Prologue
It was summertime in Ponyville, and the blazing sun was beating down its scorching rays upon the few ponies who dared to venture outside in the searing heat. Despite their best attempts the weather patrols all across Equestria couldn’t fight off this record breaking heat wave. Some ponies reported trees spontaneously bursting into flames in villages further to the south.
Everypony was hoping for rain. It hadn’t rained in over 3 months. The plants were all dried up. Sweet Apple Acres was greatly suffering from the drought. Very few apples were growing, and no pony was buying the few that were.
Twilight Sparkle and friends sat at the schoolyard, hoping to enjoy a nice, cool picnic, but the sun had alternate plans. The sweltering heat had made quick work of their food, turning it into mush before they could even remove it from the baskets.
“Aw man,” Rainbow Dash proclaimed with an irritated moan, “The day’s so hot that I can’t even take flight! I can’t even stay on a cloud, the heat scatters it too fast!”
“Dang nab it, this has gotta be the worst apple harvest in Apple family history!”
“The humidity is making my beautiful mane all frizzy. My new sundress is going to get all sweaty. It’s so hot!” Rarity whined.
“Cheer up everypony! It’s summer time!” Pinkie yelled in excitement. “Turn those frowns upside down.”
“Ah can’t wait until it starts gettin cooler again in the fall. “ Applejack said fanning herself with her hat.
“ I may be cold blooded, but the heat is getting to me too.” Spike complained.
“According to my thermometer, it is exactly one hundred and fourteen degrees outside.” Twilight said squinting at her thermometer.
“The animals are so hot that they’re starting to fry. Please Rainbow Dash, you have to do something,” Fluttershy begged quietly.
Rainbow Dash looked down upon her and whispered, “No, I can’t just change the weather. It’s not my job to decide the weather. I can’t do anything. Besides, I can’t even fly, it not cold enough.”
Everypony groaned. The sweltering sun was beating down on everypony’s heads.
“This park isn’t much fun when the weather is like this. The hot metal slide burns my butt.” Spike said rubbing his tail.
“I wish there was some way to cool ourselves down,” Twilight said.
“I have an idea! Let’s go to Carousel Boutique!” Pinkie Pie yelled. She bounced up and down like a kangaroo.
“Well, I have sunhats. It helps provide some shade,” Rarity said.
“Ah can agree with you there sugarcube, but under this sun, shade might not be enough.” Applejack said as she wiped dots of sweat from her brow.
“Well, it does help,” remarked Twilight”Let’s go.”
“Let’s go!” hollered Rainbow wasting no time getting a head start.
As soon as they arrived to Carousel Boutique, Rarity retrieved the promised sunhats.Though they all began to realize how pointless the hats were now that they were inside.
“Mah hat works better than these.” Applejack replied putting her cowgirl hat back on.
“I wish that the animals had their own personal hats. It would help,” Fluttershy muttered.
Just as they were beginning to enjoy the cool shade of the great indoors, a sudden jump in temperature that generated much discomfort. All eyes quickly shifted towards Spike who was covering his mouth with both claws. Twilight having witnessed this many times already knew that Spike was about to spit up a letter from the princess accompanied by some loose flames. She realized that the dragon was fighting as best he could from increasing the temperature any further, by holding his flames in. But all was for naught, as he couldn’t win a battle against his draconic nature.
*BURP* From amidst the ensuing tongues of fire that escape spikes mouth a letter begins to form out of the ashes.
“Spike! Say excuse me.” Rarity nagged.
“I can’t help it!” Spike said letting out an extra flame. “Is it hot in here, or is it just me?”
“Let’s just hope that the princess has an arctic mission for the Elements of Harmony this time.” commented the orange mare as she began to fan herself rapid with her hat.
Levitating the letter before her, Twilight unfurled the scroll and read it aloud to her friends.
My Dearest Student Twilight,
I heard about the weather there in Ponyville. I guess that you and your friend are burning. This is why I am giving you and your friends tickets to the Aphotic Water Park that just opened outside of Manehattan. I want you to spend a day with your friends there. I also added three more tickets to you can invite three more friends or family members. This is for being my best student. I hope you have a wonderful time at the Aphotic Water Park.
-Princess Celestia
“OH MY GOSH! WE ARE GOING TO A WATER PARK! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!” Pinkie yelled, overjoyed in excitement.
“That sounds exciting,” Fluttershy muttered.
“Twilight is it okay if ah invite my sister and her friends to come with us? Ah can’t imagine leavin’ them behind in Ponyville while we go have fun.” Asked AJ.
“We have three extra tickets. Why not?” Twilight answered.
“Thank ya’ mighty kindly, Twilight. Ah’m off to tell ‘em the good news.” Applejack said gratefully. She went off to find Apple Bloom and her friends.
“Yes! I can probably use this time to relax by the pool!” Rainbow said imagining the possibilities.
“I hope I don’t get my mane all wet.” Rarity said.
“Well, don’t worry, Rarity. Your mane looks beautiful even if it’s wet,” Spike said dreamily. Twilight smirked at Spike.
“The first thing I’m going to do is dive in the pool!” Spike added.
“Maybe I’ll dip my hooves in the water.” Rarity said.
“Well ponies, let’s meet at the train station in two hours.,” Twilight announced. With that everypony went off to get what they needed.
The rows of windows that lined both walls of the train turned the cabin into an oven, as the harsh sunlight flooded in. Only once the train had begun it’s departure from the station did the breeze from the open windows offer relief. But with all the windows down the confined space quickly turned into a windtunnel when the train hit top speed. Fighting against the wind they managed to close enough windows to stop the maelstrom inside the cabin. With the wind gone the temperature began to rise again along with their impatiences.
“Are we there yet?” Pinkie Pie complained.
“Patience is a virtue, Pinkie,” Twilight said.
“Let’s do something to pass the time.” Applebloom said.
“Let’s sing a song. 99 BUCKETS OF OATS ON THE WALL! 99 BUCKETS OF OATS! TAKE ONE DOWN, PASS IT AROUND! 98 BUCKETS OF OATS ON THE WAAAAALLL!!!” Sweetie Belle sang.
“SHUT UP!” screamed a rude unicorn in the back of the train car they were in.
“Hey! You don’t speak that way to my friends!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“JUST SHUT YOUR YAP!,” the same mare snapped.
Due to this interruption, the rest of the train ride was spent in an angry silence.
They soon arrived in Manehattan.
“Wow! So this is Manehatten,” Twilight said amazed by the sight.
“Maybe we’ll go see Bab Seed on the way home,” Applejack said.
“Do ya really think so, sis?” Apple Bloom spoke.
“Actually, ah think we’ll be seein’ her sooner than we thought,” chuckled AJ
Before Apple Bloom could give a response a familiar voice came from behind her. “Why don’t you look behind yourself once in awhile, cos. I’ve been standing behind you for two minutes now.”
“BABS!” Apple Bloom yelled as they ran next to each other. “Still crusading for your cutie mark?”
“You know it cos, I‘ve even found some potential members for our Manehatten branch.”
“Oh, do you need me to make you some more crusading capes Babs?” Chimed in Sweetie Belle as she and Scootaloo ran over to their fellow fillies.
While the fillies were busy catching up on their attempts to find their destiny the mare busied themselves hailing a taxi cart to take them to the park. It didn’t take long for the six young mares to catch the attention of a nearby taxi pony or two. They were soon on their way to the park, though the downtown rush hour hindered them greatly.
Rainbow began to tap her hoof before loudly proclaiming, “Hurry up! I want to get to the water park! I’m dying here!”
Turning right at the next stop the taxi pony pulled up to the water parks ticket both. Rainbow gave a sheepish grin. She hadn’t realized they were seconds away from their destination. Everypony chipped in a few bits to pay the cab driver before filing out of the taxi.
They turned toward the park. Even from the outside, it look massive, and nopony in the group could help but gape at the enormity of it all. There was a gigantic sign in three different shades of dark purple that read in big, bold letters APHOTIC WATER PARK. Behind the sign was a large black gate, which served as the entrance. Beyond the gate, they could see a humongous pool, the shallowest part of which seeming to be nothing more than a wading pool, and the deepest part of which looking like a dark, bottomless pit. From what they could see, there were about 5 different diving boards of all different heights, 3 separate water slides, each seeming to have a design more insane and terrifying than the last, two jacuzzis, and at least 25 lifeguards on duty.
The astonished silence was finally broken by none other than Pinkie Pie, who shouted, “Well what are we waiting for?! LET’S GO IN LICKETY SPLIT!”
Twilight shook her head to get over her amazement before nudging the rest of her friends and leading them up to the ticket booth just outside the gates.
The ticket booth was being run by an Earth pony, a young mare with a faded orange coat, candy red mane, emerald green eyes, and a golden ticket for a Cutie Mark. She was wearing a blue vest that was presumably her uniform.
“Welcome to the coolest place on earth, Aphotic Water Park!” the clerk at the ticket stand said with a smile, “What can I do for you?”
“Oh, we received tickets to this park from Princess Celestia,” Twilight said flashing the tickets. The clerk examined them for a bit to check their authenticity before deciding the tickets were real and returning them to Twilight.
“Enjoy the wonders!” said the clerk as she opened the gates. The fillies trotted into the park. Just inside the gates, there was a cloaked mare, whose dark gray muzzle was all that was visible, who was staring straight at Twilight.
The mare smiled creepily. “Enjoy your time, my beloveds.”
Twilight made an uneasy glance at the pony before trotting off. That was a rather odd encounter, but she wasn’t too worried. She just wanted to cool off from the heat.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders quickly ditched their sweaty sun hats and jumped into the pool.
“Ah wanna go on the water slides!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“Let’s cool off a bit first. The lines to the water slides are so long.” Spike said leaping into the refreshing pool.
“I wonder if there are any sea creatures in the pool,” Fluttershy wondered aloud as she dipped a hoof into the water to test it before stepping in.
“That’s ridiculous, dahling. There are no sea creatures in a pony made swimming pool.” Rarity chuckled as she dipped her hooves in the pool. Pinkie Pie splashed Rarity playfully with a cannon ball.
“Not to mention the chlorine in the water make it impossible for creatures to live in it.” added Twilight as she walked by.
“Oh,” Fluttershy mumbled with a hint of disappointment in her voice, looking slightly downtrodden.
Twilight trotted up to one of several poolside lounge chairs and took a seat. She retrieved a book from her bag, Starswirl the Bearded’s Encyclopedia of Experimental Spells, and began to read. Rainbow Dash snuck in front of her and splashed her.
“Rainbow! You got my book all wet!” Twilight cried. Rainbow started laughing.
“Twilight we’re at a water park! Only an egghead would bring a book here.” chided the pegasus
“Well, I happen to enjoy reading when I relax,” Twilight defended.
“But this is your chance to hang out with your friends. Don’t just sit here all day and be an egghead.” Rainbow tried to convince her to come into the water and forget about her book.
“Well, if you insist. I mean, it does sound fun,” Twilight tried to slowly lower herself into the water, but recoiled when the water felt too cold.
“Here, let me help you!” Rainbow flew out of the water and came up behind Twilight before pushing her in.
“Hahaha, very funny,” Twilight said as she recovered from being pushed in, “How about a little rain on your parade?” She splashed Rainbow, igniting a small splash war between the two mares.
“Allow me show y’all how its done in the Apple family,” Applejack interjected.
Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash look in the direction of the voice just in time to see a big wave of water heading towards them. They were completely soaked by the surprise attack by Applejack. Rainbow started to flap her wings as hard as she could, effectively splashing both Applejack and Twilight. Neither Applejack nor Rainbow noticed Twilight’s horn glowing until it was too late. They both looked up at the large ball of water Twilight was levitating above them. They took a quick breath before Twilight released water, drenching them both.
“Okay, okay! You win, Twi!” Rainbow proclaimed, sending all three mares into giggle fits.
Elsewhere, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were enjoying their time on the slides. Babs Seed and Apple Bloom were the first to go down the slides. They dropped into the pool as fast as bullets. Screams of terror erupted upon the arrival of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo from another slide. Once they reach the end and went into the water, they laughed.
“NEXT TIME, SWEETIE BELLE IS GOING WITH ONE OF YOU TWO! I LIKE BEING ABLE TO HEAR!” the young orange pegasus unintentionally yelled, having been rendered incapable of hearing the volume of her own voice.
It was a fun filled day for all, but as all good things do it had to come to an end. The princesses were about to perform their twin duties of bring about the close of another day. Despite this the CMC demanded that they stay until the very last minute to try and find their water park cutie marks, but with a long trip home ahead Applejack tried her best to convince them otherwise.
With the agreement of ice cream once they got back the CMC began to collect up their things. Twilight was busy jotting down some notes on hydrodynamics compared to aerodynamics in pegasi, based on her close observation of Rainbow’s movements through the water.
“Hey sis, since it’s such a long ride home can we take one more quick dip? PLEASE!” pleaded Apple Bloom, desperate for a little more time to play with the other Crusaders.
“Ah don’t see why not, but make it quick Apple Bloom.”
“Why don’t we all go in one last time, eh?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “I know I’d certainly like to.”
“Last one in is a chimichanga!” shouted Pinkie Pie, already halfway into one final cannon ball.
Rarity climbed up the ladder of the tallest diving board. She jumped off, maneuvering her body into a graceful dive, garnering applause from Pinkie, who pulled a scorecard with a 10 on it out of nowhere. While they were all enjoying their last few minutes in the cool waters the sky suddenly grew dark. Looking skyward, the ponies witnessed a very rare occurance in Equestria. A solar eclipse.
“That’s funny,” Twilight thought to herself, “The princesses didn’t mention anything about planning an eclipse today...”
“Oh lookie, the waters changing colors!” Pinkie Pie proclaimed, sounding proud of her observation.
“I must say some of these shades are simply marvelous,” Rarity announced, “I MUST make a dress with this color when I get back to my boutique!”
A sudden tug of what felt like a rip tide made them forget the melting pot of colors around them. Fluttershy screamed as she went under without warning, almost as if something had purposely dragged her into the depths. Rainbow immediately took initiative and dived down after her friend in an attempt to save her, but was ultimately dragged down with her. The pull of the water began to spiral, creating a full blown whirlpool, that began to suck the other ponies toward it. Rarity and Pinkie screamed loudly, clinging tightly to each other as they were pulled in. The Crusaders splashed about futilely, only managing slightly disrupt their inevitable engulfment. Twilight attempted to use her magic to pull everypony out of the pool, but she couldn’t focus in the clamor. Applejack tried to use her unbridled strength to break away, but the suction was too powerful, not even she could resist it.
Suddenly, everything went completely black for the ten ponies.