silenced by a look from Style.

"It's okay, guys." Rain Song tried to smile. She tried bravely to keep up with their pace, but as they neared the river, the warning pain in her legs made her lag behind.

"Look, I understand that your legs are sore, but do you really have to go that slowly? I would have been to the river and back by now if it weren't for you!" Style said.

"Style..." Spirit warned.

"It's okay, I can go faster. I just thought you might be tired," Song lied with as chipper of an expression as she could manage. She forced herself to trot at a faster rate, gritting her teeth.

Soon the path rounded a corner, and the pebbly beach by the river came into view. The two younger ponies were excited, and Song wanted to cool her aching legs in the water, so all three sped up.

Unfortunately for one of them, an increase in speed caused one of her legs to seize up, and on the slippery footing, she crashed.

"Ow ow ow!" she cried, blinking back tears. Her sisters, by this time, were too far ahead to hear her. They began flying high into the air and dive-bombing the water.

Rain Song lay on the rocks, her front legs throbbing in pain. She knew she had two choices: she could give up and call for help, and have someone bring her home, where she would wallow in her inadequacy for the rest of the day; or, she could pull herself to the water's edge and bathe her legs until they were better. Forced to choose between her pain and pride, pride won out, and she began taking slow, painful steps.

It seemed an eternity before she reached the river, a little upstream of where the pegasi splashed, but once she collapsed into the shallow water of the river's edge, it was all worth it. She shivered a little at first- mountain streams were cold!- but then she admired the way the sunlight played over the river's surface, glittering where it reflected the blue sky above, and illuminating the gray stones and cream pony coat below in warm, rippling patterns.

She kicked her feet a little to keep them warm. The patterns of sunlight became more intricate, warming her where they stayed and leaving a surprising cold where they disappeared.

Meanwhile, downstream, Rain Style and Rain Spirit flew up as high as they dared before diving straight down into the deeper water. They stayed underwater for quite a while, giving Rain Song a devious idea. Her green eyes sparkled with mischief as she took a deep breath, sank underwater, and began to swim.

The shallows were gorgeous in their ever-changing light show, but Song's idea took her farther into the mysterious, sun-streaked deep. She rested near the sandy bottom, her mouth puffed full of air, waiting. For a split second, it occurred to her that her legs no longer hurt. Then the river exploded.

FOOM! A multitude of tiny bubbles pushed her backward, away from the cause of the explosion. Song stood her ground, and stroked toward the white pegasus who had suddenly appeared in the river. With a grin, she grabbed one of her sister's legs, and then just as suddenly, let go, and sped toward the surface again.

Gasping for breath, she reached the surface a second before Style did.

"Eeek! What was that?!" the dripping pegasus screamed.

"What was what?" Song asked innocently.

"Something grabbed me under the water! Was it seaweed?"

"No, it was probably the river monster," Song replied in a deadpan voice.

"What? That's stupid," Style dismissed it.

"Oh. Alright, then. But you should probably try diving a few more times. If it keeps grabbing you, it's not seaweed," Song decided.

"That was what I was going to do, anyway."

Song and Style paddled back to shore, where Spirit was waiting. Since she'd heard her sisters' conversation, she thought about it a little, and graciously allowed her sister to take two plunges in a row.

As Rain Style soared into the air, Song whispered something to the little orange pegasus. She giggled, and whispered something back. Soon they were both laughing together, and they snuck over to a section of river that was choked with brown and green river weeds. Song picked a hoof-full and set about tying them to her mane and ears, and Spirit tied as many to her sister's legs as she could get. When they were confident that no more would fit, Song swam back to Style's diving place, while Spirit walked back to the beach.

Song couldn't see anything in the clear blue depths, so she cautiously lifted her head above the water. Over on the beach, Spirit was explaining something to Style. She waved her hooves around in the air, causing Style to shake her head, but then she turned around and launched into the air.

Quickly, Song took a breath and dove again, hoping she hadn't been seen. Then, she settled in to wait. Style must have been planning an impressive dive, because it took her a long time-

BOOM!!!

Knocked end over end by the massive cannonball, Rain Song almost forgot to swim into the bubbles. When she finally did find her sister, already on the ascent, she just grabbed her with one hoof and waved the other around in what she hoped was a spooky gesture. Then she let her go.

Song's own lungs were burning with the need for air, but she had to get back to the safety of the reeds before she surfaced. She couldn't let Style see her like this! She couldn't- she couldn't-

She burst back up onto the surface, covered in slimy weeds, gasping and coughing. A few feet behind her, she could hear her sister's voice exclaiming, "It's true! There is a river monster! It's horrible! It left slime on me!"

All of a sudden the voice turned toward her, then cut off in mid-scream.

"Wait a second... that was you?! Rain Song!"

Song turned to see her sister barreling toward her, so she did the only thing she could think of, and dove downward again. She swam smoothly underneath the enraged pegasus, then emerged on the other side and began swimming upriver.

"Come back here! You really are a monster! How could you do that to me?" Style shouted as she chased Song, more in fun now than in earnest. However, her feathery form was no match for the more streamlined earth pony, and she lagged behind as her sister swam circles around her.

Eventually all three ponies flopped onto the rocky beach. They headed home, and between the younger ponies' exhaustion and the revitalizing effect of the water on Song's legs, there were no complaints about Song's speed on the return journey.

Comments

[iFiredone]

this is so awesome

[abandoned2123]

Would this be considered a self-insert? Because if so, then this is one of the very, very few self-inserts that's actually good. Not just good, but pretty great. I love the idea, and the context behind the story just gives it a more raw feeling. I like it. Good work.