As Coach Steel trotted down the line, He saw nothing but true determination. In all but one pony. In the back row was a rather thin looking pegasus foal with a light yellowish coat. She had a long pink mane and tail that had a natural grace to them. Like Lightning Ace and Rainbow Dash, she too was a blank flank. She was seemingly very timid, and was cowering behind a larger foal. Steel payed it no mind though, as there was always a nervous foal or two every year. Derpy saw the pitiful filly and approached her, eager to try to befriend her. It only resulted in the filly shying away more. Derpy fell to her haunches with a sad, disappointed lpok on her face. Lightning and Rainbow went over to Derpy. "Well she's shy." Rainbow bluntly said.
"I wonder why?" Lightning asked.
"She looks like she needs a friend." Derpy said.
"Attention everypony!" Steel shouted.
"Looks like it's time to get back." Lightning said. The three of them returned to the crowd before Steel.
"Once again welcome to Summer Flight Camp! You have come to the right place to hone your flying skills! Now. I will go through your names once more now that all of you are here!" Steel announced then cleared his throat. "When I call your name, just say 'here'. First name is Derpy Hooves."
"Here!" Derpy chirped.
"Blossomforth." Steel continued.
"Here!" She said.
"Thunder Lane."
"Here!" Thunder Lane said.
"Cloud Breaker."
"Here!" Cloud said. Lightning felt a lump in his throat as Cloud was announced.
"Rainbow Dash."
"Here!" Rainbow shouted.
"Lightning Ace."
"Here!" Lightning said, his eyes watching Cloud.
"Fluttershy."
No answer.
"Fluttershy!" Steel said a little louder.
"...here" came a soft, almost whisper of a voice.
"I can't hear you!" Steel said in Fluttershy's direction.
"I'm...here." Fluttershy said, it just barely audible.
Steel continued down the list over the course of the morning hours. He was taken off guard by Fluttershy's somewhat extreme shyness, but he dad dealt with her type before. All he had to do was help her build some self esteem...right? At any rate he decided to leave it be for now, as he still had to oreintat the foals in where they will be staying. Among other things. "Now, off to your left you will see a few structures." He continued. "I will be splitting you into three groups." This news sent a chill down Lightning's spine. "You see the three flags? I will call each of you to a flag. Each is color coded to represent a team. This will determine where you will be sleeping, among other things. Now I would like you all to get a sheet that has your team rosters. Use them to find your team." With that there was much movement as everypony made there way to their team flag. Much to the horror of Lightning, He got split from Rainbow Dash. He ended up with Derpy though, so it wasn't all bad. But what worried him was that Cloud Breaker was in Rainbow's group. The super shy filly was in Lightning's group as well. "Now that you're in teams, go to your designated dorms. They have your team flag so finding them should be easy." Steel said. "Good luck to all of you and see you all in the morning. Dismissed!" The crowd dispersed after that.
Lightning and Derpy found their dorm, which was near the edge of the Flight Camp. It was a simple structure, yet not too shabby. "Well, it's not so bad." Lightning said to Derpy.
"Why did they separate us?" Derpy asked.
"I don't know Derpy, but we might as well settle in." Lightning said.
"Will we still get to hang out with her?" Derpy asked.
"I hope so, I really don't like the idea that Cloud is in her group." Lightning said.
They entered the bunkhouse. It was a simple and functional structure. It had a long row of bunks along both sides of the room. Lightning and Derpy trod over to the rear of the long room, to where their bunks were. Lightning wasted no time in personalizing his spot. He half unpacked his bag and set up a few things on his bunkside table, picture of his parents among them. The sun was going down, and everypony knew tommorow would be a long day. Lightning climbed into bed and fell asleep.
to be continued...