Chapters It was Fluttershy’s first day in summer flight camp, and she was very nervous. She knew she was very weak and not good at flying at all. Nopony said so, but Fluttershy knew they were all thinking the same thing: How can a pegasus be so bad at flying?
As she entered the flight school, she could feel pairs of eyes on her. She lowered her head and hid her face behind her mane.
“Why is she so skinny?” a pony whispered.
“And why so old?” another murmured.
“Maybe she is so weak, she has to go to this part of flight camp, the younger part!” a mint-colored pegasus said in the loudest and wettest whisper ever.
Fluttershy’s lip trembled. The pegasus was right. She was so bad at flying, she couldn’t go to her level and had to practice with the younger fillies. Pathetic! What kind of pegasus was she, an “earth pegasus?”
“Hey, doesn’t she know she’s supposed to fly at flight school, not mope around?” a pony taunted. His big friends laughed along with him, and Fluttershy blushed.
“Yeah, maybe she’s too weak and doesn’t know how to fly yet!” another pony laughed.
Tears started rolling down Fluttershy’s face. She lowered her head even more and walked slowly along. She had known this would happen, but it was even more embarrassing and scary when it actually did.
“Look, the little baby’s crying!” the first pony said. He went closer to Fluttershy and asked, “What’s your name anyway, baby?”
“Um...I’m...I’m F-fluttershy…” Fluttershy squeaked.
“What was that? Klutzershy? ”
“N-no, Fluttershy…”
“Ha! More like Klutzershy! What a klutz!” the pony teased.
“Yeah! Hey Klutzershy, who’s your best friend? Klutzerpoo? Klutzercrash?” the second pony laughed. "Oh, right. I forgot you don't have any friends!"
“Good one, Dumbbell!” the first pony said, bro-hoofing Dumbbell.
Dumbbell grinned. “Yeah, Hoops! You too!”
Fluttershy didn’t know what to do. She looked around for help, but nopony seemed to notice her.
“She doesn’t even know how to fly, even if she has wings,” Hoops said.
“She’s gonna be moping around all day!” Dumbbell laughed.
“Maybe her wings are fake and she’s just an earth pony!” a third pony cawed.
“Ha! Nice one, dude!” Hoops said to the third pony. “Maybe you’re right!”
“Or maybe, she just doesn’t want to scare you!” came a voice.
A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail suddenly appeared. Fluttershy’s mouth dropped open. She was beautiful , especially in front of the sun. Her rainbow mane and tail glinted and sparkled.
To her great surprise, the rainbow-haired pegasus flew over to Fluttershy and sat next to her. “Don’t worry about them. Stick with me, and they won’t get us,” she said. “I’m Rainbow Dash, by the way. And you are?”
“Uh...um...I’m Fluttershy…” Fluttershy said quietly.
“You sure about that?” Rainbow teased in a friendly way.
“Yes,” Fluttershy said, feeling a bit more confident.
Rainbow smiled as Fluttershy slowly stood up. “Want me to help you fly a bit faster?”
“Yes...th-thank you,” Fluttershy sniffled.
Rainbow patted her on the back as she flew up once more. Fluttershy noticed that she was a bit younger than her, maybe by one or two years. Still, she’d stood up for her. Fluttershy admired Rainbow a lot and hoped they could become friends.
“Ha! Look, Klutzershy’s hangin’ out with Rainbow Crash! What a baby!” Dumbbell said.
“Yeah! Crashie is so small, and Klutzy is so tall!” another pony said.
Hoops nudged him. “That wasn’t even funny, Score!”
“But-”
“Your taunts are so bad! Just shush your mouth and let us talk,” Hoops said.
“I’m smaller because I skipped the baby part of flight school,” Rainbow Dash smirked. “And Fluttershy is tall because she’s older and more mature!”
Fluttershy was amazed. How did Rainbow Dash pull out so many insults? She couldn’t help but smile as the small, spunky pegasus insulted the bullies away.
“Wow,” Fluttershy said. She laughed.
“Yeah, that was fun!” Rainbow agreed.
The two girls collapsed in giggles as they thought of Rainbow’s mocks and taunts.
“Um...anyway...thanks for standing up for me…” Fluttershy said shyly after the laughing had subsided.
Rainbow smiled and shrugged. “No problem. Don’t let those silly boys get to you. One day, they’ll pay for the teasing when you beat them in a race!”
Fluttershy knew that would never happen, and so did Rainbow, but she was glad for the kind words.
“So, let’s get going. I hope I see you again, Fluttershy! And don’t hesitate to use some of my taunts on the bullies,” Rainbow Dash said, making an evil voice in the last sentence. Fluttershy giggled. The evil voice was so bad!
“Bye,” Fluttershy said. She watched as Rainbow flew away. Rainbow is so brave and I’m shy, but we are alike in some ways, she thought.
She started to get up, but was stopped by a hoof. She let out a cry and spun around.
It was Hoops.
Fluttershy had thought being teased was the worst thing that could possibly happen in flight camp. Now she wished that was true. It would’ve been much, much easier than what she was going through now.
She squealed in pain as the medic cleaned her cuts and put Band-Aids on her bruises. “It’s akay, it’ll be all rat,” the medic said in a hillbilly voice.
“It - it - it just h-hurts a l-little,” Fluttershy gasped.
The medic patted Fluttershy on her head. “Don’t warry, it’ll be over in a few minutes,” she said.
As Fluttershy wheezed through her pain, she saw a certain filly drift near the tent. Pink eyes...cyan fur...rainbow mane and tail! Rainbow Dash!
Rainbow happened to get a glimpse of Fluttershy. She stopped dead in her tracks. “What the hay?” she said, walking into the tent.
Suddenly, all of Fluttershy’s pain disappeared. She was floating on a cloud (actually, she technically was ) in heaven. Rainbows were shining down from the sky. She felt safe, happy, and full. She even smiled.
The medic glanced at Rainbow Dash. “Oh hey thayer, little filly. Whatcha doin’ here? Thayer’s nothin’ wrong with ya.”
“What is Fluttershy doing here?” Rainbow asked, ignoring the medic. “You okay, Fluttershy?”
“Y-yes,” Fluttershy said as the medic cleaned a cut. She winced.
“What’s wrong with her?” Rainbow asked the medic.
“Just some cuts and bruises, dunno who did it,” she answered.
Rainbow shook her head and looked at Fluttershy. “Who did it, Flutters?” she asked.
“It was...um...Hoops,” Fluttershy answered, squeezing her eyes shut as the medic cleaned the final cut and bandaged up her leg.
Rainbow Dash nearly exploded. Her mouth dropped open, and her face turned so red Fluttershy could’ve sworn she had tomatoes on her cheeks.
“WHAT?!” Rainbow blasted.
“Lower ya volume, will ya?” the medic complained.
Rainbow ignored her. She said, “Hang on, Fluttershy. I’m gonna make Hoops pay for what he did.”
“You don’t have to, Rainbow! It’s okay! There’s no way you’ll be able to do that. Besides, I don’t really want him to get in trouble,” Fluttershy said, even though she did want Hoops to get in trouble. At least, she wanted the adults to know who did this. But she was very worried about Rainbow Dash. What if Hoops hurt her too? Fluttershy could stand getting hurt herself, but she couldn’t bear the thought of Rainbow getting hurt.
Rainbow Dash seemed to read her mind and said, “Don’t worry about me, Flutters. I’m not afraid of him. Besides, he knows not to mess with me.” She used her terrible evil voice to say the last sentence, but Fluttershy was still very worried.
“Are you one hundred percent sure you’ll be okay? Hoops is actually kind of strong. Look what he did to me! And I wasn’t even the one he was mad at. What kind of things could he do to you?” Fluttershy whimpered. Please don’t let her go, please don’t let her go! she prayed.
“Stop worrying, Fluttershy. Why would you worry about me, anyway? I’m one tough girl.” She made a muscle, which normally would’ve made Fluttershy laugh. “But anyway, I better go take care of Hoops. Catch you later, Flutters.” And with that, Rainbow Dash walked out the tent.
Fluttershy sat straight up on her cot and almost banged heads with the medic. “I need to go. Thanks for cleaning my cuts!” she said to her. And then she flew (with her feet, not her wings) out the tent with the medic yelling, “Come back! Ah haven’t told ya what ya can and can’t do-!”
Her voice soon faded away and Fluttershy found herself in a place she didn’t know where was. “Um...is anypony there?” she asked aloud. No answer. Was she lost?
Suddenly, Fluttershy heard a noise. She brushed over some clouds and gasped at what she saw. Hoops and his buddies were talking to Rainbow Dash in very loud voices. Fluttershy could hear what they were saying.
“-never gonna fly fast!” Hoops was saying.
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow said. “What’s on your mind?”
Hoops looked from side to side. He actually looked a little nervous. “Uh...whaddya think, Score? Dumbbell? What should we do?”
“Um...what about a race?” Dumbbell said.
“How about a teasing Klutzershy competition?” Score suggested.
“You’re so dumb, Score! The whole point of this is to defend Fluttershy’s honor,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes.
“Oh.” Score looked at her dumbly.
“I think I’ll go for a race,” Rainbow said.
“Ha! You’ll never catch up to me,” Hoops said.
“It’s settled, then!” Rainbow said. “Race tomorrow at seven o‘clock sharp!”
“What? That’s so early!” Hoops complained.
“Is it a deal? Or are you too scared to race me?” Rainbow smirked.
Hoops looked back at his friends. Fluttershy knew he would say yes. If he said no, he would look weak in front of his friends. If he said yes…
“Alright, fine!” Hoops finally said. “You’re on!”
“Great. I’ll tell Coach Strike,” Rainbow replied. And she flew away with that adorable smirk on her face, leaving Fluttershy with her thoughts.
Wow. Fluttershy could not believe Rainbow Dash had just done that for her. She really, really liked her. So much, you could even say…
No, Fluttershy thought. I’m a filly! I’m not old enough for that.
Yet Fluttershy certainly enjoyed the thought of Rainbow Dash liking her back. But it was impossible. Rainbow wouldn’t like a weak “earth pegasus” like her. No one would. Fluttershy bowed her head and sighed. A tear rolled down her face the second time that morning.
Suddenly, she heard hoofsteps. She jerked her head up and saw...Rainbow Dash?
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Rainbow asked.
Fluttershy blushed. Why was she always crying and looking weak when she was with Rainbow Dash?! She probably thought Fluttershy was a big baby and was only being nice because she felt bad for her.
“Nothing is wrong,” Fluttershy said firmly. She didn’t want to look like a crybaby in front of this awesome mare!
“Please tell me,” Rainbow said. “What happened? Did I do something?”
Fluttershy sniffed. “No, you didn’t. You only stood up for me. I’m so sorry for being such a baby.”
“Baby?” Rainbow looked startled. “Fluttershy, you’re the bravest pegasus I’ve ever met!”
“What are you talking about?” Fluttershy said.
“You withstood teasing, a beating from Hoops, and more teasing. That’s, like, 20 percent braver than the average pony,” Rainbow replied.
“But you stood up to Hoops and the boys. You challenged them to a race! All because of...well, me,” Fluttershy said glumly. “I know you’re just being nice ‘cause you feel bad for me. It’s okay if you’re tired of me being a crybaby and don’t want to be nice anymore.”
“What the hay?” Rainbow Dash looked angry. “Is that what you’ve been thinking this whole time? That I was standing up for you just because I feel bad for you?!”
“Um, yeah,” Fluttershy said. “Why else?”
“Because I care about you?” Rainbow said in a duh voice.
Fluttershy was shocked. She was astounded. She was bewildered. She was about to ask a million questions. But she couldn’t get a word out. Her brain literally stopped working for a few seconds.
“Are you that thick?! Sure, I feel bad for you, but that’s not the reason I stood up for you. It’s because you need help and you need a friend. I wanted to be the friend you needed,” Rainbow said.
“You want to be...my...friend?” Fluttershy said quietly and slowly.
“Well, yeah,” Rainbow said. She smiled and extended a hoof. “C’mon, get up. And...um, you heard that conversation with Hoops about the race, right?”
“I’m so sorry for eavesdropping. I didn’t mean to, I was just-”
“No problem. It saves me the trouble of having to explain to you.”
Fluttershy smiled. So Rainbow Dash actually wanted to be friends! She felt so jubilant. Best day ever-! Well, kind of.
“Okay. Let’s get back to our flying lessons.”
And together, Fluttershy and Rainbow walked out of the area and towards the main place.
“Fluttershy. Fluttershy. FLUTTERSHY!” Coach Strike waved his hoof in front of Fluttershy’s face.
“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry.” Fluttershy took a step back.
Hoops laughed. “I’m sowwy!” he mocked.
“That’s enough.” Coach Strike shushed Hoops. “Okay, Fluttershy. I want you to demonstrate how to do the flying trick I just taught you guys.”
“M-me?” Uh-oh. Fluttershy didn’t know what to do. The trick was so complicated! With looping, whooshing, and going around, she didn't have the slightest idea of how to do it.
“Come on, let’s hurry it up,” Coach Strike said. “Come up to the front, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy slowly walked up to the front. She opened up her wings. Crouched down. Took a step backwards.
“B-b-but can’t s-somepony else do th-the trick?” she said nervously. “Like, if they really want to do it?”
Coach Strike shrugged. “Well, does anypony else want to do it?”
And Rainbow Dash raised her hoof. As the coach called on her, Fluttershy let a sigh of relief slip. Her best friend was going to make flight camp a whole lot easier. She would have to remember to thank Rainbow after the lesson.
Rainbow Dash nailed the trick, of course. The fillies clapped and cheered. Fluttershy clapped the hardest. But Rainbow was pretty humble about the whole thing. All she said was, “I know I’m pretty good at flying and all, but thank you!”
After teaching a few more tricks, Coach Strike ended the lesson and the fillies were dismissed for lunch. Everypony was talking, and they seemed to have already made friends. Everypony except for Fluttershy. She could buddy up with Rainbow, but even though Rainbow had stood up for her and said she wanted to be friends, Fluttershy got the feeling Rainbow didn’t actually like having her tag along. Rainbow probably wanted to hang out with cooler ponies and didn’t want to ruin her reputation. She did get bullied by Hoops and his friends, but that was it. Only three ponies hated her, and Fluttershy was pretty sure they were just jealous.
Well, there was that gray pegasus with light yellow hair similar to Rainbow’s. What was her name? Dinky? Dainty? Derpy? Whatever. Fluttershy had seen her getting picked on by Hoops and his gang. Maybe they could buddy up.
She looked around for the pony. It didn’t take long. There was a small commotion nearby, and when Fluttershy went over to see what was happening, she found Dinky/Dainty/Derpy.
“Please don’t!” Dinky/Dainty/Derpy said as she cowered.
“I’m gonna do it and you can’t stop me!” a brown pegasus said. It was Hoops! Fluttershy felt unusually angry, but she didn’t do anything and kept on watching.
“Yeah, Dummy Derpy! We’re gonna take it!” Score said.
“Who said anything about you taking the muffin? I’m the one who’s going to eat it,” Hoops said.
“Oops.” Score shrugged sheepishly.
Hoops grinned at Derpy. “Any last words before your precious muffin is in my tummy?”
“Please don’t do it! Please!” Derpy cried. "I'm hungry!"
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” came a very familiar voice. Hoops turned around and bumped right into Rainbow Dash.
“Ooh, look! It’s little Rainbow Crash!” Hoops laughed. “Whaddya gonna do, huh?”
“Stick around and find out!” Rainbow smirked.
“You bet I will! I’ll have this muffin in the next ten seconds and deal with you, you big baby!” Hoops said.
“You think I’m gonna let that happen? Nope!” Rainbow knelt down beside Derpy and lifted her head. Derpy sniffed.
“You okay there?” Rainbow asked.
Derpy shook her head. “I just want to eat my muffin!” she said.
“Well, that is going to happen. You’re gonna eat your muffin right now and I’m gonna make Hoops pay for what he did,” Rainbow said confidently. She helped Derpy up and snatched the muffin from the ground. Derpy looked scared for a second, thinking Rainbow would eat it, but Rainbow gave it to her and smiled.
“Thank you, nopony’s ever been so nice before,” Derpy said. She ate her muffin in two gulps before Hoops could even glance at her.
Rainbow stood on her hind legs and faced Hoops. “Time to avenge Derpy!” she said seriously.
Hoops laughed like a hyena. “Time to face Rainbow Crash!” he said. And without warning, he lunged at Rainbow.
But that’s when Fluttershy snapped. She’d had enough of Hoops bullying everypony, especially Rainbow Dash! Without thinking, Fluttershy pushed through the crowd and slapped Hoops away. She yelled at him, “Who do you think you are?! You’re just a stupid, big bully who likes to make ponies’ lives miserable just because you have nothing else to do in your
Everypony gasped…and to Fluttershy’s great surprise, they started clapping and cheering! Even Rainbow Dash was yelling: “Oh, yeah! 20% cooler and 100% awesome!” Derpy was looking at Fluttershy and Rainbow with admiration and relief.
Flustered, Fluttershy stepped away from Hoops, who was glaring at her. "Um, well, I-I'm just saying what I think...I'm sure everypony likes you!" she said quickly.
But then the crowd began chanting: "Fluttershy! Fluttershy!" She was lifted into the air, and couldn't help smiling. Hoops looked as angry and dangerous as ever, but no one paid him any attention. It seemed like the whole flight camp was focused on Fluttershy! Even Rainbow Dash was chanting!
Fluttershy was carried around by the crowd until lunchtime was over. She couldn't be more happy!
Fluttershy waved the flag once. She saw Rainbow Dash and Hoops and Dumbbell open up their wings. Rainbow had a smirk on her face. So did Hoops. Dumbbell had a determined frown on his face.
The race had finally arrived. Fluttershy had been biting her hooves and sweating buckets all day, wondering who would win the bet. She knew Rainbow was possibly the fastest filly in flight camp, but Hoops was also pretty fast. She knew Dumbbell was no match for anypony, though. He was fast, but bad at changing direction.
Back to the present, Fluttershy thought. She waved the flag again...
And they were OFF! The three ponies zoomed away in the quarter of a second. But they were so fast, and Dumbbell wasn't good at flying. He happened to be the closest to Fluttershy, and knocked her off her cloud!
Fluttershy raced toward the ground. She screamed and flailed her limbs, but nopony noticed her. They were all too focused on the race!
Fluttershy tried to open up her wings, but she simply couldn't. Perhaps she was too scared, or maybe she was just too bad of a flyer. She tried in vain to remember what Coach Strike had taught her. She couldn't do that, either!
Oh no. Oh nooooo. Goodbye, Equestria. Hello, pony heaven!
The ground was only a few yards away now. Fluttershy closed her eyes and braced herself...
Five seconds passed. Nothing. Ten seconds passed. Nothing. Fifteen seconds...was it her imagination, or did she feel something soft?
She opened her eyes and gasped. She was being lifted a few inches above the ground by...butterflies!
She looked around and saw so many animals. She didn't even know there were that many in the world! Squirrels, birds, ducks, even more butterflies... Everywhere Fluttershy looked, there were animals.
And for some reason, she felt happy and safe with the animals. They didn't care if she was a bad flyer. She had never felt so wonderful before, not even when the ponies at flight camp had been cheering for her!
The animals gathered around Fluttershy. Like magic, birds perched on her shoulder. Squirrels scurried out of trees and hurried over to her. Even the ducks came out of the water and waddled over to her. Animals were coming out of nowhere and going towards Fluttershy, attracted to her like a magnet.
Fluttershy looked up and saw the flight camp in the clouds. She smiled. She was here in this wonderland all because of the pegasus race!
And that's when things got weird...
Fluttershy saw a fiery rainbow circle explode in the sky, with a rainbow streak flying away from it. With the blue sky and the strange rainbow, she couldn't help thinking of Rainbow Dash with her blue coat and rainbow mane. And then it hit her-
Rainbow Dash had caused the fiery rainbow circle! And it was a Sonic Rainboom!
Fluttershy stared in awe at the Sonic Rainboom. Then she noticed the absence of her animal friends. They seemed to have fled from the scene because the loud noise scared them.
Fluttershy slowly crept towards a tall tree. She stuck her head inside the hole, where a family of squirrels was huddled up, looking surprised and frightened. "It's okay, you can come out now," she said sweetly.
She went over to the pond and stuck her head in it. To the frogs she said, "It's alright, there's no need to be frightened."
The animals slowly recovered and crept out of their hiding places. They gathered around Fluttershy once more, this time seeming happier than before. Fluttershy also felt that way. She smiled widely...
And then she felt something on her rump. She looked down...and nearly screamed! Not because of the cute little bunny, though that was something worth screaming over. It was her cutie mark! Her cutie mark! And it was amazing: three butterflies with pink wings and blue bodies.
She had some sort of connection with animals! This was so exciting! She also felt relieved. Her destiny wasn't flying, after all. It really didn't matter if she was a bad flyer!
Best day ever! Fluttershy had gotten her cutie mark, Rainbow Dash had done a Sonic Rainboom, and she had won the race!
That meant she had won the bet too. Fluttershy smirked. She couldn't help it. Too bad, so sad, bullies!
Author's Note
Me: how do i end thisss? i have no idea what happens next.
