What is this place,
Filled with so many wonders
Casting its spell
That I am now under
Squirrels in the trees
And the cute little bunnies
Birds flying free
And bees with their honey
Honey!
Oh, what a magical place
And I owe it all to the Pegasus race
If I knew the ground had so much up its sleeve
I’d have come here sooner and never leave
Yes I love everything!
A sonic boom occurred, filling the sky with rainbow colors and scaring all of Fluttershy’s new animal friends away. She went after them.
“Shh. It’s okay,” she comforted them. “You can come out!” After calming down all the animals, she sat down on the grass with the creatures surrounding her. She smiled and looked around at her new friends. Three butterflies appeared on Fluttershy’s flank, butterflies that she would get to keep for the rest of her life!
“I can actually communicate with them,” Fluttershy explained. “It’s my destiny.”
“That’s wonderful, dear. It suits you perfectly,” responded Mrs. Shy.
“It really is, sweetheart, but are you sure you want to leave Cloudsdale just like that?” Mr. Shy asked.
“Well, yes, actually. I want to live on the ground with the cute woodland creatures and fulfill my destiny!” Fluttershy reasoned.
“I see,” Mr. Shy said. “Well, why don’t we wait until tomorrow to get the full details?”
Fluttershy looked back and forth between her two parents. She sighed when she realized they wouldn’t give in just yet. “Good night, everypony,” she said, sulking off into her room.
Fluttershy visited the creatures first thing in the morning. “Good morning, everyone… Oh yes, I would love to… I can’t… My parents don’t want me to leave yet... I’ll have to show them I can be responsible enough… Only one of you can come, though,” she said to the animals.
Fluttershy looked at all the volunteers to decide which animal to take. She scooped up a little white bunny. “How about you?” she smiled. “You’re perfect. What’s your name, little one?” she asked. “Angel? What a perfect little name.”
She sighed a breath of relief and flew back to her cloud home, now with a new friend in her hooves. She walked into the house and up to her parents’ room. “Mom, Dad, I want to live on the ground.”
Her dad turned to look at her. “I know sweetheart, but you still need lessons, and you may be a bit too young to venture off on your own like that.”
Her mom nodded, which got an imitation by Zephyr Breeze, who was lying in his crib. “You may be feeling that way, dear, but we still think you’re not old enough to live by yourself.”
Fluttershy looked down and motioned for something to come out from behind her. Angel appeared, and so she showed her parents the little bunny.
“You didn’t take this sweet little guy without permission, did you?” Mrs. Shy asked.
“Of course not, Mom. He said he’d be happy to go with me,” Fluttershy said.
“His cute little cottontail looks like a mini cloud,” Mr. Shy said.
“He’s just so adorable!” exclaimed Mrs. Shy. “I see why you want to live on the ground.” Fluttershy smiled. Maybe her parents would understand, after all.
“But you still need to stay up here,” said Mr. Shy. “We can’t let you go on without proper flight lessons.”
Fluttershy nodded. If she finished her flight lessons, then her parents would know just how capable she was.
“If I were you, I would just say ‘Mom, Dad, my destiny is really important. I’m going down to the ground right now!’” Rainbow Dash grinned.
Fluttershy grimaced. “I don’t want to sound harsh like that. Besides, who would yell at their parents?”
“Me,” said Rainbow.
Fluttershy sighed. “Let’s just get back to flight practice,” she said, too confused to keep talking. She flew over to the line for flips. She wasn’t too great at flying, but she could do all the basics. She did a half-flip and landed on the patch of clouds meant to catch her.
“Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!” She looked up to see the other recruits pointing their hooves at her, laughing, chanting.
It will be a while before I can go down to the ground, Fluttershy figured. She looked down at the colors down at the ground. Green, brown, blue, you name it! In Cloudsdale, pretty much everything is white. “Oh, how I long to be down there,” Fluttershy said.
“I feel like hope left me when I first failed to fly,” Fluttershy sobbed. “I’m a failure. I’ll never be able to come down now,” she told Angel, who patted her head. “I know I should try harder, but I can’t! Flying is just too hard!”
Angel smacked his head and said a few things to Fluttershy. “Oh, but how can I show them what I want if it’s not something they want for me?” she asked. “Well, Rainbow Dash is my friend… Yes, she has… I suppose she might be able to help me again… Would she really be willing to do that… Right… You’re right, I can’t give up hope now! I can show Mom and Dad just where I need to be!” she exclaimed, soaring into the sky.
“Thanks for helping me, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said.
“Why wouldn’t I?” she threw back.
“Well, it’s just, you’ve helped me once, maybe twice, already, and I don’t see why you would help me again,” she replied.
“That’s not how our friendship works. I can help you as much as I want, even without you repaying me,” said Rainbow. They landed on Fluttershy’s doorstep and Rainbow Dash knocked.
Mrs. Shy was at the door. “Hello, Rainbow Dash. Are you staying over tonight? We have salad and bread rolls!”
“Actually, Mrs. Shy, I’m here to convince you that Fluttershy belongs on the ground, whether you like it or not.”
Fluttershy and her mom gasped. “Rainbow Dash, I told you not to be harsh while doing this!”
Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes at Fluttershy as Mr. Shy walked to the door. “What’s all this commotion about?”
“You’re making Fluttershy stay away from where she belongs. I’m here to tell you that she needs to be on the ground!”
“I’m sorry about Rainbow Dash, Mom and Dad, but she’s right. It was a hard decision. I love my family as much as I love the ground, but I should be free to choose, and I’ve chosen to live on the ground,” Fluttershy persuaded.
Rainbow Dash nodded. “It’s true,” she agreed.
“I want to follow my destiny, like you did. Dad, you earned a cloud cutie mark, collected clouds, and now you live on a cloud. Mom, you’ve grown so many beautiful flowers, just like your cutie mark is telling you to do. I want to live with the animals, just like my cutie mark says. It’s what feels right,” she said.
Mrs. Shy took a deep breath. “You’re right, Fluttershy. I shouldn’t tell you what to do anymore. You have your cutie mark, and your own path.”
“Yes,” Mr. Shy agreed. “Your mom and I understand if you want to leave.”
“Thank you!” Fluttershy hugs her parents, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“But,” Mr. Shy continued, “you still need proper flight lessons. Once you graduate from the beginning flight school, I think you’ll know enough to leave.”
“Just do well!” Mrs. Shy added.
Fluttershy packed her bags. It had been a few years since she had gotten her cutie mark, and yesterday she had finally completed the beginning flight lessons.
Rainbow Dash was at her house, helping her friend pack. “I’m proud of you, Fluttershy!”
“Thanks,” Fluttershy smiled. “I just wish I could’ve been a better flier, maybe even go into the Junior’s Flight School.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow Dash said, holding Fluttershy’s “Never Give Up” trophy she made for her on her birthday. “See this? All that matters is you tried. You tried, and you succeeded. I’ve never met anypony as persistent as you.”
Fluttershy chuckled, walked over to her parents, and gave them another hug. “I’ll miss you,” Mr. Shy said.
“Good luck! I hope I see you soon!” her mom bid goodbye to her.
“Bye-bye!” shouted Zephyr.
Fluttershy stepped away and dried her eyes. “I’ll miss you all, too.” She gave one more hug to all of them.
She looked at Rainbow Dash. “I hope you’ll consider moving to Ponyville sometime, too.”
“I’ll be in the clouds for a while, to continue my flight lessons,” she explained, “but I’ll see you in a month-for my birthday.”
“Do you mind coming down to the ground for that?” Fluttershy asked.
“Of course not. Maybe it would be better, because no bullies will be there to ruin the fun,” she joked, making everyone laugh.
Fluttershy fluttered off, holding her pet close to her heart. “You can be my reminder of my life in Cloudsdale, Angel.” It was hard for her to leave her old memories so high, so far away from here, but in her heart, she knew that she couldn’t wait to make more memories.
