Rainbow Goes to Flight Camp

by UndercoverBrony

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Sad, Fluttershy
Length: 5097

The time has come for little Rainbow Dash to learn how to fly, so she's on her way to flight camp...

The time has come for young Rainbow Dash to learn how to fly, so she's on her way to flight camp. But when she meets a little yellow pegasus filly, flying is the easiest of the lessons that she has to learn.

This is just a quick one-shot, and does not mean I've abandoned Dreams and Nightmares. If anyone actually cares :p

Thank you to Onej6 from ponychan for reviewing/proof-reading.

Published 2011-11-13 10:24:32 UTC
Last updated 2011-11-13 16:02:52 UTC

Rainbow Goes to Flight Camp

Rainbow Goes to Flight Camp Google Docs

“Wake up, Rainbow!”

Dash turned over, rolling a section of cloud over her head to muffle her mother’s voice. This was supposed to be the summer holidays, why did she need to get up early?

“Come on, dear, or you’ll be late for summer flight camp.”

Oh right, that’s why. She groaned. Why did she have to take time out of her holidays to go to flight camp? It sounded an awful lot like school to her, and she hated school. I’ll learn to fly in my own time. I don’t need some fuddy old teacher to give me lessons. “Just a few more minutes mom, please?”

“No, we’re already cutting it fine as it is.” Her mother tore away the clouds covering Rainbow. Dash winced at the cold morning air, but stubbornly kept her eyes sealed shut. Her mother sighed. “Come along now, aren’t you even a little excited? Learning to fly is an important milestone in a young filly’s life. You know, for a lot of foals it’s when they get their cutie mark...”

“I don’t care about cutie marks, and I definitely don’t care about flying,” replied Dash. “Maybe if you’d let me sleep, I’d get a cutie mark for that.”

“Maybe you’ll get your cutie mark if I give you a TICKLE ATTACK!” She started sweeping her wing back and forth along Rainbow’s flank. Dash yelped, and rolled over, trying to kick her off with her hooves. But that only exposed her underbelly to the tickling.

“Okay! Okay!” she giggled. “I’m awake! I’m awake! You can stop!” She jumped out of bed, and stretched each of her limbs in turn. “Is breakfast ready?”

Her mother laughed. “When have you ever been up before breakfast was ready? Now hurry up and eat it. We don’t have much time.”

Dash rushed into the kitchen and started to eat. Eating quickly was one of her best skills. Every moment saved at breakfast was a moment more in bed. The house was a modest little affair in the stratocumulus of Cloudsdale. Her father told her that ‘stratocumulus’ meant the lowest level of clouds, which was why they were at the bottom of the city. She didn’t see him as much as she’d have liked to, as he was a very important pony in the weather disasters team. If there was ever some sort of crisis with the weather somewhere, and there often was, he’d be the one who was called out to fix it.

Her mother was a teacher, something that Dash was forever embarrassed about. Fortunately she taught at a school down on the surface, so Rainbow had managed to keep it a secret from her classmates. She’d never been down to the surface herself, few foals did until they could fly, and she didn’t much want to. It sounded pretty boring.

“Alright, Rainbow, daddy dropped your luggage off on his way to work, so it’ll be waiting for you there. Don’t worry about tidying away breakfast, I’ll do it once I get back.”

The two of them hurried outside, Dash’s mother leading the way. Cloudsdale was mainly designed with flight in mind, but there was usually a walking route for those too young or too old to fly. Still, it was hard work for little legs, and Dash had to canter to keep up with her mother.

“Slow down, mom, please?” she moaned, gasping for breath.

“This is what you get for staying too long in bed,” her mother scolded, although she did slow her pace a little. She shot a sly little grin at her daughter. “You know, once you learn to fly, it’ll be a lot easier to get around...”

“So what you’re saying is that I need to go to flight camp to learn to fly, so that I can get to flight camp easier?”

“More easily,” corrected her mother, teacher instincts kicking in. “And not just to flight school. Trust me, Rainbow, once you get flying you’ll never want to walk anywhere again.”

After what seemed, to Rainbow, an age, they arrived at a grand pair of gates. Emblazoned across it were the words ‘Cloudsdale Flight Camp’. An old pegasus mare smiled at them from inside. She was a dull green, with a paler green mane. Both were interspersed with patches of grey hair. On her flank was the image of three pairs of white wings. In her hooves she held a clipboard and pen.

“Well hello there,” she said. “My name is Mrs Skybloom. And who might you be, little filly?”

“I’m Rainbow Dash!”

“Ah, yes.” Skybloom ticked the name off her list. “I should have known that, all the other foals are already here. Don’t worry, we haven’t started yet. Everypony is getting settled in their rooms first. I’ll show you to yours now, so that you can meet your roommate. Then in about-” she glanced at a watch that was hanging from the clipboard, “-half an hour we’ll start the training.”

“Well, goodbye Rainbow.” Her mother bowed down an gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you soon. Have fun!”

“Bye mom!” Rainbow hugged her, then trotted over to Skybloom. Now that she was here, she had to admit that she was getting just a little bit excited. She’d never been away from home for this long before, and it felt a bit like an adventure. Plus, she’d get to meet a ton of cool new ponies. Even learning to fly didn’t sound so bad, at least if she didn’t pay too much attention to the ‘learning’ part.

Skybloom led her deeper into the camp. It was built around a long runway, designed to allow young pegasi plenty of room to take a run up before trying to lift off. The area surrounding the runway was littered with jumps and raised pathways for the slightly more advanced fliers, decorated with yellow and orange flags fluttering in the wind. Up in the sky were a series of cloud hoops, tracing out a racecourse.

At one end of the runaway was a tall cloud, shaped something like a tree. Although Rainbow was unable to make the comparison since she’d never actually seen a tree herself. A series of steps led to a small doorway in the ‘trunk’. Skybloom flew up and inside, with Rainbow following behind on hoof.

Inside was a long spiral staircase leading upwards. Leading off it were a series of doors with numbers etched into them. After only a mercifully few turns, Skybloom stopped in front of door number 12.

“Now, I’m afraid that you’re going to have to share,” she explained. “I trust that you’ll be nice to your roommate?” Rainbow nodded. “Good. Well, go and get acquainted then.” She pushed open the door.

Inside, there was a bunk bed and a small window. Rainbow’s bag was lying on the floor inside, alongside another bag that she didn’t recognise. On the top bunk, there was a small yellow pegasus filly, with a long pink mane. She smiled, and Dash smiled back.

“Hi, I’m Rainbow Dash.” She walked inside, and closed the door behind her. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Fluttersky!” the pegasus replied. “It’s great to meet you, Rainbow Dash! Oh, isn’t this so exciting? I haven’t been able to sleep all week! I just can’t wait to learn to fly, can you? Oh, and I can’t wait to make lots of new friends as well! Will you be my first friend, Rainbow?” She spoke so quickly that Rainbow hardly had time to get a word in edgewise. Still, her enthusiasm was rather infectious, and her bubbly nature made it hard for Dash not to like her.

“Sure thing, Fluttersky,” agreed Dash. “You seem pretty cool, I’d love to be your friend!”

“Great!” Fluttersky giggled. “I’m not here more than a few minutes and I already have a new friend! So... tell me about yourself. What are you going to be when you grow up?” She gave no pause for Dash to answer, instead continuing her own stream of consciousness. “I’m going to be a Wonderbolt! My cousin Spitfire, she’s a few years older than me, is trying out for them in a few months, and I’m sure she’ll get in. She’s so awesome! I want to be just like her! That’s why I’m so excited to learn to fly!”

“Who are the Wonderbolts?” asked Dash.

Fluttersky gasped. “You... you haven’t heard of the Wonderbolts? They’re only the most amazingly awesome fliers in Equestria! Hey! We should go to the try-outs together, then we can both be Wonderbolts! That way we can be friends forever!” She squealed with delight.

“Yeah... why not?” Dash grinned. She’d always imagined that she’d end up as a weather pony like her dad, but these Wonderbolts sounded pretty cool. And Rainbow Dash is all about cool.

They continued chatting for a while, discussing school, what they liked doing, the usual sort of thing. By the time that Skybloom came around to fetch them, they felt like they’d known each other for years. Thanks to Fluttersky’s encouragement, Dash was even looking forward to their first flying lesson.

***

Fluttersky and Dash’s class was made up of around a dozen or so foals of around the same age. Mrs Skybloom lined them all up at one end of the runway, and began explaining the basics of how to fly. Fluttersky and Dash had made sure that they were standing together at one end of the line, with Dash on the outside.

The pony on the other side of Fluttersky was a colt with a dark brown coat and a pale cream mane. As with the rest of their class, he had not yet earned his cutie mark. The front of his mane drooped down over his face, almost covering his eyes. He stared off into the distance, apparently not paying much attention to either the lesson, or the other young ponies.

This disinterest was not enough to deter Fluttersky. “Hi there! My name is Fluttersky! Do you want to be friends?”

“What?” he replied. “No, I do not want to be friends. Now shut up, you’re going to get us in trouble.”

Fluttersky looked slightly disheartened, but persevered. “You could at least tell me your name...”

“I’m Billy. Now be quiet.”

“Ahem.” Skybloom coughed pointedly, staring at the pair of them through narrowed eyes. “Since you two clearly do not need to listen to my instruction, perhaps you’d be kind enough to provide us with a demonstration?”

“Gee, thanks Fluttersky,” muttered Billy under his breath, glaring at her. He stared forwards down the runway, the concentration clear on his face. He burst into a gallop, flapping his wings as he went. With an almighty leap, he shot into the air.

It was really barely more than a jump. Perhaps he went a little higher and further than he would have without wings, but it was certainly not flying. However, to a group of young foals who had never flown in their life, it was impressive. They all gasped in awe, stamping their hooves in appreciation.

“Wow...” sighed Dash. “That was pretty cool!”

“Thanks,” replied Billy, the smugness clear in his voice. “My big brother’s been giving me lessons.” Instead of taking his place next to Fluttersky, he made a point of joining the end of the line next to Rainbow.

Mrs Skybloom did not look pleased that her punishment had backfired. “Yes, alright, not bad for a first try. Fluttersky, your turn.”

“Right! I won’t let you down!” Fluttersky stated. She lowered her head, and dashed forward. Her wings blurred, her hooves thudded, and then... she tripped. Fell right on her face, sending a little puff of cloud floating up around her.

The other foals laughed; even Dash couldn’t help but giggle a little. Although she immediately felt bad about it when she saw how dejected Fluttersky looked as she trudged back towards the line. She went to join the end next to Billy, but he gave her an unfriendly glare that changed her mind. Instead, she looped around the back and rejoined in her original position, trying to pretend that that had been her intention all along.

She turned to the filly who was now next to her. “Hi! I’m Fluttersky, do you-” The filly closed her eyes and turned her head away. Fluttersky looked down at her hooves. “Okay then...”

Skybloom went back to her lesson. Despite herself, Dash found that she was actually paying attention in class for the first time. This wasn’t like maths, or history, or any of the other boring lessons she’d had to sit through in school. Something about it just... spoke to her. The more she heard, the more she wanted to hear. And her wings were just itching to put it all into practice.

Finally, the explanations were finished. Skybloom started to call out the names of the ponies. One by one, they made their first fledgling attempts at flight. None of them were quite as impressive as Billy, but none of them were as spectacular a failure as Fluttersky either. Eventually, Skybloom worked her way down the line to Fluttersky. But instead of calling her out for another attempt, she skipped her entirely and called Rainbow’s name instead.

Alright then, she thought, let’s do this. She concentrated hard on everything that Skybloom had said. Deep breaths. Steady flaps, don’t just flail. Get a good run up... She shot forward, and leaped into the air. However, as she did so she suddenly lost her nerve. Her eyes snapped shut as she waited for the inevitable impact...

Which never came. Cautiously, she peeked open her eyes. She was flying! Well, more like hovering, really. Still, she was off the ground at least. She felt a sudden rush shoot through her body. Freedom. Power. Energy. For the first time in her life, she really understood what it meant to be a pegasus.

“I did it!” she squealed. “I did it! I did it! I did it!” Slowly, she lowered herself down to the ground, beaming widely as she did so. The other foals stamped their hooves in applause.

“Very good, Rainbow.” Skybloom smiled. “It isn’t often that somepony gets it right first time. Just don’t get too overconfident; that was a good start, but you’ve still got a lot to learn.”

“That was pretty cool, Dash,” admitted Billy.

“Thanks!” Rainbow preened. “I am pretty cool, aren’t I?”

Fluttersky smiled at her politely, but said nothing. The droopiness of her eyes betrayed the fact that she was still disappointed at her own performance.

“Don’t worry,” Dash whispered to her. “That was just an accident. I’m sure you’ll do better with more practice.”

Billy snorted. “Yeah, sure. Or maybe you just suck.”

Unfortunately, Billy’s prediction was the more accurate one. As the day progressed, each of the other foals gradually improved. By lunchtime, all of them had at least mastered the basic hover. All of them except Fluttersky. No matter what she tried, she hadn’t really done much more than jump all morning. The only real improvement had been that she hadn’t fallen on her face again. Slowly, her optimism and enthusiasm had drained away, until it seemed that she almost didn’t care any more.

She seemed rather relieved when they finally broke for lunch, and Dash was glad to see at least the ghost of a smile on her lips. They chatted on the way to the food hall, and Rainbow did everything she could to raise Fluttersky’s spirits. They picked out their food together, Rainbow matching Fluttersky’s selections even when she didn’t particularly like what she had ordered.

“Hey, Rainbow!” called Billy. “Over here!” He was sitting at a table with another colt, who looked a little older. He had an orange coat, and a brown mane that drooped forward like Billy’s. “This is my brother, Hoops,” Billy explained. “He’s in the year above.”

“The second year?” Dash gasped. “That is so cool.” She gasped again as she spotted a mark on Hoops’ flank. Three basketballs. “Wow! And you already have your cutie mark! That’s awesome! Can I sit with you guys?”

“Sure thing Dash,” agreed Hoops. He pulled out a seat for her. “Billy was just telling me how you flew on your first attempt. Not bad at all.”

“What can I say?” Dash grinned. “I’m a natural.”

“Hi!” Fluttersky reached out her hoof towards Hoops. “My name is-”

“Fliers only,” growled Billy. “This is the cool table. You aren’t cool.”

“This is the lame-o filly who can’t even hover?” asked Hoops. He laughed. “That’s pathetic.”

“Okay then,” Fluttersky’s head drooped. “I’ll just... sit somewhere else then.” She glanced at Rainbow.

Aw, come on, thought Dash. Why do I have to choose? Well... this Hoops guy is a whole year above, and he has his cutie mark already. That’s pretty cool. Plus Billy is probably the coolest pony in our class, apart from me of course. And I’ll be with Fluttersky all night anyway. She had made her decision. “Sorry, Fluttersky. I guess I’ll see you later.”

The guilt hit her as soon as Fluttersky turned away and slowly walked over to a table all by herself. But why should she feel guilty? It wasn’t as if she was Fluttersky’s keeper. She hadn’t sent her away, it had been Hoops and Billy. Why should she give up her spot on the cool table just because Fluttersky was lonely?

***

“I’m never going to be a Wonderbolt, am I?” It wasn’t really a question, more of a statement of fact. It was night, and the ponies had returned to their rooms. The second half of the day had not been an improvement on the first, at least as far as Fluttersky had been concerned. Everypony else was now flying around, although rather unsteadily for the most part. But she still hadn’t managed to even hover.

“It’s only one day,” replied Rainbow. “You’ll get it eventually.”

“I’ll fly eventually, but I’ll never be good enough for the Wonderbolts,” the resignation was clear in Fluttersky’s voice. “You can’t get into the Wonderbolts just by flying around a little. You have to have real talent. Spitfire was the first in her class to learn to fly. I’m the last. If anypony here is going to be a Wonderbolt, it’s you.”

Try as she might, Rainbow couldn’t think of a reply that would make Fluttersky feel better. There really wasn’t anything she could say. Fluttersky was right, she clearly didn’t have a talent for flying.

She couldn’t really sympathise, either. Unlike Fluttersky, she could hardly stop flying. She had to come down to the ground to rest occasionally, but if she had to move from one place to another she would do it by flying. Walking almost felt unnatural to her now. Anything that she said would probably only make Fluttersky feel even worse.

They lay in silence for a while. Eventually Fluttersky broke it. “Why didn’t you sit with me at lunch, Rainbow? Or at dinner?”

“I’m sorry, ‘Sky.” Rainbow paused. It had all seemed so simple to her at the time. So reasonable. But now, with just her and Fluttersky, she suddenly felt as if she had done something terrible. The carefree camaraderie of the morning was gone, and suddenly everything felt... awkward.

“Do you... not want to be my friend any more?” asked Fluttersky. Her voice was wavering, as she tried to hold back the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

“Of course I want to be your friend!” Dash insisted quickly. “It’s just... I want to be friends with Hoops and Billy as well.” She paused. “We can be... secret friends!”

“Secret friends?” Fluttersky did not sound particularly enthusiastic about the idea.

“Yeah, secret friends. So in the day, I’ll hang with Hoops and Billy, then at night we’ll be the best of friends here. How does that sound?”

“I...” Fluttersky’s voice was very quiet now. Quiet and sad. “I guess that’ll be... nice.”

Somehow, this didn’t make Dash feel any better about herself.

***

“Look! Look!” Fluttersky squealed. “I’m hovering! I’m hovering!”

Dash grinned. It was good to hear happiness in Fluttersky’s voice again. And she was right; she was hovering. “Great work, Fluttersky!”

“Yeah, absolutely incredible!” Billy snorted, the sarcasm in his voice plain to see. “Welcome to five days ago.”

As suddenly as it had appeared, Fluttersky’s happiness evaporated once again. Her wings just stopped flapping, and she fell onto the cloud with a bump. “I’m just useless, aren’t I?” There was no fight left in her. Dash couldn’t bear it.

“Hey, come on Fluttersky, don’t give up!” She tried desperately to think of a way to cheer her up. Perhaps a joke? “Honestly, these last few days you’ve been more of a Flutter-shy than a Flutter-sky!”

Was that a hint of a smile on her face? If it was, it didn’t last long.

“Hahaha!” Billy snorted as he laughed. “Good one Dash! Yeah, she’s more of a Clutzershy than a Fluttersky!”

Oh... horseapples! thought Dash. I didn’t mean it like that at all. To her dismay, Hoops was just arriving on the scene as well. Apparently he’d heard the whole exchange, because he was laughing along with his brother.

“Clutzershy?” he snickered. “That’s a classic!” The two of them giggled for an awful lot longer than the rather poor joke deserved. Finally, he managed to calm himself for long enough to explain what he was doing down in the novice class. “Listen, guys. Mrs Skybloom said I should take you two up to do some flying on the sky course, since you’re both so much better than these losers down here.” He gestured to the other class members, although lingering particularly long on Fluttersky. Dash was doubtful that those had been Skyblooms exact words.

Dash looked down at Fluttersky, and then up at the sky course. She’d been eyeing it up ever since she had started getting fully confident in her flying. It would certainly be nice to give it a go. But then there was Fluttersky...

She sighed. You know what? she thought. I’ve had it with all this worrying about Fluttersky. She isn’t my problem. Why should I miss out just because she can’t keep up? “Sounds cool! I’m in!” But maybe I’ll take this chance to talk the pair of them into going easy on her.

She flew after the brothers, being careful not to look back at Fluttersky. She could feel the sad gaze of her friend tunnelling into the back of her skull. No need to look back and confirm it.

“Listen, guys,” she said. “About all this teasing Fluttersky...”

Hoops snorted with laughter again. “Yeah! Clutzershy! What a riot!”

“Yeah...” She paused. “Listen, maybe you guys should just go easy on her from now on. I think she’s getting pretty upset.”

“Come on Dash!” Billy laughed. “It’s just a bit of fun!”

“Yeah, I thought you were cool.” Hoops frowned. “Why do you keep hanging around that loser anyway?”

“I am cool!” protested Dash.

“Then prove it.” Hoops smirked. Dash suddenly realised that she had talked herself into a trap. Getting outsmarted by Hoops was not particularly flattering.

“How?” There was no way that she was going to back down, even though she suspected that he was about to ask her to do something that she’d regret later.

“Just watch, and do as we do.” Hoops swooped back towards the training grounds. Fluttersky had just picked herself up off the cloud, and was once again hovering unsteadily a short distance into the air. Hoops shot underneath her, his wake knocking her to the side. She flapped her wings faster, desperately trying to correct. A moment later, Billy did the same from the other direction. Fluttersky flailed around, her legs swinging uselessly below her, but eventually she managed to right herself.

Okay, that was pretty cruel, thought Dash, but I guess there’s no harm done. Here goes nothing... She shot downwards. However she had rather misjudged her speed. She’d never dropped from so high before, and the extra distance meant that when she grazed past Fluttersky she was travelling faster than she ever had before.

It was too much for Fluttersky. She flipped completely onto her back, immediately dropping down to the floor again with an almighty thump. Rainbow winced. She’d thought she’d felt bad at how she’d treated Fluttersky earlier, but this definitely was a step too far. She desperately wished that she could take it back, but there was nothing she could do.

“Haha!” Hoops was giggling again, along with his brother. “That was awesome! You really are the coolest, Dash!” Rainbow glanced down at Fluttersky, biting her lip. Hoops spotted it. “Don’t tell me you’re feeling bad for that loser?”

“Me?” Rainbow uttered a fake laugh. “Nah, why would I care about that loser? Come on, let’s go fly the sky course.” She rushed ahead of the others. That way they wouldn’t be able to see the tears in her eyes.

***

“Fluttersky?” It was night again. Fluttersky hadn’t spoken to Dash since the... incident. “Come on, Fluttersky, talk to me.”

No answer. Fluttersky was curled up on her bunk, with her back to Dash. She had refused to even look her in the eyes.

“Please, Fluttersky. I didn’t mean to hurt you. It was only supposed to be a bit of fun.”

Silence.

“I... I still want to be friends, Fluttersky. If you’ll let me. Please don’t ignore me.”

Finally, that got a response. Not one that Dash wanted to hear though. “My mother always told me that the best way to deal with a bully was to ignore them. If you ignore the bully, eventually they’ll get bored and leave you alone.”

“I’m not a bully, Fluttersky. Please, let’s be friends.”

The silence returned.

“...Goodnight, Fluttersky.”

***

Dash soared through the hoops of the sky course. But somehow flying wasn’t much fun any more. Nothing was fun any more. She didn’t deserve fun. Why had she cared so much about what Hoops and Billy thought anyway? The more she learnt about them, the more she realised that they were a pair of idiots. Why exactly were they ‘cool’? Just because they were good at flying? Just because Hoops was a year older and had a cutie mark? They weren’t fun to be around. They were just... annoying.

She shuddered to a stop as something caught her eye down below. Is that... Fluttersky? It was. On the roof of one of the hangers. What is she doing up there? Surely she isn’t planning to... One of the lower hoops of the sky course hung just over the hanger roof, just close enough for even Fluttersky’s weak flying ability to reach. Oh, Celestia, she is...

Fluttersky hovered up a little, then dropped back down to the roof. Steeling herself, she made another attempt, almost reaching to the bottom of the loop. With another flurry of effort, she made it up just that little bit further and flew through the gap.

Dash grinned. She’s going to make it!

She didn’t make it. So surprised by her own feat of strength, she allowed herself to drop down, and tripped over the bottom of the ring. Losing control, she skidded down the side of the building, gathering speed. A small ledge at the end of the roof sent her flying into the air again, shooting through the sky at a speed that she’d never have managed by herself. She smashed into a flag, tangling herself up in it and crashing to the ground in a puff of clouds.

Dash shot into action. Even if she wouldn’t talk to her, she had to check that Fluttersky was alright. However, to her horror, she saw that she wasn’t the first to the scene. No, Hoops and Billy had got there first. Of course they had.

“Hahaha!” laughed Billy. “Nice going, Clutzershy! They’ll ground you permanently!”

“Ha!” snorted Hoops. “My baby brother could fly better than you!”

Dash arrived, swooping around the scene. How should I deal with this? she asked herself. An expression of angry determination formed on her face. Easy. By doing the right thing. What I should have done from the very beginning. She dropped down between Fluttersky and the two brothers.

“Leave her alone!” She yelled.

“Oooooh!” sneered Hoops. “What’re you going to do, Rainbow Crash?” Well, she’d deserved that at least.

“Keep making fun of her and find out!”

“You think you’re such a big shot?” asked Billy. “Why don’t you prove it?”

“Whadya have in mind?”

Hoops paused for a moment. “One lap. Midday. You versus us. Be there, or be square.” He snorted. “Oh wait, too late for that.”

“Yeah, I thought you were cool, but I guess not.” Billy crossed his forelegs. “So long, Rainbow Crash.” The pair of them leaped into the air and flew off, still laughing.

“Fluttersky’s cooler than the two of you put together!” she yelled after them. “You’re both going down!”

“Oh... thank you Rainbow,” said Fluttersky. Rainbow turned to face her.

“Don’t thank me, Fluttersky. I’ve been a terrible friend.” Rainbow looked down at her hooves. “I should have stuck with you from the start. Please, please forgive me.”

“It’s alright, you came back in the end.”

“But I’ve been so horrible... I ignored you, I knocked you over, I called you names...”

Fluttersky giggled. “Actually, I quite like Fluttershy. I’ve always wanted a nickname.”

“Really? Fluttershy it is then!” Dash grinned.

“I can call you Rainbow Crash if you’d like?” suggested Fluttershy.

“Ah... I’ll pass, but thanks.” Rainbow bowed her head. “I really am sorry Fluttershy. I swear, from this day onwards, I’ll never let you down again. I’ll never let any friend down again. No matter how cool the alternatives.”

“Um...” Fluttershy paused. “While you’re offering, there’s just one other favour I want to ask... if it’s alright by you?”

“Anything for you, Fluttershy.”

“Well, I know I’m never going to make it into the Wonderbolts...” Dash opened her mouth to reply, but Fluttershy shook her head. “No, don’t argue. I know it’s true. Well... if we can’t join together... I want you to join for me. Then I can cheer you on, and that’ll be almost as good as the real thing.”

Dash nodded. It was hardly much of a concession, she’d already grown to like the idea. “I swear. For you, Fluttershy, I swear.”

The End