School Shyby rasta-gringoChaptersFirst ImpressionsA Better SchoolHabitual SingingFriendshipversaryFirst Impressions"I'm going now" ... "No, it's all right. I practiced all week." ... "I'll avoid the clear patches." ... "Yes, I'll be careful." ... "Really really really careful!" ... "I love you too." Fluttershy buzzed her wings excitedly while she trotted through the clouds. Each step sunk deep and then bounced. She took advantage of the springy cirrus to bounce into the air. "WooHoo!" She cheered at her maximum height. When she fell back down the clouds pushed her back up. She could bounce so high. She would push up the sky, break the blue and reach the sun. Wings grew weary. Fluttershy put off the solar expedition in favor of walking. A little piece of sky. A filly pegasus dropped from above. Fluttershy giggled, she liked the broken cloud bits that floated around from the impact. The crashed pegasus poked her head out of the clouds. Their coat matched the sky so perfectly, the only thing that made her presence known were the stripes on their head. Fluttershy concentrated on naming the stripes. Blue and yellow were easy, but In between the blue and the yellow, what was it? There was hardly any of it in Cloudsdale. Fluttershy watched the crashed pegasus pick herself out of the clouds, rev her wings and fly back into the sky. The colors were soon lost, the colors game ended. Maybe they could reach the sun, she thought. The crashed pegasus become one of many pegasi. The whole flock donned book bags just like Fluttershy, whose march on the clouds was soon joined by other little colts and fillies. A sigh of relief escaped her. ~~~~...~~~~ The building was so big! Fluttershy knew that if she bounced she would not make it to the top. Maybe if she could bounce from her bounce, and then bounced a lot of times. The walls were nothing like the clouds and sky. They were a rare color. Red was usually only seen at sunset. The little yellow filly looked up at the crowds of pegasi flying into the school. She frowned, sneaking a disappointed glance back at her own wings. Ponies brushed against her sides. The crowd was funneling through the big red double doors. The air was thick and filthy with pegasi sweat. ew. Fluttershy tried to make space for herself. She squeezed into the shadow of a larger pony. It was almost comfortable walking in his wake. Progress continued until a grey pony knocked her out of the way. Shewas back in the thrall. The other ponies jostled her, then shoved her, and swept her into the school. Fluttershy tried to wriggle and jump out of the rush but to no avail. The other ponies had her wings trapped against her sides Just as she had resigned herself to the mosh, it spat her out. "Ugh," groaned Fluttershy. "Thank you for letting me go." She said to the rushing wall of ponies. She remained on the ground, stunned. The horde of pegasi had pushed her into an alcove to the side of the hallway. They themselves were still in a frenzy, rushing above and around Fluttershy. A hoof crushed the end of her tail. "Hey!" She huffed. But the pegasus had already left. "It's your own fault." Said a gruff voice. "Eep!" Squealed Fluttershy as she spun around on the source of the voice. This stallion was monstrous. If she bounced high enough, maybe she could reach his muzzle. "Come on, git'er up." He commanded. With a whimper Fluttershy obliged. "Shouldn't you be at the auditorium? For Celestia's sake, stop staring at the ground stupid!" She took keen interest in the ceiling instead. It was covered in little pegasi. There was a pink one. "Psh, you first years are the same, every single year." The big brute said and stormed off into the crowd. Fluttershy nuzzled her face into her book bag. Her head reappeared, clenching a piece of note paper in her teeth. She furrowed her brow and put on her game face. Her daddy always said it was a scary face. A quick skim of the paper, a moment to fix her mane, and she dove back into the fray of the hallway. "Mur, eh mur! Gen goo elp mrr?" She asked every pony that took notice of her. For some reason, no pony would help her. More than once, Fluttershy was thrown into the floor. It was not soft like clouds, not even as soft as cloud carpet. It was pieced together from grey tiles, hard and unyielding. A bell rang. The halls were evacuated into the various rooms scattered about. Fluttershy was left alone save for one mare walking her way. "Hey kid, shouldn't you be in the auditorium?" Asked the mare. Fluttershy's lip wobbled. That was two grown ups now! They were not mommy, or daddy. They just expected her to know what an auditorium was. She spat out her note paper. "Taste bad?" "WAAAAAH," Wailed Fluttershy. "Oh boy." "WAAaaaaAAAaAaAAaa." "Is it about this paper? Look, look, it's not too covered in your drool." "Aaaaaa" "Do you want me to read it? It says, Dear School, just school, really? Wait, stop crying. Dear School, this is Fluttershy. She needs education. I don't know how the school system works. Please teach her a lot of stuff. O.C. That's all it...Oh..." The mare rubbed her temple. Fluttershy's wailing had reduced itself to a sob. "Well, my name's Spitfire. Are you lost Fluttershy?" She nodded and hiccuped. "It"s your first day, don't worry about it." Said Spitfire. "But," how could Fluttershy not worry? "In a way, today is my first day too. Anyway, you didn't miss much. The first years are all being sorted into classes now, boring really." Said Spitfire. "Am I a first year?" Asked Fluttershy. "Probably, yeah." Spitfire answered. "Then I won't have a class!" Fluttershy said, her sobbing doubled in intensity. "Wait wait wait! You don't have to cry, I can fix this up for you." Said Spitfire, tucking the yellow filly into her hooves. "Hold on!" Fluttershy was yellow like the sun at high noon. Spitfire was the sun just after dawn. The difference in tone was perplexing and distracted her from what the older mare said. Then Spitfire took off. "AAAAAAAAAA" Screamed Fluttershy. "WOOHOOOOO" Crowed Spitfire. Fluttershy could not figure out what was going on. This was really fast. She had never traveled this fast. It was like falling with no clouds to catch you. What if the floor caught her? Then, Spitfire turned. It was awful. Fluttershy began to feel sick. Another turn, another. Fresh air? They had made it outside but were not stopping. Going up was worse. An unknown force was pushing on Fluttershy's insides. How far could up go? Wasn't the sky going to stop them? There was a sudden reversal. The sky fell below, Spitfire and the clouds soared above. Then the world righted itself. Spitfire flew straight at the school. The wall of the school. She hit the brakes. The wall got closer and closer. Fluttershy looked on in terror. There was a hole in the wall. Would they go through the wall or hit it? She shut her eyes. Evidently through it. There was no crash, only a flurry of papers. "Okay, here we are!" Announced Spitfire. "The office." Fluttershy was dropped to the floor. Cloud carpet! She tried walking, but the trembling in her legs stopped her. Giving up, Fluttershy fell to the floor. "Lemme just find your name here." Said Spitfire. Fluttershy could hear her shuffling through paper. "Fluttershy, Fluttershy, hm... Flutter Act, Flutter Bash, skip a few, Flutter Wonder? Flutterting, Fluttershy! Found you. Class 1B, Room 103, Spit Shine's class. Come on, I can take you there." Fluttershy surrendered to being scooped up again. She was tired, and It couldn't be worse than last time. Spitfire jumped out of the window and fell into a steep dive. Flaring her wings at the last second brought her to a stop on her hind legs. She bunched up her flank and launched herself back into the school. It took two gut wrenching turns to reach room 103. She gingerly put Fluttershy down. "Aw, that's so cute, you fell asleep. Anyway, I got you here." Spitfire unfurled her wings and flew off into the depths of the school. Fluttershy lay there on the brink of sleep and waking. The past few minutes or seconds flashed before her eyes in a terrifying blur. She wanted to get up, but couldn't trust her body to work right. clop clop clop clop clop More ponies? The tiles made their hooves sound funny. They were all talking in hushed voices. Fluttershy realized that she very much did not want to get up after all. One colt said, "Spit Shine, Spit Shine, there's a sleeping filly blocking the way!" "Ask her to move deary." Said a mare. "Move deary!" Shouted the colt. "Why is she shaking like that?" Queried a filly. "Out of my way, out of my way! Oh dear me deary." Said the mare. Fluttershy cracked open her eyes. A dozen pair stared back at her expectantly. "Hello deary." Said a mare with a curled silver mane. Her coat was that elusive color, between blue and yellow but darkened. "Hello." Said Fluttershy. She shut her eyes again. Hopefully these ponies didn't want to take her flying as well. "Deary? I am miss Spit Shine. Whatever are you doing on the floor?" The littler ponies all started laughing. "I was put here." Said Fluttershy simply. More laughter ensued. "Well what class are you in deary?" Said Spit Shine. Fluttershy concentrated, remembering what Spitfire had said. "Yours?" She said. "Well then deary, shouldn't you have been in the auditorium?" Fluttershy slid her hooves under herself and, wobbling the whole way, stood up. "What is every pony's problem?" Said Fluttershy, not quite using her indoor voice. What is every pony's problem? "I don't even know what's a audortium!" I do not even know what an auditorium is! "I just wanna sleep!" The only pony who actually tried to help me in this school put me here. I'm tired and sick and I just got sort of comfortable... "And whoever made this floor is a jerk. Get some cloud carpet" It is really hard to get comfortable. Why would someone make a floor hard and grey like this. At home we have cloud carpet, it feels nice. Mommy wants my hooves to feel nice because she cares. "The only reason I'm here is 'cuz mommy told me to come." Mommy told me to come here, but she cannot have meant this place. I'm not here to be called stupid, or deary, or to be laughed at. I know I am not here to be flown around by a recklessly acrobatic pegasus until I almost puke. "And I don't need your stupid class either! Thank you." No pony even told me what a class is. If you are not going to tell me what you are talking about then I don't want to be a part of it. Remember to say thank you. "Well I'm sorry deary," Said Spit Shine. Her expression was strained, "What is your name?" "Why do you need my name?" Growled Fluttershy My name is Fluttershy, can I sleep now? "My name's Bad Yarn!" Said a colt. "No pony asked you feather brain!" Said another. Spit Shine ignored her class. "So I can check the list deary." She explained to Fluttershy. "Why is my name on a list?" My name is Fluttershy "If you are in my class deary, then you will be on my class list. Your name, deary?" "I'm Fluttershy." Your smile is wrong. It is not real! Spit Shine unsheathed a page from her saddle bag. Manipulating her lower jaw into an under bite she flipped the page up to her eyes. Fluttershy did not like Spit Shine. She did not like her hair, her voice, how she smiled, and most of all the word deary! "Well deary..." Said Spit Shine. Fluttershy ground her teeth. "...You are indeed in my class, but why were you not in the-" "Don't say it!" "-auditorium?" Fluttershy screamed. Kicking back with both legs with all her strength, she bucked the door to room 103. It swung almost halfway open. "What's her problem?" Whispered one filly to another. "Is she crying?" Said Bad Yarn. The little yellow filly spun around and stormed into the room. Then she stopped. There were a lot of seats. "Get a seat in the front," Daddy had said. "It is easier to learn from there." "Surround yourself with your friends," Mommy had said. "It is easier to talk to them in the back." Fluttershy frowned. Choosing was far too difficult. She made for a seat in the middle of the room. A blue colt cut her off. The rest of the class was funneling into the room, overtaking the indecisive Fluttershy. She made for a seat in the front of the room. This time she was intercepted by the hoof of Spit Shine. "Can I speak with you deary?" Said she. Ignoring her, Fluttershy leaned towards the seats. There were still some left! "I just want to know if there is anything bothering you?" Spit Shine continued. "A lot!" Said Fluttershy. The strain in her voice was dismissed by Spit Shine. A lot of things are bothering me. Especially you. "Do you want to talk about it?" Said Spit Shine. Fluttershy looked at her teacher. She was faking her smile again. "No!" Fluttershy groaned. I want to sit down. Look at that, you slowed me down, and now all of the good seats are taken. "Well let's at least get along together with every pony else this year OK?" Said Spit Shine in a sickly sweet voice. "I don't get along with fakers." Mommy told me that lying, faking and cheating will get me nowhere. Spit Shine was just surprised enough by the retort to let go of Fluttershy, who rushed to the last available seat. The seat was to the near left side of the room, second from the back. Fluttershy had not been able to do as her mommy nor daddy said. She sighed. The ponies around her were talking excitedly, taking advantage of Spit Shine's distraction. Fluttershy twitched her ears, she had found a conversation to latch onto. "The blue raspberry flavor is the worst. Misty River ate one and no one has seen her for a week." "Where did she go?" "Dunno, she stuck it in her mouth and screamed and ran away." "Why didn't she spit it out?" "She showed me, it fused into her tongue. I swear it was smoking." Fluttershy turned to the two ponies, and opened her mouth. “Attention class!” Spit Shine said, taking the words from Fluttershy, and grinding them to bits. Fluttershy swallowed her wrecked reply, it tasted like bile. “It is so nice to meet you all. I am Miss Spit Shine. Welcome to you first day of school here, I know that we will all be the best of friends.” She turned her head while speaking, her eyes locked with Fluttershy’s. “Let’s all start the year off with a game, what do you say my little ponies?” A certain yellow filly did not want to play a game. The class broke out into cheers. “I know what would be fun!” I bet you don’t, thought Fluttershy. “Everypony tell us your name and something that you enjoy.” The game started at the front of the room. Bad Yarn liked to make spit bubbles. Corsettala liked dolls. Tripe liked to spin. Dollop Flop liked to sing. Fluttershy recognized the blue colt who cut her off before, but it wasn’t his turn yet. Somepony liked flossing, probably Corsettala. That meant that Dollop had to like dolls because dolls and Dollup, duh. Fluttershy missed another pony entirely. Here was the blue colt. His name was Lazuli, he liked to make cloud castles. Fluttershy did not know what a cloud castle was, but it sounded nice. Bouncable? Probably. She missed another pony. Actually two, because the second one was dark and liked napkins, but would go nameless for the moment. Fluttershy was trying to figure out who liked singing and soon lost everypony in a curfuddled mess. Fluttershy’s name was not going to be lost to her classmates, “I’m Fluttershy!” She hollered. “We all new that.” Chuckled a pony that was probably named Floppup. The class was laughing. “Oh, well I like to bou...” Started Fluttershy. “Are you Fluttershy because you’re shy? You don’t look shy.” Said Lazuli. “I don’t really...” “Are you Fluttershy because you can’t flutter?” Asked the pony who had sworn Misty River’s tongue was smoking. Fluttershy flopped her wings feebly, “I don’t think so.” “Why were you on the ground?” Pestered Tripe. “You’re Fluttershy because you like the ground right?” Bad Yarn concluded. “Now class,, that’s enough.” Said Spit Shine. She clopped her hooves together to bring everypony’s attention. “Fluttershy, deary, you were saying?” “My name is Fluttershy, I don’t like anything!” Grumbled the yellow filly. “Come now deary, there has to be something.” “I like not liking anything.” Finished Fluttershy. Then she folded her hooves and lay her forehead to rest. She missed the name of the pony behind her. That was fine, except that meant Spit Shine was back to speaking. “Wow, most of you seem like you will grow into fine pegasi. Who knows, maybe one of you just told us your future special talent! And that’s what school is for you know. Look.” Said Spit Shine. Fluttershy assumed that everypony was looking at something. She wanted to see it too. She peeked out from below her mane. Everypony was staring at Spit Shine’s flank, so she did too. Three blocks, red and yellow below the blue. "Us teachers are here to build you dearies into well rounded ponies. By learning what we have to teach, you will all grow up and get cutie marks like mine." "Will we all have funny blocks on our flanks?" Shouted Bad Yarn. "Probably not deary. But you all are still young. I doubt that any of you will get your cutie marks for a year or two. I would even be surprised if any of you can fly yet. Now, let's play another game." ~~~~...~~~~ Fluttershy did not enjoy the rest of her day. Spit Shine made them play games that only served to waste time. The other ponies were loud, and seemed to prefer being friends with eachother than trying to reach out to Fluttershy. For lunch she had a couple of apples. Her classmates enjoyed brightly packaged snacks. Bad Yarn produced an endless supply of popcorn. Fluttershy yearned for the fluffy, buttery kernals, but he was sharing them on the other side of the room, with his friends. Class continued after lunch, more games were played, and somehow, Fluttershy kept losing. One game was played by calling out a pony’s name before tossing a balloon at them. It was horrible. So many ponies knew her name by now, and she could only name a few with confidence. She found herself passing the balloon to Bad Yarn whenever she panicked. Then a bell rang. On cue, everypony rushed out of the classroom, shouting and laughing with their friends. They all dissolved into the stormy hallway in groups. Fluttershy, the last to the door despite being second closest, hesitated. She should wait until the hallways clear before stepping out. She mentally patted herself on the back. Mommy said that she had her father’s four-sights, whatever that was. “What’s the matter deary?” Asked Spit Shine behind her. Fluttershy bounded into the hall with reckless abandon, losing her self to the rapids. The ponies drowned her under their wings without a care. They smelled a lot worse than before too. She gave up. All she would have to manage was staying upright. There was no point in breathing, really. Aching lungs were much better than letting the odors in. Sight was a bother, since there was obviously too much of every color in Cloudsdale. Fluttershy recalled Spit Shine’s coat. There was definitely too much of whatever Spit Shine was. Her ears were constantly jammed, with elbows or wings, or somepony’s flank. No real sound came through. Touch was meaningless. As Fluttershy fell to the ground, the other ponies rushed through her space. This did not slow the descent, however the direction of falling skewed. Forward. Down. Foward. Stop. Pushed. Up. Forward. Down. Forward. Bounce. Forward. Roll. Stop. Pushed. Forward. Slide. Pushed. Sideways. Roll. Stop. Dizzy. Pulled. Up. Fall. Forward. Caught. Pulled. Up. Pushed. Down. Straight. Down. Land. Squishy. Pushed. Up. Up. Stopped. Fall. Rise. Pushed. Squeeze. Burst. Air. Fresh. Fall. Roll. Soft. Stopped. Stay. Fluttershy knew that she was back on clouds. She could not enjoy the sensation while her skin remembered the chaotic impacts. She twitched her ears. It was so loud, the other ponies could not be distinguished. Their laughter was blending with their cries. She opened her eyes. Pale sky, dotted with pegasi, but the sight was moving. Twisting around itself, bending. Fluttershy did not care anymore. This school thing discouraged her from even the walk home. She would just have to walk back the next day anyway. Her daze was shaken. Literally, her entire body was being shaken back and forth. Something pushed past her lips, filling her mouth. It was hard, hot, and large. Fluttershy could not even move her tongue around it. The object rhythmically started pushing into her throat, pressing down her tongue even further. “...seven... eight...nine...ten, and blow!” The sound of wind being sucked in followed. A wet suction cup collided with Fluttershy’s chest. Pbbbbbbbbbbbbbt it blew hot air into her coat. It tickled so much that she bit down on her oral invader. “Eeyow!” Screamed the pony. Fluttershy tried to scream too. After two failed attempts she did something drastic, the opposite. Her lungs inflated to capacity. Then she tried screaming again, but it was replaced with gagging and coughing. Another inhale relieved her for a second. “Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow. That hurt, that hurt, that hurt! Ooooooooww.” Wailed the pony who stuck her appendages where they do not blong. Fluttershy finally calmed herself down while the other pony cried over her bitten hoof. Now her throat was sore along with the rest of her. At least she was finally out of the school. A good distance away from the main doors too, so the crowd of ponies gave her wide berth. “What is your problem!” Yelled the other pony, making Fluttershy wince. “Huh? I can’t hear you, you buck toothed lunatic.” The two ponies just stared eachother down for a minute. Fluttershy was still coming to grips with the world around her. She was amazed that she had made it out of the school at all. She was sitting across from the rainbow maned pony from that morning. It was odd how the pony vibrated on the spot. Was she cold? “Are you cold?” “Are you dumb, why did you bite my hoof?!” Demanded the rainbow pony. “I didn’t mean to, you tickled me! And don’t call me dumb.” Fluttershy rasped back. Her throat was still raw. “I’ll call ya as I see ya, you dummy hoof-biter.” “You’re a dummy, dummy!” “Well you’re too dumb to breathe!” “I don’t get it! Shows how dumb you are!” “Don’t call me dumb!” Shouted the rainbow pony this time. She flared her wings, spun around and jumped, higher than Fluttershy’s eartips, into the air. She landed back in the clouds and jumped again, higher. The rainbow pegasus dipped, skimmed the clouds before veering into the sky. “Too dumb to breathe,” said Fluttershy, mimicking the rainbow pony. She walked home alone. “I’m hooomme!” She shouted upon entering. … “It was fun.” … “Friends?” … “Of course I did.” … “A whole bunch.” … “Thanks mommy.” A Better School"I'm going now!" ... "Ok, I will." ... "They’re... I mean we live out of their way." ... "We'll meet up later." ... "Bye mom!" ... The clouds had been made extra wispy that morning. They billowed around Fluttershy, robing her in silver. Pegasi dotted the sky, they surrounded her. Just like the day before, funneling into the school. Unlike the day before, these pegasi were in packs. Tightly knit and loud, these groups of friends mocked the solitary. Fluttershy felt the tugs of their questions. "Hey, did you hear?" they said. No, she had not. "Do you see that?" She did not see, but sometimes the ponies pointed, and then Fluttershy could look with them, discreetly. Though she did not know what was so noteworthy about the fence. She prodded the border between the cloud-walk and some pony's lawn. Boring. The school loomed overhead. Should she choose to enter, there was the high probability of being squashed, terrified, and meeting Spit Shine. Fluttershy made to turn around, because she was a fast learner. Startled by the wall of ponies, she tried to hold her ground. After being body checked by the first two ponies the relentless current of bodies took her up again. There was still a distance to the school. Fluttershy hung low and scurried under foot, tripping up a few ponies. The rush still pulled her towards the red double doors of the school, but she cut her way sideways. Emerging out of the side of the crowd. Heaving for air, her mane askew, and her coat dirty, Fluttershy swelled. All was well. She showed the school her tongue, then turned her flank on it. This time there were no ponies to kidnap her. She bounced away from the scene humming a merry tune. la lala la la lala lala lala Her hooves took herself all the way to the park. It had a lot of stuff, that park. A swing set, a seesaw, and a slide. She wiggled off her bags and bounced into the playing grounds. Fluttershy used half of the swing set first. She straddled it with her belly and started kicking with all of her might. Eventually motion was created, a slow shift forward and back. The other half of the swing set got a turn too, though much shorter. Then there was the slide. No, first were the stairs. The fall from the top of the slide to the bottom was over far too quickly. Walk around to have it end too soon once more. Run around, and then the slide almost lasted longer. But the running was exhausting, and the loop was dizzying. The seesaw was a puzzle. One look at it told all there was. It was a plank on an axle. It was unbearably unimpressive and underwhelming. Fluttershy continued staring at the seesaw. Then she tried sniffing it. She reached up to the raised end and pulled it down to the clouds. This she could work with. One hoof in front of the other, she walked up the plank. At a certain point, the slope reversed, and Fluttershy rolled down the other end. Hahahaha She turned around and ran up the plank the other way. At the same point as last time she started tumbling. The sloped fall into the clouds made Fluttershy’s head swim. This was nothing like how Spitfire played, or how the hallway ponies played. It was soft and controlled, This time she walked up the plank delicately, balancing on her hoof tips and fluttering her wings softly. She watched carefully for where her hooves landed and waited for the tipping. There it was! A more powerful stroke of her wings brought Fluttershy to a float above the plank and for an instant it stopped moving. The moment ended ended when hooves touched back down on the plank and tumbling down went the pegasus. Picking herself up, she paced around the plank. There was a pointed mound made of clouds holding it up. She would bet her... she would bet that this is where she had stepped last time. She bit the plank beside the pointed mound. This time would be perfect. Fluttershy prepared to jump. She started with a bounce, then a larger bounce. Then she sprang up high and tapped her hoof near her toothmarks. She landed on the other side and turned around expectantly. Her ears flopped down. The plank was still half up and half down. She tried again to no avail. Hitting hard with her hoof on the next attempt only served to make he hoof numb. Frustration took hold. This time she landed bang on the centre of the plank. “Why is nothing happening?!” She yelled,positive that she was right where she should be. Two hooves on one side and two on the other side of the pointed mound. Tired, Fluttershy decided to lay down. As she did so the plank started to move again. She stood up and returned to her standing position. Hooves evenly apart from her tooth marks. The plank slowed before it began to fall back down. She twisted around to see the rising end, but then it started to fall down instead. Hooves stationary, her head slowly shifted toward the now rising end, which began to fall. “Wow!” Fluttershy knew what to do. She bent over the side of the plank so that her head did not belong to either side. The pegasus tipped and fell into the clouds. The plank had finally decided on a direction. It was up and down again, stubbornly refusing to co-operate. “What is wrong with you.” She muttered to the seesaw. ~~~~lll~~~~ Fluttershy bounced home the same time as she had yesterday. She had been at school after all, it would not be very good to have left early. She completely bypassed her route to school, who knows what unsavory face she would meet the “I’m home!” … “No I didn’t, why?” … “Who was it?” … “You have to answer the door sometimes mommy.” … … … “I know. I’m sorry.” … “My friends?” … “I made one today. He was really nice.” … “Um... See Saw.” … “He is teaching me to fly! Isn’t that great?” … “Thanks mommy.” ~~~~lll~~~~ Fluttershy stayed away from the big red building for the second day in a row. She shrugged off her bags in mid gallop. The seesaw was ready and waiting for her. It had been all she had been thinking about the night before. She even had a dream, but she could not remember it well enough to tell if the seesaw had been the theme. The plan had stuck though. She knew for certain that she would figure out its secrets today. She dug into the clouds around the seesaw, heaping them up into great lumps. She had just started her third when she was interrupted. “This is what you were doing yesterday? Making cloud castles!” Shouted a pony from above. Startled would be an understatement, Fluttershy was spooked! She loosed a high pitched whinny and stuffed herself as far inside her mound of cloud as she could. She heard flapping and the puffy sounds she associated with falling on clouds. Then she heard an awful lot of scoffs, huffs, puffs, and grunts. “Though I’ll admit, it takes guts to skip school on your second day.” Said the unknown pony. Fluttershy poked her face out of the cloud mound. “I’m at school. But a dummy like you wouldn’t see that.” Indeed, in front of her was the rainbow maned dummy. She was sitting down, her gaze shifted from mound to mound before settling on Fluttershy’s face. “This isn’t school!” “It’s my school though.” Said Fluttershy defensively. “Nuh uh. A school is a place where you learn things.” The rainbow pony squeaked on the word, learn. “That’s what mommy said too. But that big red place didn’t teach me anything. And I’ve been learning a lot here.” “Ya, like what?” “How to fly.” She said simply. The rainbow pony’s laughter was relentless. She laughed when Fluttershy retreated fully back into the cloud. Even as Fluttershy left her mound and started patting it down to make it dense again. The hard working pony was accompanied by the laughter as she sized up the three cloud balls. She then made a fourth. The park grew quiet as Fluttershy rolled all of the balls into position, three and one on each side of the seesaw. She rolled the first two balls onto the plank, and then took a wedge of cloud from the ground and stuck it in between the middle-most ball and the outer-most ball. A second wedge was placed between the outer ball and the end of the plank. Under the raised end of the plank she placed the third ball. Then she returned to the lowered end. Fumbling with her hooves, Fluttershy tried to roll the middle-most ball up the slope. After a minute of struggling, the rainbow pony offered her aid. The ball was rushed up and past the toothmarks. It was brought to rest on the other side. The plank was now parallel with the clouds beneath. A wedge was used to secure the ball in place. The fourth ball was wedged under the plank, forming a symmetrical structure. A ball on top and under each end of the see saw. “Thanks.” Gasped Fluttershy in between heavy breaths. “No problem.” Said the rainbow pony. “But I don’t get it, what is this?” “This plank can fly.” “Huh?” “Watch this.” Said Fluttershy, she tried to mimic the confident swagger of Spitfire as she walked over to the seesaw. “What do you think will happen when I move this ball?” She gestured towards one of the supporting cloud balls. “Don’t do it, it’ll fall!” Shouted the rainbow pony. Too late. Fluttershy pushed the ball out from its supporting position. She patiently waited for the rainbow pony to uncover her eyes. Very patiently. When the rainbow pony opened her eyes, she could not believe them. “How by thunder?” The plank was still steady. Fluttershy walked over and pushed the other ball out of the way too. “No! Uh... are you a unicorn?” The plank remained level. A cloud ball on each side, but it did not fall. “This,” said Fluttershy. She bounced three times then jumped to the familiar position at the toothmarks. “...is what I learned.” The plank remained still. Fluttershy beamed, the rainbow pony’s expression was fantastic. Slack jawed, with dinner plate eyes, her eyebrows creased together. She seemed to be trying to speak, issuing broken syllables punctuated by twitches in her wings and tail. Eventually words came out. “It’s flying! How? You made it fly! I can’t... I don’t even.” “I know, I didn’t even either!” Said Fluttershy. But she was losing herself, and more importantly her footing. The plank tipped ever so slowly... ~~~~lll~~~~ “Mommy guess what!” … “I made a friend. Her name is Rainbow Dash. She looks like the sky except with a rainbow. She came to my school today. Well, she was at the school the past two days. But anyway, we made a seesaw fly! It was so exciting, but then it fell. It’s ok though because Rainbow Dash showed me how to play on it. I never knew that it took two ponies! I can’t wait to go to school tomorrow!” … “I’m glad too!” … “I love you too, mommy.” ~~~~lll~~~~ Habitual SingingFluttershy started galloping full tilt towards school. Her hooves left large oblong prints in the clouds as each step rumbled in baby thunder. Sometimes, a particularly large bank of the white fluff would try to stop her. A flurry of wing power would get her over such obstacles, but she often had to tuck her hooves tight against her belly so as not to trip. Today was a special day. Fluttershy’s friend was whizzing around on the swing set, waiting. “Awwww, I ran really fast too. You cheated!” Fluttershy accused. “No I didn’t, you’re just too slow!” Teased Rainbow Dash. “Which is why I’m here early. The sooner the better right?” Fluttershy stopped just short of the swing set. She did not know what to say. Mostly because she did not know what her friend was talking about. Deciding on a sentence, she spoke. “There is nothing wrong with taking your time, is there?” “Of course there is!” said Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy noticed that her eyes had shifted up and to the left. She looked that way as well, just in case. While she was distracted, her friend drifted over and halted in front of her. “Isn’t there?” She asked. “There isn’t?” “You don’t sound too sure.” “I don’t?” “Bahahaha!” Rainbow Dash laughed, falling over backwards. “That face! How’d you?... with the eyebrows. Golden! Ahahaha.” Her laughter was soon accompanied by a giggle from Fluttershy.. Then suddenly, “Ah, we’re wasting time! Quick, get on the seesaw.” Fluttershy was being pushed across the playground. Looking down reminded her of the sky. Yellow like the sun, and blue like the sky. She soon found herself on the plank, and her friend rose away yelling down, “Keep your legs bent, and brace yourself. This is going to be awesome with a capital awe.” Neither of the ponies knew what a capital was in the first place. Fluttershy thought that the capitol was Canterlot. That’s what daddy said. "You ready?" called Rainbow Dash from above. Fluttershy looked down at the seesaw. Her hooves were evenly spaced. Most of her weight sat in her hind legs, which were slightly bent. She experimented crouching a little lower, then a little higher. She would feel much more comfortable with her legs locked. "I can't stay up here forever you know." Rainbow Dash said, strain etched into her voice. Fluttershy looked up. Against the sky all she could see were two dots of color circling. She returned her concentration to herself. Obviously she was expected to be doing something. Just what she was was a mystery. "Hey Rainbow Dash-" She started. "OK, here I come!" "Oh, no I meant what should I-yAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Finished Fluttershy as Rainbow fell down on the far end of the seesaw. Upwards she shot, like Spitfire with less control. Unfolding her left wing started a spiral. Spreading out her right wing morphed her flight into a tight spin. Her hooves swung in wide arcs. She kept screaming. Screaming for mommy. Screaming at Rainbow Dash. Screaming at the world to just stop spinning. But the world was deaf, and becoming red. It could not be sunset yet. Before all of the pieces fell into place, the novice flyer crashed into the wall of the school. THWACK Too slowly she began to fall, peeling from her imprint on the wall. Down she dropped like a bag of stones, to the clouds that saved her bones. A rainbow streak rushed to her side, saying that at least she tried. Maybe she could sleep in time, to heal this catchy sort of rhyme. She could not stop it, she tried to drop it. If she just stopped thinking... ...sinking. She was sinking in cloud, but the world remained loud. Really, why? Could no pony let her lie? Just like three days before, when she picked herself from the floor. Fluttershy rose with a groan. A strain in her back, caused her to moan. Rainbow Dash looked perplexed, as if her friend was hexed. For her eyes were rolling. Her tone was drolling. Ear were flopping, eyelids dropping. Oh please help her, god of sun! The time of song had begun. “What was that you crazy twat?” Sang Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, Are you all right?” Responded Rainbow Dash with no rhythm. “You gave me the biggest fright!” “Well it was for the sake of flight.” Explained Rainbow Dash. “Wait, why are we rhyming?” “And what was with that timing? You never ever told me. Your plans were not plain to see.” “Oh, sorry. Umm... now what are you doing?" Fluttershy was now bobbing side to side, to an imaginary beat. "Remembering my footing." She replied. "The time I spend with my mom c'est trés longue. So I developed a habit in song. And stop it will not. Until conclusion is wraught. I hardly know what I mean." "This is the strangest I've seen. Rhyme is cool, and fun. But seriously, did that hurt a ton?" Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof in the direction of the upside down Fluttershy impression stamped in the wall. "Even so that trick, was awesome and terrific. Do you want to try once more?” “I want nothing you have in store!” Raged Fluttershy. “It was the worst, please warn me first.” “Sorry... And about the singing, it’s caused my ears to start ringing. I really want it to end, what’s the quickest mend?” “A conclusion I said. Listen you featherhead.” “But I don’t see how, and I want it done now.” “At least your tempo got better, but the dialogue much wetter. Can’t you see, it’s only fee. We must complete, we have to meet...” Fluttershy rambled, her face turning blue. “Stop your stalling!” Rainbow Dash stamped the clouds, a trickle of thunder could be heard below. “We need a calling. A purpose, a plot.” Fluttershy explained “So what I sought, we need content, like a message to be sent?” “Yes” “To who?” “The few that want to listen to you.” "Just us two!?" "Yes." Fluttershy beamed. "I got it!" Rainbow Dash took hold of a new beat, bobbing from side to side. "Life's too short for the trotting pace. And that's why you gotta fly. Practice your form, you'll win the race, Speed's the fruit of what you try!" Rainbow Dash flew a tight circle around Fluttershy's head, making her frown a little. It made her dizzy. In response, she started hopping around the school in great bounding leaps, wings working at full speed. "Patience Rainbow, pay attention. The world is full of detail. Slow down, maximise retention. To pass it by is how you fail." Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves. She flew just above Fluttershy as they went along the red wall. "Fluttershy please, what do you see? Too much, the exact same things. When you fly you can break free. And that is why we have wings." She caught Fluttershy around the waist on her next bounce, lifting her twice as high. "Wah! Too high! Way too high. Why is the world getting smaller? I don't even think I'm meant to fly. All I am is a grand faller." "You aren't going to fall if you flap." Rainbow Dash proclaimed, letting go of her yellow baggage. "Oh snap!" Fluttershy flopped into the clouds audibly. "I'm OK. ow! I'll get up. ow! I prefer my hooves down here. Bravo Rainbow, take a bow. All you've done is increase my fear." Her eyes were getting teary. Apparently Rainbow Dash noticed. "Come on, don't be sad. No one started out grand. Cheer up, it’s not so bad, To fly and never land.” “But I’ll get weary...” Sang Fluttershy “Hey, I do too.” Rainbow Dash landed beside her “I find it dreary.” “That’s nothing new.” The Rainbow pony shifted her eyes up and to the left. “What does that mean?” “”Huh?” “The way you move your eyes I’ve seen.” “You’ve never seen eye rolling?” “Umm, no. Should I have been knowing?” “It’s not important.” But what had it meant, thought Fluttershy. She was shocked to find herself in front of the school. Shocked enough to issue drool. She looked to both sides, a horizon of cloud. Nowhere and nowhere was the bustling crowd. “Oh, we’re back.” Said Rainbow Dash. “For words, you have a knack.” Fluttershy teased, moving her eyes up and to the side. Then from behind came a gruff voice. “Two truant fillies, rejoice.” Twin screams punctuated the air, the fillies ran and flew from the scare. They raced down the halls, bouncing off walls. Up the stairs, past teacher’s lairs. Through a corridor, limbs growing sore. And the voice echoed behind them. “Just wait ‘til I find ‘em.” “Gosh he was scary, All big brown and hairy.” Fluttershy sang on. “Shouldn’t we hide? Because fleeing we’ve tried. I can’t believe we’re still singing, with the luck its bringing.” “No need to blame the song, It’s this school’s fault, it’s what’s wrong. At the end of this hall, you see that light? What is it? It shines real bright.” Fluttershy ran out into the light. And what was below her caused her great fright. She backpedalled but her fate was settled and down she fell, what a sight! Rainbow Dash zipped down in a flash, and caught the grand faller, before the cloud floor could maul her. “What just happened Rainbow? Goodness, we’re outside! I just leaped out a window?! And I don’t think I like this ride.” Rainbow Dash dipped. “Oh no. The ride is fine. Please don’t let us die Please just fly in a straight line. And after, teach me how to fly.” Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash’s neck as they angled down. Both pegasi flapped their wings desperately. The clouds rushed up at them and THUD The impact shook Fluttershy to the core. She kept a hold of her friend as sleep overcame her. "Here they are. I saved them!" shouted a gruff voice, far too close to the pegasus' ears. "Good work Heaver! Are they all right?" A mare shouted back. "I think so. Is Spitfire back with their parents?" Heaver asked. He was getting closer. "Mr. and Mrs. Dash are due in ten minutes. And we got a hold of her father." Announced another mare. Fluttershy groaned. Rainbow Dash shifted under her. "C'mon, git'er up." Commanded Heaver. The fillies did not move. "I hate first years." "Heaver! I'm shocked at you. Anyway, look at the little dearies. They're being cute." Fluttershy could feel her heart rate rise. "Wake up!” Rainbow Dash jumped, knocking Fluttershy aside. Her voice rang out and filled the air, squeaky and panicked. “Ayayah Whazzat?! Omigoshomigoshomigosh. Fluttershy, we’re safe, we are safe! Who are you?” “I am a member of the school faculty.” “Geshundheit.” Squeaked Fluttershy. Rainbow laughed. “You think my job is funny do you? Well you, missy, are in a whole lot of trouble.” Heaver huffed. “Why?” Rainbow demanded. “Because fillies that skip school are criminals, and criminals get punished!” “We weren’t skipping school! Fluttershy here made her own, and I though it was better than your smelly place.” The little yellow filly stirred. She gulped down the sense of imminent disaster and wrestled herself up from the clouds. A big brown pony, Heaver, and Spit Shine were looking down on her. Smug he was, with that tight lipped smile. Spit Shine had her eyes narrowed, mouth agape. Fluttershy did not recognizes the expression. Surprise maybe. “Tell ‘em Fluttershy!” Goaded Rainbow Dash, but her face fell when their gazes met. “What’s the matter?” The second mare arrived. She was a grown up too. Her face was like the floors of the school, grey and unyielding. “Um... I...” “Out with it!” Shouted Heaver. Fluttershy retreated under her bangs. “Come now deary, what were you going to say?” “I... um... I sort of... three days ago...” “Go on, why didn’t you show up to class that day deary?” “Because I-” “Because she thinks she’s too important I’d say.” Grunted Heaver, leaning closer to Fluttershy. She saw his grin get wider. “That’s enough, Heaver. Thank you for saving the girls, you can go now.” The stony faced mare said. Fluttershy appreciated the dismissal. “What’s he got pricking his wing?” Muttered Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy felt better. She let out a little giggle. “Young lady! I would hope that you would take this seriously.” The stony faced mare said. Fluttershy sank below her bangs again. “I didn’t want to go to school three days ago. I went to the park instead. It was fun and I lear...” “I am very disappointed in you!” Said the mare. “I will be having a talk with your father about this. Go back to class. Come along Rainbow Dash” “But...” “Come along!” She turned and with only a curt nod to Spit Shine, flew back to the school. Rainbow Dash followed her, sneaking a look back at her friend. Tears were starting to form. Fluttershy looked to Spit Shine, just for one shred of her fake kindness. “Are you mad at me?” She whimpered. “I’m not mad, deary.” The corners of the Fluttershy’s mouth lifted. Her eyes widened. Intently she watched Spit Shine’s muzzle form the words... “But I am very, very disappointed in you.” She said. When a pegasus heart breaks, the sky will carry the sound. It’s like crushing glass, and gurgling brooks, not as lengthy as a sob, but so much softer than a scream. The sound is caught in the back of the throat before escaping as a gasp. And when a pegasus heart breaks, it hurts because it shatters. Each shard melts away, seeping dull pain into her breast. The pain just hangs there, sapping the color and life from the world. Then there is only a shell. And the pegasus with no more heart cannot do anything. The shell is immobile, and cold. The ache is warm, the only thing to hold onto. Rainbow Dash had looked so, alienated. The memory is something to hold onto, but it hurts all the more. Fluttershy knew her heart was broken. She felt so empty. “Come along.” Spit Shine began the trot back to the school. Say it “Fluttershy, let’s go.” Say it “Deary?” Fluttershy followed. Her tears mixed into the clouds to rain on some pony’s day. ~~~~lll~~~~` Upon entering the classroom, the Fluttershy felt every pair of eyes boring into her. She was suddenly grateful that her seat was so close to the door. Her eyes did not stray from her destination while she walked. Every step was thought out and made to be as perfectly even as possible. She still managed to stumble as she sat down. Maybe nopony noticed. The snickering that reached her ears was probably just her imagination. The teacher present wordlessly switched with Spit Shine and left the room. Class was dull. They were learning how to recognize patterns for something called matmatics. Spit Shine never held Fluttershy’s eye contact, preferring to engage the blue pony in the middle. When it was over and the bell rang she left the classroom. The hallway was rushing by as usual. This time she stuck close to the wall while navigating the school. The fresh air was a short lived relief. The world was so grey today. The clouds were blinding white, but lacking lustre. The sky as clear as ever save for the flock of pegasi. All of the colors were there. But there was no splash of Rainbow. Fluttershy stopped where she was. Ponies grunted at her as they passed. It took her a moment to uproot herself and break into a run. She charged into the crowd, side stepping and hopping to avoid the cascading hooves. Something caught her under her chin. She ignored it. "Out of my way please." She said to every pony that ignored her. The thrall tried to grab a hold of her. They would not have her, because today was a special day. She continued her charge, and found that the crowd was thinning out. Soon she was able to walk through the school with relative ease. With no wall of ponies pushing on her, Fluttershy started crisscrossing the hall at every doorway, just long enough to poke her nose into each classroom. There were stragglers everywhere. Some were still working at their desks. Others were fiddling with instruments, musical and obscure alike. But no pony had a rainbow mane. "Did you see? A first year got in trouble for skipping today. I could hear her parents from all the way down the hall." Fluttershy turned in the direction of the voice. No pony was in the hallway "Suck for her. What were her parents saying?" The voices were coming from a classroom, three doors down. "I don't know the whole story, but apparently another first year tricked their daughter. They told her to be more careful with friends." Fluttershy stopped creeping towards the door. "Well maybe she should. That was a really mean trick her friend played on her. Did you hear about Spitfire?" Fluttershy left the gossiping doorway and went for a walk. Walks were one of Fluttershy's favorite things. She walked for fun, when there was none. She walked when she wanted to go places slowly. And she walked when it was time to think. In the rhythm of hoof steps she could place her thoughts in order. Rainbow Dash was yelled at by her parents. She was in trouble with them. They thought that Rainbow Dash had been tricked by her friend. Fluttershy's friend was Rainbow, maybe it went the other way around as well. That means that Fluttershy tricked Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy is a trickster. She choked. She had not noticed her heart mending, but it was cracking apart once again. Rainbow Dash was in trouble, it was the tricksters fault. If the trickster apologized, everything could be forgiven. Celestia knows where to find them. Waiting until tomorrow would be far too late. She had to find Rainbow Dash that day. Her thoughts continued, but her hooves would not walk anymore. They trembled with her legs, and then her whole body joined in. She fell onto clouds. They were so soft and cozy, Fluttershy could not help but wrap herself in their wispy folds. FriendshipversaryShe fell on to clouds. They were so soft and cozy, Fluttershy could not help but wrap herself in their wispy folds. Sleep? No dreaming had happened, there had only been self awareness. Grumbling intruded on her thoughts, or lack of thoughts. "Find them, she says. Return quickly, she says. And then what? He comes by himself. Not like I was waiting on the doorstep for hours, not at all. No pony comes and get's me. Let's just leave her to her impossible task, and I'll bet that they had a great laugh about it. When I get a hold of that Spittle Whine, ohoho, she'll get it then." Fluttershy had had enough. "Can no pony get some sleep around here?! Be quiet!" She poked her head out of the clouds to see the mare disrupting her sleep. It had become really dark in the past few minutes. "Whoa there, what are you doing here? It's really late for a little filly like you." Said the mare in the darkness. The mare was yellow, unnaturally sunny in the moonlight. As she stepped forward Fluttershy was able to recognize her. "Spitfire?" "You know me? I'm flattered really," said Spitfire. "but you know that school ended, must have been five hours ago. Are you alright?" Fluttershy's stomach rumbled, "That was thunder." She muttered. There was food in her saddlebag. She reached around to open it, but her back was bare. She moaned, thunder rumbled. "So, you're hungry?" Deduced Spitfire. Fluttershy nodded. At least she was too numb and empty to cry. "I lost my saddlebag at the playground." "Well let's go!" Spitfire reached for Fluttershy, who scurried out of her reach. "I can walk." She responded quickly. Her flank hit a wall behind her. "And I can fly, get over here." By the time Fluttershy could think of how to respond she found herself soaring through the night sky. She shut her eyes but still felt the pull of the dive back to cloud level. "OK, we're here. I think I see your bag too." Announced Spitfire. Fluttershy was carried to her bag. She shakily unstrapped it and caught the lunchbox in her teeth. Spitfire lounged in the clouds while Fluttershy gorged herself on ozone lumps and nasty green bits. Mommy said that they were from a world below. They always tasted like wooden crates, but she gulped them down greedily. She could feel the food expand and ease the ache in her stomach and her chest. "I'm a screw up." Spitfire said. Her tone did not need an answer. "Every pony knows it too." Spitfire was looking up past the moon. What a beautiful mare, thought Fluttershy, who had raised her head. Chewing and breathing were much easier upright. "The school sent me on a job today. I had to round up two pairs of parents. Mr. and Mrs. Dash were easy, but they were yelling at me. Like it was my fault that their kid was skipping class." Fluttershy was back to eating. "The second set of parents, I don't even know. No pony answered the door, I waited there for hours. Just a few minutes ago the father came home, he had already stopped by the school so he told me to leave. What was the point?" Spitfire raised her voice while she vented. Fluttershy was not hungry anymore. She joined the mare lounging in the clouds shoulder to shoulder. "You helped me though." Said Fluttershy, repressing memories from the past week. “I just flew you around. I’m supposed to be doing teacher stuff.” Spitfire let her chin dig into the clouds. “I need help from a teacher! And you’re just the right pony I bet.” Fluttershy offered, a plan was forming. “Can you tell me where Rainbow Dash’s house is?” Spitfire was slack jawed for a moment. Then a smile invaded her face. “Why tell you if I can show you?” “Because I don’t want you to carry meeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaah!” ~~~~lll~~~~ "Here we are. Are you asleep again? Fillies shouldn't stay up so late." "I told you not to." Pouted Fluttershy. "Why are you here anyway?" Spitfire looked around. They had landed on a wide cloud walk. In front of them was a castle. Rainbow poured out of a cave like faucet, plunging deep into the clouds. Fluttershy could not see where exactly the colors disappeared to. A wall was in the way. When Rainbow Dash came out, she might be angry. Start with an apology. Say that you are sorry. And then what? Hugging was an option. But Fluttershy knew that situations like these could turn out worse. Rainbow Dash might start yelling at her, or worse if there was a lamp nearby. "Don't tell me that we came here just to stare at the house, are we going in or what?" Spitfire had an eyebrow cocked and was looking down at her yellow baggage. The humor in her voice had waned. "Maybe," whispered Fluttershy. It would be. long time before Rainbow Dash left the house, she would have to be brought out. If only it were possible to walk at the moment. Spitfire stuck her snout to Fluttershy and began pushing her towards the door. It was a large door with a shiny knob and a small circular window. The yellow glow reminded her of the sun. Clop clop clop Spitfire hammered on the door. Fluttershy's mind was contemplating the sun when the door opened. "Oh, you again. Care to tell us any other criminal activities Rainbow has been involved in?" The four hooves in the doorway said. It was a colt. "Not at all, I just brought this one here." Spitfire faced Fluttershy, they made eye contact. "I think she's looking for some pony." "Yes, is Rainbow Dash in? I need to talk to her please." Mumbled Fluttershy. She saw the door swing leaving only the gap where Spitfire stuck her hoof in. "Ouch." "Rainbow Dash has a lot to think about, she cannot come out tonight!" Grunted the colt behind the door. He widened the gap, and slammed the door on Spitfire's hoof. The next time she slipped out of the gap. SLAM "Hey! The filly just wants to talk. You don't have to be such a grouch about it. Do you have a wendigo problem or something?" Spitfire yelled into the door frame. She gave Fluttershy a wink and pointed a hoof upwards. "How about you come out here and we'll talk about this like cage fighters huh?" Fluttershy walked off the porch and to the rainbow colored side of the house. There was the wall blocking the way, five fillies tall. Looking left and right revealed a trash can, and a long piece of wood. Spitfire was occupying herself with abusing the door. Had she not been enjoying it so much, she may have seen Fluttershy adjust the board so that it leaned and hung over the wall. She may have also seen Fluttershy rolling a trash can up the incline. The incline was still too steep. Fluttershy groaned and jumped to the side. The trash bin tumbled down into the clouds. She adjusted the plank again, increasing the over hang and the incline. Slowly she scaled the plank. At the point where it connected to the wall, she did not become demotivated when it did not tip. She took three steps further and reached the end of the overhang. Hop. Dip. Back. Hop higher. Dip more. Spring back up. Land to dip lower. Spring up very high. Flap down. Dip very low. Launch. The long end of the plank fell, thrusting the overhang and the filly high into the air. She spread her wings and her launch leveled out into a glide. She circled around the second story of the castle and found a ledge to land on. Thunk. She made a note to herself to work on the landing. Her bruises from earlier now had bumps on them. And those bumps still had goosebumps from flying with Spitfire who was calling Mr. Dash a chump. Shaking off the injuries, Fluttershy wobbled to her hooves. She had landed meters away from the rainbowfall. There was a window for her to crawl through. She had done it. Now what? She was in a hallway. It was dark except for moonlit spots scattered about. Movement caught her attention. She backed away from it into the wall. Whatever it was disappeared. Fluttershy stood still to make sure it had disappeared, then took a few steps down the hall. Movement again, she started to trot. Celestia! It was following her. Galloping now, Fluttershy tried to think of where she was going. Anywhere without creepy moving things, she decided. She was so busy escaping, she did not notice the other pony until it was too late. They collided and rolled around in a ball. "Shh! Hush, Fluttershy it's me. It's me! Listen to me, it's Rainbow Dash. I found you." "Rainbow Dash?!" It was a special day. "Ya it's me." "The one and only?" Fluttershy pleaded. She could not see her in the darkness, but she was sure some pony was on top of her. "I guess so." "Happy one day friendshipversary!" "You came to my house in the middle of the night..." "Yes." "Had the substitute teacher chew out my parents..." "Oh, um yes." "Devised a contraption out of garbage..." "Was it garbage? I'm sorry I used you garbage." Rainbow Dash ignored the apology. "And used it to fly to the second story window of my house..." "It wasn't really flying, it was like what you did this morning..." "To wish me happy friendshipversary for one day of being friends?” “I am so sorry Rainbow Dash! I didn’t mean to...” Fluttershy had not meant to get her in trouble, or inconvenience her even. “You are so awesome!” Squealed Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy felt hooves wrap around her tightly. “I knew you could fly. You did it. I saw the whole thing too, it was so cool! Happy one day friendshipversary, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy hugged her friend back. It was easier than hugging mommy because she was too big to get her hooves around. It was just as warm though. “Uh oh, I think my parents are coming! Quick, out the window and I’ll see you tomorrow got it?” Said Rainbow Dash to her friend who certainly did not get it. The friend with no clue was shoved out of the window, but her head was still in the hug. Air rushed passed, another hug took hold. “I got you kid, but seriously stop falling! You’ll get yourself hurt one day.” Spitfire advised. “And while you were sneaking in (good job by the way) I figured out who you are! You’re that filly who got Rainbow Dash in trouble aren’t you? That’s what Mr. Dash said. You’ve got guts kid, but I’m taking you home now.” Fluttershy did not particularly care. She was feeling sick again. Too sick to even remind her courier that she had a name. ~~~~lll~~~~ “...a few choice words for your parents too! Where were they through all of this? Oh, we’re here.” Without letting go of Fluttershy Spitfire started hammering on the door. “Open up, I’ve got your daughter!” The door opened immediately. Daddy was there, and he pulled in Spitfire before slamming the door behind them all. “Fluttershy, go play with mommy, she missed you today.” His voice was slow and trembling. His daughter recognized the looming argument and sped away upstairs. Mommy was really fun. She told the best stories too. “Hello mommy.” … “Hello Fluttershy. How was your day today. My, how time flys. When I have naught to say.” “School was fun mommy. But why didn’t you answer the door earlier, when Spitfire came?” “I am to not, to let them see me. This I have fought, your father’s decree.” “I know, I’m sorry.” “How are all of your friends. What are the newest trends?” “They are all great mommy.” Fluttershy beamed. “Rainbow Dash taught me how to fly today.” “Oh please go on. we have ‘til dawn!” Fluttershy did not know how to continue. She had done a lot of dangerous things that day, and did not want to cause a fuss. “Can’t I have a story? Please.” She stretched out the please. “Well the best stories are told by these walls. Would you like to hear their calls?” Fluttershy nodded and sat down. Mommy always started stories like this. “This one will be rich, it is called ‘The Blind King’s Witch’.” There was a king of beautiful things. The finest red sands the gold from far off lands. And while beauty was all he saw, his generosity left ponies in awe. One day a Roma with beautiful aroma passed through his court. “What’s a Roma?” asked Fluttershy. “They are the wrongfully accused, their culture abused. So they travel and perform their ruse, and then you pay them their dues, for the entertainment you could really use.” She saw all of the beauties She quite liked the booties She came to the kingdom to offer her wisdom The King who thought it an art, Tightly bound her words to his heart. Be fair and kind One day you may find. Comeuppance will come of feasts and rum. “Rum?” Fluttershy was ignored, but she did not mind. That which the gypsy had said, clearly an Aesop good things come to the ethical cream of the crop. The king soon realized, what had he to gain? He was free of famine disaster and pain. He summoned her back bound in a sack. And she gave him his dish. not a fish A wish! A wish for that, whether longevity or nice hats, the king sat. On his throne he thought and he thought But everything he long ago got. He had all the beautiful things. What he did not, his servants would bring. The only thing marring, the only thing scarring, indeed it was sparring with his vast splendor were the ugly among his plunder. The rotten fruits, his strippers toots, his scuffed, discarded boots! Beauty was all he wished to see So he cried out, please let it be. Magic sang out... “Yes I’m going to tell her! Who did you send her to anyway if it isn’t her mother!” Shouted Spitfire from below, interrupting mommy. “Don’t come any closer. What do you even mean she HAS too! This whole situation is b-” She opened the door and appeared in front of the mommy and her daughter. “Fluttershy, do you know who this is?” She demanded, pointing a hoof at mommy. Fluttershy did not like to be yelled at, she shrank in on herself. Mommy stepped forward. “I am Orchestra Chord. You must be bored. So come sit down, hear the story of a foolish crown.” Spitfire looked around, panting heavily. Daddy came up behind her in a similar state. “Yes, Spitfire, please have a seat.” He said. Fluttershy decided that remaining silent was a good idea. The story would continue soon. No pony was moving anyway. "Beauty was all he wished to see. So he cried to let it be." Magic sang out, without a doubt. All blemishes dissolved The Kings world was resolved “Are you serious!” Shouted Spitfire. She was looking at the walls with a peculiar expression. Her eyes were dinner plates, but her brow was crossed. He muzzle was wrinkled like she had chanced upon an incredibly bad tomato. All was right for the King Except uncertain rumbling Just where had the Roma gone? Twas not dark yet, light still shone. He could look upon the stars But could not see her scars. They veiled her, And hark, the last chapter. “I don’t believe this, how long does she sit in here?” Spitfire directed her question at daddy, who was paying attention to mommy. The scarred invaded In the wish they were shaded Not one could the King find, While they robbed him blind. Mommy finished her story, it was a beautiful story. “Fluttershy, answer me please.” Spitfire pleaded, she had Fluttershy’s attention. “D- Don’t tell me... do you like it here?” Fluttershy listened to the question. She looked at her daddy, who looked back at her with a stern expression. She looked at her mommy, who always slept after a song. She looked at the walls, that confused her. She could never tell how large this room was. It was always filled with thousands and thousands of ponies. It confused her because they all looked the same. She looked at Spitfire who was crying. She must have really liked the story. Fluttershy looked down at the cloud carpet. “I like it here.” She said. When a pegasus’ heart breaks. It sounds like shattering glass and babbling brooks. Spitfire ran out of the room, followed by daddy. Fluttershy stayed with her mommy, because she would wake up soon, and have another wonderful story from the walls. … “I love you too mommy.” She heard the door slam downstairs.
First Impressions"I'm going now" ... "No, it's all right. I practiced all week." ... "I'll avoid the clear patches." ... "Yes, I'll be careful." ... "Really really really careful!" ... "I love you too." Fluttershy buzzed her wings excitedly while she trotted through the clouds. Each step sunk deep and then bounced. She took advantage of the springy cirrus to bounce into the air. "WooHoo!" She cheered at her maximum height. When she fell back down the clouds pushed her back up. She could bounce so high. She would push up the sky, break the blue and reach the sun. Wings grew weary. Fluttershy put off the solar expedition in favor of walking. A little piece of sky. A filly pegasus dropped from above. Fluttershy giggled, she liked the broken cloud bits that floated around from the impact. The crashed pegasus poked her head out of the clouds. Their coat matched the sky so perfectly, the only thing that made her presence known were the stripes on their head. Fluttershy concentrated on naming the stripes. Blue and yellow were easy, but In between the blue and the yellow, what was it? There was hardly any of it in Cloudsdale. Fluttershy watched the crashed pegasus pick herself out of the clouds, rev her wings and fly back into the sky. The colors were soon lost, the colors game ended. Maybe they could reach the sun, she thought. The crashed pegasus become one of many pegasi. The whole flock donned book bags just like Fluttershy, whose march on the clouds was soon joined by other little colts and fillies. A sigh of relief escaped her. ~~~~...~~~~ The building was so big! Fluttershy knew that if she bounced she would not make it to the top. Maybe if she could bounce from her bounce, and then bounced a lot of times. The walls were nothing like the clouds and sky. They were a rare color. Red was usually only seen at sunset. The little yellow filly looked up at the crowds of pegasi flying into the school. She frowned, sneaking a disappointed glance back at her own wings. Ponies brushed against her sides. The crowd was funneling through the big red double doors. The air was thick and filthy with pegasi sweat. ew. Fluttershy tried to make space for herself. She squeezed into the shadow of a larger pony. It was almost comfortable walking in his wake. Progress continued until a grey pony knocked her out of the way. Shewas back in the thrall. The other ponies jostled her, then shoved her, and swept her into the school. Fluttershy tried to wriggle and jump out of the rush but to no avail. The other ponies had her wings trapped against her sides Just as she had resigned herself to the mosh, it spat her out. "Ugh," groaned Fluttershy. "Thank you for letting me go." She said to the rushing wall of ponies. She remained on the ground, stunned. The horde of pegasi had pushed her into an alcove to the side of the hallway. They themselves were still in a frenzy, rushing above and around Fluttershy. A hoof crushed the end of her tail. "Hey!" She huffed. But the pegasus had already left. "It's your own fault." Said a gruff voice. "Eep!" Squealed Fluttershy as she spun around on the source of the voice. This stallion was monstrous. If she bounced high enough, maybe she could reach his muzzle. "Come on, git'er up." He commanded. With a whimper Fluttershy obliged. "Shouldn't you be at the auditorium? For Celestia's sake, stop staring at the ground stupid!" She took keen interest in the ceiling instead. It was covered in little pegasi. There was a pink one. "Psh, you first years are the same, every single year." The big brute said and stormed off into the crowd. Fluttershy nuzzled her face into her book bag. Her head reappeared, clenching a piece of note paper in her teeth. She furrowed her brow and put on her game face. Her daddy always said it was a scary face. A quick skim of the paper, a moment to fix her mane, and she dove back into the fray of the hallway. "Mur, eh mur! Gen goo elp mrr?" She asked every pony that took notice of her. For some reason, no pony would help her. More than once, Fluttershy was thrown into the floor. It was not soft like clouds, not even as soft as cloud carpet. It was pieced together from grey tiles, hard and unyielding. A bell rang. The halls were evacuated into the various rooms scattered about. Fluttershy was left alone save for one mare walking her way. "Hey kid, shouldn't you be in the auditorium?" Asked the mare. Fluttershy's lip wobbled. That was two grown ups now! They were not mommy, or daddy. They just expected her to know what an auditorium was. She spat out her note paper. "Taste bad?" "WAAAAAH," Wailed Fluttershy. "Oh boy." "WAAaaaaAAAaAaAAaa." "Is it about this paper? Look, look, it's not too covered in your drool." "Aaaaaa" "Do you want me to read it? It says, Dear School, just school, really? Wait, stop crying. Dear School, this is Fluttershy. She needs education. I don't know how the school system works. Please teach her a lot of stuff. O.C. That's all it...Oh..." The mare rubbed her temple. Fluttershy's wailing had reduced itself to a sob. "Well, my name's Spitfire. Are you lost Fluttershy?" She nodded and hiccuped. "It"s your first day, don't worry about it." Said Spitfire. "But," how could Fluttershy not worry? "In a way, today is my first day too. Anyway, you didn't miss much. The first years are all being sorted into classes now, boring really." Said Spitfire. "Am I a first year?" Asked Fluttershy. "Probably, yeah." Spitfire answered. "Then I won't have a class!" Fluttershy said, her sobbing doubled in intensity. "Wait wait wait! You don't have to cry, I can fix this up for you." Said Spitfire, tucking the yellow filly into her hooves. "Hold on!" Fluttershy was yellow like the sun at high noon. Spitfire was the sun just after dawn. The difference in tone was perplexing and distracted her from what the older mare said. Then Spitfire took off. "AAAAAAAAAA" Screamed Fluttershy. "WOOHOOOOO" Crowed Spitfire. Fluttershy could not figure out what was going on. This was really fast. She had never traveled this fast. It was like falling with no clouds to catch you. What if the floor caught her? Then, Spitfire turned. It was awful. Fluttershy began to feel sick. Another turn, another. Fresh air? They had made it outside but were not stopping. Going up was worse. An unknown force was pushing on Fluttershy's insides. How far could up go? Wasn't the sky going to stop them? There was a sudden reversal. The sky fell below, Spitfire and the clouds soared above. Then the world righted itself. Spitfire flew straight at the school. The wall of the school. She hit the brakes. The wall got closer and closer. Fluttershy looked on in terror. There was a hole in the wall. Would they go through the wall or hit it? She shut her eyes. Evidently through it. There was no crash, only a flurry of papers. "Okay, here we are!" Announced Spitfire. "The office." Fluttershy was dropped to the floor. Cloud carpet! She tried walking, but the trembling in her legs stopped her. Giving up, Fluttershy fell to the floor. "Lemme just find your name here." Said Spitfire. Fluttershy could hear her shuffling through paper. "Fluttershy, Fluttershy, hm... Flutter Act, Flutter Bash, skip a few, Flutter Wonder? Flutterting, Fluttershy! Found you. Class 1B, Room 103, Spit Shine's class. Come on, I can take you there." Fluttershy surrendered to being scooped up again. She was tired, and It couldn't be worse than last time. Spitfire jumped out of the window and fell into a steep dive. Flaring her wings at the last second brought her to a stop on her hind legs. She bunched up her flank and launched herself back into the school. It took two gut wrenching turns to reach room 103. She gingerly put Fluttershy down. "Aw, that's so cute, you fell asleep. Anyway, I got you here." Spitfire unfurled her wings and flew off into the depths of the school. Fluttershy lay there on the brink of sleep and waking. The past few minutes or seconds flashed before her eyes in a terrifying blur. She wanted to get up, but couldn't trust her body to work right. clop clop clop clop clop More ponies? The tiles made their hooves sound funny. They were all talking in hushed voices. Fluttershy realized that she very much did not want to get up after all. One colt said, "Spit Shine, Spit Shine, there's a sleeping filly blocking the way!" "Ask her to move deary." Said a mare. "Move deary!" Shouted the colt. "Why is she shaking like that?" Queried a filly. "Out of my way, out of my way! Oh dear me deary." Said the mare. Fluttershy cracked open her eyes. A dozen pair stared back at her expectantly. "Hello deary." Said a mare with a curled silver mane. Her coat was that elusive color, between blue and yellow but darkened. "Hello." Said Fluttershy. She shut her eyes again. Hopefully these ponies didn't want to take her flying as well. "Deary? I am miss Spit Shine. Whatever are you doing on the floor?" The littler ponies all started laughing. "I was put here." Said Fluttershy simply. More laughter ensued. "Well what class are you in deary?" Said Spit Shine. Fluttershy concentrated, remembering what Spitfire had said. "Yours?" She said. "Well then deary, shouldn't you have been in the auditorium?" Fluttershy slid her hooves under herself and, wobbling the whole way, stood up. "What is every pony's problem?" Said Fluttershy, not quite using her indoor voice. What is every pony's problem? "I don't even know what's a audortium!" I do not even know what an auditorium is! "I just wanna sleep!" The only pony who actually tried to help me in this school put me here. I'm tired and sick and I just got sort of comfortable... "And whoever made this floor is a jerk. Get some cloud carpet" It is really hard to get comfortable. Why would someone make a floor hard and grey like this. At home we have cloud carpet, it feels nice. Mommy wants my hooves to feel nice because she cares. "The only reason I'm here is 'cuz mommy told me to come." Mommy told me to come here, but she cannot have meant this place. I'm not here to be called stupid, or deary, or to be laughed at. I know I am not here to be flown around by a recklessly acrobatic pegasus until I almost puke. "And I don't need your stupid class either! Thank you." No pony even told me what a class is. If you are not going to tell me what you are talking about then I don't want to be a part of it. Remember to say thank you. "Well I'm sorry deary," Said Spit Shine. Her expression was strained, "What is your name?" "Why do you need my name?" Growled Fluttershy My name is Fluttershy, can I sleep now? "My name's Bad Yarn!" Said a colt. "No pony asked you feather brain!" Said another. Spit Shine ignored her class. "So I can check the list deary." She explained to Fluttershy. "Why is my name on a list?" My name is Fluttershy "If you are in my class deary, then you will be on my class list. Your name, deary?" "I'm Fluttershy." Your smile is wrong. It is not real! Spit Shine unsheathed a page from her saddle bag. Manipulating her lower jaw into an under bite she flipped the page up to her eyes. Fluttershy did not like Spit Shine. She did not like her hair, her voice, how she smiled, and most of all the word deary! "Well deary..." Said Spit Shine. Fluttershy ground her teeth. "...You are indeed in my class, but why were you not in the-" "Don't say it!" "-auditorium?" Fluttershy screamed. Kicking back with both legs with all her strength, she bucked the door to room 103. It swung almost halfway open. "What's her problem?" Whispered one filly to another. "Is she crying?" Said Bad Yarn. The little yellow filly spun around and stormed into the room. Then she stopped. There were a lot of seats. "Get a seat in the front," Daddy had said. "It is easier to learn from there." "Surround yourself with your friends," Mommy had said. "It is easier to talk to them in the back." Fluttershy frowned. Choosing was far too difficult. She made for a seat in the middle of the room. A blue colt cut her off. The rest of the class was funneling into the room, overtaking the indecisive Fluttershy. She made for a seat in the front of the room. This time she was intercepted by the hoof of Spit Shine. "Can I speak with you deary?" Said she. Ignoring her, Fluttershy leaned towards the seats. There were still some left! "I just want to know if there is anything bothering you?" Spit Shine continued. "A lot!" Said Fluttershy. The strain in her voice was dismissed by Spit Shine. A lot of things are bothering me. Especially you. "Do you want to talk about it?" Said Spit Shine. Fluttershy looked at her teacher. She was faking her smile again. "No!" Fluttershy groaned. I want to sit down. Look at that, you slowed me down, and now all of the good seats are taken. "Well let's at least get along together with every pony else this year OK?" Said Spit Shine in a sickly sweet voice. "I don't get along with fakers." Mommy told me that lying, faking and cheating will get me nowhere. Spit Shine was just surprised enough by the retort to let go of Fluttershy, who rushed to the last available seat. The seat was to the near left side of the room, second from the back. Fluttershy had not been able to do as her mommy nor daddy said. She sighed. The ponies around her were talking excitedly, taking advantage of Spit Shine's distraction. Fluttershy twitched her ears, she had found a conversation to latch onto. "The blue raspberry flavor is the worst. Misty River ate one and no one has seen her for a week." "Where did she go?" "Dunno, she stuck it in her mouth and screamed and ran away." "Why didn't she spit it out?" "She showed me, it fused into her tongue. I swear it was smoking." Fluttershy turned to the two ponies, and opened her mouth. “Attention class!” Spit Shine said, taking the words from Fluttershy, and grinding them to bits. Fluttershy swallowed her wrecked reply, it tasted like bile. “It is so nice to meet you all. I am Miss Spit Shine. Welcome to you first day of school here, I know that we will all be the best of friends.” She turned her head while speaking, her eyes locked with Fluttershy’s. “Let’s all start the year off with a game, what do you say my little ponies?” A certain yellow filly did not want to play a game. The class broke out into cheers. “I know what would be fun!” I bet you don’t, thought Fluttershy. “Everypony tell us your name and something that you enjoy.” The game started at the front of the room. Bad Yarn liked to make spit bubbles. Corsettala liked dolls. Tripe liked to spin. Dollop Flop liked to sing. Fluttershy recognized the blue colt who cut her off before, but it wasn’t his turn yet. Somepony liked flossing, probably Corsettala. That meant that Dollop had to like dolls because dolls and Dollup, duh. Fluttershy missed another pony entirely. Here was the blue colt. His name was Lazuli, he liked to make cloud castles. Fluttershy did not know what a cloud castle was, but it sounded nice. Bouncable? Probably. She missed another pony. Actually two, because the second one was dark and liked napkins, but would go nameless for the moment. Fluttershy was trying to figure out who liked singing and soon lost everypony in a curfuddled mess. Fluttershy’s name was not going to be lost to her classmates, “I’m Fluttershy!” She hollered. “We all new that.” Chuckled a pony that was probably named Floppup. The class was laughing. “Oh, well I like to bou...” Started Fluttershy. “Are you Fluttershy because you’re shy? You don’t look shy.” Said Lazuli. “I don’t really...” “Are you Fluttershy because you can’t flutter?” Asked the pony who had sworn Misty River’s tongue was smoking. Fluttershy flopped her wings feebly, “I don’t think so.” “Why were you on the ground?” Pestered Tripe. “You’re Fluttershy because you like the ground right?” Bad Yarn concluded. “Now class,, that’s enough.” Said Spit Shine. She clopped her hooves together to bring everypony’s attention. “Fluttershy, deary, you were saying?” “My name is Fluttershy, I don’t like anything!” Grumbled the yellow filly. “Come now deary, there has to be something.” “I like not liking anything.” Finished Fluttershy. Then she folded her hooves and lay her forehead to rest. She missed the name of the pony behind her. That was fine, except that meant Spit Shine was back to speaking. “Wow, most of you seem like you will grow into fine pegasi. Who knows, maybe one of you just told us your future special talent! And that’s what school is for you know. Look.” Said Spit Shine. Fluttershy assumed that everypony was looking at something. She wanted to see it too. She peeked out from below her mane. Everypony was staring at Spit Shine’s flank, so she did too. Three blocks, red and yellow below the blue. "Us teachers are here to build you dearies into well rounded ponies. By learning what we have to teach, you will all grow up and get cutie marks like mine." "Will we all have funny blocks on our flanks?" Shouted Bad Yarn. "Probably not deary. But you all are still young. I doubt that any of you will get your cutie marks for a year or two. I would even be surprised if any of you can fly yet. Now, let's play another game." ~~~~...~~~~ Fluttershy did not enjoy the rest of her day. Spit Shine made them play games that only served to waste time. The other ponies were loud, and seemed to prefer being friends with eachother than trying to reach out to Fluttershy. For lunch she had a couple of apples. Her classmates enjoyed brightly packaged snacks. Bad Yarn produced an endless supply of popcorn. Fluttershy yearned for the fluffy, buttery kernals, but he was sharing them on the other side of the room, with his friends. Class continued after lunch, more games were played, and somehow, Fluttershy kept losing. One game was played by calling out a pony’s name before tossing a balloon at them. It was horrible. So many ponies knew her name by now, and she could only name a few with confidence. She found herself passing the balloon to Bad Yarn whenever she panicked. Then a bell rang. On cue, everypony rushed out of the classroom, shouting and laughing with their friends. They all dissolved into the stormy hallway in groups. Fluttershy, the last to the door despite being second closest, hesitated. She should wait until the hallways clear before stepping out. She mentally patted herself on the back. Mommy said that she had her father’s four-sights, whatever that was. “What’s the matter deary?” Asked Spit Shine behind her. Fluttershy bounded into the hall with reckless abandon, losing her self to the rapids. The ponies drowned her under their wings without a care. They smelled a lot worse than before too. She gave up. All she would have to manage was staying upright. There was no point in breathing, really. Aching lungs were much better than letting the odors in. Sight was a bother, since there was obviously too much of every color in Cloudsdale. Fluttershy recalled Spit Shine’s coat. There was definitely too much of whatever Spit Shine was. Her ears were constantly jammed, with elbows or wings, or somepony’s flank. No real sound came through. Touch was meaningless. As Fluttershy fell to the ground, the other ponies rushed through her space. This did not slow the descent, however the direction of falling skewed. Forward. Down. Foward. Stop. Pushed. Up. Forward. Down. Forward. Bounce. Forward. Roll. Stop. Pushed. Forward. Slide. Pushed. Sideways. Roll. Stop. Dizzy. Pulled. Up. Fall. Forward. Caught. Pulled. Up. Pushed. Down. Straight. Down. Land. Squishy. Pushed. Up. Up. Stopped. Fall. Rise. Pushed. Squeeze. Burst. Air. Fresh. Fall. Roll. Soft. Stopped. Stay. Fluttershy knew that she was back on clouds. She could not enjoy the sensation while her skin remembered the chaotic impacts. She twitched her ears. It was so loud, the other ponies could not be distinguished. Their laughter was blending with their cries. She opened her eyes. Pale sky, dotted with pegasi, but the sight was moving. Twisting around itself, bending. Fluttershy did not care anymore. This school thing discouraged her from even the walk home. She would just have to walk back the next day anyway. Her daze was shaken. Literally, her entire body was being shaken back and forth. Something pushed past her lips, filling her mouth. It was hard, hot, and large. Fluttershy could not even move her tongue around it. The object rhythmically started pushing into her throat, pressing down her tongue even further. “...seven... eight...nine...ten, and blow!” The sound of wind being sucked in followed. A wet suction cup collided with Fluttershy’s chest. Pbbbbbbbbbbbbbt it blew hot air into her coat. It tickled so much that she bit down on her oral invader. “Eeyow!” Screamed the pony. Fluttershy tried to scream too. After two failed attempts she did something drastic, the opposite. Her lungs inflated to capacity. Then she tried screaming again, but it was replaced with gagging and coughing. Another inhale relieved her for a second. “Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow. That hurt, that hurt, that hurt! Ooooooooww.” Wailed the pony who stuck her appendages where they do not blong. Fluttershy finally calmed herself down while the other pony cried over her bitten hoof. Now her throat was sore along with the rest of her. At least she was finally out of the school. A good distance away from the main doors too, so the crowd of ponies gave her wide berth. “What is your problem!” Yelled the other pony, making Fluttershy wince. “Huh? I can’t hear you, you buck toothed lunatic.” The two ponies just stared eachother down for a minute. Fluttershy was still coming to grips with the world around her. She was amazed that she had made it out of the school at all. She was sitting across from the rainbow maned pony from that morning. It was odd how the pony vibrated on the spot. Was she cold? “Are you cold?” “Are you dumb, why did you bite my hoof?!” Demanded the rainbow pony. “I didn’t mean to, you tickled me! And don’t call me dumb.” Fluttershy rasped back. Her throat was still raw. “I’ll call ya as I see ya, you dummy hoof-biter.” “You’re a dummy, dummy!” “Well you’re too dumb to breathe!” “I don’t get it! Shows how dumb you are!” “Don’t call me dumb!” Shouted the rainbow pony this time. She flared her wings, spun around and jumped, higher than Fluttershy’s eartips, into the air. She landed back in the clouds and jumped again, higher. The rainbow pegasus dipped, skimmed the clouds before veering into the sky. “Too dumb to breathe,” said Fluttershy, mimicking the rainbow pony. She walked home alone. “I’m hooomme!” She shouted upon entering. … “It was fun.” … “Friends?” … “Of course I did.” … “A whole bunch.” … “Thanks mommy.”
A Better School"I'm going now!" ... "Ok, I will." ... "They’re... I mean we live out of their way." ... "We'll meet up later." ... "Bye mom!" ... The clouds had been made extra wispy that morning. They billowed around Fluttershy, robing her in silver. Pegasi dotted the sky, they surrounded her. Just like the day before, funneling into the school. Unlike the day before, these pegasi were in packs. Tightly knit and loud, these groups of friends mocked the solitary. Fluttershy felt the tugs of their questions. "Hey, did you hear?" they said. No, she had not. "Do you see that?" She did not see, but sometimes the ponies pointed, and then Fluttershy could look with them, discreetly. Though she did not know what was so noteworthy about the fence. She prodded the border between the cloud-walk and some pony's lawn. Boring. The school loomed overhead. Should she choose to enter, there was the high probability of being squashed, terrified, and meeting Spit Shine. Fluttershy made to turn around, because she was a fast learner. Startled by the wall of ponies, she tried to hold her ground. After being body checked by the first two ponies the relentless current of bodies took her up again. There was still a distance to the school. Fluttershy hung low and scurried under foot, tripping up a few ponies. The rush still pulled her towards the red double doors of the school, but she cut her way sideways. Emerging out of the side of the crowd. Heaving for air, her mane askew, and her coat dirty, Fluttershy swelled. All was well. She showed the school her tongue, then turned her flank on it. This time there were no ponies to kidnap her. She bounced away from the scene humming a merry tune. la lala la la lala lala lala Her hooves took herself all the way to the park. It had a lot of stuff, that park. A swing set, a seesaw, and a slide. She wiggled off her bags and bounced into the playing grounds. Fluttershy used half of the swing set first. She straddled it with her belly and started kicking with all of her might. Eventually motion was created, a slow shift forward and back. The other half of the swing set got a turn too, though much shorter. Then there was the slide. No, first were the stairs. The fall from the top of the slide to the bottom was over far too quickly. Walk around to have it end too soon once more. Run around, and then the slide almost lasted longer. But the running was exhausting, and the loop was dizzying. The seesaw was a puzzle. One look at it told all there was. It was a plank on an axle. It was unbearably unimpressive and underwhelming. Fluttershy continued staring at the seesaw. Then she tried sniffing it. She reached up to the raised end and pulled it down to the clouds. This she could work with. One hoof in front of the other, she walked up the plank. At a certain point, the slope reversed, and Fluttershy rolled down the other end. Hahahaha She turned around and ran up the plank the other way. At the same point as last time she started tumbling. The sloped fall into the clouds made Fluttershy’s head swim. This was nothing like how Spitfire played, or how the hallway ponies played. It was soft and controlled, This time she walked up the plank delicately, balancing on her hoof tips and fluttering her wings softly. She watched carefully for where her hooves landed and waited for the tipping. There it was! A more powerful stroke of her wings brought Fluttershy to a float above the plank and for an instant it stopped moving. The moment ended ended when hooves touched back down on the plank and tumbling down went the pegasus. Picking herself up, she paced around the plank. There was a pointed mound made of clouds holding it up. She would bet her... she would bet that this is where she had stepped last time. She bit the plank beside the pointed mound. This time would be perfect. Fluttershy prepared to jump. She started with a bounce, then a larger bounce. Then she sprang up high and tapped her hoof near her toothmarks. She landed on the other side and turned around expectantly. Her ears flopped down. The plank was still half up and half down. She tried again to no avail. Hitting hard with her hoof on the next attempt only served to make he hoof numb. Frustration took hold. This time she landed bang on the centre of the plank. “Why is nothing happening?!” She yelled,positive that she was right where she should be. Two hooves on one side and two on the other side of the pointed mound. Tired, Fluttershy decided to lay down. As she did so the plank started to move again. She stood up and returned to her standing position. Hooves evenly apart from her tooth marks. The plank slowed before it began to fall back down. She twisted around to see the rising end, but then it started to fall down instead. Hooves stationary, her head slowly shifted toward the now rising end, which began to fall. “Wow!” Fluttershy knew what to do. She bent over the side of the plank so that her head did not belong to either side. The pegasus tipped and fell into the clouds. The plank had finally decided on a direction. It was up and down again, stubbornly refusing to co-operate. “What is wrong with you.” She muttered to the seesaw. ~~~~lll~~~~ Fluttershy bounced home the same time as she had yesterday. She had been at school after all, it would not be very good to have left early. She completely bypassed her route to school, who knows what unsavory face she would meet the “I’m home!” … “No I didn’t, why?” … “Who was it?” … “You have to answer the door sometimes mommy.” … … … “I know. I’m sorry.” … “My friends?” … “I made one today. He was really nice.” … “Um... See Saw.” … “He is teaching me to fly! Isn’t that great?” … “Thanks mommy.” ~~~~lll~~~~ Fluttershy stayed away from the big red building for the second day in a row. She shrugged off her bags in mid gallop. The seesaw was ready and waiting for her. It had been all she had been thinking about the night before. She even had a dream, but she could not remember it well enough to tell if the seesaw had been the theme. The plan had stuck though. She knew for certain that she would figure out its secrets today. She dug into the clouds around the seesaw, heaping them up into great lumps. She had just started her third when she was interrupted. “This is what you were doing yesterday? Making cloud castles!” Shouted a pony from above. Startled would be an understatement, Fluttershy was spooked! She loosed a high pitched whinny and stuffed herself as far inside her mound of cloud as she could. She heard flapping and the puffy sounds she associated with falling on clouds. Then she heard an awful lot of scoffs, huffs, puffs, and grunts. “Though I’ll admit, it takes guts to skip school on your second day.” Said the unknown pony. Fluttershy poked her face out of the cloud mound. “I’m at school. But a dummy like you wouldn’t see that.” Indeed, in front of her was the rainbow maned dummy. She was sitting down, her gaze shifted from mound to mound before settling on Fluttershy’s face. “This isn’t school!” “It’s my school though.” Said Fluttershy defensively. “Nuh uh. A school is a place where you learn things.” The rainbow pony squeaked on the word, learn. “That’s what mommy said too. But that big red place didn’t teach me anything. And I’ve been learning a lot here.” “Ya, like what?” “How to fly.” She said simply. The rainbow pony’s laughter was relentless. She laughed when Fluttershy retreated fully back into the cloud. Even as Fluttershy left her mound and started patting it down to make it dense again. The hard working pony was accompanied by the laughter as she sized up the three cloud balls. She then made a fourth. The park grew quiet as Fluttershy rolled all of the balls into position, three and one on each side of the seesaw. She rolled the first two balls onto the plank, and then took a wedge of cloud from the ground and stuck it in between the middle-most ball and the outer-most ball. A second wedge was placed between the outer ball and the end of the plank. Under the raised end of the plank she placed the third ball. Then she returned to the lowered end. Fumbling with her hooves, Fluttershy tried to roll the middle-most ball up the slope. After a minute of struggling, the rainbow pony offered her aid. The ball was rushed up and past the toothmarks. It was brought to rest on the other side. The plank was now parallel with the clouds beneath. A wedge was used to secure the ball in place. The fourth ball was wedged under the plank, forming a symmetrical structure. A ball on top and under each end of the see saw. “Thanks.” Gasped Fluttershy in between heavy breaths. “No problem.” Said the rainbow pony. “But I don’t get it, what is this?” “This plank can fly.” “Huh?” “Watch this.” Said Fluttershy, she tried to mimic the confident swagger of Spitfire as she walked over to the seesaw. “What do you think will happen when I move this ball?” She gestured towards one of the supporting cloud balls. “Don’t do it, it’ll fall!” Shouted the rainbow pony. Too late. Fluttershy pushed the ball out from its supporting position. She patiently waited for the rainbow pony to uncover her eyes. Very patiently. When the rainbow pony opened her eyes, she could not believe them. “How by thunder?” The plank was still steady. Fluttershy walked over and pushed the other ball out of the way too. “No! Uh... are you a unicorn?” The plank remained level. A cloud ball on each side, but it did not fall. “This,” said Fluttershy. She bounced three times then jumped to the familiar position at the toothmarks. “...is what I learned.” The plank remained still. Fluttershy beamed, the rainbow pony’s expression was fantastic. Slack jawed, with dinner plate eyes, her eyebrows creased together. She seemed to be trying to speak, issuing broken syllables punctuated by twitches in her wings and tail. Eventually words came out. “It’s flying! How? You made it fly! I can’t... I don’t even.” “I know, I didn’t even either!” Said Fluttershy. But she was losing herself, and more importantly her footing. The plank tipped ever so slowly... ~~~~lll~~~~ “Mommy guess what!” … “I made a friend. Her name is Rainbow Dash. She looks like the sky except with a rainbow. She came to my school today. Well, she was at the school the past two days. But anyway, we made a seesaw fly! It was so exciting, but then it fell. It’s ok though because Rainbow Dash showed me how to play on it. I never knew that it took two ponies! I can’t wait to go to school tomorrow!” … “I’m glad too!” … “I love you too, mommy.” ~~~~lll~~~~
Habitual SingingFluttershy started galloping full tilt towards school. Her hooves left large oblong prints in the clouds as each step rumbled in baby thunder. Sometimes, a particularly large bank of the white fluff would try to stop her. A flurry of wing power would get her over such obstacles, but she often had to tuck her hooves tight against her belly so as not to trip. Today was a special day. Fluttershy’s friend was whizzing around on the swing set, waiting. “Awwww, I ran really fast too. You cheated!” Fluttershy accused. “No I didn’t, you’re just too slow!” Teased Rainbow Dash. “Which is why I’m here early. The sooner the better right?” Fluttershy stopped just short of the swing set. She did not know what to say. Mostly because she did not know what her friend was talking about. Deciding on a sentence, she spoke. “There is nothing wrong with taking your time, is there?” “Of course there is!” said Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy noticed that her eyes had shifted up and to the left. She looked that way as well, just in case. While she was distracted, her friend drifted over and halted in front of her. “Isn’t there?” She asked. “There isn’t?” “You don’t sound too sure.” “I don’t?” “Bahahaha!” Rainbow Dash laughed, falling over backwards. “That face! How’d you?... with the eyebrows. Golden! Ahahaha.” Her laughter was soon accompanied by a giggle from Fluttershy.. Then suddenly, “Ah, we’re wasting time! Quick, get on the seesaw.” Fluttershy was being pushed across the playground. Looking down reminded her of the sky. Yellow like the sun, and blue like the sky. She soon found herself on the plank, and her friend rose away yelling down, “Keep your legs bent, and brace yourself. This is going to be awesome with a capital awe.” Neither of the ponies knew what a capital was in the first place. Fluttershy thought that the capitol was Canterlot. That’s what daddy said. "You ready?" called Rainbow Dash from above. Fluttershy looked down at the seesaw. Her hooves were evenly spaced. Most of her weight sat in her hind legs, which were slightly bent. She experimented crouching a little lower, then a little higher. She would feel much more comfortable with her legs locked. "I can't stay up here forever you know." Rainbow Dash said, strain etched into her voice. Fluttershy looked up. Against the sky all she could see were two dots of color circling. She returned her concentration to herself. Obviously she was expected to be doing something. Just what she was was a mystery. "Hey Rainbow Dash-" She started. "OK, here I come!" "Oh, no I meant what should I-yAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Finished Fluttershy as Rainbow fell down on the far end of the seesaw. Upwards she shot, like Spitfire with less control. Unfolding her left wing started a spiral. Spreading out her right wing morphed her flight into a tight spin. Her hooves swung in wide arcs. She kept screaming. Screaming for mommy. Screaming at Rainbow Dash. Screaming at the world to just stop spinning. But the world was deaf, and becoming red. It could not be sunset yet. Before all of the pieces fell into place, the novice flyer crashed into the wall of the school. THWACK Too slowly she began to fall, peeling from her imprint on the wall. Down she dropped like a bag of stones, to the clouds that saved her bones. A rainbow streak rushed to her side, saying that at least she tried. Maybe she could sleep in time, to heal this catchy sort of rhyme. She could not stop it, she tried to drop it. If she just stopped thinking... ...sinking. She was sinking in cloud, but the world remained loud. Really, why? Could no pony let her lie? Just like three days before, when she picked herself from the floor. Fluttershy rose with a groan. A strain in her back, caused her to moan. Rainbow Dash looked perplexed, as if her friend was hexed. For her eyes were rolling. Her tone was drolling. Ear were flopping, eyelids dropping. Oh please help her, god of sun! The time of song had begun. “What was that you crazy twat?” Sang Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, Are you all right?” Responded Rainbow Dash with no rhythm. “You gave me the biggest fright!” “Well it was for the sake of flight.” Explained Rainbow Dash. “Wait, why are we rhyming?” “And what was with that timing? You never ever told me. Your plans were not plain to see.” “Oh, sorry. Umm... now what are you doing?" Fluttershy was now bobbing side to side, to an imaginary beat. "Remembering my footing." She replied. "The time I spend with my mom c'est trés longue. So I developed a habit in song. And stop it will not. Until conclusion is wraught. I hardly know what I mean." "This is the strangest I've seen. Rhyme is cool, and fun. But seriously, did that hurt a ton?" Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof in the direction of the upside down Fluttershy impression stamped in the wall. "Even so that trick, was awesome and terrific. Do you want to try once more?” “I want nothing you have in store!” Raged Fluttershy. “It was the worst, please warn me first.” “Sorry... And about the singing, it’s caused my ears to start ringing. I really want it to end, what’s the quickest mend?” “A conclusion I said. Listen you featherhead.” “But I don’t see how, and I want it done now.” “At least your tempo got better, but the dialogue much wetter. Can’t you see, it’s only fee. We must complete, we have to meet...” Fluttershy rambled, her face turning blue. “Stop your stalling!” Rainbow Dash stamped the clouds, a trickle of thunder could be heard below. “We need a calling. A purpose, a plot.” Fluttershy explained “So what I sought, we need content, like a message to be sent?” “Yes” “To who?” “The few that want to listen to you.” "Just us two!?" "Yes." Fluttershy beamed. "I got it!" Rainbow Dash took hold of a new beat, bobbing from side to side. "Life's too short for the trotting pace. And that's why you gotta fly. Practice your form, you'll win the race, Speed's the fruit of what you try!" Rainbow Dash flew a tight circle around Fluttershy's head, making her frown a little. It made her dizzy. In response, she started hopping around the school in great bounding leaps, wings working at full speed. "Patience Rainbow, pay attention. The world is full of detail. Slow down, maximise retention. To pass it by is how you fail." Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves. She flew just above Fluttershy as they went along the red wall. "Fluttershy please, what do you see? Too much, the exact same things. When you fly you can break free. And that is why we have wings." She caught Fluttershy around the waist on her next bounce, lifting her twice as high. "Wah! Too high! Way too high. Why is the world getting smaller? I don't even think I'm meant to fly. All I am is a grand faller." "You aren't going to fall if you flap." Rainbow Dash proclaimed, letting go of her yellow baggage. "Oh snap!" Fluttershy flopped into the clouds audibly. "I'm OK. ow! I'll get up. ow! I prefer my hooves down here. Bravo Rainbow, take a bow. All you've done is increase my fear." Her eyes were getting teary. Apparently Rainbow Dash noticed. "Come on, don't be sad. No one started out grand. Cheer up, it’s not so bad, To fly and never land.” “But I’ll get weary...” Sang Fluttershy “Hey, I do too.” Rainbow Dash landed beside her “I find it dreary.” “That’s nothing new.” The Rainbow pony shifted her eyes up and to the left. “What does that mean?” “”Huh?” “The way you move your eyes I’ve seen.” “You’ve never seen eye rolling?” “Umm, no. Should I have been knowing?” “It’s not important.” But what had it meant, thought Fluttershy. She was shocked to find herself in front of the school. Shocked enough to issue drool. She looked to both sides, a horizon of cloud. Nowhere and nowhere was the bustling crowd. “Oh, we’re back.” Said Rainbow Dash. “For words, you have a knack.” Fluttershy teased, moving her eyes up and to the side. Then from behind came a gruff voice. “Two truant fillies, rejoice.” Twin screams punctuated the air, the fillies ran and flew from the scare. They raced down the halls, bouncing off walls. Up the stairs, past teacher’s lairs. Through a corridor, limbs growing sore. And the voice echoed behind them. “Just wait ‘til I find ‘em.” “Gosh he was scary, All big brown and hairy.” Fluttershy sang on. “Shouldn’t we hide? Because fleeing we’ve tried. I can’t believe we’re still singing, with the luck its bringing.” “No need to blame the song, It’s this school’s fault, it’s what’s wrong. At the end of this hall, you see that light? What is it? It shines real bright.” Fluttershy ran out into the light. And what was below her caused her great fright. She backpedalled but her fate was settled and down she fell, what a sight! Rainbow Dash zipped down in a flash, and caught the grand faller, before the cloud floor could maul her. “What just happened Rainbow? Goodness, we’re outside! I just leaped out a window?! And I don’t think I like this ride.” Rainbow Dash dipped. “Oh no. The ride is fine. Please don’t let us die Please just fly in a straight line. And after, teach me how to fly.” Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash’s neck as they angled down. Both pegasi flapped their wings desperately. The clouds rushed up at them and THUD The impact shook Fluttershy to the core. She kept a hold of her friend as sleep overcame her. "Here they are. I saved them!" shouted a gruff voice, far too close to the pegasus' ears. "Good work Heaver! Are they all right?" A mare shouted back. "I think so. Is Spitfire back with their parents?" Heaver asked. He was getting closer. "Mr. and Mrs. Dash are due in ten minutes. And we got a hold of her father." Announced another mare. Fluttershy groaned. Rainbow Dash shifted under her. "C'mon, git'er up." Commanded Heaver. The fillies did not move. "I hate first years." "Heaver! I'm shocked at you. Anyway, look at the little dearies. They're being cute." Fluttershy could feel her heart rate rise. "Wake up!” Rainbow Dash jumped, knocking Fluttershy aside. Her voice rang out and filled the air, squeaky and panicked. “Ayayah Whazzat?! Omigoshomigoshomigosh. Fluttershy, we’re safe, we are safe! Who are you?” “I am a member of the school faculty.” “Geshundheit.” Squeaked Fluttershy. Rainbow laughed. “You think my job is funny do you? Well you, missy, are in a whole lot of trouble.” Heaver huffed. “Why?” Rainbow demanded. “Because fillies that skip school are criminals, and criminals get punished!” “We weren’t skipping school! Fluttershy here made her own, and I though it was better than your smelly place.” The little yellow filly stirred. She gulped down the sense of imminent disaster and wrestled herself up from the clouds. A big brown pony, Heaver, and Spit Shine were looking down on her. Smug he was, with that tight lipped smile. Spit Shine had her eyes narrowed, mouth agape. Fluttershy did not recognizes the expression. Surprise maybe. “Tell ‘em Fluttershy!” Goaded Rainbow Dash, but her face fell when their gazes met. “What’s the matter?” The second mare arrived. She was a grown up too. Her face was like the floors of the school, grey and unyielding. “Um... I...” “Out with it!” Shouted Heaver. Fluttershy retreated under her bangs. “Come now deary, what were you going to say?” “I... um... I sort of... three days ago...” “Go on, why didn’t you show up to class that day deary?” “Because I-” “Because she thinks she’s too important I’d say.” Grunted Heaver, leaning closer to Fluttershy. She saw his grin get wider. “That’s enough, Heaver. Thank you for saving the girls, you can go now.” The stony faced mare said. Fluttershy appreciated the dismissal. “What’s he got pricking his wing?” Muttered Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy felt better. She let out a little giggle. “Young lady! I would hope that you would take this seriously.” The stony faced mare said. Fluttershy sank below her bangs again. “I didn’t want to go to school three days ago. I went to the park instead. It was fun and I lear...” “I am very disappointed in you!” Said the mare. “I will be having a talk with your father about this. Go back to class. Come along Rainbow Dash” “But...” “Come along!” She turned and with only a curt nod to Spit Shine, flew back to the school. Rainbow Dash followed her, sneaking a look back at her friend. Tears were starting to form. Fluttershy looked to Spit Shine, just for one shred of her fake kindness. “Are you mad at me?” She whimpered. “I’m not mad, deary.” The corners of the Fluttershy’s mouth lifted. Her eyes widened. Intently she watched Spit Shine’s muzzle form the words... “But I am very, very disappointed in you.” She said. When a pegasus heart breaks, the sky will carry the sound. It’s like crushing glass, and gurgling brooks, not as lengthy as a sob, but so much softer than a scream. The sound is caught in the back of the throat before escaping as a gasp. And when a pegasus heart breaks, it hurts because it shatters. Each shard melts away, seeping dull pain into her breast. The pain just hangs there, sapping the color and life from the world. Then there is only a shell. And the pegasus with no more heart cannot do anything. The shell is immobile, and cold. The ache is warm, the only thing to hold onto. Rainbow Dash had looked so, alienated. The memory is something to hold onto, but it hurts all the more. Fluttershy knew her heart was broken. She felt so empty. “Come along.” Spit Shine began the trot back to the school. Say it “Fluttershy, let’s go.” Say it “Deary?” Fluttershy followed. Her tears mixed into the clouds to rain on some pony’s day. ~~~~lll~~~~` Upon entering the classroom, the Fluttershy felt every pair of eyes boring into her. She was suddenly grateful that her seat was so close to the door. Her eyes did not stray from her destination while she walked. Every step was thought out and made to be as perfectly even as possible. She still managed to stumble as she sat down. Maybe nopony noticed. The snickering that reached her ears was probably just her imagination. The teacher present wordlessly switched with Spit Shine and left the room. Class was dull. They were learning how to recognize patterns for something called matmatics. Spit Shine never held Fluttershy’s eye contact, preferring to engage the blue pony in the middle. When it was over and the bell rang she left the classroom. The hallway was rushing by as usual. This time she stuck close to the wall while navigating the school. The fresh air was a short lived relief. The world was so grey today. The clouds were blinding white, but lacking lustre. The sky as clear as ever save for the flock of pegasi. All of the colors were there. But there was no splash of Rainbow. Fluttershy stopped where she was. Ponies grunted at her as they passed. It took her a moment to uproot herself and break into a run. She charged into the crowd, side stepping and hopping to avoid the cascading hooves. Something caught her under her chin. She ignored it. "Out of my way please." She said to every pony that ignored her. The thrall tried to grab a hold of her. They would not have her, because today was a special day. She continued her charge, and found that the crowd was thinning out. Soon she was able to walk through the school with relative ease. With no wall of ponies pushing on her, Fluttershy started crisscrossing the hall at every doorway, just long enough to poke her nose into each classroom. There were stragglers everywhere. Some were still working at their desks. Others were fiddling with instruments, musical and obscure alike. But no pony had a rainbow mane. "Did you see? A first year got in trouble for skipping today. I could hear her parents from all the way down the hall." Fluttershy turned in the direction of the voice. No pony was in the hallway "Suck for her. What were her parents saying?" The voices were coming from a classroom, three doors down. "I don't know the whole story, but apparently another first year tricked their daughter. They told her to be more careful with friends." Fluttershy stopped creeping towards the door. "Well maybe she should. That was a really mean trick her friend played on her. Did you hear about Spitfire?" Fluttershy left the gossiping doorway and went for a walk. Walks were one of Fluttershy's favorite things. She walked for fun, when there was none. She walked when she wanted to go places slowly. And she walked when it was time to think. In the rhythm of hoof steps she could place her thoughts in order. Rainbow Dash was yelled at by her parents. She was in trouble with them. They thought that Rainbow Dash had been tricked by her friend. Fluttershy's friend was Rainbow, maybe it went the other way around as well. That means that Fluttershy tricked Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy is a trickster. She choked. She had not noticed her heart mending, but it was cracking apart once again. Rainbow Dash was in trouble, it was the tricksters fault. If the trickster apologized, everything could be forgiven. Celestia knows where to find them. Waiting until tomorrow would be far too late. She had to find Rainbow Dash that day. Her thoughts continued, but her hooves would not walk anymore. They trembled with her legs, and then her whole body joined in. She fell onto clouds. They were so soft and cozy, Fluttershy could not help but wrap herself in their wispy folds.
FriendshipversaryShe fell on to clouds. They were so soft and cozy, Fluttershy could not help but wrap herself in their wispy folds. Sleep? No dreaming had happened, there had only been self awareness. Grumbling intruded on her thoughts, or lack of thoughts. "Find them, she says. Return quickly, she says. And then what? He comes by himself. Not like I was waiting on the doorstep for hours, not at all. No pony comes and get's me. Let's just leave her to her impossible task, and I'll bet that they had a great laugh about it. When I get a hold of that Spittle Whine, ohoho, she'll get it then." Fluttershy had had enough. "Can no pony get some sleep around here?! Be quiet!" She poked her head out of the clouds to see the mare disrupting her sleep. It had become really dark in the past few minutes. "Whoa there, what are you doing here? It's really late for a little filly like you." Said the mare in the darkness. The mare was yellow, unnaturally sunny in the moonlight. As she stepped forward Fluttershy was able to recognize her. "Spitfire?" "You know me? I'm flattered really," said Spitfire. "but you know that school ended, must have been five hours ago. Are you alright?" Fluttershy's stomach rumbled, "That was thunder." She muttered. There was food in her saddlebag. She reached around to open it, but her back was bare. She moaned, thunder rumbled. "So, you're hungry?" Deduced Spitfire. Fluttershy nodded. At least she was too numb and empty to cry. "I lost my saddlebag at the playground." "Well let's go!" Spitfire reached for Fluttershy, who scurried out of her reach. "I can walk." She responded quickly. Her flank hit a wall behind her. "And I can fly, get over here." By the time Fluttershy could think of how to respond she found herself soaring through the night sky. She shut her eyes but still felt the pull of the dive back to cloud level. "OK, we're here. I think I see your bag too." Announced Spitfire. Fluttershy was carried to her bag. She shakily unstrapped it and caught the lunchbox in her teeth. Spitfire lounged in the clouds while Fluttershy gorged herself on ozone lumps and nasty green bits. Mommy said that they were from a world below. They always tasted like wooden crates, but she gulped them down greedily. She could feel the food expand and ease the ache in her stomach and her chest. "I'm a screw up." Spitfire said. Her tone did not need an answer. "Every pony knows it too." Spitfire was looking up past the moon. What a beautiful mare, thought Fluttershy, who had raised her head. Chewing and breathing were much easier upright. "The school sent me on a job today. I had to round up two pairs of parents. Mr. and Mrs. Dash were easy, but they were yelling at me. Like it was my fault that their kid was skipping class." Fluttershy was back to eating. "The second set of parents, I don't even know. No pony answered the door, I waited there for hours. Just a few minutes ago the father came home, he had already stopped by the school so he told me to leave. What was the point?" Spitfire raised her voice while she vented. Fluttershy was not hungry anymore. She joined the mare lounging in the clouds shoulder to shoulder. "You helped me though." Said Fluttershy, repressing memories from the past week. “I just flew you around. I’m supposed to be doing teacher stuff.” Spitfire let her chin dig into the clouds. “I need help from a teacher! And you’re just the right pony I bet.” Fluttershy offered, a plan was forming. “Can you tell me where Rainbow Dash’s house is?” Spitfire was slack jawed for a moment. Then a smile invaded her face. “Why tell you if I can show you?” “Because I don’t want you to carry meeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaah!” ~~~~lll~~~~ "Here we are. Are you asleep again? Fillies shouldn't stay up so late." "I told you not to." Pouted Fluttershy. "Why are you here anyway?" Spitfire looked around. They had landed on a wide cloud walk. In front of them was a castle. Rainbow poured out of a cave like faucet, plunging deep into the clouds. Fluttershy could not see where exactly the colors disappeared to. A wall was in the way. When Rainbow Dash came out, she might be angry. Start with an apology. Say that you are sorry. And then what? Hugging was an option. But Fluttershy knew that situations like these could turn out worse. Rainbow Dash might start yelling at her, or worse if there was a lamp nearby. "Don't tell me that we came here just to stare at the house, are we going in or what?" Spitfire had an eyebrow cocked and was looking down at her yellow baggage. The humor in her voice had waned. "Maybe," whispered Fluttershy. It would be. long time before Rainbow Dash left the house, she would have to be brought out. If only it were possible to walk at the moment. Spitfire stuck her snout to Fluttershy and began pushing her towards the door. It was a large door with a shiny knob and a small circular window. The yellow glow reminded her of the sun. Clop clop clop Spitfire hammered on the door. Fluttershy's mind was contemplating the sun when the door opened. "Oh, you again. Care to tell us any other criminal activities Rainbow has been involved in?" The four hooves in the doorway said. It was a colt. "Not at all, I just brought this one here." Spitfire faced Fluttershy, they made eye contact. "I think she's looking for some pony." "Yes, is Rainbow Dash in? I need to talk to her please." Mumbled Fluttershy. She saw the door swing leaving only the gap where Spitfire stuck her hoof in. "Ouch." "Rainbow Dash has a lot to think about, she cannot come out tonight!" Grunted the colt behind the door. He widened the gap, and slammed the door on Spitfire's hoof. The next time she slipped out of the gap. SLAM "Hey! The filly just wants to talk. You don't have to be such a grouch about it. Do you have a wendigo problem or something?" Spitfire yelled into the door frame. She gave Fluttershy a wink and pointed a hoof upwards. "How about you come out here and we'll talk about this like cage fighters huh?" Fluttershy walked off the porch and to the rainbow colored side of the house. There was the wall blocking the way, five fillies tall. Looking left and right revealed a trash can, and a long piece of wood. Spitfire was occupying herself with abusing the door. Had she not been enjoying it so much, she may have seen Fluttershy adjust the board so that it leaned and hung over the wall. She may have also seen Fluttershy rolling a trash can up the incline. The incline was still too steep. Fluttershy groaned and jumped to the side. The trash bin tumbled down into the clouds. She adjusted the plank again, increasing the over hang and the incline. Slowly she scaled the plank. At the point where it connected to the wall, she did not become demotivated when it did not tip. She took three steps further and reached the end of the overhang. Hop. Dip. Back. Hop higher. Dip more. Spring back up. Land to dip lower. Spring up very high. Flap down. Dip very low. Launch. The long end of the plank fell, thrusting the overhang and the filly high into the air. She spread her wings and her launch leveled out into a glide. She circled around the second story of the castle and found a ledge to land on. Thunk. She made a note to herself to work on the landing. Her bruises from earlier now had bumps on them. And those bumps still had goosebumps from flying with Spitfire who was calling Mr. Dash a chump. Shaking off the injuries, Fluttershy wobbled to her hooves. She had landed meters away from the rainbowfall. There was a window for her to crawl through. She had done it. Now what? She was in a hallway. It was dark except for moonlit spots scattered about. Movement caught her attention. She backed away from it into the wall. Whatever it was disappeared. Fluttershy stood still to make sure it had disappeared, then took a few steps down the hall. Movement again, she started to trot. Celestia! It was following her. Galloping now, Fluttershy tried to think of where she was going. Anywhere without creepy moving things, she decided. She was so busy escaping, she did not notice the other pony until it was too late. They collided and rolled around in a ball. "Shh! Hush, Fluttershy it's me. It's me! Listen to me, it's Rainbow Dash. I found you." "Rainbow Dash?!" It was a special day. "Ya it's me." "The one and only?" Fluttershy pleaded. She could not see her in the darkness, but she was sure some pony was on top of her. "I guess so." "Happy one day friendshipversary!" "You came to my house in the middle of the night..." "Yes." "Had the substitute teacher chew out my parents..." "Oh, um yes." "Devised a contraption out of garbage..." "Was it garbage? I'm sorry I used you garbage." Rainbow Dash ignored the apology. "And used it to fly to the second story window of my house..." "It wasn't really flying, it was like what you did this morning..." "To wish me happy friendshipversary for one day of being friends?” “I am so sorry Rainbow Dash! I didn’t mean to...” Fluttershy had not meant to get her in trouble, or inconvenience her even. “You are so awesome!” Squealed Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy felt hooves wrap around her tightly. “I knew you could fly. You did it. I saw the whole thing too, it was so cool! Happy one day friendshipversary, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy hugged her friend back. It was easier than hugging mommy because she was too big to get her hooves around. It was just as warm though. “Uh oh, I think my parents are coming! Quick, out the window and I’ll see you tomorrow got it?” Said Rainbow Dash to her friend who certainly did not get it. The friend with no clue was shoved out of the window, but her head was still in the hug. Air rushed passed, another hug took hold. “I got you kid, but seriously stop falling! You’ll get yourself hurt one day.” Spitfire advised. “And while you were sneaking in (good job by the way) I figured out who you are! You’re that filly who got Rainbow Dash in trouble aren’t you? That’s what Mr. Dash said. You’ve got guts kid, but I’m taking you home now.” Fluttershy did not particularly care. She was feeling sick again. Too sick to even remind her courier that she had a name. ~~~~lll~~~~ “...a few choice words for your parents too! Where were they through all of this? Oh, we’re here.” Without letting go of Fluttershy Spitfire started hammering on the door. “Open up, I’ve got your daughter!” The door opened immediately. Daddy was there, and he pulled in Spitfire before slamming the door behind them all. “Fluttershy, go play with mommy, she missed you today.” His voice was slow and trembling. His daughter recognized the looming argument and sped away upstairs. Mommy was really fun. She told the best stories too. “Hello mommy.” … “Hello Fluttershy. How was your day today. My, how time flys. When I have naught to say.” “School was fun mommy. But why didn’t you answer the door earlier, when Spitfire came?” “I am to not, to let them see me. This I have fought, your father’s decree.” “I know, I’m sorry.” “How are all of your friends. What are the newest trends?” “They are all great mommy.” Fluttershy beamed. “Rainbow Dash taught me how to fly today.” “Oh please go on. we have ‘til dawn!” Fluttershy did not know how to continue. She had done a lot of dangerous things that day, and did not want to cause a fuss. “Can’t I have a story? Please.” She stretched out the please. “Well the best stories are told by these walls. Would you like to hear their calls?” Fluttershy nodded and sat down. Mommy always started stories like this. “This one will be rich, it is called ‘The Blind King’s Witch’.” There was a king of beautiful things. The finest red sands the gold from far off lands. And while beauty was all he saw, his generosity left ponies in awe. One day a Roma with beautiful aroma passed through his court. “What’s a Roma?” asked Fluttershy. “They are the wrongfully accused, their culture abused. So they travel and perform their ruse, and then you pay them their dues, for the entertainment you could really use.” She saw all of the beauties She quite liked the booties She came to the kingdom to offer her wisdom The King who thought it an art, Tightly bound her words to his heart. Be fair and kind One day you may find. Comeuppance will come of feasts and rum. “Rum?” Fluttershy was ignored, but she did not mind. That which the gypsy had said, clearly an Aesop good things come to the ethical cream of the crop. The king soon realized, what had he to gain? He was free of famine disaster and pain. He summoned her back bound in a sack. And she gave him his dish. not a fish A wish! A wish for that, whether longevity or nice hats, the king sat. On his throne he thought and he thought But everything he long ago got. He had all the beautiful things. What he did not, his servants would bring. The only thing marring, the only thing scarring, indeed it was sparring with his vast splendor were the ugly among his plunder. The rotten fruits, his strippers toots, his scuffed, discarded boots! Beauty was all he wished to see So he cried out, please let it be. Magic sang out... “Yes I’m going to tell her! Who did you send her to anyway if it isn’t her mother!” Shouted Spitfire from below, interrupting mommy. “Don’t come any closer. What do you even mean she HAS too! This whole situation is b-” She opened the door and appeared in front of the mommy and her daughter. “Fluttershy, do you know who this is?” She demanded, pointing a hoof at mommy. Fluttershy did not like to be yelled at, she shrank in on herself. Mommy stepped forward. “I am Orchestra Chord. You must be bored. So come sit down, hear the story of a foolish crown.” Spitfire looked around, panting heavily. Daddy came up behind her in a similar state. “Yes, Spitfire, please have a seat.” He said. Fluttershy decided that remaining silent was a good idea. The story would continue soon. No pony was moving anyway. "Beauty was all he wished to see. So he cried to let it be." Magic sang out, without a doubt. All blemishes dissolved The Kings world was resolved “Are you serious!” Shouted Spitfire. She was looking at the walls with a peculiar expression. Her eyes were dinner plates, but her brow was crossed. He muzzle was wrinkled like she had chanced upon an incredibly bad tomato. All was right for the King Except uncertain rumbling Just where had the Roma gone? Twas not dark yet, light still shone. He could look upon the stars But could not see her scars. They veiled her, And hark, the last chapter. “I don’t believe this, how long does she sit in here?” Spitfire directed her question at daddy, who was paying attention to mommy. The scarred invaded In the wish they were shaded Not one could the King find, While they robbed him blind. Mommy finished her story, it was a beautiful story. “Fluttershy, answer me please.” Spitfire pleaded, she had Fluttershy’s attention. “D- Don’t tell me... do you like it here?” Fluttershy listened to the question. She looked at her daddy, who looked back at her with a stern expression. She looked at her mommy, who always slept after a song. She looked at the walls, that confused her. She could never tell how large this room was. It was always filled with thousands and thousands of ponies. It confused her because they all looked the same. She looked at Spitfire who was crying. She must have really liked the story. Fluttershy looked down at the cloud carpet. “I like it here.” She said. When a pegasus’ heart breaks. It sounds like shattering glass and babbling brooks. Spitfire ran out of the room, followed by daddy. Fluttershy stayed with her mommy, because she would wake up soon, and have another wonderful story from the walls. … “I love you too mommy.” She heard the door slam downstairs.
