Losing Loyalty

Sweat rolled down her face as she anxiously awaited her turn to be tested. It was only her first day, and she was already having second thoughts. Oh, how she wished she could just go home and cry in bed instead of publicly humiliating herself. She wasn't going to be able to do it! Her tiny wings couldn't even lift her at all! Her father told her to just calm down and breath out, but how could she do that when all the other fillies and colts were better than her? She was a failure... there was no way she could ever last two days at this school.

Maybe she should just quit now.

"Hey Fluttershy!" a voice directed towards her shouted. She turned her head slowly, revealing a set of worried eyes and shaking hooves.

"Umm, hi, Rainbow," she whispered, trying not to look at any of the other foals in the face. They probably could tell she was on the verge of crying...

Fleetfoot, sensing Fluttershy's despair, said, "Don't worry, Fluttershy, I know you'll do fine."

"No, I won't," Fluttershy honestly admitted, a single tear drifted down her face.

"Yes you can, Fluttershy!" Rainbow comforted, "You're gonna be a great flier, and then we can all be Wonderbolts!"

"No thank you, the Wonderbolts only accept ponies that can fly..." Fluttershy further put herself down. Her face was stained with the scent of salt and multiple tears.

"Okay, so if you don't want to be a Wonderbolt, that's fine too!" Dash said, wiping some of Fluttershy's tears, "Just don't forget that you're gonna be so cool, anyways!"

"Rainbow Dash, you just don't get it," Fluttershy whimpered, "You can fly just fine, and so can the rest of you! I'm worse than all of you and you know it, so why even bother trying to help me? I'll probably never get to fly..."

Spitfire stood up, angered at Fluttershy's persistence, "Fluttershy! Some ponies just get head starts sometimes, and we all have been flying for a long time. Just because you haven't been flying for a long time doesn't mean you'll never be able to fly! We all have to start somewhere!"

"Thanks, Spitfire, but I just don't know..." Fluttershy said, her tears starting to dry.

The foal ahead of her finally completed her test, and she had a smile as broad of the sun pasted across her face. She shouted with glee towards Fluttershy, "Don't worry. It's super easy!"

"Yeah, umm... okay" Fluttershy quietly responded, reluctantly standing up for her turn.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy, you'll be fine," Soarin' said.

"Yeah, you're so awesome, you'll do great!" Rainbow Dash also pitched in.

"Miss Fluttershy? Are you ready for your exam?" the white pegasus mare Rainbow Dash had bombarded earlier asked.

"Umm, no... well, I mean, if you want me to, yes, I guess..." Fluttershy stuttered.

"Well then, let us go. My name is Surprise, and I'll be your flight teacher for this test. Remember to try your best and don't worry about anything, you'll end up where you are supposed to end up."

"Okay..." Fluttershy whimpered.

"Oh come on, now, brighten up. Flight School is a lot of fun, I guarantee!" The instructor smiled.

Surprise guided Fluttershy out of sight, and the four remaining ponies took that as a sign to back off.

"Okay, what now?" asked Fleetfoot.

"I don't know... wanna go play Cloudball?" Spitfire suggested.

"Okay," the rest agreed, flying back towards the waiting arena until Fluttershy returned.

Soon enough, Soarin' and Fleetfoot were each called, and they quickly returned.  Neither seemed too bothered by the test.

"How was it?" asked Spitfire.

"Too easy," complained Soarin', only to receive a kick in back from Fleetfoot.

"Puh-lease! That's an understatement, it was like taking candy from Soarin's baby sister. And believe me, that's easy," Fleetfoot stated.

"I know right, she is so slow!" Spitfire agreed.

"If it was so easy, why isn't Fluttershy back yet?" Rainbow Dash asked with a concern glance towards the doorway.

"I don't know, I wonder what happened to her," said Spitfire, her previous grin vanished.

"What if sometime wrong happened?" asked Fleetfoot, concern showing in her widened eyes.

"Maybe she just needed to be tested twice," Soarin' said, trying to offer a solution.

"I doubt it, why would they need to do that? It sounds dumb... Maybe she got in trouble..." Spitfire said.

"Fluttershy is too nice to get in trouble! Believe me, I tried giving her assertiveness training, but she can't do it! Sometimes I think she's better than the rest of us when it comes to being good ponies..." Rainbow admitted.

"So what could have happened?" Fleetfoot asked.

All four ponies seemed to be clueless. Concern hung in the air, and the ponies decided to quietly await Fluttershy's return.

However, a young gray colt walked up to them and asked, "Do you know why we aren't done yet? I thought everypony had finished..."

I think there's still one more filly that needs to be tested," stated Soarin' without any further detail.

"Oh, I see," the colt said, sitting down, "The name's Rapidfire, by the way."

The other ponies happily introduced themselves to the colt, who seemed most interested in flying, as well.

"Do you want to be a Wonderbolt someday?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well duh! Who doesn't? It's only like, the best job ever!" Rapidfire stated with excitement.

"Cool! But we are going to be Wonderbolts, too, so you better step up your game if you wanna beat us!" Rainbow Dash challenged, only to be met with a grin from Rapidfire.

"Please, I could easily beat all of you." Rapidfire said.

But before a familiar scene began to unravel for the second time that day, Fleetfoot noticed Fluttershy silently walking towards them, her face hidden behind her long hair.

"Hey, guys! She's back!" Fleetfoot shouted, happy to see Fluttershy's return.

All ponies, except Rapidfire, immediately turned their head to be greeted with none other than the shy pegasus.

"Umm... hi," Fluttershy timidly said.

"Where were you? And why did you take so long?" Rainbow curiously asked.

"Umm, it was nothing," Fluttershy whispered quietly.

The other ponies tried to get some details out of the shy pony, but she refused to tell any more information.

Luckily for the timid filly, one of the flight instructors announced all fillies and colts to gather around for the group naming.

"Okay, my little ponies, you all will be sorted into five groups today.  These groups will be your classes for the rest of the year. Group Five will be the ponies who need the most help flying, and Group One will be the best fliers here. Now don't be worried if you're not in Group One, you'll all eventually get there, just remember you are all great ponies!" The pink instructor said, a smile seemed like it was taped on her face, because anypony could tell she was reluctant to share that a few ponies were not the best fliers...

The pony lifted the list in front of her and stated, "In Group One are Misty Fly, Soarin', Rapidfire, Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Fire Strike, and," the instructor paused after dropping the sheet. Fluttershy began to sweat, she may actually be in Group One! She picked it up and continued, "and Lightning Streak."

Disappointment swayed through Fluttershy's brain, humility defining her features.

Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy, realizing they weren't in the same group,. "Don't worry, you might get into Group Two," she assured her nervous friend.

"Now, in Group Two are Silver Lining, Wave Chill, High Winds, Blaze, Thunderlane, Blossomforth, Cloudchaser, Raindrop..."

And so on names were stated. And with each name called, Fluttershy became more nervous. After Group Three was completed with an absence of her name being called, she truly began to lose it. She would probably end up in Group Five, wouldn't she? Rainbow Dash tried to help her by patting her shoulder, but it only made her feel worse. She was being pitied by someone better than her!

Group Two was called with suspense surrounding Fluttershy with every word the instructor said. Her anxiety crawled into her heart and demanded attention, grasping her fears and strengthening them. She desperately wished and prayed for a spot as far away as possible from Group Five, even Group Four would be sufficient to her! But to her dismay, Her name was not called.

The instructor decided to brashly address the elephant in the room, "All the rest are you are in Group Five!" she said, with a fake smile accommodating the few astonished ponies who were unlucky to wind up in that group. Fluttershy's heart pounded and tears began to fall from her wet eyelids.

"Okay, everypony! Time for lunch," another instructor said, beginning to lead them to the cafeteria. But unlike the other fillies and colts, she was not being led to a lunch room. She was being led to a year of embarrassment and misery.