Flying South

by Skylight77

Chapter 2: Why'd you come?

The winds blew more powerfully on her mane the further she got. She kept her sights on the station where her friends were, watching them disappear from sight. She could no longer hear their calls. The sounds of the train racing on its tracks long drowned them out.

Rainbow Dash took her head away from the window. Her journey hadn’t started yet, so she still had some time to unwind. Except unwinding wasn’t on her mind. Something else was. She brought her sights back to the two mountain piles of bags that her friends had prepared for her.

The ones on the left held a few bags with glitters and cloth sticking out of them. The right side had stains of powder and frostings covering them. No doubt her friends went into such a hurry to prepare these things. It looked like even the bags themselves had to be prepared. But they really shouldn’t have gone to such lengths. She would’ve told them that, but she never found the chance to.

One bag on the right side at ground level however peaked her interest. It wasn’t much different than the rest, or much out of place, but those small differences was how she could tell that it indeed was out of place. Thinking back to when she watched her friends waving at the station, she smiled and walked closer to the bag, moving her head within inches from it.

“You might wanna get comfortable, Fluttershy.”

The bag suddenly jumped and squeaked loudly, despite being muffled. Multiple lumps kicked around the bag. It repeated until it found its way out of the bag, revealing the yellow and pink that Rainbow Dash knew too well, except covered in frosting. The yellow head looked to Rainbow Dash with the smallest eyes while the frosting dripped off the mane.

“H-how did you-”

“Come on, Fluttershy,” Rainbow interrupted with a wave of her hoof. “A lame disguise like that isn’t gonna trick me. You know me better than that.”

Fluttershy’s breath stuttered as she recalled the last time she tried something like this. The tree disguise she used, the fake illness, Rainbow Dash saw through them both so easily, it shouldn’t have surprised her that Rainbow Dash could see through this one.

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Meanwhile back in Ponyville, Fluttershy was walking towards the outskirts of Ponyville, keeping her smile on her face. She headed behind some trees and bushes, continuing to walk further.

With Fluttershy being concealed, her eyes bulged out while her mouth opened up. The eyeballs that stuck to her sockets fell out, revealing the small eyes of squirrels within. Out of her mouth came a mouse, climbing up the snout and onto her mane. The mane was brushed off, revealing a zipper that kept the Fluttershy suit together. With the weight of its body, the mouse pulled the zipper down, splitting the whole costume in half and revealing the many animals inside the suit.

All the animals looked back at the train station, smiling and nodding off its departure. They all packed themselves under the suit, heading back to Fluttershy’s cottage.

______________________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy since removed herself from the bag she concealed herself in, shaking her body to rid of all the sugar and frosting that covered her body.

“I’m sorry I snuck myself in here,” Fluttershy said, looking to her friend with apologetic eyes.

“Hey, take it easy,” Rainbow replied with a smile. “I just didn’t expect you to want to come.” It looked like Fluttershy frowned in response after turning away to walk towards the door. “Hey Fluttershy, come on, you don’t have to leave.”

Fluttershy stopped and looked back to Rainbow Dash. She reached under her wing. “Unless I give this to the conductor, I do,” she said as she pulled out a ticket. Rainbow Dash tilted her head back at the response. It certainly wasn’t the response she expected, but there was nothing she could say about it.

Rainbow Dash just waved her hoof, signaling Fluttershy to go ahead. She turned her head towards the window, hearing the door to her private room opening and closing as Fluttershy left. In between the train’s chugging sounds, she could hear Fluttershy’s usual attempts of walking past ponies, which made sense because there wasn’t much room in the first place.

Rainbow Dash’s gaze focused on the world outside those windows. Even from here, she could feel refreshed by the cool winds that blew due to the speed this train was going. She watched far into the distance, noticing the many trees getting their brown leaves blown off thanks to the winds from either the train or the weather.

She stuck her head outside of the window, releasing a content sigh as the powerful breeze blew against her mane. She closed her eyes and let her mouth hang open, letting her tongue out. She focused her mind on the force of the wind. The speed this train went was nothing like the speed she could attain from flying alone, but the wind alone was enough to relax her spirits. Despite all the wind blowing on her face, her breathing stayed steady, pushing against the air that fought her breath.

“Rainbow Dash?” The sound of Fluttershy’s voice startled Rainbow Dash to slam the back of her head against the train’s window frame. Grunting, she removed her head away from the window, rubbing her hoof against the back of her head as gave Fluttershy a stern look.

“You know, this is a private room for a reason, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said in annoyance, making Fluttershy shrink back as her ears fell.

“Oh… um, I’m sorry,” Fluttershy stuttered, turning away. “I-I’ll leave you alone then…” She made her way back to the door leading to the next cargo. But as she was opening it, Rainbow Dash came right next to her, forcing the door to close back.

“Don’t take everything so literally, stay,” Rainbow offered, motioning Fluttershy towards one of the bed seats.

______________________________________________________________________________

After a quick exchange of preferences and offers, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sat together on the far side of the room. With no window near the seat, they could chat without the wind bothering them, or at least bothering Fluttershy.

“So Fluttershy, how come you wanted to come along?” Rainbow asked the big question in the room.

Before Fluttershy answered, she brought her gaze down, humming to herself as she thought it over. “When you announced that the birds in Ponyville had no where to go, I was so worried,” she started. “I-I was afraid our solution would be to leave them to starve.” She looked back up, but her voice increased in pitch. “Why, I know I could try to house them in my cottage, but, I know it isn’t nearly big enough to keep them all for the winter.” Rainbow’s ears twitched and her mouth went open in a bit of a shock because of her friend’s display of fear. “I-I was so scared for them. I… had to do something, but… I just didn’t know what…”

“That was when I said there could be a new home for them outside of Equestria,” Rainbow Dash continued for Fluttershy, to which Fluttershy nodded in response. She knew Fluttershy would be worried for those birds, but she didn’t expect her to do something like this for them. “But Fluttershy, that’s why I’m going. I can’t let any of Ponyville down including those birds. You don’t trust that I’ll get it done?”

“No, I do trust that you’ll do the best you can,” Fluttershy answered while shaking her head. “But what if there’s that chance that there isn’t a home for them?”

“Don’t say that,” Rainbow said. “You keep thinking like that and there won’t be. Believe me.”

“I know…” Fluttershy looked away. “I know that I can believe in you, but… I have to see for myself.” Fluttershy’s eyes sparked when she looked back at Rainbow. “If you came back saying that there wasn’t any habitats for them, I know that in my heart, I wouldn’t be able to accept it. I have to come… to see for myself whether there is a home for them or not. That’s the only way I’ll know I can accept it.”

There was a pause as Rainbow Dash let a soft gasp form in her mouth.

“Taking care of the little critters is what I do. When there’s something as big as this at stake, I can’t just sit back and do nothing. ...That’s why I have to go.”

Rainbow Dash let out her sigh. “Gosh, Fluttershy, you’re acting as if these animals can only depend on you. You know you can’t take care of all of them by yourself.”

“I know… but… I can try, right?” Fluttershy eyes glinted with hope. Rainbow wasn’t sure how she could respond to that. It almost sounded like Fluttershy's question related to how Rainbow Dash did things. “Besides, if what Twilight said was true, this trip will help me encourage those little birds to fly this far south,” Fluttershy continued.

“Well... mmmrph, ya got me there,” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her chin. She hadn’t actually thought about how they would be capable of giving those birds the confidence to fly outside of Equestria. Even if she did find a new habitat for them, it would take somepony like Fluttershy to convince them to go. But she wouldn’t know what she would be leading them to unless she saw the land for herself.

“Okay, so I can understand why you wanted to come, but seriously, why did you have to sneak your way on? If you wanted to go so badly, you could’ve just asked.”

Fluttershy’s ears went limp as she frowned. She looked away before answering. “...I was afraid... that you wouldn’t allow me to come… that I’d slow you down…”

“Aw, come on, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said, placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “You, slow me down on a mission like this? No way,” she said with confidence. But Fluttershy wasn’t convinced.

“...You were awfully mad at me when we had to climb that mountain… to…”

“But that was a long time ago,” Rainbow interrupted. “Can’t we put that behind us?” Fluttershy couldn’t answer that, so Rainbow continued. “Besides, you didn’t want to climb up there in the first place. I was more mad at Twilight for suggesting you to come along. I was just so frustrated that you kept proving me right with you slowing us down.”

There was a short pause as Fluttershy came up with her words to respond. “Well… to be fair, Twilight was right in the end.”

“Yeah yeah,” Rainbow let go of Fluttershy and waved her hoof. “But hey, if I had known you could do that to a dragon, I’d have recommended you from the start.”

The comment made Fluttershy cringe. She recalled the time when she was so hastily picked to go search for Twilight when Trixie had all of Ponyville captured. If that was how she acted then, she could only imagine how Rainbow Dash would’ve acted before if she believed from the start that Fluttershy could tame that dragon.

“Well, that settles it,” Rainbow started again as she lifted herself off her seat. “Fluttershy,” she motioned a hoof towards her friend, “I humbly welcome you to your first mission on Ponyville’s weather team!”

Fluttershy was taken aback by this gesture, not sure if she was more surprised by the sudden position she was given, or the fact Rainbow Dash used humble in her sentence. But then again, ever since her speech at their departure to the Equestria Games, she shouldn’t be surprised that Rainbow Dash was learning so much on how to be humble. Not to mention she had Rainbow Dash to thank for her own performance with flying in those games.

Fluttershy slowly moved her hoof to Rainbow’s, one question in mind. “A-am I really on the weather team now?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Nah. But if you want, I could help you get on it when this adventure’s over.” The two friends couldn’t help but giggle at the comment. Their hooves came in contact and Rainbow lifted Fluttershy off her seat. “But seriously, you should totally consider it.”

“But Rainbow Dash, I have my responsibility of taking care of the animals, not the weather,” Fluttershy replied while they walked to a window together.

“Come on, what do you think this journey’s about?” Rainbow continued, motioning her hoof outside. “A huge part of an animal’s habitat is all about the weather. If you could learn it, you could give them their favorite season whenever you wanted to.”

“Oh, but I couldn’t do that. That’s what the weather pegasi’s like you are for.”

“Oh, so now you’re going against what you said earlier about wanting to take care of animals in as many ways as you can?”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy continued chatting away at their logic over how animals and weather control related to what they were doing. Their conversations filled with laughter and enjoyment that was drowned out by the rough noises the train made as it continued chugging along Equestria’s lands.

As much as they enjoyed learning about each other’s activities, they weren’t quite ready to make that a regular thing. They did enjoy talking about it though. Fluttershy could now perform in front of others pretty well, while Rainbow Dash wasn’t as boastful as she used to be. They reflected on their past while doing various activities to enjoy their train ride and let the time pass.

Rainbow Dash continuously stuck her head out the window, letting the cool breeze refresh her spirits. Fluttershy was just content with watching the many trees that were having their leaves blown off. It was the symbol that one day, these trees would bloom new flowers and decorate Equestria to a new beauty after surviving the harsh cold that was Winter.

When she thought about it, that really was what their journey was about. They would travel a harsh journey outside of Equestria, discovering things that nopony else had. And when their journey was over, they would be greeted to the happy faces of many ponies, birds, and other animals, waiting for them. Of course, that last part would be delayed because of the new season they would have to wait for.

But for now, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could spend their time just happily chatting with each other.

Author's Note:

--
Hope you enjoyed reading.

Find any typo's or grammar errors? Please notify.

Feedback and criticism are appreciated.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Is this story based off of Austraeoh? Will Rainbow Dash be beating anybody up in this story? Will this story be a long one?

[Tom the bomb]

5290324 yeah.. what he said!

[Skylight77]

5290324
5291700

Is this story based off of Austraeoh?

Don't know what that is...

Will Rainbow Dash be beating anybody up in this story? Will this story be a long one?

Most likely.

[Tom the bomb]

5292282 you should read Austraeoh! It is a tale of wonder, adventure, and awesomeness starring RD. It is basically Rainbow against all the forces of evil... and evil gets sent to the hospital.

I think it is great but Im very interested in how this turns out too! RD is the epitome of awesomness and epicosity, which might be why I got my pro pic of her ;)

[FamusJamus]

...her eyes bulged out while her mouth opened up. The eyeballs that stuck to her sockets fell out, revealing the small eyes of squirrels within. Out of her mouth came a mouse [...] pulled the zipper down, splitting the whole costume in half and revealing the many animals inside the suit.

Brain, why did you turn that innocent scene into nightmare fuel!?

5292601 I'm actually getting more of a Off the Edge of the Map vibe from this story, so far. Dash and Shy working together to get through the unknown while bonding and overcoming challenges.