The Legend of Captain Powerfly

The next day, back at Wonderbolt HQ, Spitfire readied her own personal squadron of flyers for the early morning drills… with a newer – albeit ad hoc – addition to the team.

While Fluttershy was used to very early mornings, she was not really used the hardcore demeanour of the group. Still, there was a very good reason for her impromptu signup: Captain Powerfly… who she still had yet to transform into.

“Okay, Shy!” barked Spitfire hotly. “Anytime Powerfly wants to show up, five minutes ago woulda been great!!”

Fluttershy trembled and squeaked, “Y-yes… ma’am…” She took a deep breath and uttered, “From deepest earth to highest sky, comes the might of Powerfly!” Captain Powerfly re-emerged. “Ready for duty, Captain Spitfire!”

“Alright, team! Let’s go through the basic warm-ups!”

*******

But it didn’t take long for trouble to happen.

Spitfire noticed that Captain Powerfly was significantly losing a great deal of her edge… among other things.

“Whoa!” she called to her team. “Powerfly! Front and centre! The rest of you, carry on with your drills!!”

Captain Powerfly stepped front and centre in front of Spitfire.

“What’s goin’ on, hero?!” she inquired sharply. “You’re losing your game!”

The hero suddenly shrunk in size, back to Fluttershy (still in costume) for several moments, then back into mighty Powerfly. A look of horror zipped across her face. “Oh, no!”

“‘Oh, no’ what, kid?”

Back to Fluttershy. “I think…” Then back to Powerfly. “I think my amulet…” Back to Fluttershy. “…is running out of power!”

Spitfire grimaced and facehoofed herself. “Oh, sweet Celestia! Not now!” She sighed heavily and sharply as she glanced around the scenery.

Back at Fluttershy, she continued, “Alright! Take the rest of the day off; go hang out downtown or whatever. Meet me back at the front entrance at no later than 1300.” Looking at Shy’s confused look, she semi-patronizingly added, “That means 1:00! You got that, scrub?”

Powerfly looked back up at her and replied, “Yes, ma’am. I will be here at 1:00 sharp.”

And with that, Fluttershy de-energized her amulet, and shamefully shuffled off the training field.

*******

The next day, they both made it down to Manehattan, to the Catalyst Studios head office. Spitfire had the sense to make an appointment with Rob Liveryfield, so that made things a bit smoother.

“Thank you for coming to see us, Mr. Liveryfield,” said Spitfire.

“Yeah, sure! No prob, Cap’n. C’mon in, you guys.” As he escorted them into a nearby room, he asked Fluttershy, “So how’d the amulet work out? Good times?”

“Um… yes. There’s something about that, though…” she replied, trying not to be as awkward as she was.

“What’s that?” he asked as he closed the door for privacy.

“Umm… well…” started Fluttershy.

“I’ll cut to the chase, Mr. Liveryfield,” said Spitfire. “The Wonderbolts need Captain Powerfly back, and we need her amulet refilled, ASAP.”

Liveryfield shook his head brusquely. “What?! Refilled?!”

“Correct, sir,” replied Spitfire.

Liveryfield shook his head again, this time in disbelief. “Uh-uh. Sorry. Not happenin’,” he said firmly. “Last time we did that, we regretted it, big time! Strict policies say no refills for anypony. Period!”

“But… but…!” started Fluttershy.

“Hey, read the fine print, honey!” barked Liveryfield. “You get one chance, and that’s it! Shoulda made the most of it, right? Shouldn’t have abused it, y’know? You know how it is when you get superpowers!”

Fluttershy hung her head and started sobbing.

“No! Sorry! That’s it! As far as Captain Powerfly is concerned, she’s just a figment of imagination now, as she’s gotta be! Alright?”

The room stayed silent, save for the occasional sobs and sniffles from Fluttershy. Spitfire just scowled and rolled her eyes.

Liveryfield grimaced again. “Okay, I guess we’re done here. I got lotsa things to do, so if you’ll excuse me…” He opened the door, and turned at the threshold. To Fluttershy, he said, “Y’know, Shy, it’s better off being yourself. Someday down the road, you’ll thank me for not letting you make a big mistake.” And then he went back to work.

“Whatever…” grumbled Spitfire. “C’mon, kid. I’ll take you home.”

Down at the lobby, someone was waiting for them.

Fluttershy sniffled and recognized him. “S-Spike…?! And… Rainbow Dash? Umm, what are you doing here?”

Spike gazed at her rather harshly. “Let’s just say I had a hunch you would be coming here.”

Rainbow, still looking ashamed of herself, said nothing.

“So…” continued Spike. “Did you… get what you wanted?”

Fluttershy burst into tears again, and shook her head. She fell into Rainbow’s outstretched arms. Rainbow glared at Spitfire as she gently stroked her weeping friend’s back.

“So… Cadet,” said Spitfire as nonchalantly as she could. “Will you and Spike be taking her home?”

“Yes, Captain,” said Rainbow rather grimly. “We will.”

*******

They all decided to take a stroll downtown just to get some fresh air, and bit of ice cream to lift up Fluttershy’s spirits, Rainbow’s treat.

“Feeling a bit better, babe?” asked R.D.

“I am, thank you,” replied Shy. She sighed. “I guess I needed a good cry. It’s not easy being yourself after being somepony else much stronger.”

“Now, Shy,” chided Spike. “Remember what I said. Right?”

They continued strolling down street, sharing a few laughs and giggles…

…When they came across a rather harried scene.

Police surrounded a small highrise, and everypony was looking up at something…

…Or somepony… who appeared ready to jump off from a long way up.

Spike and his pony companions all heard a police negotiator calling through a megaphone, “Mr. Meadows! We’ve all had some trying days from time to time, man! But please reconsider what you’re doing, okay! At least think about what your wife was telling you!”

They all looked up at the roof. Mr. Meadows was still standing on the edge.

“It’s really not the end of the world, Mr. Meadows!” called the negotiator. “So… please… just come on down… let’s talk about this, okay? What do you say, buddy? Please?”

Mr. Meadows still did not move.

A distraught-looking civilian mare got behind the megaphone. “Please, baby!! Don’t jump!!” she cried, her voice strained and shaky. “Please come down!!” She cried for a moment. “Please!! Come back to me!!” She could no longer continue; she fell to her belly, weeping mightily. Many others gathered around to comfort her.

R.D. looked at the other two. “We gotta do something!”

Spike glanced back between the two. “Okay! But what?!”

Fluttershy suddenly hit upon an idea. “I think I have an idea, but we must time it right!” She gathered the other two closer to explain her impromptu plan.

*******

Up top, Mr. Meadows, a thin, red milktoast of a unicorn with light sandy hair and set of horn-rimmed spectacles, struggled between ending his misery the quick and dirty way, or having to face more possible struggles down the road just to put his troubles aside.

Either way, his eyes were baggy and red from hours of endless weeping. He kept to the edge, sobbing lightly, so tired and miserable from endless torture at the office and in his personal life.

But down there was his wife, begging him to come back down to her, come back home with her.

Oh, what to do? What to do??

In the distance, he heard a voice calling out, “Mr. Meadows? Mr. Meadows?”

He slowly turned to see the source of that voice.

There stood Captain Powerfly, in Wonderbolt colours, atop the roof access shed.

“Who are you?!” he hollered. “And what do you want with me?!”

The pegasus slowly drifted off the shed and stepped toward him. “I only want to talk to you, sir,” she said calmly. “Is it okay if we talked?”

He held up a hoof and yelled back, “Just stay back!! I swear, I will jump!”

She stopped and gazed back sympathetically. “Could you tell me why you would want to jump, Mr. Meadows?” she asked. “Please?”

“You wouldn’t know!” he barked as he looked back over the building. “You wouldn’t even understand!”

“Probably not… unless you got your painful story off your chest. I mean, what do you have to lose by telling me your story?”

He glared back at her. “You really want to know, huh!”

Powerfly nodded gently. “If you wouldn’t mind telling me…”

“Okay! I’ll tell you! I had it all! I had a promising career, well on my way to the top, living my ultimate dream! Sure there’s a lot of good perks and good pay! I got myself a nice big home for my family! Life is good, right?”

“That does sound like a dreamy life,” she replied with a warm smile.

“But, you know how I had to get all of that?! You have any idea how I had to get where I am… or… was?!!”

“Ooh… I think I see where this story is going. But, please… go on…”

“I had to kiss up to the ‘right’ sort of people, y’know, the ‘in’ crowd! Consisting mostly of jerks and high-and-mighty types! Not my type of ponies!! I’m supposed to be principled and fair! But I wasn’t! I did things I probably should have been arrested for… or… something!”

Powerfly nodded.

“And you know what? I was caught at something! I fabricated stories to the wrong pony in upper management… and somepony caught me! They blackmailed me into doing more crooked things! But we all got caught doing those; but guess who got the worst of it!”

She nodded very slowly, very knowingly. She nodded towards him.

“Yeah! Me!! Now I have no job! Everypony in the business knows what I did and I can’t get another job! I got no more money, and I’m about to lose my home! So now tell me what’s left for me, huh?!”

“Your wife and family, for one thing. That’s something… isn’t it, Mr. Meadows?”

“Okay, I’ll give you that! My family! Yeah! But who’s gonna provide for them? I got no job, remember?”

Powerfly nodded.

“Huh? Right? Yeah!”

“Is it possible you can take a fresh start? I know it’s a difficult thing to think about, Mr. Meadows… but I’m pretty sure maybe a fresh start is what you need.” She sat down and tilted her head in a tender gesture. “Don’t you…?”

Mr. Meadows looked back down over the edge, deep in thought.

“How big of a house do you need, Mr. Meadows? How much money do you truly need to make? And… was that particular business – um… whatever it was you did – was it what you really wanted to do to begin with?”

He turned his gaze back to Powerfly. “Come to think of it… I think I just wanted to make some good money, you know?”

She smiled a bit. “So it probably wasn’t… was it?”

He hung his head. “No,” he replied tiredly. “It really wasn’t.”

She very gently stood up and stepped towards him… very carefully gauging his next reaction; preparing to stop dead in her tracks if he stepped back to the edge… but ready to grab him if he did jump.

Slowly, slowly… very slowly, she stepped towards him…

…Just enough that she was able to gently place a tender hoof on his shoulder. “Would you willing to make that fresh start… my friend?”

He lifted his head, taking a rather defensive stance.

“I’ll share a little secret with you if you’re willing to.”

“You have a secret, huh?”

The amulet around her neck glowed; where Powerfly stood was now a smaller, gentler little saffron pegasus mare with a lighter pink mane. “I, too, lived a bit of a lie,” she said in her regular, softer voice. “My real name is Fluttershy. And… well, my friend and I entered this… silly little comic contest.” She giggled. “So I created this new persona called Captain Powerfly, which won the grand prize: an amulet that grants you the hero’s abilities.” She pointed to the amulet still around her neck.

Mr. Meadows grinned and nodded. “Neat!”

“Oh, yes! I thought so, too. But,” she continued rather grimly. “Since I’m a very, very shy pony, I thought being Captain Powerfly would give me lots of confidence in everything… but… well, it never really did… and… well…” She sighed forlornly. “Since then, everypony else has been a bit too reliant on my hero…” She looked at him sadly, tears forming in her eyes. “Especially me.”

Mr. Meadows nodded. “I see,” was all he could think about saying.

“But, well…” she said with a tiny smile. “My amulet is almost dried up and that’s that.” She watched the amulet dangle around her neck. “Just be myself. Just be true to myself.” She looked back up at the unicorn. “What do you think, Mr. Meadows?” She asked as she put her arm around him.

He slowly leaned into her, readily accepting her evident offer for a hug.

“Thank you, Miss Fluttershy,” he said, very relieved, though very drained. “Thank you… so much.”

“Think nothing of it, my friend,” she replied tenderly. “I only serve as the Element of Kindness, after all.”

“Wait!” he said in surprise. “Did you say ‘Element of Kindness’?”

“Yes. Why?”

“How many are there that hold the Element of Kindness? Because… well, there is somepony that I know of around here holds the Element of Kindness along with the rest of her group of six ponies. Where are you from, anyways?”

“I’m from Ponyville.”

“Oh, I see! Yes! You must be the newer group of ponies representing the Elements of Harmony!” He studied Fluttershy’s confused look. “Only you’re the ones from Ponyville. The ones I know of are from here in Manehattan… uh-oh! Wait a minute! You don’t know, do you?”

“You know what, Mr. Meadows? I think I have heard of other groups representing the Elements of Harmony. I’ve even heard Princess Cadence is forming her own group in the Crystal Empire.”

As they continued talking, a blue pegasus, carrying another unicorn and a baby dragon, came up to join them. “Is it safe, now, Cap… er… Fluttershy?”

“Ah, yes!” Fluttershy glanced back at Mr. Meadows. “Er… is it alright, Mr. Meadows?”

He immediately recognized his tearful wife, who Rainbow released and allowed to race over and grab her husband, sobbing, “Oh, baby! Thank Celestia!”

Mr. Meadows embraced his wife. “It’s alright, now, sweetheart,” he spoke gently. “It’s going to be okay, now. We’ll sell off the house, get a smaller one. I’ll even get a much more different job…”

“I don’t care!” she cried. “I don’t care what! As long as you’re still here with me and the kids! I don’t care!”

“I know, baby. I know. It’s not gonna be the end of the world after all.”

Rainbow nodded approvingly. Spike beamed, grinning from ear-to-ear. “And all it took to save this stallion,” he said to Fluttershy as he clapped a paw over her shoulder. “Was your own inner strength.”

She beamed proudly.

Yes; yes it was her inner strength that saved the day.