You Can Lead a Unicorn Filly to a Pool

Chapter 1: You Can Lead a Unicorn Filly to a Pool

It was a hot summer day in Equestria. It was the sort of day where thermometers clamored to the very top, and only one in a series of similar days planned out by the master weatherponies of Cloudsdale. Princess Celestia, regent of the sun and moon, leaned back, submerging herself into the cool waters of Canterlot Castle's indoor pool. Her eyes drifted lazily to the white marble ceiling a good thirty feet above her.

The pool room was large, but simple in layout. To the south, there was a restroom designed to accommodate not only herself, but guests, as well as a storage closet. To the north was the door leading to the pump room, which housed the machinery that circulated the water and kept it clean.

The doors to the pool room were to the east, and next to them was a small table for fresh towels, as well as a specially-made shelf for ponies to leave their personal possessions. It was on that shelf that her regalia now waited, set aside for her much-desired swim.

The princess stretched her wings, using them to balance herself while she let the water slip into the spaces between her plumage, soaking it from tip to quill. Few things were as disgusting as the sticky sensation of sweat-soaked feathers.

Some ponies would think that being the princess who controlled the sun and moon, and having a sun cutie mark, meant that Celestia was more tolerant of heat. There was some truth to that, admittedly, but not to the extent that the common pony believed.

Celestia did, in fact, get hot. And today she’d practically been melting on her throne when noon time rolled around. Just sitting on it had felt absolutely torturous.

These sorts of circumstances would normally make her work difficult, but thankfully, she was not alone in feeling the sweltering heat. Rather than venture to the palace to meet with her at this hour of the day, many ponies had chosen to stay indoors or in the shade, safe from the heat radiating from both the sky and the roads.

Thus, for a brief period, her workload was rendered significantly lighter, the perfect time to take a little respite. Celestia dunked her head beneath the surface, soaking her mane and horn. By the sun and moon, this feels good.

A knock at the pool room door snapped her from her blissful state. The princess frowned. Was that Kibitz? Had that much time passed already? “Enter.”

The doors opened slowly, and rather than her majordomo, a much smaller pony walked through. “Princess?” came a familiar little voice.

“Ah, Sunset.” She smiled warmly at her latest, and youngest, personal student. “What brings you here?”

“I finished the math workbook you gave me.”

Celestia looked at the filly in surprise. “Already? I only gave it to you yesterday.” The problems in that particular book were advanced for somepony Sunset’s age. Celestia hadn’t expected it to be done until the end of the week.

Sunset nodded enthusiastically. “Uh-huh. I did every single problem.” She levitated the book out of her saddlebags and floated it over to her mentor. “See?”

Celestia flipped through the pages. She’d have to examine it more thoroughly, but at first glance, it looked like every problem was correct. She teleported the book away for later study. “Very good, Sunset. I’ll grade it later today.” Her smile grew a little wider. “Your skills never cease to impress me.”

Sunset beamed. “Thank you, Princess Celestia!”

“You’re very welcome.” Celestia leaned back again, closing her eyes as her lungs filled with cool air.

“Princess?”

The alicorn’s eyes cracked open. “Yes?”

“What are you doing? I thought you’d be in the throne room doing work, and Mr. Kibitz would be telling you stuff like he usually does.”

Celestia chuckled. “Normally, that would be true. But the heat today has temporarily ground much of the usual business to a halt. And since I was feeling rather warm myself, I decided to relax in the pool.”

“But if you’re so hot, why don’t you just lower the sun? You’re the princess, so you can do that, right? Can’t you make summer not so hot that way?”

“I have been tempted to do that some days,” admitted Celestia. “But even though I move the sun and moon, I can’t just switch them around however I want. There’s an order to the day-night cycle, not to mention the flow of the seasons and the balance of weather and climate. Summer needs to be hot, just like winter must be cold, all to provide balance. Do you understand?”

Sunset pursed her lips in thought. “I think so.”

Surveying the vast size of the pool, Celestia rolled onto her stomach. “Sunset, why don’t you join me? I’m sure you’ve felt the heat yourself, and I wouldn’t mind the company at all.”

For a moment, the little unicorn hesitated, staring at the deep blue water. “Um… o-okay.” After putting her saddlebags on the shelf, the normally eager filly made a slow trot toward the short stone staircase built into the shallow end of the pool. With a few perilous steps, she descended.

Celestia closed her eyes, rolling onto her back once again and letting herself relax. That is, until she noticed something odd. Or rather, it was the lack of something that was odd. She’d expected to hear the sound of splashing or paddling, but instead, there was nothing but silence. Opening her eyes, she saw that her star pupil was still at the shallow end, sitting firmly on the steps, water only reaching up to the middle of her legs.

“Sunset, don’t you want to leave the shallow end?”

Huge cyan eyes darted to anywhere but Celestia. “Um… no, princess. I’m fine here.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

Sunset gave a vigorous nod. “Uh-huh.”

Relaxation was replaced by curiosity and worry. Something was wrong. “Sunset, why don’t you come over here? It would be better not to have to shout across the pool, and maybe we could practice some spells.” Spellwork always caught the filly’s attention, and the enticement would give Celestia the opportunity to get Sunset to open up about whatever was bothering her.

To the princess’s surprise, Sunset hesitated again. She looked to Celestia, then down at the water. Tentatively, she lifted a hoof off the step, moving deeper into the pool…

… And immediately sank straight to the bottom.

“SUNSET!” Celestia shot into an upright position, her large wings sending a wave of water sloshing over the side of the pool as she rushed to the shallow end. With a flick of her horn, she grabbed the struggling filly and brought her to the surface.

The alicorn pulled her close, patting her back. “Sunset, are you alright? What happened?”

“I’m,” the filly coughed, “I’m sorry, Princess Celestia. I…” The corners of her eyes glistened with big, salty tears. “I can’t swim.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that she was holding Sunset, Celestia would have slapped a hoof to her face. Of course, Sunset couldn’t swim. She'd told her as much when they’d met. How had it so completely slipped her mind? “Sunset, if you couldn’t swim, you should have just said so.”

“You wanted me in the pool,” lamented the unicorn, still sputtering.

“Only because I’d forgotten that you can’t swim. For that, I apologize.” Celestia gave her another pat on the back, letting Sunset expel more water from her body. “Do you feel better now?”

The filly gave another cough. “Yeah.” She grimaced. “Pool water tastes weird.”

Celestia laughed, the terror that had flooded her body vanishing. “That’s from the cleaning solutions. Don’t worry, it’s not harmful.”

“Can I get out now?” asked the filly in a tiny, pleading voice.

“Of course you can, my faithful student.” Climbing up the stairs with the unicorn in tow, Celestia grabbed a couple towels from the table and wrapped them around her charge.

Another knock came at the door, and Kibitz trotted into the room. “Princess, your meeting with Sharp Suit is coming uuuuuup!” The stallion’s hooves slipped out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor with a splat.

“What in Equestria?” he groaned. Slowly, he got to his hooves. The entire front of his waistcoat was completely soaked. But the stallion didn’t care much about that. Instead, his focus was on the scroll that had fallen beneath his body.

“My schedule!” he cried. He levitated the soaked list, unfurling it to allow water to drip back to the floor. “It’s completely ruined! I’ll have to start all over and—what?” The older unicorn finally noticed the large puddle spreading out over the floor. “My word. What happened here?”

“A slight mishap,” explained Celestia. She rubbed the towels into Sunset’s coat, mane, and tail, making sure to remove any excess moisture, and completely ignoring the way the filly squirmed. “Have some of the maids come by to clean it up. And tell Sharp Suit that I’ll be there shortly.”

“As you wish, Your Highness.” He bowed again, nearly losing his hoofing for a second time before carefully walking back out of the room. Celestia could hear his wet hooves squish against the hallway rug.

There was a giggle from under the towels, followed by a shudder. “Princess, I’m cold.”

Looking back down at her student, she applied a heating spell to the towels. After a bit more rubbing, she’d declared the filly dry enough and set the towels aside to be washed. “I have a meeting to get to, Sunset,” she told her student. “Why don’t you go back to your room and work on some magic exercises? I’ll come see you when I’m done and we can go over your workbook in more detail.”

“Okay.” Grabbing her saddlebags, the filly practically galloped off down the hall, hooves splashing as she went, seeming more than happy to get away from the pool.

Watching her go, Celestia grabbed a pair of extra-large towels for herself, before heating them in her magic. With some vigorous work her coat was rendered dry, and her mane was restored to its usual billowing state. Picking up her regalia, she made her way down the halls towards the throne room.

A princess's work is never done, even during a heatwave.

Celestia was in her private quarters. Her meeting with Sharp Suit had gone exceptionally well. She’d always liked his family. Unlike much of Canterlot’s nobility, they had their heads on straight. Besides, the blue unicorn was rather charming, though that was of little surprise considering his position in Canterlot society. One simply didn’t rise to the top without some sort of charm.

To her surprise, he’d even brought his son Fancy Pants along, a colt that was only a hooffull of years older than Sunset. It was certainly unorthodox, but Sharp had wanted Fancy to learn something of Canterlot society, so Celestia had allowed it.

She turned another page of the little workbook she’d given Sunset. As she’d thought, Sunset had answered every problem perfectly, showing all of her work exactly as needed, and then some. Her personal students always did well; she wouldn’t have picked them if they didn’t have potential. But Sunset was exceptional, a true child prodigy.

The princess’s mind turned back to the incident at the pool, and her pleasant mood instantly soured, uprooted by memories of terror. She knew Sunset hadn’t been in any real danger of drowning, not with her around. But it had been frightening nonetheless, seeing the small filly drop beneath the water like a rock.

Swimming was such a simple thing, a form of exercise, a form of recreation, and also a survival skill. For as much of magic as Sunset had mastered and everything else she’d learned from Celestia’s private lessons, the very fact that Sunset was unable to swim unsettled the alicorn.

After all, Sunset had told her that she’d been swept along by a river before the two of them had crossed paths. And according to the filly's description, it hadn't even been a fast river. What if it happened again? Magic didn’t do much good if you couldn’t keep your head above water, if you couldn’t get out of it, if you couldn’t breathe.

She picked up the scroll with Sunset’s lesson plan. Perhaps a slight alteration in the curriculum was in order.

“I’m ready to learn more spells!” declared Sunset the next day, having just inhaled her breakfast with all the energy a filly could muster.

“That’s wonderful, my student,” replied Celestia, dabbing her mouth with a napkin.

“You said trans… trans-fig-ur-a-tion was next, right?” The filly gave a little hop. “The one where I turn stuff into other stuff?!”

“I did say that, yes. However, I decided to take a slight detour with your lessons today.”

The filly’s face dropped in disappointment. “Huh?”

With a flash, Celestia teleported them both back to the pool room, now clean and dry thanks to the castle maids. Several more stacks of towels had been laid on the side table, all a pure white with gold detailing at the edges. A whole new table had been brought in as well, large, round, and made of glass, along with a set of chairs. A quill and ink pot were stationed on the table’s surface.

“What are we doing back here?” asked Sunset, eyeing the treacherous water nervously. It sat like a great blue mirror in the center of the room, the tranquil surface shining from the sun coming through the high windows.

“It’s very simple, my student. After yesterday, I thought it would be best to teach you how to swim.”

Sunset took a step back, further away from the pool edge. “R-Really?”

Celestia gave her a little smile. “Really.”

The unicorn took yet another step back. “But… but what if I drown?!”

“I won’t let that happen,” Celestia told her gently. “This is for the best, Sunset. I want you to be safe around water so neither of us will ever have to worry about you drowning ever again. When we’re finished, you’ll be able to swim around this pool with ease.”

Granted, Princess Celestia had never actually taught anypony to swim before. Any time she taught at her school, it was about magic or some other academic subject. And all of her personal students in the centuries before had already known how to swim. Though in fairness, they’d all been at least several years older than Sunset was.

But really, swimming wasn’t that difficult. How hard could it possibly be to teach it to a little filly?

Setting her regalia on the shelf, she turned to the pool. “Come along, Sunset. Let’s begin.” Slowly, the two of them stepped down the stairs into the water, Celestia taking the lead while Sunset lagged behind. As they reached the last step, Celestia brought over a floatation ring and broke it out of its packaging.

It was decorated with the same colors as her mane, and covered in her cutie mark. The design wasn’t exactly to her taste. The paint job itself seemed particularly sloppy and haphazard, and the sun marks looked like they’d been drawn by foals for how crooked and off-design they were. But she supposed that’s what she got for asking one of her guards to go out and purchase a child’s floatation ring on such short notice.

“Here, you can use this.” Inflating it quickly with her magic, she placed the ring around her student. Or at least she tried to. It was proving far more difficult than expected. The ring was horribly snug, and Celestia had to levitate Sunset out of the water to get a better effect. The task was made even harder because her efforts were met with uncomfortable squirming.

The princess glanced at the packaging as she gave another push. It read “Made for fillies and colts of all ages!” in large, friendly letters.

She pushed the ring down again, inching it past Sunset’s chest and towards her waist. This was made for fillies and colts? She might need to have a talk with the manufacturer about their definition of size. Actually, it was even more ridiculous when you accounted for the fact that Sunset was somewhat small for her age.

Finally, she managed to get it around Sunset’s waist. “There.”

“Princess, it’s tight,” complained the filly as she tried to wiggle in the little ring.

“I know it is, Sunset, and I’m sorry for that. But please try to bear with it for a while.” The princess set her student back down into the water, away from the firm safety of the stairs.

The filly wiggled again. “Princess… is it supposed to be this tight?” she asked, pushing her foreleg against the ring’s surface to try and loosen its grip.

“I don’t think so, no,” answered Celestia. For a moment, she worried it was cutting off the unicorn’s circulation. “Sunset, is it just uncomfortable, or does it actually hurt? Can you feel your hind legs alright?”

The filly kicked a little under the water. “Uh-huh, and it doesn’t really hurt.” She pressed her hoof down on the ring again, still trying to wiggle her way into something resembling comfort. “But I still don’t like it.”

Unfortunately for all the ponies involved, it seemed that this particular floatation ring was not only small, but weak, and that little application of pressure was enough to make it pop, wailing like a dying animal as it deflated all at once.

“Help!” cried Sunset as she sank into the shallow end.

Celestia grabbed her with a foreleg. This was not off to a good start.

A strip of duct tape had been enough to fix the hole. And thanks to a reinforcement spell and a very precise size alteration spell, Celestia had turned the floatation device into something looser and more useful.

“I’m sorry about that, Sunset,” apologized the princess again. “If you still need it, I’ll be sure to purchase you another one tomorrow.” She’d buy it herself, in that case, a better, more trustworthy one than this thing.

And while she was on that particular train of thought, she’d definitely be having a long discussion with the manufacturer, one involving phrases like false advertising and poor production standards, not to mention a thorough inspection of their stock.

Having fixed that particular issue, the two went back in, moving out from the stairs and into the pool proper. “Alright, now you stay here,” said Celestia as they reached the point where the shallow end transitioned to the deep end. “I want you to watch me very carefully. Is that clear?”

Sunset shifted around inside her now better-fitting floatation ring. “Yes, princess.”

Celestia took off into the water, doing a few slow strokes around the pool, but always keeping close enough for Sunset to see. “Were you watching the way I moved my legs?” she asked as she returned to her student’s side.

Sunset looked uncertain, but nodded her head anyway.

“Good. Now it’s your turn.” Grabbing Sunset with her magic, she lifted her out of her floating safety net and placed her in the water, keeping her in a horizontal position.

“B-But princess, I can’t—"

“I’ll be holding onto you, Sunset,” interrupted the monarch. “I want you to kick your legs, alright? Try to do what I did.”

The filly bit her lip, but didn’t protest any further. Held in Celestia’s magic, she began moving her legs back and forth.

“Very good, Sunset. Nice even strokes. Keep doing that for me.”

A few more minutes of practiced movements, and Celestia found herself smiling. “That’s it. I think you’ve got a good grip on it. Now, I’m going to let go and you’re going to swim on your own. Are you ready?”

Sunset turned nervously to her mentor. “R-Ready.”

Celestia’s spell faded away, and Sunset took off. It was a very slow trek, but she was indeed propelling herself through the water.

Sunset’s head turned around, face beaming. “Princess! I’ve got it! I can swi—Ah!” Whatever sense of victory she felt was short lived as her little body sunk into the water, head moving below the surface. “Help! Help! Help!” Her even strokes turned into wild flails, and like the day before, she sank like a little amber stone.

Celestia grabbed the filly in her magic once again, pulling her to the surface. “Sunset, are you—” A flailing amber leg sprayed water in her face. “—Okay?”

The flailing stopped, and Sunset looked at the mare completely aghast. “Sorry!” she cried.

The alicorn let out a sharp breath of air, blowing back a sopping lock of her mane. “It’s alright, Sunset. We’ll just try again.”

They’d tried about eleven more times.

It became a strange routine of sorts. Sunset would practice kicking, Celestia would let go, Sunset would get going a short distance, then she’d sink, then she’d flail, then she’d sink harder, and finally Celestia would fish her out, and Sunset would cough up more pool water.

Sunset Shimmer let out an angry huff, water dripping from her mane and down her back. She and Celestia had gotten out of the pool again, taking another break.

They’d taken a few already, some of them because Celestia had to deal with paperwork and the like. Once had been to eat lunch. Celestia had the cooks bring over a few grilled carrot dogs for them to share, along with a whole bunch of hay fries. “Not the best kind of lunch to have,” she’d said, “but a reward for all your effort.”

Sunset had always thought carrot dogs were yummy, particularly with lots of ketchup, so she’d been happy enough to get them. But that had been after attempt number five. Whatever happiness those warm carrot dogs and fries had brought her had long since evaporated.

Since they’d already used up the towels that had been set aside before, Celestia had gone to fetch fresh ones to wrap Sunset in, leaving the little filly to stew in her own thoughts.

“I’m just not getting it,” she complained to the empty room. She looked down at the ugly floatation ring, anger rising. “Stupid ring!” She gave it a hard swat with her foreleg, sending it straight into the pool, and only got splashed in the face for her trouble.

“Bleh,” she said, spitting out the water. “Stupid pool!”

The little filly shivered, the air feeling terribly, bitingly cold against her damp coat. She hoped the princess would return soon. The last time she’d felt this miserable around water was that awful river where she’d gotten separated from her parents. That awful, cold river. Just remembering that winter night made her shivering even worse.

“Why do I even need to learn how to swim, anyway?” she complained again. Her only answer was the echo of her voice off the room’s high ceiling.

Of course, she knew the reason why. The princess wanted her to stay safe around water. She’d assured Sunset that she’d learn how to swim, and Sunset Shimmer didn’t like to doubt her princess. But right now, her future as a swimmer was looking pretty bleak if her current efforts were anything to go by.

Why couldn’t she get it like she did other things? Like magic, for example. Magic was interesting. Magic was fun. Magic didn’t get her soaked to the skin. Best of all, magic was something she was great at. If this was something magic-based, she’d have finished it in no time flat.

“Hey, wait a minute.” An idea sprouted in her head. A really great idea. “Why don’t I just use magic?”

Her big eyes lit up as the excitement of her newfound plan overtook her. “Yeah! I’ll use magic, and show the princess I can stay safe, and I won’t have to learn how to swim! And then we can forget this and go back to spells! Yeah!”

Springing to her hooves, she thought back to all the spells she knew, a list that was surprisingly long for a pony her age. Surely there was something in her arsenal that she could use to overcome this watery obstacle.

One immediately stood out. She nodded to herself. That would do. That would keep her safe from any body of water. Now all she had to do was test it out.

Sunset charged her horn, locking eyes with the pool. That big, awful pool she’d sunk in so many times. The one she’d coughed up water from. Lots and lots of weird-tasting water. The pool that made her feel miserable.

Her eyes narrowed. This would take care of the stupid pool once and for all.

Princess Celestia opened the doors to the pool room, several sets of fresh towels floating beside her in a golden aura. It had taken her far longer than it should have to track down one of the maids. She only hoped the exposure wouldn’t result in her student catching a cold. “I’m sorry it took so long, but I finally found more towels to use.”

Spotting her student, Celestia froze on the spot. Sunset was glaring darkly at the pool, horn glowing with light. An incredibly bright light that normally meant there was a major spell at play.

Worry formed in her stomach. “Sunset, what are you doing?”

The filly spared her a glance before returning to her spell. “Princess, I don’t need to swim. I can just use magic to get out. Watch!”

For a moment, Celestia wondered just what Sunset had in mind. But that’s when she felt it. There was a temperature difference in the air, heat rapidly being drawn away. Quite a lot of heat, too.

She isn’t trying to do what I think she is, is she?

Then Celestia factored in the tremendous amount of power Sunset was gathering in her horn. A horn that was aimed directly at the pool. A pool connected to a pump, which was connected to…

The princess’s eyes widened in alarm. “No Sunset, stop! If you use that much power, it could go—”

Her words came too late. The spell shot off like a cannonball, striking the pool and sending water flying. In an instant, the bright blue liquid was transformed into a block of solid ice, and the rising wave became an oversized sculpture.

Sunset beamed at her mentor as flecks of snow drifted down onto her muzzle. “See, princess? If I do this I won’t have to worry about drowning at all!”

“—Up the pipes,” Celestia finished weakly.

Sunset blinked, noticing her mentor’s horrified face. “Huh?”

The first sign was the sound emanating from the pump room. The normally low hum of the machinery turned into a shrill scream, while the pipes that served it gave way from a drastic change in pressure.

Next, there came a rumbling from the attached restroom. The cries of screeching metal were combined with the shattering of ceramic, followed by a great gushing sound. Streams of water flowed from under the door, the little ice crystals mixed in sparkling like stars.

Finally, there came similar sounds from the hallway beyond the pool room. The sound of breaking metal was followed directly by the screams of angry and frightened ponies.

“Princess, there’s some kind of flood!” cried a mare.

“It’s the Windigos!” screamed a hysterical stallion. “They’ve come back! I knew they would! We're all doomed!”

An unusually flustered Kibitz came galloping up to her, accompanied by two unicorns from her guard. “Your Majesty! Your Majesty! There’s been some kind of disaster with the plumbing system. Ice is breaking through!” he cried.

“Do you think it’s an attack, Your Majesty?” asked one of the guards, levitating his spear. “A direct assault on the castle is a bold move. I can inform the rest of the guard. Whatever this is, we’ll find the culprits in no time.”

The princess of the sun turned to look back at the three ponies, and then craned her head to see the multitude of large, wet stains on the hallway carpet, stains that were spreading out from every room along the length of the hall and beyond.

Her face was impassive as she turned back to her student. Sunset was still standing there by the side of the frozen pool, dripping in what little actual water remained in the room. “There will be no need for that,” she said, holding back a leaden sigh. “I think I know who’s responsible.”

Sunset laughed, placing a nervous hoof behind her head. “Um… sorry?”

And You Can Get Her to Swim

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Chapter 2: And You Can Get Her to Swim

Celestia rubbed her temples, feeling the onset of a headache. One spell. One inordinately powerful freezing spell was all it took to cause this much damage.

On an isolated body of water, this wouldn’t have been an issue. But the pool wasn’t just a simple hole in the ground. It had a pump, which not only circulated and cleaned the pool water, but was also connected to the main water line so any lost water could be replaced.

Thanks to the excessive amount of power involved, the spell hadn’t stopped at just the pool itself. It had created a chain reaction that reached the pump before spreading to water lines throughout the castle.

Of course, water expands when solid, and as anypony who lived in a cold climate would have told you, rapidly expanding ice inside a frozen pipe will often cause it to burst. And the pipes had certainly burst. They’d burst like a bunch of balloons surrounded by cacti. In a room with a breeze.

The damage was extensive. Two whole wings had lost access to running water, along with a few other scattered sections of the castle. And as she’d learned later during the damage assessment, a few sewage lines had been broken as well.

Celestia was sure they must have summoned every plumber in Canterlot to deal with the mess, and a portion of her guards had to be diverted in order to break down the gigantic block that had once been the contents of her swimming pool.

And then there was the collateral damage. Walls had taken water damage, or had needed to be cut open in order to reach the broken plumbing. Rugs and carpets had been totally soaked and needed drying. Wood furniture, documents, and other assorted things within reach had all taken some damage from the floodwater.

“It’s going to take quite a few bits to cover the damages,” said Supply Curve, her new economic advisor. He was barely twenty years old, but highly skilled nonetheless. The pegasus’s wings flapped in irritation. Tallying the cost of this disaster had not put him in a good mood. “I’d also recommend adjusting the ‘castle maintenance and repair’ portion of the budget, just to cover any future incidents like this. Of course, that will require another meeting with the rest of the advisors.”

Celestia sighed heavily. She’d just had a meeting a couple days ago. “I’ll have Kibitz add it to the schedule,” she said reluctantly. Yet another thing to deal with during the heatwave. “You may go now, Supply Curve.”

The pegasus left her chambers with a bow, and as soon as he did, Celestia heard the shuffle of tiny hooves behind her.

“I’m sorry,” said Sunset quietly as she came out of hiding, barely able to look at her mentor. “I didn’t mean to break all that stuff.”

“I know you didn’t,” consoled Celestia, willing the ache in her skull to disappear. “And I’m not punishing you for it. But Sunset, you should be careful when you’re putting that much power into a spell. That’s part of the reason it caused as much damage as it did.”

“Yes, princess…” muttered the filly. Her head shot up, eagerness reigniting. “Can we stop the swimming lessons now? If I’m real careful, I can use magic to keep safe, right?”

Celestia shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”

“But why?!” whined the filly. “I wouldn’t fall in the water if it was frozen, and I could get out that way too, couldn’t I?”

“Freezing the water like that can be dangerous,” replied Celestia. “What if it wasn’t a pool? What if it had life in it? You’d freeze them solid. And if you were in the water, wouldn’t you freeze yourself as well?”

The filly looked taken aback. Clearly she hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Celestia placed a hoof on her tiny shoulder. “There may be times where you'll be unable to use your magic, or unable to concentrate. I want you to be prepared, Sunset, and that means learning to do some things without relying on your magic. Swimming is one of those things.”

“But princess,” Sunset began to argue.

“Let me ask you a question, my student,” interrupted Celestia. “What if you knew how to levitate yourself?”

The filly’s excitement returned. “You can do that?! Can you show me? Please?”

Celestia’s hoof pressed down to steady her. “Not right now, no. That will be much further down the road, when your magic is more developed. But what if you could?" repeated Celestia, ignoring Sunset's disappointment. "Would that mean you wouldn’t have to know how to walk?”

The filly bit her lip. “Um…”

“Or what about pegasi? Do they not need to learn how to walk, simply because they can fly?” The filly stood silent, and Celestia knew she'd won. “You see the point I’m making, don’t you, Sunset?”

The little unicorn gave a huff, but nodded her head. “Yes, Princess Celestia.”

Celestia pulled the filly closer with one of her great white wings. “I know you’re having problems, but you'll get past this, I promise. Although since the castle pool is… out of operation, we’ll need a new place to practice.”

They ended up in the castle gardens. While not having a proper pool, the gardens did have a multitude of ponds that were deep enough to swim in. True to her word, Celestia had gotten Sunset a new floatation ring, this one from a much more reliable manufacturer.

Unlike the one before, this ring fit properly. And while Celestia was certain Sunset wouldn't need it for very long, she'd had it decorated with red and gold waves as an extra, personal touch. Best of all, it held up against pressure, as a quick test had proven. After the way things had begun yesterday, Celestia considered this new ring to be something of a good omen.

“Help!”

Though not good enough, it seemed.

This was Sunset’s fourth attempt today at swimming. “Sunset, you need to relax,” said the princess as soothingly as she could, and not for the first time today. “Panicking like that won’t do you any good.”

“But I’m sinking!” cried the little unicorn as she flailed in the water, trying to grab onto her brand new floatation ring.

Sighing, Celestia pulled her student and the floatation ring back to shore. “Well, you certainly stayed up longer this time,” she said, trying to console the wet and clearly unhappy filly.

Returning both Sunset and the ring to the ground, Celestia went over to a smaller, neighboring pond. “I think it’s time we work on something slightly different,” said the princess, suppressing her own frustration. Opening up the small box she’d brought with her, she took out three metal cubes, holding them over the water in her magic.

Sunset looked up, fixing her mentor with a perplexed stare. “Aren’t those the levitation weights you had me practice with?”

“They are indeed.” Items like these were common in Equestria. Rather than simple toy blocks, these were training weights for young unicorns, used to practice and strengthen levitation. These in particular belonged to a slightly heavier tier.

“But I can already lift those!” declared Sunset. Taking them in her magic, she lifted them high into the sky to prove her point.

“I know that, Sunset,” answered Celestia gently, taking the blocks back in her own magical aura. “That’s part of the point. This time, you’ll be lifting them from the bottom of the pond.”

Sunset frowned. “The bottom?”

Celestia nodded, pulling out a blindfold. “Hold still while I put this on.”

Sunset obeyed, and once Celestia was sure her eyes were covered, she dropped the blocks into the water, finding a moderate depth that was perfect for this sort of exercise. Pressing them into the dirt, she moved the terrain around to obscure them from surface view.

With that finished, she took off the blindfold. The filly looked around. “Where’d they go?”

Celestia chuckled. “I’m afraid that’s what you’re going to have to figure out. One of the things I noticed during your… attempts, yesterday and today is that you don’t open your eyes under the water. I’d like you to work on that, as well as get more practice moving through the water itself.

“What I want you to do now is dive down and look for them. When you find them, you’ll then bring them back to me. It can be all at once or one at a time, there’s no rush. But in order to find them, you’ll have to open your eyes. And remember, I’ll be right here if you need help.”

Sunset didn’t look thrilled, but nodded her head in compliance. “Okay.” Without needing to be told, she went into the pond, taking a deep breath and descending beneath the surface. Celestia watched Sunset’s form carefully from her position on shore.

So far, she was moving well enough, if slowly and unsteadily. But in this case, her student's problem of sinking didn't factor in. This particular pond was shallower than its neighbor, barely deep enough for Sunset's whole body to dip below the surface, so rising to take a breath was easy.

From what she could tell, Sunset’s eyes were open sometimes, which was good. But they never seemed to stay open for very long, and on the whole they remained firmly shut. It made her search all the more difficult, reducing her to pawing blindly at the dirt with her hooves.

Celestia frowned, but reminded herself that her student wasn’t used to the sensation of water on her eyes yet. She’d surely get used to it eventually. If this went well enough, they could even repeat this as a timed exercise.

And maybe, just maybe, these shallow dives would help Sunset to stop panicking the moment she started sinking even a fraction of an inch.

Finally, the unicorn found the spot where Celestia had dropped the weights. The princess saw her horn light up, and all three blocks floated their way to the surface, with Sunset’s head and body following soon after.

“Princess, I got them!” she declared. She shook her head, flinging off some of the moisture that clung to her face. “I got all three of them and—huh?”

Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “What’s wrong, Sunset?”

“My tail’s heavy.” Sunset looked backwards, lifting her tail out of the water. There, attached to the last inch of those red and gold strands, was a lime green fish with big, bulbous eyes.

Sunset screamed, shaking her tail to dislodge the creature. “Get off of me!” She tugged at the fish with a levitation spell, but it refused to relinquish its grip. “Get off! You can’t eat my tail!” She pulled even harder, but the fish still refused to obey. “Let go, let go, let go!”

“Sunset, calm down—”

“Fine, take this!”

Like the day before, Sunset’s magic went off before Celestia could stop it. There was a bright flash combined with a boom, and the princess was forced to shield her eyes with a wing. When did she learn how to cast a stun spell?!

She heard a series of thumps followed by a splash. When Celestia pulled her wing away, she found her student unconscious in the pond, the weights having fallen back down.

The offending fish was belly-up in the water, lost in a daze, along with many of its brethren. In fact, it looked like the entire population of the pond as more and more fish floated lifelessly to the surface.

Celestia rushed over to the filly, picking her up. Sunset let out a groan in response. There were a few bruises forming on her back, probably from the blocks landing on her if Celestia had to guess. The marks were small. Thankfully, Sunset hadn’t been holding them too far above her head.

Sighing in relief, Celestia retrieved the weights and went on her way back to the castle.

She made a mental note to ask Sunset where and when she’d learned how to cast a stun spell. Sunset had met and talked with a few of the professors at Celestia's school, but Celestia highly doubted they were responsible. None of them were foolish enough to teach such a thing to a filly, even if they were her personal student.

She’d have a talk with Sunset about using it, not to mention yet another discussion on power modulation. But first, a trip to the royal physician was in order. She doubted anything was broken, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

The princess sighed again, a heavier, wearier breath. Another day, another setback.

It was mid-morning the next day, and Sunset Shimmer sat on the plush carpet of her room in Canterlot Castle.

Her room was spacious, as was expected considering where she lived. There were two sets of tall, dark wooden bookshelves, already half-filled with books, mostly magical and academic in nature, with some novels and picture books mixed in. A large writing desk had been provided for her homework, perched in a corner by the window.

Odds and ends of simple experiments were left in various spots on the floor, while a few small toys lay on top of a low but ornate wooden dresser, though there were several more locked tightly in a little chest in the back of her moderately-sized closet. The bed was queen-sized, with a dark red comforter set atop white sheets, and several pillows, more than enough for a single filly.

A book on magic sat before the unicorn, pages turning idly in a shimmering glow. She'd read this one before, words blurring before her eyes. Her teacher’s lectures from yesterday were still ringing in her ears, along with the several pointed questions Sunset had been asked regarding her spell.

She didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to learn that yet! And it wasn’t her fault that book had been misfiled. Sunset had simply been hoping to surprise Celestia with that spell, to show her teacher the fruits of her extra studying.

Well, Celestia had definitely been surprised, but the results were far from what Sunset had been hoping for.

As she turned another page, there was a knock at the door. “Come in.”

The door opened in a golden glow, and Princess Celestia walked in. “Good morning, Sunset,” she said with a smile. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to join you for breakfast this morning. But since I’m free at the moment, I thought we could begin your lessons for the day. Follow me.”

The filly set down her book, mentally crossing her forelegs that it would be something other than swimming today. Her wish seemed to be granted when the pair stopped at the door to Celestia’s suite.

They went inside, and Sunset took a moment to bask in it. There was a warmth to the sun princess’s chambers, much like its owner. Looking around, she noted the absence of Philomena. The phoenix was usually off flying at this time of day.

“This way,” said Celestia. Sunset snapped to attention, following the alicorn to a door she’d never been to before. Sunset had only ever been inside the main room, and Celestia’s bedroom once or twice. Was this some sort of special study?

Sunset’s steps quickened with eagerness. If Celestia had a magical study, it was bound to have all sorts of amazing things.

The door opened, and Sunset found herself faced with… a bathroom.

It was a much larger and more ornate bathroom than the one Sunset used. Things had always seemed high up to her in there, but here, they were practically towering. There was a large mirror that spanned half the wall on one side, underneath which was a long countertop made of gleaming marble, as well as a gilded faucet for the sink. If she’d been high enough, she would have seen the various hygiene and grooming tools neatly laid out over the surface.

On the other side of the room was a large marble bathtub, also sporting a gilded faucet. Hanging on a nearby bar was a pair of dove white cotton towels embroidered with Celestia’s cutie mark. In addition, there were shelves under the countertop for even more towels of various sizes.

“This is my private bathroom, Sunset,” said Celestia, answering the filly’s unspoken question.

“Your bathroom?” replied the unicorn with disappointment. Why were they in her bathroom? Did the princess still need to brush her teeth or something? The filly’s eyes widened. “Are your teeth really rotting away?!”

Celestia was taken aback. “What? No, Sunset, of course not.” She raised an eyebrow. “What gave you that idea?”

“One of the guards,” answered the filly. “I heard him say that you eat so many sweets, your teeth would rot away in a month.” She hadn’t really meant to overhear him, but he’d been so loud that it'd been impossible to ignore him. “I didn’t believe him,” she added quickly, noticing the way her mentor’s jaw clenched.

Celestia’s expression immediately softened. “As you should, my faithful student. I take very good care of my teeth, and I hope you are as well.” The princess paused. “You are doing everything Doctor Pearly Whites told you to do, correct?” she asked, referring to the pegasus mare employed as the royal dentist.

“Uh-huh,” nodded Sunset, opening her mouth wide to illustrate the point.

“Good. Now tell me.” The princess’s expression turned to something more serious. “What was the name of this guard that told you my teeth were going to rot?”

“Javelin Throw,” answered the unicorn. “I think he’s new,” she added helpfully, remembering the conversation she’d picked up.

Celestia hummed for a moment, muttering something about "a week” and “barracks latrine duty,” before turning her attention back to Sunset. “In any event, the reason we’re here is to continue your swimming lessons.”

Sunset's face fell. “More swimming?” I should've wished harder.

Celestia patted her student's back with a wing. “More swimming. But don’t worry, today will go differently than the others.”

She gave the unicorn a gentle smile. “Now I know the last couple days have had their… issues, but today we’ll be focusing on something else.” The princess turned the handle on the tub faucet, letting the water rush in.

Sunset tilted her head. “You want me to use your bathtub?” Sure, it was huge, big enough to fit Princess Celestia and then some. In fact, it looked large enough to fit three full grown ponies. But it didn’t seem like the right size to swim in, not like the pond or the pool.

Celestia nodded. “You’re going to be learning to float today.” She levitated a long back brush and placed it over the middle of the tub, anchoring the ends with her magic before lifting Sunset into the water. “Hold onto that for me.”

The unicorn did as she was told, quickly hooking her forelegs around the plastic brush as the water level continued to rise.

Once it was high enough, Celestia shut off the faucet before smiling down at her student. “I want you to try and lay flat on your stomach while holding onto the brush. Let your hind legs float out behind you. Yes, just like that.”

Sunset let her legs float, feeling the water slosh around her neck and chin as she tried to keep her head above it. Her grip around the brush tightened, and every muscle in her little body went as rigid as stone. She actually wasn’t a stranger to tubs this large, not since staying with Celestia. But as she lay there floating in the water, all her memories of the last two days came back to the forefront of her brain.

Her grip grew even tighter.

“Floating is quite simple, Sunset, simple and easy to master,” Celestia said, not noticing her student’s tension. “It is especially important because it can allow you to keep safe if you’re ever at a depth you can’t manage, or you’re unable to fully swim for whatever reason.”

She double-checked the magic anchoring the brush handle. “We’ll start with floating on your stomach, and then move to floating on your back.” Celestia leaned in closer. “Are you ready to try?”

Sunset looked up at her mentor, her little heart racing in her chest. A large part of her wanted to say no right then and there. But even still, she nodded her head. Her mentor was looking at her expectantly, and Sunset felt like saying no would’ve been letting the princess down.

Besides, Princess Celestia said floating was easy. Simple and easy.

“Alright, on the count of three, I want you to let go. One… two… three.”

Sunset let go of the brush… and immediately sank. “Help!” gurgled the filly as her mouth dipped below the surface. Her legs flailed wildly, sending water sloshing over the side of the tub, even as her magic reached out to grab the brush handle.

“Sunset, please, you need to relax and—" Celestia started to say, before a well-aimed wave slapped her in the face.

Having just pulled her head from the water via her magic, Sunset froze, horrified at splashing her mentor yet again. “I’m sorry!”

The princess of the sun spat out the water in a rather undignified fashion. “It’s alright, my student. I know you didn’t mean it.” Celestia glanced around, looking at the mass of puddles on the tiled floor, before pulling out several towels from under the countertop to cover them. “Let’s try again.”

And they did, two more times. Both resulted in the same thing. Sunset’s forelegs practically shook as she held onto the back brush. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“I know, Sunset, I know.” Celestia dabbed her face with a hoof towel, eyeing the distinct drop in the tub's water line. “Let’s refill the tub and try again. And please, Sunset, try to relax.”

As Celestia turned on the faucet, Sunset breathed deep, trying to relax. In and out, in and out. This was easy, right? Simple and easy. Sunset repeated those words to herself, letting them bolster her emotions as her heart began to slow down. She could do this. She could float. And once she did, maybe she’d get the hang of swimming too! Maybe—

Her growing sense of calm died when the sensation of the new water hit her hind legs. Cold water. No, not just cold.

Ice cold.

Sunset yelped, letting go of the brush and clamoring to get out of the tub. The sides were too thick to hook her stubby forelegs over.

“Sunset, what’s the matter?” asked the startled Princess Celestia.

“It’s freezing!” cried the filly, still trying to pull herself out. Her teeth were beginning to chatter. “Princess Celestia, the water’s freezing!”

Celestia blinked. “What?” She grabbed the unicorn in her magic and lifted her out and onto the bathmat. Placing a hoof under the running water, she immediately pulled it back. “That should be hot.”

There came a knocking sound from beyond the bathroom. Celestia turned to Sunset. “Wait here.”

Celestia trotted off, leaving Sunset to sit there, dripping and shivering in place. The water had been so cold, cold like the river.

In the distance, she picked up Kibitz’s voice. “Your Majesty I… why are you wet?”

“It doesn’t matter, Kibitz. What’s going on?”

The stallion’s voice took on a distinctly annoyed edge. “I’m sorry to inform you, Your Majesty, but the plumbers had to shut off the hot water to this section of the castle. Apparently it was unavoidable, and it will have to be off for several hours.”

“I see,” replied Celestia, a trace of stiffness in her tone. “Thank you for informing me, Kibitz.” Celestia returned to the bathroom, her face impassive. “Sunset, I’m afraid—"

“There’s no hot water,” completed the filly dismally. “I heard Mr. Kibitz.” She shivered again. “Princess…” Her voice was small and pleading. “Can we stop for now?”

“Sunset, I could just use magic and heat—”

“Please?” She shivered again, wiping some droplets from the end of her nose with a hoof, coming away with globs of mucus in the process.

“... Alright, my faithful student,” Celestia said gently. Picking up the large white towels in her magic, she wrapped them around Sunset. “Let’s get you warm and dry. And once you are, we’ll begin a lesson on transfiguration. Would you like that?”

“Uh-huh,” nodded the filly, though inside she didn’t feel quite as enthused as she normally would. It was like the cold water had taken something out of her besides body heat. As the pair walked out of the bathroom, a single thought passed through her head.

This was supposed to be simple and easy.

Sunset Shimmer walked back to her room, having finished her breakfast. Like yesterday, Princess Celestia had business early this morning, which meant Sunset had time to herself yet again. The lesson in transfiguration had gone fairly well, though Celestia had only had time to give her an overview and do a few practical demonstrations before she got pulled away to a meeting.

That would have been disappointing enough, but what made it worse for Sunset was that the meeting was with the royal advisors, the meeting Sunset was responsible for. Knowing that had just increased the filly’s dejected mood, and that feeling had carried through to today.

After the meeting ended, Celestia had returned to give Sunset another lecture. This time, the subject was on swimmer’s safety. The princess had even composed a test on it, which she’d left inside a pair of saddlebags this morning in the dining hall, along with a few non-swimming related assignments, all of which were meant to be finished by this afternoon.

As Sunset trotted down the halls, she picked up on a pair of voices. Then, two mares came into view. The first was one she recognized as Tea Tray, the head maid.

Tea Tray was a saucer-eyed earth pony mare, one that Sunset had come to like. She had a cream-colored coat, though that was mostly obscured by her dark uniform, a long spring green mane that she usually tied back into a bun, and a serving tray cutie mark.

She directed the other maids of the castle with practiced authority and professionalism, always making sure they were doing their jobs properly, but came off as friendly and cordial otherwise, always greeting the princess and Sunset with an open, inviting expression.

At the moment she had several towels and brushes resting on her back, a mop draped across her broad shoulders, and an empty bucket dangling from her tail. The handle of a cart, filled to the brim with other cleaning tools, was secured in her mouth.

The other mare, a pegasus, was walking instep beside her. She was younger, with a white coat and blue eyes. Her mane was also spring green like Tea Tray’s, but cut rather short and brushed to the side in a coltish sort of way. Her cutie mark appeared to be some kind of fancy cup.

“You should take some time off of work, Tea,” the younger mare was saying. “You work too long as it is.”

“I can’t, Porcelain. You know that,” replied Tea Tray as she let go of the cart handle. Her words sounded rehearsed, like they'd had this argument many times before. “This castle requires a great deal of upkeep.”

The pegasus rolled her eyes. “You also shouldn’t be taking all that stuff by yourself." Grabbing the bucket from Tea Tray's tail, she placed it on her own. She seemed to contemplate taking something else when she glanced back, and noticed Sunset standing there. “Hey, kiddo!" She waved a foreleg energetically. "Mind lending us a hoof?”

Tea Tray’s powder blue eyes, barely covered by the frames of her glasses, followed the younger mare’s gaze. “Hello, Miss Shimmer. Porcelain, this is Sunset Shimmer. She’s Princess Celestia’s new student.”

The pegasus turned to Tea Tray in surprise. “Really?” Gliding over to Sunset, she looked down at the filly in curiosity and wonder. “I’d heard that the princess took on a new student, but you’re so young!” She grinned playfully, rubbing a vigorous hoof into Sunset’s mane. “You must be a really gifted little tyke, huh?”

“Porcelain!” admonished Tea Tray, practically jumping over to the pair, cleaning tools wobbling precariously in the process. She pulled the mare away, offering Sunset an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Miss Shimmer. This is my little sister Porcelain Cup. She’s just visiting today.” She shot her sister a look of disapproval she usually reserved for the other maids whenever they broke something expensive. “And sometimes she has a distinct lack of manners.”

“I have manners!” countered the pegasus, hovering up in the air as she crossed her forelegs. “Sheesh, I was just complimenting her.” She turned her head away. “And I’m a hit with foals. Just ask my daughter.”

“That’s not an unbiased opinion, Porcelain,” said Tea Tray, her voice taking on a more teasing tone.

Sunset brushed her now disheveled mane back into place with a hoof, glaring up at the mare that had dared to mess with it. She could have done without that particular compliment. And she certainly wasn’t a “tyke”. She was seven. That made her a big pony, thank you very much!

Still, she could see that Tea Tray needed some help. Lighting up her horn, she began pushing the cart.

Tea Tray seemed like she wanted to protest, but relented. “Thank you, Miss Shimmer. I was headed down the hall and to the right.”

“What do you even need all this stuff for, anyway?” asked Porcelain as she trotted beside them. “Seems like a bit much to me.”

“We’ve had a bit of a plumbing problem lately,” replied Tea Tray. “The other maids and I are helping with the cleanup.”

“Oh yeah! I read about that this morning. Some sort of major disaster, huh? What caused it?”

Sunset glanced nervously between the two mares, her magical grip on the cart constricting. Celestia hadn’t told anypony the exact cause of the disaster. She’d wanted to spare her student the embarrassment and negative attention. But there were those among the staff who could guess as to its origin, and Tea Tray was smart.

“A spell misfire,” responded Tea Tray, repeating her employer’s given explanation. Her eyes quickly glanced at Sunset. “Ice got in the pipes.”

“That’s some misfire,” commented Porcelain, thankfully not pressing the issue nor noticing her sister’s glance. Looking over at Sunset, the pegasus let out a whistle. “That’s a whole lot of weight for a little thing like you to be pushing around.”

“I can handle it,” assured Sunset, moving further ahead to put some distance between them. After that first interaction, she wanted to be as far out of reach of this mare as possible.

“You know, my daughter’s a unicorn just like you, except she's only four,” continued Porcelain conversationally. “I’d wanted a pegasus so we could fly together, but that’s what I get for marrying a unicorn.” She gave a hearty laugh. “I love her just the same. But I couldn’t even imagine her being as strong as you are.” She shuddered. “Those magic surges were bad enough.”

“How is Porcelain Figurine, anyway?” asked Tea Tray as the trio turned a corner.

“You’d see her more if you took more time off,” barked Porcelain. “But she’s just fine. I decided to give her swimming lessons just the other day.” The pegasus puffed out her chest. “Took to it like a little fish.”

“Really?” cooed Tea Tray.

Sunset’s jaw fell open. “S-She can swim already?” A four-year-old unicorn had learned how to swim before her? But… but how?! She’d been trying and trying, and she was older!

“Yup,” replied the proud pegasus. “A little early, but I love swimming myself. So does Tea. Though I’m sure a filly as talented as you can swim like a pro by now,” she said, giving Sunset a wink.

“Y-Yeah, o-of course I can…” Her little hooves tripped on the rug, and her face was hurled toward the floor.

Tea Tray caught her before she made impact. “Are you okay, Miss Shimmer?” she asked softly.

“I’m fine,” Sunset answered, even though she felt anything but. "I just tripped."

"You need to watch where you're going, kiddo. You could get really hurt that way," said Porcelain.

Tea Tray eyed the cart, "Maybe I should take some of that back."

"I-I've got it," insisted Sunset, trying her best to ignore the squeezing sensation from her ribs.

Finally the trio reached the room where Tea Tray was needed, Sunset let go of the cart, offering it to the other waiting maids. With a simple exchange of goodbyes, Sunset retreated to her room, shutting the door firmly behind her as she threw down her saddlebags. “I got beaten by a four-year-old?!”

Sunset held back angry tears. She was a big pony, and big ponies didn’t cry. But it wasn’t fair! It just wasn’t fair!

Pulling out the assignments the princess had left for her, Sunset placed them on her desk. Maybe her homework would get her mind off of it. Levitating a quill to begin writing, she saw that the first thing on the pile was the swimmer’s safety test. A new wave of misery washed over her, and rather than answer the questions, she simply flipped the page over.

The unicorn crossed her forelegs on the desk, laying down her head. She didn’t understand it. Why was this so hard? A four-year-old had learned to swim easily, while she was still struggling. Princess Celestia expected her to learn how to swim. But every time Sunset tried, it always ended in failure, humiliation, or lectures, sometimes all three.

Lifting her head, she glanced down at the overturned test pinned beneath her forelegs. It was just facts and rules, something her agile mind would be able to handle with ease. She remembered Celestia’s safety lecture yesterday from beginning to end.

Or… did she?

The unfamiliar shadow of doubt crept over her, whispering its cold, cruel words in her ear. She’d screwed up at every other aspect of her swimming lessons, it said, so why not this one? What if she failed the test too?

But that was silly, she tried to argue. She’d aced every test and subject the princess put before her. Reading, math, spelling, history, and especially magic. She excelled at all of them. Sunset was a very smart little filly. The princess and many other ponies had told her so. She studied hard, worked hard, and always came out on top. Always.

But not swimming. I can’t learn to swim at all. Even her attempt to get around it backfired, damaging the castle and giving Princess Celestia more work. Absentmindedly, she allowed her quill to scribble over the back of the swimmer’s safety test, not caring about whether Celestia would reprimand her for it later.

Swimming = Failure

Failure. A word she never thought she’d ever hear connected to herself. But swimming was pure failure. Her quill kept writing, putting her thoughts to paper.

I’m always going to fail.

Why, just why couldn’t she stay afloat? The word repeated in her head like a broken record. Why, why, why?

Then another thought popped into her head, hitting her with all the shock of a snowball to the face. Could it be that she... wasn’t smart at all? Were the princess and all the other ponies just being nice to her because she was an orphan now? Had she actually gotten everything wrong this whole time? After all, how could she call herself a smart filly when she couldn’t even get down something easy like floating?

Or what if she was just a… what was that word she heard those adult ponies use once? Right, a fluke. What if she was just a fluke? What if all her success was just luck, and she started failing at everything else now too? What if everything she did ended in another humiliating screw-up, another disaster? What if she damaged the castle even more?

Hopelessness and fear dug their claws into her little heart even as her quill transcribed another thought.

I’m just a failure.

Her gaze turned to the other assignments. A short vocabulary list, some math problems, and several advanced magical exercises and questions. All of them familiar. On any other day, she’d have tackled them immediately. Now, just looking at them filled her with dread, with the certainty of failure and humiliation.

Dropping her quill and flipping the safety test back over to return it to the stack, Sunset Shimmer got down from her chair before climbing into her very large bed, and pulling the covers over her body.

It was the only thing she felt like doing anymore.

Celestia shut the door to her private chambers, her shoulders drooping. “How is it that a meeting with the head avocado growers in Equestria can take so long?” she asked aloud.

Up on her perch, Philomena let out a shrill laugh, pointing a wing in her princess’s direction.

“Oh hush, you,” she told her companion. “Keep that up and next time I’ll take you with me and lock your cage.”

The phoenix promptly fell silent, shaking her head violently.

Satisfied that she’d silenced the peanut gallery, the princess retreated to a nearby sofa. “I need to do something to get my mind off endless avocados.”

Perhaps she should check her student’s progress? The deadline for the latest batch of assignments had been set for two-thirty, and it was three forty-five now. “Philomena, could you get the mailbag?”

The phoenix let out an annoyed squawk, clearly not happy at being made a mail carrier, but obliged anyway.

It was a simple bag, not unlike a saddlebag. She used it to hold the various letters that got dropped at her door. And when she had students, it was also used to turn in assignments when Celestia was otherwise preoccupied.

After the issue yesterday, Celestia had decided to switch tracks yet again to something less practical and more academic, and then threw in regular work for good measure. Technically, she’d wanted to go over swimmer’s safety after her student had learned how to swim, but one had to adapt in the face of adversity, and this certainly qualified.

Opening up the bag and sifting through the contents, she found, to her great surprise, only normal letters. “Philomena?” she asked, turning to her companion. “Did you see Sunset deposit anything by the door today?”

The phoenix shook her head.

That was certainly odd. She may not have been Celestia’s pupil for very long, but the alicorn knew Sunset didn’t miss a deadline. “I’d better go check on her.”

Walking over to Sunset’s room, conveniently located down the same hall, she knocked on the door. “Sunset? Are you in there?” When no answer came, she knocked again. “Sunset?” Her ears picked up something through the wood, though she wasn’t sure what. Opening the door, she stuck her head inside. “Sunset?”

Celestia's gaze immediately fell on the bed, and the filly-shaped lump sticking out of it. “Sunset?” asked the princess as she approached. “Are you alright?”

Sunset turned to her other side, muttering something Celestia couldn’t quite make out.

“Are you not feeling well? I noticed that you didn’t turn in any of your assignments.” Sunset mumbled again, louder this time, but Celestia still couldn’t tell what she was actually saying. “Pardon me?”

Sunset shot up from her bed, glaring angrily. “I said they’re on my desk. Here." She levitated a stack of papers, pushing them towards Celestia.

The princess flipped through the pages. The swimmer’s safety test was… blank. Completely unmarked. All of the other assignments were just the same. Her face turned to one of stern disapproval. "Sunset Shimmer, why are these blank? You were told to finish this test and all of these assignments almost two hours ago.”

“Because I didn’t do them,” Sunset muttered angrily. “I didn’t want to do the swimming test. I didn’t want to do any of them!” Eyes turned downwards towards her sheets. Sunset dropped back onto her mattress, pulling the covers over her head. “So, I guess I get an F,” she muttered sadly. “A big, fat F for everything.”

“If you’re feeling ill, I can fetch the doctor,” Celestia suggested, her tone softening as worry pricked at her heart. What had gotten into her? Had she been like this since this morning? Now the princess wished she hadn’t needed the early breakfast. Had Sunset even eaten breakfast? Or lunch? Or left this room? If she’d been like this all day, then she might not have.

There was a small grumble from the bed, and Celestia chose her next question carefully. “Sunset, have you eaten lunch today?”

Another grumble. “No.”

Three forty-five and she hadn’t eaten lunch? That wasn’t a good sign. “Did you come down for breakfast?”

“Yes.”

Well, at least she’d eaten something. It was a tiny island of relief in a growing sea of worry. “I can have something sent here if you would rather stay in bed.”

“I want to be alone,” muttered Sunset, her little voice radiating misery. “Please, princess, leave me alone.”

Celestia wanted to do anything but that. However, she knew that forcing the issue wasn’t likely to improve her student’s mood. She took a few steps back. “Alright, Sunset, I’ll leave you alone. But please remember to eat something, alright?”

She didn’t get an answer, but left anyway, taking the undone work with her. She had a feeling that if she’d left it, it might have ended up shredded.

On the way back to her room, she stopped a passing guard. “Tell the chef to have something sent to Sunset Shimmer’s room. She’s not feeling well, so make it something plain, but not warm, so she can eat it when she wants.” The guard saluted and went on his way, and Celestia returned to the privacy of her own rooms. Philomena still sat in her usual place, preening one of her wings.

“What's wrong with her?” Celestia asked. She looked at the stack of papers again, and stopped. There was the shadow of writing on the back of the test. Turning the document over, she read the scribbled words.

Her heart sank. “Oh, Sunset…”

She sighed, allowing herself to pace around the room. After the first day’s disaster, it became clear to her that Sunset was afraid of drowning, no doubt from her own experiences. That fear was causing her to automatically panic whenever she started to descend beneath the surface. Celestia had been certain she’d be able to help Sunset get past it eventually. Once Sunset cleared that hurdle, she would be swimming with the best of ponies.

Except now, that fear had transformed into depression and doubt, and it was eating away at the poor filly’s sense of self-esteem. True, Sunset had seemed rather despondent after the floating exercises, but not like this. Had Celestia missed something?

Whatever she'd missed, it didn't change the fact that she needed to solve this, and fast. Sunset wouldn’t even officially start at CSGU until the new school year began in August. But if she kept up this attitude, it was all but a lost cause.

Frustration shot through Celestia's limbs. Why couldn’t she teach her student how to swim? It was her responsibility, and yet she found herself at a roadblock. No, it was worse than a roadblock. Celestia had wanted her student to be safe and unafraid around water. Instead, the alicorn’s efforts had somehow backfired and left Sunset unwilling to apply herself to her studies, the very antithesis of a teacher's sacred duty.

The princess continued to pace, wings twitching at her sides as she turned the problem over in her head. She and her sister had learned to swim easily over a millennium before. Often they’d raced each other in lakes and rivers. By their teenage years, Luna had come to beat Celestia more times than not.

Loneliness stabbed at her chest. Luna…

There was a knock at the door. “Princess,” said a unicorn maid, bearing a rolling cart in her magic. “I brought you some tea.” She took a step back at Celestia’s stormy expression. “S-Should I come back later?”

“No, it's fine,” Celestia replied, putting on a pleasant smile as she lifted the teapot and cups from the cart. “I'll take it, thank you.” The maid departed, and Celestia sat down on the sofa, pouring out a cup, admiring the floral scent before taking a sip.

The tea was just what she needed, calm retaking her mind. Now was not the time to give into frustration. Now was the time for planning. This problem needed to be solved, and her student’s spirits lifted, before any greater, or worse, lasting harm was done.

Logically, she knew Sunset must have understood the motions of swimming by now. Her attempts, failed as they were, showed that she was able to mimic Celestia’s leg movements in the water. There was some unfamiliarity to them, but that would be fixed with time. Not that it mattered much at present. That automatic panic response made all of those practiced motions disappear.

Celestia picked the test back up, looking again at the words Sunset had written. “I’m always going to fail. I’m just a failure.” A disturbingly defeatist statement for one so young, especially for a filly like Sunset.

She couldn’t let her go on thinking like that. There had to be some way to resolve this, some method that would allow her student to swim, and more importantly, overcome this mental and emotional obstacle.

And then, Celestia had an idea. Perhaps, just perhaps, there was a way to fix this after all.

“Would you like more salad?"

Sunset Shimmer looked away from her book, a children’s novel filled with knights and adventure. “No, thank you,” she muttered.

Today, the pair found themselves on a picnic by the shore of a rather lonely lake. “A change of scenery,” the princess had said. Personally, Sunset hadn’t felt like going anywhere, let alone on a picnic near a body of water. But Princess Celestia wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“You need to stop sulking. A little sunshine will do you good,” the princess had said as she’d basically hauled the filly from her bed, barely giving Sunset time to pick a book to take along.

Celestia stretched her long legs, inhaling the mountain air. “I think this picnic was a wonderful idea, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” replied Sunset with general disinterest. The sunshine was nice, and the umbrella Celestia brought along provided some protection from the heat. But misery still clung to her like a steel chain, and the sight of the lake didn’t help matters.

The princess got to her hooves. “I’m going to go for a swim. Would you like to join me?”

Sunset looked up from her book, giving her teacher a flat expression. “I don’t want to get bitten by another fish."

“Oh, I thought of that already,” replied Celestia airily. “I took the liberty of temporarily moving all the fauna in the lake, so it’s completely empty. You don’t even have to practice, Sunset, you could just use the floatation ring.”

Celestia reached into the bag she’d brought, but came up emptyhooved. “Oh dear,” said the princess, face falling. “I must have forgotten it at the castle.”

Sunset turned the page. “I’ll just stay here and read.”

“If that’s what you want.” Celestia trotted off to the lake shore before wading into the water. Sunset watched her go. The crystal clear water shimmered in the sunlight. Celestia’s stokes were slow but strong as she moved to the middle of the lake.

She grimaced. Princess Celestia made it seem so easy.

“I hate swimming,” whined Sunset as she curled up in the shade of the umbrella. And most especially, she hated swimming lessons. They weren’t even lessons. Lessons implied some form of learning was happening, and there wasn’t. Only failure.

Breathing a heavy sigh, Sunset turned her attention back to her mentor. She was swimming along as gracefully as ever. Something Sunset could never do. The princess waved at her, and Sunset waved halfheartedly back.

Feeling a drop of sweat on her back, she put the book aside and laid her head down on the blanket. A nice nap in the shade sounded good to her right now. She closed her eyes, feeling a heaviness begin to overtake them.

Just a little bit longer. She wanted to stay in the shade a little bit longer…

A sharp cry ripped Sunset from her trip to dreamland. Her head shot up, zeroing in on the lake. Celestia was flailing in the water. Some sort of green, slimy vine was wrapping itself around her neck.

“Sunset! Sunset, go get hel—" Celestia’s words were cut off when a vine coiled itself around her mouth.

“PRINCESS!” Sunset jumped to her hooves, her eyes darting around for the guards. Where were they?! They were always supposed to be nearby, and the princess was in danger! Why weren’t they swooping in?

Her body danced with panic. That’s right. When they were in the gardens, Sunset had been so embarrassed at the thought of everypony finding out she couldn’t swim that she’d asked Celestia to send the guards away and keep her lessons private. The princess must have done that again without telling her. That’s why she picked such a remote lake. They were completely alone.

What could she do? She couldn’t teleport yet, and it was too far to run. She saw Celestia’s forelegs flail again as the vines tightened, dragging the alicorn under the water.

“NO!” In a moment of pure impulse, she galloped toward the lake shore, diving headlong into the water. Little legs pushed her forward. She had to reach Celestia. Forcing her eyes open and ignoring the discomfort, she managed to spot her mentor struggling just under the surface of the water.

She was caught in the grasp of some kind of plant-looking thing with tons of tentacle-like vines, each constricting tightly around Celestia’s torso, legs, and wings. The tentacles were attached to some kind of large central mass. Sunset could see a pair of weirdly-shaped white eyes, and a deformed mouth that opened and closed like a fish as it drew Celestia ever closer.

Celestia said she'd moved all the creatures in the lake. How had this thing gotten missed? What even was it? Well whatever it was, Sunset wasn’t going to let it hurt her teacher.

Pushing her head up to the surface for just a moment, she gulped down on fresh air before diving again. Charging her horn, she fired off a beam of magic, aiming for the base of the tentacle that had ensnared her teacher's wing. Her shot sliced right through it, and the stump writhed with agony. Sunset kept firing, severing each vine with a virtual bombardment of cyan energy. Get away! Get away! Get away from her! Take that! And that!

When the last one finally broke, the central mass pulled back, and Celestia pushed herself to the surface.

“Princess, are you okay?!” shouted Sunset as she and Celestia made it back to the lakeshore.

“I’m fine, my faithful student,” said Celestia as she shook some of the excess water from her coat. “You were incredibly brave.”

“What was that thing?” the filly asked, turning wary eyes back to the water. “I thought you moved all the things in the lake. Is it some kind of monster? What if it tries to get us again? What if—AHHHH!” She recoiled as the vegetable monster lifted itself out of the water, crawling slowly onto the shore. “Princess, it’s back! It’s… huh?”

The vegetable mass looked… less intimidating in the sun. It was indeed a mass, a giant lump of seaweed with several, now significantly shorter, pieces that were braided together like ropes. The eyes she’d seen were nothing but a pair of clams, while the mouth was made of seashells.

It looked about as inanimate as you could get. But she’d definitely seen it move. Carefully, Sunset approached it. “Hey...” She narrowed her eyes as she peered closer. “Why’s it glowing?” Indeed, the entire creature was wrapped in a golden light. A light that looked a lot like… The filly turned back around, just in time to see Celestia’s horn aglow with magic.

Sunset stared at the alicorn in shock. “You… you tricked me?!” Shock quickly transitioned to anger, and Sunset glared menacingly at her teacher, or as much as possible for a filly her age. “That was mean! You told me your pranks never turn mean!”

“I’m sorry, Sunset, but I felt I had little choice.” She set down the now useless puppet, letting it hit the ground with a wet plop. “Not that it detracts from the bravery you just displayed.”

The filly’s cheeks flushed at the praise, but she wouldn’t allow herself to be distracted. “Why did you do that?” she asked, huge cyan eyes staring up at Celestia like she was searching for the answer to the universe.

The alicorn gave her a sly grin. “Sunset, do you realize what you did just now?”

“I—" Sunset paused, brain stalling as she remembered everything she’d done when she’d seen the monster. “I swam!” she declared brightly. “I swam! I swam! I swam!” The little filly bounced up and down. “I was really swimming! I did it! I did it!”

Celestia laughed, using a hoof to hold the filly to the ground. “Yes, yes you did, my little pony. You swam all by yourself.”

“But why couldn’t I do it before?” asked Sunset. “I was trying so hard, and yesterday...”

Celestia angled her neck lower. “What happened?”

“Yesterday, Tea Tray’s sister came by. Her daughter just learned to swim,” answered Sunset, shuffling her hooves as she remembered the unhappy revelation. “She’s only four and she got it right away.”

The princess nodded in understanding. “That must have been very hard to hear.”

Sunset’s gaze moved to the ground. "I thought that maybe... maybe I was stupid, or that I was just a fluke."

“You most certainly are not, Sunset Shimmer,” assured Celestia, sounding almost offended at the idea of associating such words with the unicorn. “You are an extremely bright filly, and one I am very happy to have as my personal student.”

Her tone turned especially gentle. "Part of the problem was that you were afraid. You had every right to be afraid, Sunset, but that fear was causing you to panic at the slightest provocation. And as you kept having problems, you convinced yourself that you'd never succeed."

Sunset had gotten pretty scared during her lessons, her most recent attempts at floating coming to mind. Even still, questions buzzed around in her head. Had that really been all there was to it? “I’ve never had problems learning the stuff you teach me before.”

“There may be some subjects that may not come as easily to you as others, Sunset. But just because that happens doesn’t mean you are suddenly stupid or a fluke.” The princess’s face flushed ever so slightly. “And I think I was part of the reason for your struggles. Believe it or not, I’ve never taught anypony to swim before, so perhaps my approach was not the best.”

Sunset’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Really? Not ever?”

“Really. In all honesty, it might have been better if I’d simply hired a swimming instructor for you.”

A white wing wrapped itself around the unicorn. “What I want you to remember is this, Sunset Shimmer. I believe that you can and will pass any challenge I set before you, whether it’s immediately or takes time. You simply need to have confidence. If you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect to accomplish anything?”

The touch of damp feathers made Sunset shiver, but only a little. “Why’d you trick me?” she asked, still a little hurt.

“I could see that you knew how to swim. You just needed a little push to get past all your fears and doubts. I’d considered faking a cramp, but I wasn’t sure how believable that would be.” She pointed at the seaweed mass. “That’s why I had this prepared. I truly am sorry for the distress it caused you.”

“But what if I didn’t do it?” asked the filly, looking over at the prop. Drying out in the daylight, the thing that been so frightening a few minutes ago just looked pathetic now. “What if I failed again?”

Celestia gave her a knowing smile. “I simply knew that you would, my little pony. I had confidence that, when you felt you needed to, you would be able to do it.”

The words made Sunset feel warm inside. The unicorn moved closer to give her teacher a hug, not even bothered by Celestia’s wet fur pressing against her own. “Thank you, princess.”

The white alicorn returned the gesture. “You’re very welcome.”

They spent a moment in silence, just looking out at the hills surrounding Canterlot, at the lake, waters still once again and shining beautifully in the afternoon sun. “Princess Celestia,” asked Sunset quietly, shattering the moment. “If I… do you think if I’d learned to swim earlier, I could have stayed with my parents?”

Celestia’s gaze remained fixed on the lake, but Sunset could see a dark shadow falling over her eyes. For several seconds, the silence resumed. “… Maybe. But it’s not healthy to linger on those kinds of thoughts, what if and what could have been." Her voice turned somber. “They can easily become an obsession." The princess looked down at her, eyes filled with sympathy. "So please, try not to think about it, alright, my student?”

Sunset nodded her head. "Okay."

In an instant, the princess's face snapped into one of pure business. “Now, Sunset, just because you’ve proven to both of us that you can swim doesn’t mean you’re excused from practicing. Exercises will help your muscles improve. I want you to be able to swim without a crisis for motivation."

For once, the thought of swimming didn’t fill the little unicorn with dread. “Yes, Princess Celestia.”

“And I also expect you to retake the swimmer’s safety test,” added the princess with a stern edge. “It’s vitally important for a pony as young as yourself to understand those rules. I won’t be letting you near another body of water until you pass. Do I make myself clear?”

Sunset winced, cheeks reddening at the memory of yesterday. She’d actually skipped her assignments, and yelled at Celestia to boot. “I’m sorry.”

Celestia softened. “I can’t say I blame you, considering the mood you were in. But you still need to finish it, along with the other assignments I gave you. I’m making an allowance this time, but in the future, I don’t want you thinking you can shirk your assignments simply because you don’t feel like it.”

The filly bowed her head, trying and failing to hide among Celestia’s feathers. “Yes, Princess Celestia.”

“Good.” The alicorn smiled. “Now, I think we should get back to enjoying this picnic in earnest.” Getting up, she walked back under the shade of the umbrella, opening the lid of the tremendous basket. “Hmm, I think I see a few slices of chocolate cake in here.”

Sunset bolted to her hooves. “Save some for me!”

Epilogue

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Epilogue

“That’s it, Sunset, now swim towards me. That’s it. Good!” Princess Celestia beamed, wrapping her forelegs around the little amber filly. “You’re progressing wonderfully with those exercises.”

It was another blisteringly hot summer day in Canterlot. The castle’s pool had finally been fixed, every piece of ice removed and processed, and now the crown princess of Equestria was enjoying yet another dip into its cool waters, with company, of course.

Sunset returned her smile full force. “Can I keep swimming?” she asked, eyes dancing with enthusiasm. “Please?”

“Of course you can.” Celestia let go, and Sunset was off like a shot with a jubilant cheer.

As her student proceeded to jet from one side of the pool to the other, Celestia could only laugh. It was an impressive feat for a filly, especially considering everything that happened.

Momentarily getting out of the water, she grabbed a towel in her magic and sat down at the large glass table. A set of documents were waiting for her. Taking up a quill, she read over the first before giving it her signature.

Moving onto the next, she read a few lines before glancing back at Sunset. She seemed so happy now, full of life and confidence as she swam through the water. A warmth tickled the princess’s chest. It’s the way she should be.

As she read through the document, signed it, and moved onto the next, she made a mental note to have Kibitz place an order for some pool toys. They could be kept in the storage closet. She’d need him to schedule the installation of a slide as well. After all, if Sunset was going to keep using the pool like this, it was only fitting to make it more foal-friendly.

And maybe, after she started school, Sunset would want to play here with friends. It wasn’t like her swimming pool saw a lot of use these days, so Celestia was happy to share.

“Princess, are you coming back in?”

“Just a moment,” replied Celestia as she added one last signature. Folding her towel neatly on the seat, she went back down the stairs and into the water. Sunset was taking a rest from her constant motion, clinging to her floatation ring before slipping it on.

Celestia smiled. “So, my faithful student, what shall we do now?”

The filly beamed. “Can you show me some more magic?”

“Of course.” In fact, she had something in mind already. “This is an old exercise used by some unicorn wizards.” Lighting her horn, a portion of water floated out of the pool, rippling in the air, but never dripping.

“Let me try!” exclaimed Sunset, bouncing in her floatation ring. The filly lit her own horn, but rather than floating upwards, the water simply churned. She grimaced. “This is hard.”

“It is a bit difficult for a filly your age, though with the ability you’ve displayed so far, not impossible,” said Celestia. It was the perfect sort of exercise to help Sunset with controlling the power of her spells, a particular must if recent events were anything to go by.

Sunset gave a grunt as she pushed harder with her magic. This caused the churning water to shoot upwards, hitting Celestia in the eyes.

The filly gasped. “Sorry!”

Celestia wiped her face with a wing. “It’s alright. Levitating water requires more finesse than force, Sunset. You need to be gentle and hold onto the water you draw out. Give it another try.”

Sunset nodded her head, and her horn ignited. The water churned harder, but it still didn’t levitate. “Lost it again,” she muttered. Her face brightened. “But I know I’ll get it eventually.”

Celestia smiled. “That’s the right attitude to have, my faithful student. As you grow older and your magical coordination naturally improves, you’ll eventually be able to do things like this.” Celestia lifted another portion of water before shaping it into a perfect sphere.

Sunset’s eyes widened in amazement. “Wow!” She poked a hoof at the ball, marveling at how it rippled before returning to being perfectly still.

Celestia smiled warmly, before a hint of mischief entered her mind. With a gentle shove of her magic, she sent the ball of water right into Sunset’s face.

The unicorn gave an “oof,” inching backwards as she wiped her face with a hoof. “Princess, why’d you do that?” she cried.

The alicorn chuckled. “Well, considering how many times you splashed me in the last several days, I think it’s only fair that I even the score.” Lighting her horn again, she lifted a much smaller sphere of water, sending it at her student.

Sunset blocked it with a foreleg. “Hey!” She used her own magic to force the water up as a form of counterattack. When that proved less effective, she slipped out of her floatation ring to add the splashing power of her hooves.

The pool became the battlefield of a full-on splash war as both sides continued to fire. At one point Celestia used her wings to shield herself, resulting in a cry of foul from the unicorn, before she turned her floatation ring into a similar form of cover. Water sloshed up and over the sides as the two ponies kept firing shots amidst their own laughter.

Just as each side was ready to release another volley, the door opened, and Kibitz stepped inside. “Your Majesty, Miss Shimmer, the—”

At the sound of the voice, both ponies turned their heads, and whatever Kibitz was going to say was lost when their watery projectiles, one fully formed and one unformed, shot right into his face.

Celestia froze, eyes widening in horror. “My… apologies, Kibitz,” she said awkwardly. “We didn’t mean to get you caught in the crossfire.”

“Sorry, Mr. Kibitz!” cried Sunset, joining her mentor.

Kibitz wiped the water from his face with a hoof, before looking down at the scroll he’d been holding. “My schedule!” he proclaimed. “Not again!”

Wincing in guilt, Celestia turned to her student. “Perhaps it’s time we call a truce and dry off for a while.”

Moving toward the stairs, Celestia got out of the pool and levitated her towel over to herself, before giving an extra one to her majordomo. He took it without a word, still largely focused on his ruined schedule. Sunset trotted after her mentor, grabbing her own towel in her magic.

Celestia cleared her throat. “Now, what was it you were going to say, Kibitz?”

“I was going to tell you that the chefs are ready to serve lunch.” He pushed a damp strand of his mane back into place. “And as important as Miss Shimmer’s swimming lessons are, I must remind you that there is still Day Court to attend. There are twelve petitioners waiting to speak with you.”

Celestia was taken aback. “Twelve?”

Kibitz nodded. “At minimum, Your Majesty. I believe I saw some additional ponies arriving as I was walking here, though I could not be sure. Needless to say, shuffling your schedule over the last few days resulted in something of a backlog.” He unfurled his damaged schedule. “And then you have a meeting with ponies from…” he squinted at the smeared words, “Chicoltgo, I believe.”

The princess sighed. It seemed the heat wasn’t enough of a deterrent today. And she’d been enjoying herself so much. But now it was back to the unbearably hot throne room.

“I guess that means I can’t use the pool for a while, huh?”

Celestia glanced at her student. The unicorn was looking at the pool with such tremendous disappointment, not wanting to give up her new activity. But it just wasn’t safe for a seven-year-old filly to be in a swimming pool without adult supervision.

She could assign a guard to watch Sunset, but Celestia knew they’d do just that, watch. A pool like this wasn’t much fun for a filly all by herself. Sunset couldn’t practice levitating water either, even with a guard. After the freezing spell, Sunset was strictly prohibited from using magic in the swimming pool without Celestia being present.

“I’d suggest a short lunch,” Kibitz was saying, still trying to read his writing. “If you hurry to the dining hall, and we run through the petitioners as efficiently as possible, I’m fairly certain the meeting can stay on time.”

“Actually, Kibitz,” interrupted Celestia, lips turning upwards as an idea came to mind. “Tell the chefs to bring lunch here again.”

The stallion looked up in surprise. “Your Majesty?”

“We’ll be eating lunch here,” repeated Celestia. “And have the petitioners brought here instead of the throne room.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sunset share in Kibitz’s look of shock.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty,” said Kibitz, using a handkerchief to rub water from his ears. “But did you say you wanted the petitioners to be brought to the pool room?”

“I did,” answered Celestia, forcing down the laugh that now threatened to escape from her throat. “In fact, I think I’ll hold that meeting here as well.”

“But Your Majesty,” Kibitz blustered. “The pool is not the proper place to conduct—”

“It’s quite hot today, Kibitz,” explained Celestia simply. “You know how the throne room can be in summer. I’m sure all those ponies would appreciate being in a much cooler room such as this, so I see nothing wrong with the change.”

Her grin threatened to break the boundaries of her face. “And considering that Cloudsdale scheduled several heatwaves over the next few months, I think I’ll be conducting much of my work from here for the remainder of the summer, until things cool down.”

Beside her, Sunset’s face lit up like a candle. “Princess, can I keep using the pool while you’re working?”

The princess laughed. “Of course, my student, as long as you behave and don’t interrupt anypony. And no splashing, either.”

Sunset gave an excited little hop. “Yes!”

“Sunset,” chided Celestia. “You need to be careful on a wet floor.”

The filly paused, cheeks tinging red as she remembered the water under her hooves. “Sorry.”

Kibitz, on the other hoof, became a shade paler. “All summer?” he muttered weakly, glancing down at his schedule.

Celestia turned back to her majordomo. “Kibitz, please go tell the chefs to bring lunch here. And then instruct the guards to escort the petitioners after we’re finished.”

Reluctantly, the stallion bowed. “I’ll tell them at once, Your Majesty.” With a newfound stiffness, he turned around, heading for the door, muttering one last thing under his breath that Celestia almost didn’t catch.

“And start looking into waterproofing.”

Swimming Lessons

by Lupin

You Can Lead a Unicorn Filly to a Pool

And You Can Get Her to Swim

Epilogue