Drag in the Water

by Casketbase77

Practice, practice, practice

Smolder’s arms pulled her through the pool quickly and confidently. She was new to swimming through water, but it was nothing compared to the lava she’d known growing up in the Dragon Lands. This meant that not only could she swim well, she could swim fast.

“Time!” Smolder gasped as she slapped the edge of the pool and eagerly waited to hear her results.

Ocellus, who’d been buzzing her wings and tapping a pseudo-hoof from her perch on the concrete, ran some quick mental math.

“Two minutes and forty five seconds. Or maybe forty three. One of the two. Definitely not forty four, though. They really need to hang a clock in here.”

Smolder waved it off as she reclined against the curb with her legs still idly kicking.

“Even rounding down to two forty-four, it’s not fast enough to beat S.T.’s record.”

Ocellus didn’t have to follow Smolder’s line of sight to know she was fixating on the bulletin board on the gym’s far wall. Old pamphlets and ads hung from its aged staples, most of them promoting upcoming school sporting events, but a few were newspaper clippings from expos that had already happened. One was last year’s freestyle swimming finalists.

Smolder had scoffed when Silverstream pinned it up, teasing that the ability to conjure a seapony tail at will was a bit of a game breaker. The scoffing stopped after she saw Silverstream had only placed second in the rankings. Someone identified only by the initials “S.T.” had beaten her by a whole nine seconds.

“How many tries did it take me to beat Silverstream’s time?” Smolder asked. Ocellus rolled her compound eyes, knowing the question was rhetorical.

“You did it on the first attempt.”

“By Faust I did. But how long have I been coming here to try and beat S.T.’s?”

“Every evening for about six weeks. Which is way longer than what’s probably healthy. I don’t get it. Why is it so important you prove yourself faster than some faceless goober? Isn’t beating Silverstream enough?”

“It’s a dragon thing. You wouldn’t understand.”

Ocellus kicked the water. Not hard enough to lose balance and fall in, but just at the right angle to splash Smolder indignantly.

“Don’t gimme the cold shoulder like that. I’ve impersonated dragons before, and while I’m not proud of doing it, I did at least learn firsthoof that your kind doesn’t give a Parasprite’s leg hair about organized sports. I told you straight up during the first session I’d be mooching off the endorphins you get from working out. But there’s been less of them lately. Something’s eating at you. Something other than me.”

Smolder harrumphed and let go of the poolside so she could bob lazily on her back. By now she really should’ve learned to not lie to an empath. Then again, she also should’ve beaten S.T.’s time too, given how hard she’d been pushing. Stubbornness was Smolder’s hammer, and it hadn’t had much luck with her life’s most recent nails.

“Hey Cel, do you remember that canoeing field trip where Professors Dash and Jack argued nonstop?”

“I wish I could forget. Gave me a bitter aftertaste that lasted til the next afternoon.”

“Uh huh. Well what I most remember about that day was how you turned into a fish to save Yona after everyone capsized.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Right away you were able to change into something custom built for speed in the water. Silverstream is the same way. She’s got that magic pearl piece or whatever it’s called. But knowing there’s a pony at this school who’s a better swimmer than her using nothing but grit made me think maybe I could work hard to be that good, cuz I never imagined I'd ever have a chance to be the best at anything, so…. bleh, this all sounds super lame now that I say it out loud.”

Ocellus traced a lazy line on the water’s surface, literally chewing on Smolder’s aspirations.

“How’re you so sure S.T. is a pony? And a stallion too?”

“He’s gotta be. Only five nonponies go to this school, all of them in our friend group. And S.T. has got to be a big beefy stallion with leg muscles to match, because even my hardest kicking can’t keep pace with him. I’m just not as good as he is. And I probably never will be no matter how hard I try. Bleh. Scooch over, will ya? I’m getting out. Gonna grab my towel so I can metaphorically throw it in.”

---

A week went by after Smolder stopped swimming. Then on Saturday several tentative knocks sounded on her dorm room door.

“It’s for you,” Ocellus predicted without looking up from the moonga she was reading.

Smolder frowned, but answered anyway. She wasn’t the easily surprised type, but the pony who’d come calling certainly caught her off guard. She’d never seen a hairless one before.

“Hiya,” he mumbled, pawing a fleshy hoof on the carpet bashfully.

“Er… hi. Do you want… do you want to come in?”

“Nah. I mean no thank you. I’m uh, just on my way to swim practice and was only stopping by because your roommate asked me to.”

Smolder threw a glance behind her, but Ocellus must’ve strategically left the room or changed into a microscopic life form or something, because her moonga volume was laying unattended on the couch.

“She said you were a swimmer too and that we might hit it off if we met. My name is Salmon Tone.” The hairless pony was apparently also featherless, and he extended a functionless right wing in a gesture of friendship.

“Smolder,” came the reserved reply. She gripped Salmon’s wing and gave a firm shake.

“Ocellus came up to me the other day saying you were aiming for my record. That’s pretty wild. I don’t have a Cutie Mark, ya know, cuz of my whole alopecia thing, but the spot where it should be glows strong when I’m in the water. That’s how I know what my special talent is. Guess it makes sense, since I got no mane or tail to slow me down. But enough about me. What’s your trick?”

Smolder blinked. “Mine?”

“Yeah! Ocellus said you’re able to beat Silverstream’s time without sweating, and she’s able to turn half fish! I had to kick and flap for all I was worth to rocket past her in the finals last year, and that’s even with my… um… ‘special advantage.’ So what’s your secret? Something that a non-dragon like me can learn, I hope.”

Smolder shuffled from one foot to the other, a smile tugging at the edges of her mouth.

“No trick. I just… push myself really hard, I guess.”

“Well Tartarus; I already do that. Was hoping you had some technique to share.”

“Sorry.”

“Hey, no need to apologize. I’m sure those scales of yours are way harder to drag in the water than my slippery hide is. If practice is all it takes, then practice is what I’ll do. Gotta defend my record, after all!”

Salmon gave a jovial laugh, which Smolder returned with a slow but sure nod. The bald pony’s passion was making it progressively easier to get past his plucked chicken appearance.

“So… I’ll see you around the pool then… Smolder? Did I get that right?”

“Yes sir. Uh, both my name and that you’ll definitely be seeing me in the water again.”

“Looking forward to it. Feels good to size up the competition in person, huh? Helps remember that you're not up against some force of nature who can't be beat.”

“It does, Salmon. It really does. You take care now.”

Author's Note:

Another person's success can be seen at a glance. The road they took to get there requires a little more looking.

Work with what you're given, and you'll be surprised how far it takes you.

Comments

[Nitro Indigo]

Only four nonponies go to this school

*Five, unless you meant "other than me."

I like the idea of cutie marks glowing while a pony is using their talent.

[spoonlol]

Cool story. At first I thought it was gunna be sandbar cos of his turtle cutie mark. A naked pony though, that’s rather unique

[Bahamuttone]

Hmm do we have any Canon source that the cutie mark is only on the hair?

[Nitro Indigo]

10405864
There’s an episode where Snips and Snails lose parts of their coats, and their cutie marks aren’t visible on their skin.

[Casketbase77]

10405864

Here’s a screenshot of Snips and Snails after getting gum in their respective fur. It’s from Ponyville Confidential.

[readsponies]

I can't wait for the sequel where he falls for Smolder and gives her a special flower: the Rose of Salmon Tone.

[Ri2]

10405934
And Ocellus eats him.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Always interesting to see an obscure bit of actual horse biology see use in Equestria. This was an especially nice example. Thank you for it.

(And I do love the idea of Ocellus treating her friendships like a family-sized bag of chips and being up front about it. Sure, she can generate her own love these days, but old habits die hard.)

[TheAncientPolitzanian]

Thanks for the fun story, and also for inadvertently teaching me about NFS. You learn something new every day!
:)

[Orkus]

This story makes my interior bits feel warm and soft, like buttered toast. Or socks fresh from the dryer.

[Casketbase77]

10406238

Tacky as it is for an author to shill their other stories, this isn’t even the most feel-good fic I’ve ever written. This one is.

[Herald of Opera]

10405727
And I kind of assumed it would be Yona with the entirety of the explanation being "Yaks best at swimming!" But then again, no comedy tag.

[spoonlol]

10406276
From not being able to swim to becoming best in school would be a funny idea, if a bit of a stretch

[Charlie_K]

Naked foal syndrome? That's actually a thing?

[Casketbase77]

10406340
Yes indeed; It’s a very rare genetic condition in Asian breeds. The foals born with it tend to have a lot of other problems (hydrocephalus, eczema, weak ligaments) that cause them to die after a few weeks, but very rarely, the offspring will survive.

The most long lived naked foal on record is an unnamed filly who is currently approaching three years old.

[fanreader999999]

Nice

[ChakatFirepaw]

10406063
It's not just horse biology, my niece had alopecia areata. Luckily, it seems to have gone away with puberty but it was quite possible that puberty would have seen all her hair fall out.

[Flora Blossom]

this is really good. Lots of dialog too... I'm inspired.

[Moonlight_Mist]

When I read the line that mentioned how long Smolder had been trying to beat Salmon Tone's time, it gave me flashbacks to a time years ago when I feverishly worked at improving my times on various tracks on the-then latest-Mario Kart game, only to suddenly lose all drive for it after looking into the online records and finding most of the World Records to be held by cheaters.

[TwilightSparkle484]

This was a simple, enjoyable story. The message you placed in the Author's Note box is also a fitting theme for the fic.
I've never seen Smolder portrayed as a swimmer before, so it was interesting to see what you did with the concept. Also, nice character interaction between Smolder and Ocellus. Good work overall. :)

[StraightToThePointStudio]

Now this is something always awesome to read! Short, sweet, and enjoyable all around! Quite a fantastic way to start the day off too by just reading this lovely fic! Hope ya didn't mind, but I made a lil' reading on this sweet short!

Audio Linky!: https://youtu.be/XrlF0aWcQuI

(I don't mean to offend anyone with this comment in any way!)

[Casketbase77]

10407833
Absolutely. You have my blessing as the author.

Here’s hoping I caught and edited all the grammatical errors before you recorded.

[SigmasonicX]

This was a nice cute story. Ocellus's dialogue felt a bit too forceful for her, but otherwise you handled the characters well. It's interesting how you included a real horse condition. I have to say, bare wings sounds uncomfortable.

[Casketbase77]

10409878

I agree I could’ve characterized Ocellus better. I think her attitude is a holdover from the harder edge she had the last time I depicted her.

ELadybug

• MLP: FiM
• Drama
• Slice of Life

Sandbar wonders about Ocellus's old life under Chrysalis.

• Pharynx
• Ocellus
• Sandbar

Casketbase77 · 4.5k words  ·  223  3 · 3.9k views

[Mystic Mind]

I quite like Ocellus' characterisation here. My primary issue is that it the ending feels a bit abrupt. It'd be nice if we saw swimming practice between Smoulder and M.T, rather than stopping at the dorms. You lead into it, but just stop before writing it. Good story all the same!

[Jack of a Few Trades]

Short, sweet, and purposeful. And even some Smolcellus shipping undertones? That is some good stuff :)