Rainbow Dash came to visit me outside my cottage. “Spike, this is the first pony friend I ever made—Rainbow Dash,” I told my new assistant. “Awww—he’s a baby!” cooed Rainbow, giving him a cute smile. All he could do was blush at her.
“Don’t call me that!” shouted Spike. “Oh, dear—I’m sorry for that!” I cried, very much startled by him. “I meant to say that you still have a lot of growing up to do,” said Rainbow, correcting herself. “I do, don’t I?” he conceded.
“I think that Spike is cute,” I told Rainbow. “I know—right?” she agreed. “If it weren’t for him, I never could have told Twilight Sparkle my name!” I told her. “Twilight Sparkle is my friend, too!” she chimed in.
Spike began to feel much better after listening to my conversation with Rainbow. “I was Twilight’s assistant until Fluttershy became her newest friend,” he piped up. “I could tell that Fluttershy was very afraid and very shy, so I decided to help Twilight befriend her,” he added. Hearing what he had done impressed the both of us very much.
“Fluttershy, I’m glad that you’re braver now, but are you brave enough to visit Cloudsdale?” Rainbow Dash asked me. “Oh, no—please don’t make me fly all the way up there!” I cried, trembling in total terror immediately. “Fluttershy, are you OK?” she asked me. I could not speak at all; I was too afraid even to open my mouth.
Spike spoke for me. “Rainbow, Fluttershy would love to go to Cloudsdale, but she can’t,” he explained. “Why can’t she go there?” asked Rainbow. “She’s afraid of heights,” he answered.
Spike checked my breathing and my heartbeat. “Please wake up, Fluttershy!” he begged me. To make me regain my consciousness, he tickled my muzzle. “Ah—ah—ah-choo!” I sneezed, after which I finally snapped out of it.
“Gesundheit!” said Rainbow and Spike. “Thank you both,” I told them. “You’re welcome,” they answered. “I was born in Cloudsdale, but I’m too afraid of heights to go back there,” I explained.
Rainbow Dash trotted toward me and put her wing on my back. “You know, I was born in Cloudsdale, too,” she informed me. I was full of self-doubt, and my eyes showed it. “But you are such a good flyer, and I’m afraid of heights!” I reminded her.
“Nopony is born knowing how to fly—not even me,” said Rainbow. “Nopony?” I asked. “Nopony,” she confirmed. “But I’m still afraid,” I told her.
“I have an idea!” piped up Spike. “Rainbow Dash, why don’t you do all the flying for Fluttershy while she just hangs on for the flight?” he suggested. “I’ll need some rope for that,” said Rainbow. “I hope that the rope won’t break,” I whispered to her.
Rainbow had borrowed a long, sturdy rope from Applejack. “Thank you very much, Rainbow,” I sighed with relief. I closed my eyes and tried my hardest to keep still while Spike helped Rainbow tie the rope around my barrel. “Ready for liftoff!” she called.
“Fluttershy, you need to wake up; we’re here!” shouted Rainbow Dash, prodding me in the barrel. When she picked me up—very gently—I started to feel the clouds under my hooves. “Oh, my goodness—is this Cloudsdale?” I asked her in excitement. She merely beamed and nodded her head in reply.
“You fell asleep on the way up here,” Rainbow informed me. “I’m sorry, Rainbow; the flight scared me so much that it left me exhausted!” I explained. “You really are afraid of heights!” she exclaimed. “I don’t think that anything can scare me now,” I told her, still a little sleepy.
Rainbow Dash and I arrived at my fillyhood home. “Hello, there, Fluttershy!” cried my parents, because to see me again filled them with utter joy. “Hi, Dad and Mom!” I cried in reply, shedding tears of joy. My parents invited Rainbow Dash as well as letting me in.
“Just look at how much you grew!” exclaimed my father. “And your Cutie Mark!” added my mother. “Rainbow Dash brought me here; I couldn’t make it all by myself,” I told my parents. “But Fluttershy has grown braver since you last saw her,” added Rainbow.