//------------------------------// // The Bullies // Story: My Shy Filly // by samiechu //------------------------------// [MY SHY FILLY - THE BULLIES] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Flap your wings. Let the breeze slide under and lift you up. Once you master being off of the ground and holding your own weight, you should be fine! Derpy, what are you doing? NO! That's not how you fly! Oh dear Celestia..." The flying instructor, Songbird, cried out to the gray-blue pony flapping her wings out of unison, and spinning in wild circles. Derpy was far too busy attempting to catch her own tail to care about actually flying... or was she? Whilst Songbird attempted to slow Derpy down, Dew was trying to force his wings to carry him into the soft, beautiful air. With each movement of his feathery wings, he was beyond determined to be an expert in the sky. Devotion was his key. Fluttershy eyed the pony carefully, gazing at his ever constant tries to rise higher and higher. She had noticed he had trouble staying in the air, let alone being able to lift himself; his wings were under-grown and fragile. She didn't have this problem. For her, it was mainly the fact that she couldn't flap her wings for far too long. Looking back at the colt, she noticed his frustration was gradually getting worse and worse. She tilted her head and peered at him with sympathy lurking in her eyes. "Ugh... Why is this so difficult? I hate my wings! They're refusing to even LIFT me! Useless things..." Dew groaned, dropping to the cloud allocated to him and giving up all hope. He took a glance around, feeling a set of eyes on him. But knowing who it was, he couldn't bring himself to turn those few inches to meet his gaze with hers. Somehow, in some way, the pain he felt overruled all else. Stupid Dew... Why are you so stubborn? He thought to himself, closing his eyes to attempt burying his face in the fluffy cloud below. "Rainbow Dash, can you...?" He heard Fluttershy talking to Rainbow, but had no idea what she was implying, what her intention of the very vague statement was. Without his vision, he wasn't able to see if she were making actions or movements. He just ignored it, lifted his head from the clouds and focused on his wings. Within a second or two, he felt the tender bump of another cloud touching his. Barely a nudge. "Too far..." He couldn't help but smile. He swivelled around to eye Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. The yellow filly had her eyes locked to Dew, but he avoided the awkward meet of their eyes and lingered his gaze to Dash. She was flying, with pure ease. He felt his heart drop. He had wished for years that he could be such a fantastic Pegasus, but to no avail. "Sorry Fluttershy buddy! I couldn't really see where the cloud was going. I'm off! I'm gonna race Cino. He thinks he's better than me. Hah! Doubt it. Rainbow Dash, future Wonderbolt, OFF!" The cyan filly flew off with precision and speed. It was unlike anything Dew had ever seen, even though he had only seen ponies flying past his concealed room in his large, luxurious home. Even then, they were average ponies whose talents were not flying or racing. Rainbow Dash had that talent. Dew snapped back to reality, turning towards Fluttershy. The feeling of being nervous struck Dew like a rock. "Dewy? Are you angry at me?" He heaved a breath of remorse. "No. I'm annoyed at myself. Just don't worry Shya." Look at her Dew. "Really, it's no one's fault but my own. We're fine." He allowed a smile to pop up on his little face. A hesitant Fluttershy let out her long awaited sigh. She nuzzled his face from her cloud, before then hoofing at it to make it separate from his. "I hope so, Dewy." She gazed at the sky, watching all the other ponies fly. "We really need to learn.. Oh dear..." "It's alright. We're just not strong flyers. But we will be! I promise you that." Dew smiled at her. He was quite convinced that he would be one of Equestria's best flyers, just like his father. Just like Rainbow wanted to be. His ambitions were very similar to what hers were, he had noticed. It always managed to ponder in the back of his mind that maybe his special talent wasn't flying, but he kept all of his honest hopes high for the future. Again, he lifted his wings and flapped at a flowing pace. Slow at first, gradually gaining speed. He watched Fluttershy who managed to get in the air, but stumbled and fell on the cloud. She grumbled. "This is so frustrating! I could just scream... but I won't." She closed her eyes and shook her head wildly. "I really hope they don't come over and make fun of me again..." She muttered, nearly silent. "What was that?" Dew questioned. "Oh. Nothing." He frowned at her. Dew knew when Fluttershy was hiding something from him. Over the months, he had learned this quite easily. "Oh okay... Sorry. There are these three colts that teased me... They said I was a clutz.. They called me Cluttershy." She lowered her head, letting her mane droop sadly over her face. She was evidently hurt. She knew flying wasn't her strong point, and she accepted that more than other young ponies usually would. She just didn't like it when ponies made fun of her. It was mean. She hated mean ponies. "Who was it?" With terrible timing, the ponies she spoke of appeared above the two best friends. Dew listened to them laughing before he had laid his eyes on them. They already sounded like idiots to him. "Hey CLUTTERSHY! How is it in the sky? OH WAIT, you can't fly! Hahahah!" One of the colts said, flying around in circles around the pair. Dew examined the looks of this colt. He was light brown with a dark brown mane covering his eyes. Dew cocked a brow; how could he even fly with his hair like that? He gazed to the colts flank. He already has a cutie mark? It was three basketballs in a triangle formation. This pony must have been good at sports. "Hoops shut up! She can fly, she's just no GOOD AT IT! Bahahaha!" A much darker brown colt said, with a creamy mane and blue eyes. His mane curled just above his eyes so he was able to see, unlike the other pony called 'Hoops'. This colt had no cutie mark. The third pony, who was gray-blue with a black mane, also covering his eyes, just laughed. Nothing else. He just chuckled, and continued to swirl around and around in circles. Dew began to get very aggravated at the continuous bullying and disrespect these three had been showing to Fluttershy. "What do you want?" Dew Drop said loudly, keeping a tall proud stance. He had grown considerably since his first day at school. He was a little bit taller than Fluttershy, and had gained a lot more muscle and weight. He felt he could take on these colts. They didn't seem so tough. But then again, he wasn't the type of colt to start a fight. He was far too considerate to hurt another pony. "Stay out of this, Dew DROP! Hahaha.. oh wait.." The darker brown colt said. Dew had heard this colts name been said before in classes; Dumb-bell. He thought... emphasis on Dumb, maybe. Could work for a nickname. "Dumb-bell, shut up! Cluttershy's little boyfriend DEWY is just a brown nosing little jealousy pants! He can't even fly either! He's far too weak!" Hoops started laughing and they dropped to nearby clouds around the pair. Dew glared at them with near pure hatred, trying to understand why they started picking on HIM just because he tried to defend Fluttershy. He hadn't come across this type of attention before. He wasn't sure how to handle it. "Why are you picking on us? We haven't ever flown before. Give us a break!" He shouted. Fluttershy stared at Dew, trying to inch herself closer to him. She was frightened, upset, trying to hide away from all the hurt. "Pegasi like you are wimps! You can't even be called Pegasus ponies! You're just useless and you give us a bad name! Hahahahah!" Dumb-bell shouted at the two. They huddled in fear. Dew had no idea what to do. They continued to throw insults back and forth. Fluttershy began to cry but had no way of escaping the horrible comments. When she had tried to fly away, they pushed her back and made her sob even harder. Dew began to feel tears forming in his eyes, wondering when this would all stop. Songbird appeared from above the colts and the even more terrified Fluttershy. "Hoops! Dumb-bell! Score!" Her voice was piercing, nearly deafening. "To the headmare's office, NOW! I will be there in a moment." At the same time, they all grumbled and flew off towards the schools main building. Songbird watched to make sure they had gone the right way, and had entered the building. She knew they wouldn't leave as long as she could see their escape. "Dew Drop, Fluttershy, are you two alright? What were they doing to you? Did they hurt you?" Constant concerning comments spewed from the teachers mouth. Her tone had an apologetic feel to it, Dew noticed. He was confused by this; it wasn't her fault... "No... t-they kept teasing us because we can't fly.." Fluttershy whimpered quietly. It was nothing like her to speak up in a situation like this. Dew just wiped away his tears and huddled closer to the yellow filly's side. "Come on, I'll make sure your parents or guardians come to pick you up." Songbird said sympathetically. She had no idea that it had happened, she was far too concerned about Derpy Hooves and her confused flying. She hurried the two to the main building, already seeing the headmare at the doorway. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As time passed, Dew Drop and Fluttershy had told the headmare exactly what the three colts had been saying. There was no doubt that the headmare believed every word, and immediately suspended the bullies for mentally harming two other students. They were sent home, with their parents, no words said. When Maxwell and Sapphire had arrived at the school, as well as Fluttershy's cousin, Matilda, bad news arrived for Dew. "No please don't. I have to be here. Don't pull me out of school!" He cried, tears streaming down his little colt face. "What other choice do we have, Dew? None. We can't keep you here if it harms your mental health. I alone won't stand for it. Neither does your mother!" Maxwell's voice had continuously raised with every word spoken. He was nearing a rage at how poorly the school had handled the situation as it was happening, and how it had happened later on. "I'm sorry Dew, dear, but if you can think of a better solution then this is how it has to be." Sapphire stated softly, her voice much more caring that her husband's, Maxwell. Fluttershy's softer tone managed to get a word in before Maxwell roared about Songbird's poor handling of the situation. "I have an idea, if you don't mind me saying it." "Of course dear, go right ahead." Sapphire exclaimed quite fast. She had known about Dew and Fluttershy's close friendship for a long while, and had suspected Dew's feelings for the filly. "Well, if Dew is away from school for a week or two, there isn't any chance of it harming him in the long run.. Not that he would be harmed, I'm just saying that when he comes back he will be refreshed. And well.. he won't need to worry about the bullies 'cos they won't bully us anymore. If it helps, I can stay away for two weeks, too." She looked to Matilda. "If it's okay with you..." In sequence, Maxwell, Sapphire, Matilda and the headmare managed to come to an agreement. "It's settled then. The two ponies, Dew Drop and Fluttershy, will have two weeks of home studying to recover from the incident. All their homework and assignments will be mailed to them and they will return once the duration of the two weeks is over. Agreed, everypony?" Everyone nodded. The headmare signed a few papers with the fancy quill in her mouth, and sent the filly and the colt away. Songbird returned to her class, and the two families prepared to go their separate ways. But not before Sapphire could speak to Fluttershy. "Dear, would you like to join us for dinner tomorrow night? You can stay the night as well, if you may. You can prepare your homework with Dew and then catch up in the two weeks so you both don't get bored." She smiled widely at the two. It would have been good for them to at least see each other, rather than keep the distance and potentially forget to speak to each other, then get upset. "O-of course! That would be lovely. But only if it's not too much trou-" She was interrupted. "None at all, sweetheart! It's our pleasure." Sapphire looked at Maxwell, who seemed to have the same level of excitement as the loving mother. "It's fine with me, Fluttershy. You can stay over there as long as you want, I have a lot of late shifts at the hospital. A lot of Pegasus ponies got hurt during Spring Break." Matilda nodded, her graceful mane flowing behind her. She was indeed a beautiful mare. "Great! We will see you tomorrow night then. We can come get you if necessary?" "No no, I know how to get here. Thank you very much, Mrs and Mr Drop." With the agreement that Fluttershy would visit for the first time since the two became friends, Dew and Fluttershy nuzzled goodbye for the day. His heart was racing, he could barely speak after knowing she would be sleeping at his house more than once in the next two weeks. "Thank you Dewy. I mean, for today. Y-you're really brave.." She stared him deep in the eyes, a line of blush appearing over her cheeks. He kissed one of them, he had done it plenty of times before. A slight peck, nothing too obtrusive. "For you, Shya, anything in the world. I'll see you tomorrow." He walked away with his parents. The happiness he felt was extraordinary. His heart was nearly bursting from his pounding chest. His mind was full of Fluttershy, from images to thoughts to the sound of her sweet voice. He could nearly imagine her smell, the touch of her wings brushing past him. The feel of her face nuzzling his. The feeling he got when she stared at him, deeply. The amazing flutter he got when he kissed her cheeks. He stopped for a moment, a tense feeling rushing over him. He felt weak at the knees. He had realised something wonderful. He was falling in love with his best friend.