Author's Note
Believe it or not, this story took some inspiration from a different story combined with a reversed version of how Fluttershy's Cutie Mark Story actually went down. I hope you'll like it!
Kind and Brave
Flight Camp, a few years ago...
Fluttershy trotted along the grounds of the flight camp. The little, shy Pegasus hasn't talked to anyone ever since she arrived here, and nobody actually bothered. She was shy, and always hesitating to talk to someone she didn't know. Despite her not having any friends around, that wasn't the biggest problem actually.
Since she was shy, she also was very afraid when she had to fly in front of others. And because of this, she also was afraid of heights, and she'd mostly shut her wings closed and stop flying. This always resulted in her being laughed at by others, making her feel even worse. To make matters even more worse, her lack of flying skill earned her the nickname 'Klutzershy' that two bullies gave her, and most of them claimed that she can hardly fly, making her lose faith and trust in herself.
The only one who felt a bit sorry for her, was a filly with a rainbow-colored mane, Rainbow Dash, from what she could tell. And even if she saw it in her eyes, she only saw it for a glimpse before she retreated without a word. If she could, she'd never talk to anypony she didn't know...
Fluttershy sat down and watched some fillies navigate the advanced obstacle course with ease. Like nothing could stop them, they perfectly went around all possible obstacles. If only she wasn't so afraid to fly. She'd beat the courses easily...
Her fantasy cut off when she heard something. Some other young Pegasi were bullying a rainbow-maned filly, who just crashed into a full trash can. She knew that filly - it was Rainbow Dash, the one that looked like it felt sorry for her.
Fluttershy could hear the crowd chanting: "Rainbow Crash! Rainbow Crash!"
"Yeah, nice going, Rainbow Crash!", said a male Pegasus filly, who was a bit older and seemed to lead the crowd.
Fluttershy saw the rainbow-maned filly and felt bad for her. As much as she didn't want to interfere, she knew that she couldn't just stand there and do nothing. Bravely, she flew over, and put herself between the rainbow-maned filly and the two leading bullies. "Hey, leave her alone, you meanies!", she said, trying to sound serious.
The two leading bullies laughed. One of them said: "Oh, Klutzershy, just what are YOU going to do about it?"
"Keep making fun of her and find out!", Fluttershy responded bravely.
"Ha, how is someone who is so kind and shy as you going to stand up for a fellow pony who can hardly fly just like you?", the other lead bully said.
"Aw come on! I bet your flying skills aren't better than your bullying talent!", Fluttershy pushed.
The crowd gasped. They certainly didn't expect a shy pony to challenge a bully in order to stand up for a fellow pony. Some of them murmured indistinctly.
"Ha, did you hear that, Hoops? She said that I can bully others better than fly!", the bully said.
"I did, Score.", Hoops said, "Our shy pony wants to show us what she got, eh? Why don't we just do it?"
"Yeah. A race, Klutzershy. What do you say?", Score asked expectant.
"You're on!", Fluttershy said.
Just in that moment, Rainbow Dash clutched onto Fluttershy's back hooves and yelped: "Don't!"
"Haha, looks like Crash is worried for you. Alright, the starting line, ten minutes. You'll find it.", Score said and flew off with Hoops.
Then, Fluttershy looked to Rainbow Dash, who let go of her and sat up. "Wha- Why did you do it? Have you ever seen them fly? They'll tear you apart!", Rainbow Dash said, worried about her stand-up pony, since she knew she couldn't fly well.
"I couldn't just stand there. We may both be clutzy at flying, but that doesn't mean they can bully you as they see fit.", Fluttershy said.
"Y-yeah, I know... But a race? You hate going fast! You even hate to fly in front of a crowd! I can only assume that your wings will instantly close the moment the race starts, just like recently, where everyone laughed at you for that!", Rainbow Dash said in worries.
"I'll do anything in order to protect you!", Fluttershy said.
Rainbow Dash knew, there was no talking her out of this. Fluttershy would do the race, no matter what she tried, and this shy pony would try to defend her. The only thing she could do is hope that everything goes well for her hero.
Ten minutes later...
Fluttershy arrived at the starting line of the race. Normally, she'd consider to back out of the challenge. But now, she was there, not knowing how to defend Rainbow Dash's honor. She looked around and saw the crowd around her, waiting for the race start. All eyes seemed like they'd be fixed on her.
She gulped. Just what has she gotten into? What if she screwed up again? She'd never be able to undo her mistakes, and this was the chance to show that she could do it, and fly like any normal Pegasus around. She opened her wings and gave them a test flap. Then, she took a launching stance and prepared for the start.
"Hey, good luck, Klutzershy!", Hoops said to her.
"Don't listen to him, Fluttershy. Just focus on the race.", Fluttershy thought.
Rainbow Dash stood in front of the three Pegasi, a checkered flag in her mouth. She shook her head, waving the flag and starting the race.
As she noticed Rainbow waving the flag, Fluttershy took off, together with Hoops and Score, nearly missing Rainbow Dash.
Going fast, Fluttershy looked down. It was a seemingly endless way down to the ground, and she felt her fear of heights coming back up. She gulped again, and would've loved to just cover her eyes with her wings and drop down... But in her mind, she knew that Rainbow Dash was counting on her.
She increased her speed and raced along the track on what seemed to be the toughest obstacle course in the entire flight camp. Since she never experienced high speeds before, dodging obstacles was beyond tough. But, she managed to catch up to Score and attempted to pass him. And, in an attempt to defend his position, he swerved right - Fluttershy could react fast enough to avoid a collision. Score crashed into a cloud, leaving Fluttershy to pass him.
As she continued to race over the second half of the track, something came to her mind: Fluttershy has never felt like this before - the thrill of speed, dodging obstacles, the wind in her face, the world going blurry from sheer speed... It felt awesome, and she felt free.
Suddenly, someone pushed her away. It was Hoops. "Ha, see ya, Klutzershy!", he taunted and took off.
Now, Fluttershy became angry. "You... little... dumb... MEANIE!", she yelled, and went even faster than before, catching up to him very quickly. She then passed him in a way even she didn't expect - she rolled to the left, kept her wings spread out and nearly missed him as she passed him.
She even passed him so fast that it sent Hoops out of control. She could only hear him scream as she kept racing over the track, dodging the clouds, heading towards the finish line. Just one last cloud was in her way. Fluttershy closed her eyes and started to twist, and this not only had the cloud disappear with a POOF, but it hardly slowed her down, and she gracefully passed through the finish.
She came to a stop and heard the crowd cheer for her. As this went on, Fluttershy's eyes widened and sparkled. For the very first time ever, a crowd cheered for her, and didn't laugh at her. Filled with joy and happiness, Fluttershy bowed in front of the crowd and said: "Aw, thank you. You're too kind."
Some ponies even started to chant: "Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can really fly!" And soon, everyone joined in. Fluttershy felt her eyes fill with tears of joy and pride.
Hoops and Score came up to her. Hoops began: "Hey, Klutzersh-"
Score gave Hoops a hard nudge. "Flutter!", he insisted.
"Right... Fluttershy, we owe you an apology. You were right about us, we're only good at bullying others. Seems like there's so much more to you than seemingly everyone first believed. And the way you passed me, whoa. You're truly a whirlwind.", Hoops said.
"Aw, thank you. No one ever gave me a single praise before.", Fluttershy said happily.
"Erm, I think he meant it.", Score said and pointed at Fluttershy's flank.
When Fluttershy looked, there was a white whirlwind with pink wings. She gasped. That race earned her her cutie mark. "Wow...", she said, amazed by her cutie mark.
"Someone as aerobatic as you should join a stunt team. Word has it that the Wonderbolts are gonna show up soon, looking for potential recruits.", Score said.
"Rainbow Dash needs to see this!", Fluttershy said. She looked around, but couldn't find the unique rainbow mane. "Um, where is she?", she asked.
"I think I caught a glimpse of her falling out of the clouds the moment we took off...", Hoops said.
"Oh no!", Fluttershy gasped and took off again, heading back to the starting line. That's where she saw her friend last. She then dove straight down, going faster and faster, and soon unleashed a pink burst of color in the sky the moment she hit a certain speed.
Within a few seconds of time, she reached the ground, a very beautiful forest in front of her. She looked around, but couldn't spot the rainbow mane at first glance.
"Rainbow?", Fluttershy called out, "Rainbow, where are you?"
She walked into the forest. It sure looked very beautiful, and Fluttershy liked the looks of it. She also heard birds chirping and some other animals. Rainbow must be close by.
Walking into the direction, she found Rainbow Dash, surrounded by many animals. "My, my, Rainbow. You seem to have a lot of new friends.", she said.
"Well, Fluttershy, what can I say? After I fell out of the clouds, a load of butterflies caught me, and after that Sonic Boom, I found out that I could talk to animals.", Rainbow Dash said. She also revealed her cutie mark, a rainbow between two clouds with three butterflies underneath, in red, yellow and blue.
"Wow, that's great. Now, do you want to come back with me to Cloudsdale?", Fluttershy asked.
"I can't go back. Everyone at flight camp hates me. And something tells me that I need to look after those cute, little animals.", Rainbow responded.
"But what about your parents? They might be worried about you.", Fluttershy said.
"Like I said, I can't go back. But if you see my parents, tell them that I'm fine.", Rainbow said.
"Okay. I guess I can't talk you out of it. I'll tell them.", Fluttershy said, and wanted to take off again.
"Hey, Fluttershy.", Rainbow said before Fluttershy could take off again, "Thank you for standing up for me. You're a true friend. How did the race go down, by the way? I didn't get to see the end of it."
"Believe it or not, but I actually won!"
"No way! Really?"
"Yeah. And look here." Fluttershy revealed her cutie mark to Dash.
"Wow, nice. This looks like you have aerobatic talent.", Rainbow said in impression, "Oh, and if I may ask, are you the one who created that Sonic Boom?"
"Yes. I wanted to find you as quickly as possible.", Fluttershy answered.
"Well, believe it or not, but thanks to that, I earned my cutie mark!", Rainbow Dash said.
"Wow. Seems like we share a very special bond, you and me.", Fluttershy said.
"Yeah. And who knows? Maybe in a few years, we make friends who share a bond like you and me.", Rainbow said.
"That's a low chance, Rainbow. But anything can happen, right?", Fluttershy said.
"Yeah. Well, best of luck to you, my dear friend. See ya.", Rainbow said.
Fluttershy winked to Dash before she then took off, heading back to Cloudsdale. She knew that her so far only true friend will remember her, and that they share a special bond that no one can take away from them.
But unbeknownst to her, four other ponies have seen the same fate as she and Rainbow did... And in a few years, they'd become heroes, defenders of harmony, saviors of the world...
THE END
