//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Flutter My Heart Ashore // by RainbowDangerDash97 //------------------------------// Fluttershy gulped once more, as she stared nervously at the crowd before her. "Come on, Fluttershy," the coach egged on. Fluttershy winced, as she lightly pushed off the cloud she stood on, with a delicate hoof. Her wings flapped as fast as a hummingbirds, and she almost had tears in her eyes, as she pushed herself far beyond her limits. When her strenghtless wings couldn't keep her up, she collapsed. Biting her lip, she closed her eyes, waiting for the Day of Judgement (or at least that was what some pegasi told her) to come at last. But she wasn't falling like she thought. One by one, she opened her eyes. Victory! She flew! Grinning from ear to ear, she waved to the crowd. But her course was far from over. With more confidence, she stepped up, resulting in a fall forward. Soon, she was out of control of her own self. She drifted through the wind, rolling over and sliding down more clouds, before crashing into a flag, and falling flat on her face. Slowly, her eyes shot up, her head still dizzy from the fall. Directly in front of her, two big colts landed. One of them, the one with the brown coat, sneered, "Nice going, "Klutzershy"! They outta ground you permanently." There was a loud round of laughter, jeers and snickers. Hoops, the other bully, cried out, "HA! My baby brother can fly better than you!" The laughter started all over again. Fluttershy whimpered, and stared at them, almost as if they were ruining her life, and tearing her to pieces with their mockery. Of course, she was used to it - but she thought she did well! If her best was still terrible, why was Celestia so unkind to have made her a pegasus? Suddenly, out of the blue, a pegasus filly landed in front of her. She was blue all over, with a flowing rainbow-coloured mane. "Leave her alone!" she cried out. Hoops asked, speaking again, "Ooh, what are you gonna do, Rainbow Crash?" Rainbow Dash, the pegasus standing up for Fluttershy, narrowed her eyes, "Keep making fun of her - and find out!" "You think you're such a big shot? Why don't you prove it?" the bullies replied. The fearless Rainbow Dash answered, her confidence clearly hanging in their eyes, "Whaddya have in mind?" Almost at once, the two bullies, and Rainbow Dash were getting into taking-off position. One of them sneered, "You're going down!" Rainbow Dash grinned and replied, "In history, maybe! See you boys at the finish line!" As soon as Fluttershy banged her checked flag down slowly, and lightly, they bolted past her. Fluttershy, who was not the best flier, a.k.a. the clumsiest pegasus on clouds, was blown off by all the wind against her. She slipped, and fell. She didn't care to look beneath her. She had been lucky the past few times, but right now, there was no clouds, ponies or anything else, to save her and break her fall. She shut her eyes, and screamed, knowing she was almost doomed to what some of the pegasi called, "The Underworld". She was almost sure she was hitting the ground, when PUFF! "Huh?" she asked. She looked beneath her, and saw a beautiful blanket of pink, yellow and blue! She gasped joyfully, and looked around, gaping in awe and wonder at the beauty around her. THIS was "the Underworld"?! The pegasi must be mistaken! This was heaven! Fluttershy couldn't help herself, but burst out into a song, her sweet sounding voice like honey heard from miles away. "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 Hooneeeeey! Oooh, 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 everythiiiiiiiiiing!" Suddenly, there was a loud booming explosion. All the bunnies, critters and birds scrambled away to safety in trees and under logs. Fluttershy was horrified. The big rainbow explosion had scared away her new-found friends! She smiled and gently crawled up to the tree. "Shh, it's okay," she whispered. "You can come out. Everything's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of," she consoled. Almost under the spell her gentle voice weaved, the animals came out of their hidey-holes. Fluttershy suddenly smiled a very wide smile. Animals! There were never such beautiful creatures up there in Cloudsdale! She made up her mind she never wanted to leave the ground again! Soon, she saw a sorrowful pink pony come up to her. "Pinkie Pie!" she cried out. "I - I-" She stared at her friend. She gasped, "Oh no! Is everything alright?" "My daddy says we can't play anymore, Fluttershy," Pinkie Pie said, her colour faded to a darker shade of pink than ever. "Oh my, um...but - but!" Fluttershy whispered, speechless. Tears came to her eyes, as she whimpered in horror. "Bye Fluttershy..." Pinkie Pie muttered, as she left for home. "No, wait!" Fluttershy cried out. More and more tears streamed down her cheeks. Her only friend....leaving. Forever. As hard as the animals tried to cheer her up, she knew she would never be happy again.