//------------------------------//
// Hurricane Fluttershy 
// Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S2 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

The day started out like any normal weekend.

At the Golden Oaks Library, Flash, Twilight, Springer, Scootaloo and Spike were hanging out on the balcony enjoying themselves. Flash was softly playing his guitar while Twilight was reading a book. Springer and Spike were sitting back to back, both reading a comic. Scootaloo on the other hoof, was trying to get her weekend homework done before losing more free time for the weekend. To say that they were all content with their current objectives would be an understatement.

Unfortunately, their quiet morning wasn't permanent, as it was suddenly interrupted by a powerful gust of wind. The blast caused their books, comics and homework to almost go flying all over the place. Twilight managed to use her magic to grab the flying papers, bringing them back to their owners. She then turned towards the cause of the gust and frowned.

"Rainbow Dash!"

"Sorry guys," Rainbow said as she flew down towards the balcony, carrying a bag of flyers. "Guess I came in a little too fast there."

"You think?!" Flash replied as he put his guitar down. "What's so important that you'd come up so fast that you almost blew us all off the balcony?!"

Rainbow smiled back. "You won't believe this, but Cloudsdale's picked Ponyville to help restock their water reserves!"

This got their attention, especially Scootaloo. "That's great Rainbow! I can't wait to see it."

"You know it," Rainbow playfully saluted before turning to Twilight. "That's why I'm here. Is it okay if I hold a meeting of the town's pegasi here?"

Twilight cocked an eyebrow, still slightly agitated by Rainbow's earlier gust of wind. However, thanks to Rainbow and Scootaloo's bright smiles, she shook her head and replied. "Sure, I don't mind."

"Great!" Rainbow cheered before turning back around. "I gotta get going. Lots of flyers to hand out."

"What flyers?" Flash asked, only for Rainbow to give her a flyer. His eyes soon scanned the paper. "Mandatory meeting for all Ponyville Pegasi. Tonight at the Golden Oak Library, seven o'clock." He then looked back up at Rainbow with a raised eyebrow. "What would you have done if Twilight had said no?"

"I knew she wouldn't," Rainbow giggled before leaping off the balcony and into the sky.

As she left, Flash turned back to his old friend. "Twilight, you're too predictable."

"I know," Twilight grumbled with a roll of her eyes, only for another gust of wind to appear, blowing their papers away again. "Oh come on! What the-"

"Oh Twilight!" Rainbow interrupted as she stopped and floated in front of Twilight. "Can you also set up a projector for a film I want them to see?"

"Sure..." Twilight replied darkly.

"Great! Thanks Twilight!" Rainbow called out before once again flying off, another gust following the leaving pegasi.

"Seriously. Too predictable." Flash grumbled as he started picking up the papers. Again.

"Shut up Flash."





Later that night...

Flash sighed as he, Scootaloo and Spike put the brooms up they had been using to clean the floor. With so many ponies coming over, Twilight had had them cleaning up the library all day. This included sweeping and mopping the floors, dusting the bookshelves and tidying up their own room encase somepony wandered into them.

"Are we done yet?" Scootaloo asked Twilight with a slight whine.

"Yeah..." Springer moaned as he climbed down from dusting the bookshelves. "My paws are killing me."

Twilight checked her list again, a smile soon appearing on her face. "Yes! That's everything."

Everypony sighed in relief, only for all of them to collapse from exhaustion. This made Twilight roll her eyes before hearing a knock at the door. Opening it, she saw the familiar Rainbow Dash. "Hey Rainbow."

"Hey Twilight!" she said as she walked in. "The other pegasi should be here in a few minutes. Is the projector all set up?"

"Yup," Twilight pointed to the device Spike was sitting next to.

"You could have helped you know," Flash told Rainbow.

"I was busy," the rainbow-maned pegasus replied.

"Doing what?!"

"Crunching the numbers," Rainbow said as she pulled a notepad out of her saddlebag. "Based on the number of pegasi in town and the current wing speed record, I've been trying to figure out how fast everypony will need to fly in order to break it." She then turned to the others and saw they all had wide eyes. "What?"

"Nothing," Flash replied, though his eyes were still wide. "Its just...I don't think I've ever seen you do math before."

"Because its important!" Rainbow barked back. Before they could say anything else, they heard the sound of approaching voices. "They're here!" Rainbow exclaimed as she flew back outside with Flash on her tail.

Every pegasus pony in town was gathering around the library door. The sight made Flash let out a small sigh before landing and pointing to the front door. "One at a time please," Flash said as they allowed them into the building.

"Alright, go on in. Find a seat." Rainbow also said as she pointed at the library as well. Once the last pony was in, Rainbow looked inside and counted the number of heads.

"What's up?" Flash asked, seeing her confused expression.

"We're missing one," Rainbow replied before looking around. A second later, her eyes narrowed as she floated over to a nearby tree. "Alright, enough games. Come on Fluttershy."

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, only to hop in place when he saw a pair of eyes poking out of the tree's bark. "What the-?!" He soon got his answer when the tree seemed to come apart and reveal Fluttershy, who appeared to have been hiding within a tree costume.

"Come on, let's go!" Rainbow said as she started pushing Fluttershy towards the library.

"Nice costume," Flash told her, interrupting Fluttershy almost refusal.

"Thanks," Fluttershy replied as she was pushed inside, her tree hat coming off as it hit the door frame.

Once they were inside and had disposed of Fluttershy's tree costume, Rainbow placed a film into the movie projector and had Spike start it up. The film was very old, probably one of the first ones ever made, and told them about how Cloudsdale collected the water they needed to create the rain. It also told them how the tornado needed to collect the water had to have a wing power of eight hundred or more, or it would not be able to be sent to Cloudsdale. Suddenly, the film cut out, causing everypony to look toward to projector. Spike had somehow gotten the film wrapped around himself, causing the film to stall.

Spike laughed nervously as they looked at him. "Er...intermission?" he said as Springer facepawed.

Seeing she needed to step in, Rainbow flew in front of the film screen. "So, here's the scoop. Cloudsdale has chosen our own highland reservoir as a source of the rainwater that they need for all of Equestria. And you know what that means." She didn't give them time to respond. "It means it's up to Ponyville's pegasi to bring that water up to Cloudsdale."

Hearing this, the many pegasi all began murmuring amongst themselves.

"Not only that," Rainbow went on as she changed the screen to show a Wonderbolt poster. "But Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, will be here to oversee the water transfer and record our top tornado wing speed." She once again changed the board, this time showing a graph. "Now last year, Fillydelphia broke the wing speed record with a top speed of nine hundred and ten wing power. But I think we can do better!" She changed the board again. "I think we can get a top speed of over a thousand!"

Once again the murmuring began, only for Flash to notice that one of the pegasi looking nervous.

Rainbow's face became incredibly serious. "IF...each and everypony trains, and trains hard to get their wing power numbers up." She suddenly frowned when she heard the sound of coughing. "That coughing better be from a popcorn kernel, Thunderlane."

Everypony turned to the black pegasus with silver and white mane, who was suddenly very nervous at the attention.

"Nopony's getting sick on my watch." She turned to the rest of the room. "So, are we gonna train hard?"

"YEAH!" Everypony else cried out.

"Are we gonna be strong?"

"YEAH!"

"Are we gonna be fast?"

"YEAH!"

Rainbow then flew up to Bulk Biceps. "Record smashing fast?"

"YEAH!" The colossal pegasi screamed.

"WHO'S WITH ME!?"

Ever pegasi cheered at the top of their lungs, all except two.





Meanwhile...

Outside the library, Flash was following a yellow pegasi that had sneaked out while everypony else was cheering. "Fluttershy?" He called out.

Hearing her name, the shy pegasus turned around. "Oh, hello Flash. Is something wrong?"

Flash cocked an eyebrow, crossing his hooves. "You tell me. Are you alright?"

Fluttershy stared at him for a moment, sighing as she knew where this was going. "I can't help with the tornado. I'm too weak."

Flash tilted his head in confusion. "You...you're kidding, right? I've seen you move at incredible speeds. Remember when you managed to catch that family of squirrels that fell out of that tree? There must have been like...six of them."

"Seven," Fluttershy corrected.

"Seven. They would have been roadkill, but you managed to save them."

"That was an emergency," Fluttershy explained, twiddling her hooves.

"And this isn't," Flash replied, crossing his hooves again. "Without the tornado, then there won't be any rain water to nourish Equestria. And without that nourishment, the trees and plants will all die. If that happened, where are all your animals friends gonna live and what are they gonna eat?" Fluttershy thought about this, her figure slightly shivering as she did.

"I won't force you to do this," Flash replied as he turned around. "But I want you to remember what I told you about fear when we faced that dragon." With that, he returned to the library.

As Fluttershy headed back to her cottage, she remembered what Flash had told her when they faced the dragon. "Whenever I'm feeling scared, I ask myself one question. What am I more afraid of, what could happen if I act or what will happen if I don't? Almost every time I ask myself that question, I find that what will happen scares me more than what could happen."

What if Flash was right? What if they couldn't make a tornado strong enough to suck up the water? The thought of what could happen filled her mind, showing her images of her animals in peril because there was no food or places for them to stay.

"I...I can't let that happen."





The next morning, all of Ponyville's pegasi were at the track located in the Ponyville park. Rainbow was walking through the group and watching as they all stretched.

"Stretch those glutes, Flitter! Nice flexibility, Cloudchaser. A little...too much flexibility, Blossomforth. Uh, somepony give Blossomforth a hoof. Let's see some faster trotting, Thunderlane! Good pace, Silverspeed!" She then blew her whistle, getting everypony's attention. "Keep it up! We're gonna need all the wing power we can get to break that record!"

"YEAH!" Bulk once again screamed.

"Hey Rainbow Dash," Flash said as he stepped up to her. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"It's about Fluttershy-"

"You mean how she's skipping out on training?" Rainbow interrupted, growling. "Yeah, I know. When I find her-"

"Actually, could you go easy on her? She thinks she's not a strong enough flyer to help with the tornado."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at this. "That's nuts! Her flying skills are top notch...well, when she's rescuing a bird...or some other animal."

"I think it's more like stage fright," Flash told her, rubbing the side of his head. "You know how she gets when she has to do things in front of others."

"Yeah...I know." Rainbow replied, still grumbling. "She hasn't changed..."

Flash put his hoof on her shoulder. "So just go easy on her if she doesn't show up."

"Alright...I will." Rainbow said as she pushed the hoof away. She let out a small sigh before looking up, her frown turning to a smile at a sight behind the defender. "Though I don't think I'll have to."

Flash raised an eyebrow before turning around to see Fluttershy walking up to them.

"Hey," she said in a soft, weak tone.

"You came," Flash replied happily.

"I knew you would," Rainbow told her, hopping in front of Flash. "Thanks for showing up."

"I just thought about what would happen if I didn't," Fluttershy said, twiddling her hooves as she looked down at the ground.

"Well, we're glad to have you." Rainbow shined a smile as she patted her old friend. She then turned to the rest of the pegasi. "Alright everypony, time to see what you've all got!"

They all grouped up, while Twilight and Spike arrived with a funny looking device. Two pegasi mares, Cloudchaser and Flitter, walked up to them with confused looks.

"So..." Cloudchaser asked, "what exactly does this machine do?"

Twilight smiled as she went into over-complicated explanation mode. "This is an anemometer. It measures your accelerative velocity and translates it into wing power, thus gauging your cumulative H2O anti-gravitational potential." She turned back to the pegasi. "Any other questions?"

"Yeah," Flitter said before turning to Spike. "What exactly does this machine do?"

Spike rolled his eyes as he put his notepad down and went into Twilight translation mode. "It tells you how fast you're flying and how strong your wings are."

A collective breath of understanding spread across the group, causing Twilight to frown before she heard the sound of coughing. "Is that you again Thunderlane?" She asked as she levitated a can of disinfection over to the pegasus and sprayed it. "Please, we need to have a germ-free environment."

"It wasn't me," Thunderlane defended as he pointed to the mare next to him. "it was Blossomforth."

Rainbow decided to show up at this moment, an annoyed scowl on her face. "Don't worry Twilight," she told the unicorn. "Thunderlane's just cooking up an excuse to spend tornado day in bed. Why don't you get over here and be our first test flyer, Thunderlane?"

Flash watched as Thunderlane glared at Blossomforth as he made his way to the start of the track. Everypony watched as he flexed his wings, beating them as hard as he could. He then shot off the starting line, flying across the track and passing the anemometer. The gust of wind he created caused the device's propellers to spin.

Twilight checked the gauge and smiled as she looked back. "We have nine point three wing power."

The crowd all cheered at hearing this.

"Not bad, not bad." Rainbow said as she watched Spike jot it down. She then moved over to the starting line and began cracking her joints, flexing her wings and beating them strongly. She shot off the start line, becoming nothing but a rainbow blur as she did. She shot passed the anemometer as well, creating a gust of wind so strong that everypony had to dig their hooves into the ground so they didn't get blown away.

Twilight, whose mane had been blown into a mess, smirked as she read the gauge. "Sixteen point five wing power!"

The ponies were all amazed by this, cheering as they saw how powerful their best flyer was. That is, till Rainbow flew over and hovered above them with crossed hooves. "Now listen up!" Rainbow called out over the crowd. "If each of you can get your numbers up to at least ten point wing power by the end of the week, we'll no doubt set a new tornado speed record. We'll be number one!"

The entire squad cheered loudly at the sound of that and shot into sky to prepare themselves. Several pegasi all began to line up, each shooting down the line, allowing Twilight to record. Flash and Fluttershy were right at the back of the line, Flash hoping the others would be too focused on their own training to watch Fluttershy.

"Impressive," Rainbow said when she saw the third to last pegasi's score. She then turn back to the line, where only two ponies remained. "Fluttershy, your turn." She blew her whistle as Fluttershy stepped up to the line.

Unfortunately, Flash's theory about nopony looking at her was dead wrong. All the ponies present turned to watch her. The sight alone made Fluttershy shiver in pure, unending fear.

"You got this Shy," Flash assured her, patting her side. "Don't worry, we're here for you."

Hearing this gave the mare some relief, but she still felt like she was gonna faint from all the attention. Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy flapped her wings and began gently moving forward. As she did, she slowly began to pick up speed. Unfortunately, when she passed Cloudchaser and Flitter, the two began laughing. Hearing this caused Fluttershy to suddenly come to an almost halt as she slowly passed the anemometer. Her gust was so weak that the propellers barely moved. Flash watched as Twilight read the gauge, only to not say the score out loud. He let out a groan as he walked up to Twilight and Rainbow.

"Tell her," he heard Twilight say.

"No you tell her," Rainbow replied.

"No you!"

Flash, Fluttershy and the rest of the squad turned towards them, as Rainbow stopped arguing with Twilight and turned towards Fluttershy. "Um..." was all she seemed to be able to say at first. "Great job, Fluttershy! You measured...uh...uh...point five."

Fluttershy seemed happy with this score, until Spike opened his big fat dragon mouth. "Point five? Isn't that like...less than one?"

Flash face hoofed as he watched Twilight swat the little dragon over his head. Flash looked back at his friend, only to see Fluttershy's face morph into one of pure despair before rushing off with her face hidden.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow called out as she rushed after her. "Where are you going?"

"I don't belong here," Fluttershy replied, tears already forming under her eyes. "I knew I wouldn't be able to contribute to the tornado."

"But I need you," Rainbow barked back while floating by her.

"I'm sorry," Fluttershy cried, tears now flowing down her face. She then zipped away, flying into a nearby batch of trees. Rainbow looked like she was going to follow, only to decide against it. Letting out a sigh, she turned around, only to see Flash and Twilight standing in front of her.

"We have to get her to help," Flash said while rubbing his head, frowning. "Not just for the tornado, but for her."

"Yeah, I agree." Twilight nodded. "She seemed to be doing okay...that is, till just before she was about to pass the anemometer."

"What are we gonna do?" Rainbow asked as she pointed to where Fluttershy had run off to. "I mean, I can't help her and train everypony here at the same time."

"Why don't you leave her to me?" Flash said as he stopped rubbing his head. "I'll see what I can do to get her to help. That and I think I know the right pony to help me with her."

"But what about your training?" Rainbow asked, leaning down to the pegasi's eye level. "And don't tell me you're already ready! I know you don't train for speed like most pegasi Flash!"

Flash just smiled, turning around as he flew over to the start line. He cricked his neck as he flexed his wings, leaning down as he took a deep breath. Taking one single step with his hoof, the pegasi shot off like a rocket, blasting past the anemometer and causing a gust which caused the propeller to spin almost as fast as when Rainbow did it.

Twilight looked at the gauge and smiled. "Fourteen point nine."

Flash smirked as he turned to Rainbow. "I think I fulfil your requirements. Can I go now?"

Rainbow sighed, nodding.

"Thanks," Flash said as he turned to leave.

"What are you gonna do to try and help her?" Twilight asked.

"As I said before, I have an idea on one pony that can help her."





Meanwhile...

Fluttershy was in a beautiful meadow, crying while being surrounded by her animal companions. Her tears continued to flow as she heard the sound of a squirrel coming up to her. Looking up, her face covered in tears and grass saw the little rodent offering her acorns. "Oh...thank you." she said as Angel cleaned her face, "but I'm afraid a couple of little acorns won't solve my big flying problem."

A duck quacked at her, saying something only she could understand.

"I tried, but you should've seen those ponies laughing at me-"

Several birds interrupted her, chirping away at her.

"I know it's important to have confidence in myself-"

She was interrupted again, this time by a badger who started to retell a story.

"Yes, yes, I do remember. The river was swelling-" the badger then mimicked a heart attack. "And you were scared." The badger nodded at this. "Yes, I did tell you to never give up...and to believe in yourself."

"Sounds to me like you should take your own advice."

Fluttershy looked over at the source of the voice and saw Flash, walking over to her. He was not alone, as Iron Core was walking by Flash's side.

"Flash? Iron? What are you doing here?"

"Sentry told me about your flying problem," Iron told her, a surprisingly soft smile on his face.

"And we're here to help you," Flash continued.

"What's the point?" Fluttershy asked as she looked away from the stallions. "There's no way my point five wing power will be able to help the tornado."

"Oh come on! You're a better flyer than that!" Flash barked back, crossing his hooves in slight irritation. "I was watching you and you were going way faster than that, but you slowed down just before the meter. Why?"

Fluttershy hid her face behind her mane, trying to avoid the subject. However, she could feel their eyes staring at her, making her shiver in place as she muttered the answer, "When I was really young, I went to flight camp with Rainbow. I wasn't very good, so all the foals used to tease me. They all laughed and sang, 'Fluttershy can hardly fly' every time I did something."

Iron and Flash glanced at each other before Iron asked, "What's that got to do with this?"

"Today when I was flying, I heard the others all laughing at me and it made me remember when the foals at camp teased me."

"And that made you slow down," Flash finished, shaking his head. "Fluttershy, you can't let what a bunch of foals did to you back then hold you back now."

"But they were right..." Fluttershy replied as tears began to seep out of her eyes again. "I'm the worst."

Flash shook his head, knowing where this was going. "Maybe the old you was, but you're a lot stronger now. You think those foals would be laughing at you if they saw you talk down both a manticore and a dragon?"

Fluttershy didn't respond to that.

"Or how about how you faced off against Nightmare Moon and Discord?"

"But I didn't do that on my own."

"And you won't be alone doing this," Flash told her, patting his chest as he did. "Me and Rainbow will be there, along with all the other pegasi."

"But how am I suppose to get my wing power all the way to ten point o?"

"Your wings are probably stronger than you think shrimp." Iron assured her. "That's why we've come to help you."

"Help me?"

"We're gonna help you train until you're strong enough to be in the tornado shrimp."

"How?"

"Tell her Sentry." Iron said as he turned to Flash. Flash nodded.

"My wing power is fourteen point nine," Flash explained. "If we can get you up to five point one, then together we'll make up the ten point o limit."

This got Fluttershy's attention. "You'd share your wing power with me?"

"Sure, that's what friends do," he then leaned on Iron's side with a grin. "Lean on each other for support."

Iron then moved and let the pegasus fall on his side with a thud, chuckling as he did so. "And I'm gonna try and help you try and fight your fear, the same way you helped me open up to others."

Flash got up and dusted himself off. "If you're willing to try, we're willing to help. What do you say?"

Fluttershy wasn't sure how she what to say. That is, till her companion Angel Bunny walked up and tapped her side. He puffed up his chest, showing he was ready to help her and her other animal friends were there to help as well. The sight alone made her understand what her choice must be. She then got up, gulping as she said, "Alright, I'll do it. Train me!"

Flash and Iron smirked seeing this.

And so, Fluttershy's training began. The first thing they did was see how fast she really was, so they had her fly over a meadow while the two of them looked away. Using a spare anemometer, they were able to estimate that Fluttershy's real wing power was actually four point three. Despite how low this actually was, Flash and Iron told her it was a great starting point since they were aiming for five point one.

So now they were working on strengthening her wings.

"What are these again?" Iron asked as he watched Flash began pulling out equipment out of a bag. They were a pair of bungee cables with hooks, along with a pair of smaller hooked cables. Flash was tying the two longer cables around her wings, using the hooks to connect them before attaching the small cables to the undersides of her wings.

"They're wing weights," Flash explained as he pulled out a pair of metal balls. "They normally used for physiotherapy in wing recovery, but professional flyers also use them to help build wing muscles. I needed them after breaking my wing as a colt, and Soarin had me use them back when he trained me in basic flight combat." He then gave Iron a cheeky grin. "I uh...got injured a lot when it came to complex aerial combat. Mainly cuz I didn't learn to fly till like...three or four years before I was supposed to start learning. That and Grand isn't a pegasus pony, which didn't help." He then connected the two balls to the bungee, causing Fluttershy's wings to be dragged down to earth.

"Maybe we should try the next set down," Fluttershy said as she struggled to lift them.

"Those are the lowest," Flash replied as he looked the cables over. "Just try and lift your wings parallel."

Fluttershy nodded and did so, only for her wings to not move. That is, till she looked down, a crowd of her animals friends standing there, cheering her on. The sight alone gave her a boost. Slowly, she managed to lift her wings until they were in glider position.

"Good, now just try and keep them up as long as you can."

Fluttershy nodded and held them up for as long as she could, which was almost a full minute. There, she was unable to hold it up any longer and dropped them.

"Not bad," Flash said with a nod.

"Now we know what to work from," Iron added, only to then turn to Flash. "Right? Sorry, I don't much about this pegasus stuff."

"It's cool." Flash replied, quickly turning back to Fluttershy. "Don't worry, we'll get you through this."

Over the next few days, the three of them worked on improving Fluttershy's flying speed, doing everything in their power to help her improve. Currently, Fluttershy and Iron were sitting in the meadow resting up after a big training session, as they had Fluttershy move up to the next level weights for the first time. Flash was off preparing Fluttershy's next session, while the two were simply talking.

"Alright," Iron said as he messed with a boombox he had brought with him. "We're gonna work on you blocking the laughter out. Now, I want you to listen, but ignore it."

"I don't think I can," Fluttershy replied with a gulp.

"Yes you can. You're stronger then you think you are." Iron said before turning back to her. He then saw the doubt in her eyes, causing him to sigh before shaking his head. Getting back up, he sat down in front of her with a grim yet determined look on his face. "You know, when we first met, I thought you were weakest pony I had ever met." Fluttershy frowned hearing this, only for Iron's confession to continue. "But I realize now that back then, I was the weak one." This made Fluttershy blink in confusion while Iron looked down at the ground, unable to look at her. "I was weak for not being able to look past your weak body and the fear on your face. You...you showed me your true strength when you rushed into that church while there was a psychopathic unicorn in there. You, who had no fighting abilities, who I saw only be a medic to other ponies and shiver while doing it, rushed inside so that you could tell that unicorn what was happening to his grandfather."

"Princess Celestia asked me to do it," Fluttershy replied meekly, her voice trembling.

"But you did it," Iron replied back, looking back up and glaring at her. "Any other pony would have seen the lightning coming out of the church and ran away, but you went in. What were you thinking about when you did it?"

"I...I don't know," Fluttershy said, trying to look away. "I know I was scared and I wanted to stop, but my body just kept moving."

Iron just smiled, chuckling at her statement. "I know what it is."

"You do?"

Iron nodded. "Yeah. Your need to help your friends overwhelmed your fear, allowing you to tap into the strength hidden in your heart."

Fluttershy thought about what he had just said. "Strength...hidden in my heart?"

"That's something I learned from knowing you and the others," Iron explained as he gave her an all-knowing smirk. "When Sentry was fighting against Lightning despite how injured and exhausted he was, he was able to dig deep and finally take him down."

"He was using the strength hidden in his heart," Fluttershy caught on.

"Exactly. Just like how you did back then. You were able to ignore your fear then, so you can ignore them now to help your friends."

Fluttershy thought about this, only to smile as she felt the happiness in that Iron had such faith in her. Seeing her smile, Iron leaned over and put one of his hooves on her shoulder. "Now, close your eyes." When she did so, he pressed the button on the stereo. The device started blasting out the sound of laughter.

Hearing this, Fluttershy's mind warped back to the time in flight camp.

"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"

Iron watched as Fluttershy started to hyperventilate, as whatever memory she was reliving played in her head.

"Ignore it!" He told her. "Hear it, but don't listen to it!"

"I'm trying!"

"Do or do not," Iron replied, putting his hooves on her shoulders again. "There is no try. Ignore it!"

Fluttershy did everything she could to block the sound out, trying to listen to other things around her. The chirps of the birds, the bluster of the wind and the sound of Iron's breathing. Eventually, the sound of laughter began to fade from her mind, her breathing becoming calm and steady.

"Nice..." Iron said as he switched the stereo off. When Fluttershy opened her eyes, she saw Iron smiling at her. "You've just taken the first step to overcoming your nerves. But it's only a start."

Fluttershy smiled back at him as she nodded, only to then pull him into a hug. Iron was initially surprised at the motion, only to soon return the embrace. After this, the next few days were rinse and repeat, with Flash working to strengthen her wings while Iron worked on helping Fluttershy learn to ignore her fears.

Finally, the day before the tornado event had arrived, with the three ponies and Angel Bunny about to do their final test.

"You ready Fluttershy?" Flash asked her from the other side of the field.

"Ready!" she called out before flexing her wings.

"Okay," Iron said as Flash readied the anemometer. "GO!"

Fluttershy then shot off and flew through the air, faster than they had ever seen her move. A gust soon followed, causing the anemometer to spin and the dandelions around them to go flying into the air. Flash looked down at the gauge and smiled as he read the result.

"So," Iron asked as Fluttershy landed next to him. "What did we get?"

Flash looked over at them, showing a smile, "Five point four."

Fluttershy gasped in joy. "I did it?"

Flash just nodded back. "You did it."

Fluttershy's eyes filled with tears as she started cheering. "I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!"

"This is great. Looks like everything is good." Iron said while nudging Flash.

"Yeah," Flash replied, nudging back before he coughed under his breath. He then saw Iron giving him a funny look, causing him to shrug in response. "I must of breathed in some of those dandelions."

"Sure," Iron replied as Fluttershy hopped in front of them.

"I'm so happy!" she exclaimed as she flexed her wings. "And I feel so pumped! Is this what it feels like to be Rainbow Dash?!"

Flash chuckled at the comment before winking at her. "Alright speedy, you should go rest up. We want you running on a full tank for tomorrow."

"Oh...okay." Fluttershy began to walk off, leaving the two stallions alone.

"I'm glad she's happy," Flash commented as he rubbed his chest. "But I hope this confidence boost doesn't turn her into another Rainbow Dash. One's enough."

"Tch, I doubt that." Iron replied before turning to him. "You should go rest up too since you're also part of this whole tornado mess. I'll deal with cleaning up and then go on patrol."

"Thanks Iron. I owe you one."

"Yeah, yeah, put it on my tab."

With that, Flash walked off, but not before letting out another cough.





The Next Morning...

Fluttershy was literally skipping through town on her way to the library. To think she was actually excited to be doing something that she was absolutely terrified of doing just a few short days ago, but she was. It was here that she arrived outside the library and knocked on the door, ready to greet her friend Flash as she agreed to go with him to the tornado event. That is, till nopony answered at her knock.

Blinking, she slowly opened the door. "Hello?" she spoke out, only to receive no answer. "Hello?" Again nothing. As she walked into the building, worry started to build inside her. That is, till she heard something that made her jump.

"RRRAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH! *cough* *cough* *cough*!!!"

It was coming from upstairs and Fluttershy had heard it enough times from sick animals to recognise it in a heart beat. Quickly rushing upstairs, she found herself outside Flash's room.

"RRRAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH! *cough* *cough* *cough*!!! WHY?! Why does it-*cough* *cough*!!!"

Hearing this, Fluttershy opened the door and stepped inside. There she saw Twilight, Scootaloo, Spike and Springer standing around Flash's bed and Scootaloo was wearing a doctor's mask around her mouth and nose. They turned around at the sound of the door opening and saw her, Twilight's eyes growing wide as she exclaimed. "Fluttershy?!"

"What's going on?" Fluttershy asked as she walked into the room. As she did, she suddenly found a mask like Scootaloo's being magically strapped around her face.

"Keep that on," Twilight told her. "Don't want you getting sick too."

"Too?" It was then that Fluttershy saw Flash on his bed. His face was red and was sweating terribly, with a wet cloth on his forehead. "Oh dear," she said as she moved over to him. "What's wrong with him?"

"Feather flu. It came out of nowhere."

"I doubt that," Twilight said with a frown as she looked Flash over. "Have you been noticing any symptoms lately?"

"No...*cough* *cough*...er..." Flash replied, his voice sounding scratchy. His eyes glanced at Twilight and saw the glare she was giving him. "Maybe a small cough, but I thought it was nothing...*cough*."

"Flash..." Twilight grumbled with an exasperated sigh.

"This is terrible," Fluttershy gasped, putting her hooves over the mask.

"Aw, it's just the feather flu," Spike said with a wave of his claw. "A few days rest and he'll be fine."

"I know that," Fluttershy barked back. "But there's no way Flash can fly in this condition for the tornado!"

"Oh...right." Spike replied, twiddling his claws. "Sorry."

"I'm fine," Flash said as he tried to get up. "I can still...*cough* fly." But before he could even try and get out of bed, he was enveloped in a magic aura and pushed back into the mattress.

"No, you're not." Twilight told him. "You're staying in bed and resting."

"You can't make me," Flash argued as he tried to get up again.

Twilight rolled her eyes as her horn lit up, her magic conjuring a long piece of rope. Said rope quickly tied Flash to the bed. "Yes, I can."

Flash quickly started struggling against the bonds, but he was no match for Twilight's expertly tied palomar knot. "Lemme go Twilight! This is ridiculous!"

"Maybe..." Twilight said will rubbing her head in frustration. "But if it makes you stay in bed, then I say it's worth it." She turned to Springer. "Make sure he stays in bed and don't untie him."

"Right," Springer replied with a salute.

"Where are you going?" Scootaloo asked.

"I still need to help Rainbow monitor the tornado," Twilight replied as she levitated some papers around her. "You guys think you can handle looking after him?"

"We'll be fine."

Twilight nodded before she and Spike headed to the door, only to stop and turn to Fluttershy. "Aren't you coming?"

"Um...no." she replied, slumping over in as she began shaking in place. "I'll uh...I'm staying here. To help Flash..."

"But what about the tornado?" Spike asked.

"Without Flash, I won't be able to pull my own weight."

"Don't say that," Twilight told her as she put her hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Every little piece of wing power is sure to help." Fluttershy's face told her that she did not think that. "Come on, don't tell me you don't want to help." When she saw Fluttershy nod, she sighed and turned to leave with Spike.

"Fluttershy...*cough*" The pegasus mare turned to Flash, who gave Fluttershy a glare despite how heavy his eyes seemed. "Please go."

Fluttershy shook her head. "No. Without you, I won't be able to contribute."

"But you put so much work into getting stronger. I mean, we-urk!" Flash told her as he tried to move again, for the ropes to tighten again. "I hate that all that effort is going unused."

"It doesn't matter," Fluttershy replied as she forced a smile. "I appreciate all the help you gave me, but I guess I'm just not meant to be a strong flyer."

"Don't say that," Scootaloo told her.

"Yeah," Springer added. "You're a great flyer."

"Thanks...but you don't have to pity me." She then turned towards the door. "Get some rest, I'll make you some soup to help with your throat." With that, she walked out the door.

She then headed down to the kitchen and began gathering the ingredients for the special soup she made whenever her animal friends got ill. It took half an hour to finish, was the normal amount of time for making the dish. Now finished, she balanced the bowl on her wing and slowly made her way up to Flash's room. When she entered the room, Springer grabbed the bowl off her wing.

"Thank you," Fluttershy said as she moved over to look Flash over. He had fallen asleep and was resting calmly, while Scootaloo was busy replacing his wash cloth. As she watched him rest, she suddenly heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs before the door harshly opened. It was Iron Core, who had quite the stern look on his face.

"Shhh!" they all told him.

"You'll wake him up," Springer said as he pointed to Flash.

"Too late," Flash moaned. "Is that *cough* Iron? Nopony else makes that *cough* kinda noise."

Iron's left eye twitched at the jab while he got three glares, but he ignored them as he moved over to Flash's bed. "So I hear you're sick."

"What gave it away?" Flash replied before Springer wiped his runny nose.

"You've got some soup if you're hungry," Fluttershy said as she pointed to the bowl on his bedside table.

"Thanks," Flash replied as he glanced at it. "Looks delicious...it'd probably smell delicious too if I could smell anything." He then turned to Iron with a cheeky grin. "You come because you're worried about me?"

"Not a chance idiot. I'd rather eat Piecemaker before caring about a moron like you."

"Love you too metalhead." Flash chuckled, only to let out another series of coughs. "Uuuuggghhhh...this *cough* sucks..."

"Yeah...you're in no condition to fly moron. Stay in bed." Iron growled before turning to Fluttershy. "I came because the tornado team need you."

Fluttershy looked back down at the floor. "They don't need me to break the record."

"This isn't about the stupid record!" Iron yelled, stomping his hooves. "Sentry's not the only one that's sick shrimp! Eight others have the feather flu! Without them and you two, they might not have enough wing power to create a tornado strong enough to send the water to Cloudsdale!"

Everyone's eyes went wide. If they could not get the water to Cloudsdale, then there would be no way for the weather factory to make the clouds needed to sustain life in Equestria.

"Sparkle did the math. Based on everypony's recorded wing power, they'll only be able to reach seven hundred and forty."

"But they need eight hundred," Scootaloo said.

"Which is exactly the problem." Iron replied before hearing a certain orange pegasus struggling under his bonds. Iron turned to the bed-ridden defender. "What are you doing?"

"I need to help them," he said as he tried to break the ropes. "Somepony *cough* untie me."

"You're in no condition to fly," Springer told him.

"I don't care," Flash barked back, still struggling against the ropes. "I can't just lay back while this situation is *cough* happening. I need...to help!"

"You can't help," Iron said as he placed his hoof over Flash's ropes. "I've worked with enough pegasus ponies thanks to Skybreaker to know what feather flu does to a pony who doesn't take it easy. All your feathers could fall off!"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take!" Flash almost yelled. "I need to *cough* *cough*...ugh, stupid coughs. I need to *cough* help!"

As Fluttershy watched Flash try and get up, something inside her clicked. Despite being ill, Flash was still willing to try and help those around him. This must have been the strength hidden within that Iron had told her. The sight alone made her remind herself about what she was doing. She just sitting there, moping about being a weak flyer. Everypony watched as she did an about face and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Scootaloo asked.

"Where I'm needed," Fluttershy said, quite boldly considering who had just said it. "If Flash is willing to try and help when he's sick, then I have no excuse."

"Atta girl," Iron chuckled before nodding. "Come on, let's get you to the reservoir."

Fluttershy nodded before turning back to Flash. "I'll do what I can."

"That's all we can ask of you," Flash replied. "That and *cough*....nevermind." Flash glanced at Springer. "Can I get some of that soup now?"

With that, the two ponies rushed out of the library. They dashed through town towards the reservoir, only to soon notice a strong wind in the air. "They've already started!" Fluttershy said as they got closer. "Am I too late?!"

"Its fine shrimp. We just have to hurry!" Iron replied as he started to increase his running speed. "We need to get there before they exhaust themselves."

Fluttershy nodded and doubled her pace, though she soon found it hard to run with the powerful wind trying to blow her away. As she continued, they arrived at the reservoir, where a large tornado was blowing beside an extra large anemometer.

"Twilight!" She called out as she spotted the unicorn next to the device.

Twilight looked over at her and smiled. "Fluttershy!" She screamed over the sound of the wind. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to help," Fluttershy yelled. "I don't know if I can increase the tornado's power enough, but I want to try."

Twilight smiled and nodded. "They could certainly use the help." she then gave her a slight questioning look. "Though I gotta ask, are you sure you're up for this?"

"I uh...I'm not sure." Fluttershy replied, gulping. "But I-"

"You are up for this," Iron interrupted, patting her on the back. "Just do what you can, that's all we can ask of you."

"Then you better get up there now!" Spike cried out, his claws causing scratches in the anemometer's side.

Fluttershy nodded and prepared to fly into the tornado, only to then see something shoot out of it. It was a yellow pegasus with a blue mane and tail, who seemed to have been propelled out of the tornado and crashed into the ground. This was followed by another pegasus, followed by another and another.

"They're breaking up!" Twilight screamed as the tornado threw out the last few pegasi, including Rainbow Dash, before completely vanishing. As it left, a hovering sphere of water quickly fell back into the reservoir. Twilight and Fluttershy rushed over to a tree that Rainbow had faceplanted into. "Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"I'm fine," Rainbow replied as she pulled herself out of the tree.

Twilight looked over at the anemometer's gauge and saw what it read. "You were so close to the eight hundred wing power minimum. I'm sorry Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow however, was not planning on being beaten so easily. "We've got to try again!" She cried out as she took to the sky, only to be dragged back down by Twilight's magic.

"You've pushed your crew to their limit already," Twilight said as she pointed to the multitude of dizzy, tired and in a few cases, wet ponies. "If you break apart again, somepony could get hurt! You should quit, its not safe!"

"No," Rainbow said as she knocked Twilight's hoof away. "One more time! I've gotta know that we gave it our all! If I'm going down, I'm going down flying!" She shot into the air. "C'mon ponies, let's make this happen!"

The other pegasi all cried out in agreement, all soon preparing to once again pull off the tornado. Seeing this, Rainbow nodded before turning towards the only healthy pegasus who did not take part of the plan. "Fluttershy...I know you don't think you can help, but-" She did not get to finish, as Fluttershy placed a hoof on her mouth.

"I'm in," Fluttershy said with a determined glare. "I promised Flash I would try."

Rainbow smiled back, handing Fluttershy a pair of goggles. "Glad to have you on board." With that, she flew off to prepare the rest of the pegasi. As Fluttershy put her goggles on, she suddenly felt her nerves once again begin to grow as the sound of the chanting foals echoed through her mind.

"You can do this."

She spun around to see Iron.

"Remember, you're stronger than you give yourself credit for. Just focus on flying as fast as you can and you can do it."

"I'll...do it, not try."

Iron nodded as they heard Spike sound the horn, instructing the pegasi that it was time. Iron watched as Fluttershy shot into the air like the others, flying in a circle at top speed. Slowly, the tornado began to form and create a gust of wind. He then walked over to Twilight and Spike, who were watching the meter dial begin to slowly move.

"Here we go," Twilight said as she read to gauge. "One hundred wing power! Two hundred! Five hundred!"

In the tornado, Rainbow watched as everypony worked as best they could. "Stay in position!" she called out to them. "Flap those wings. Faster!" She then moved over to where Fluttershy was. "You're doing great Shy, keep it up!"

"I'm trying my best!" Fluttershy exclaimed. However, the sounds of laughter once again began to echo through her mind.

Outside the tornado, the three watches all struggled to keep themselves from being blown away while watching the dial. "Seven hundred and fifty five wing power..." Twilight said as she put her hooves over her mouth.

"That's five more then last time," Spike commented.

"It must be the shrimp."

"Even so, they need another forty five wing power."

"But they fell apart at seven forty!" Spike exclaimed. "Do you think they can stay together long enough?!"

"I know they can," Iron said as he forced himself through the wind, right to the edge of the reservoir. Looking into the tornado, he finally spotted Fluttershy and saw how terrified she looked. Obviously the memories from flight camp were getting to her again.

"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"it yelled in her head, causing her to clinch in pain.

"C'mon!" She then heard Rainbow call out to the team. "Just a little harder! I can see the water trying to funnel through!"

"Seven ninety six..." Twilight commented as she kept scanning the gauge over. "They're so close....just a little more..."

"Just a little more power!" Iron called out to them all. "Everypony give it your all!"

"We already are!" Fluttershy heard the pony next to her call out.

"Just keep pushing!" They heard Rainbow called out.

Each and every pegasus put everything left within them to push forwards. Everypony except one.

"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"

"Seven ninety eight..." Twilight said. "Just a little more...wait!" She put her hoof on the gauge. "Seven ninety seven! They're losing power!"

Though they didn't want to say it, they knew which pegasus was slowing down. It was Fluttershy, who was fidgeting in flight as her head continued to ring. The only thing Fluttershy could hear was the sound of those young foals laughing at her.

"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"

"No...no...stop it!" She yelled internally. "Please just-"

"You can do this Fluttershy!" The young mare looked around to see Iron standing right next to the tornado, trying his best not to be sucked inside. Her eyes went wide as she heard those words. He never called her by name. Then, he yelled again. "Don't stop Fluttershy! Remember what I told you!"

Fluttershy did remember what he told her, her mind flashing back to the time in the meadow.

"You know, when we first met, I thought you were weakest pony I had ever met. But I realize now that back then, I was the weak one. I was weak for not being able to look past your weak body and the fear on your face. You...you showed me your true strength when you rushed into that church while there was a psychopathic unicorn there. You, who had no fighting abilities, who I saw only be a medic to other ponies and shiver while doing it, rushed inside so that you could tell that unicorn what was happening to his grandfather."

"But you did it. Any other pony would have seen the lightning coming out of the church and ran away, but you went in. What were you thinking about when you did it?"

"Your need to help your friends overwhelmed your fear, allowing you to tap into the strength hidden in your heart."

"The strength...hidden in my heart!" Fluttershy yelled, rubbing her head with her hooves as pain surged thorugh her mind. The sound of the foals rung loud and clear again, but she would not listen. "NO!" She screamed, shooting forward as fire burned in her eyes.

The other pegasi watched as a yellow and pink bolt shot past them.

"What was that?" A pink stallion asked.

"I think it was Fluttershy," a green mare replied.

Outside the tornado, the others watched as the anemometer's dial hit eight hundred. Within the tornado, the water was sucked up into the vortex, quickly shooting into the air before funneling over to Cloudsdale.

"She did it!" Twilight exclaimed as she and Spike danced. "She did it! They all did it!"

Iron just smirked as he watched the last of the reservoir's water be depleted. Spike then rushed over to the horn and blew it, causing the tornado to slowly weaken and the pegasi to fly out. Said pegasi cheered as they flew towards the ground, each happy that they had accomplished the seemingly impossible. The only pegasus who had not landed was Fluttershy, who was still flying in a circle. Eventually, she came to a stop when Rainbow pushed a cloud in front of her. "Whoa girl, take it easy!"

"Whuh-what?" Fluttershy said as she got her bearings. "Did we do it?"

"Yeah, we did it!" Rainbow replied before pulling her into a hug. "You did it!" She then pulled out of the hug and offered a wing for her to high five, which she did.

"Great job Fluttershy," Flitter said as the two landed. "That was awesome!"

"Yeah!" Cloudchaser agreed. "We couldn't have done it without you!"

"Nice job, Rainbow Dash." The pegasus spun around to see Spitfire right behind her. "You may not have set a new record, but you showed a lot of guts. Your team is good."

"Thanks," Rainbow said before pointing to a certain pegasi behind her. "But if you wanna talk guts, then you've gotta give it to my number one flyer, Fluttershy!" She then called out. "Let's hear it for Fluttershy!"

The pegasi gathered around the mare, grabbing her and lifting her into the air. "Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can really fly!"

True happiness appeared on Fluttershy's face as they gathered around her, chanting her name. That is, till she saw Iron standing off to the side with a smirk on he face. Before she knew what she was doing, she shot over to him and pulled him into a big hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much Iron!"

"I didn't do nothing shrimp," Iron chuckled back, returning to hug.

"That's not true!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she pulled away from the hug. "I never would have been able to do this if you hadn't been cheering me on!" She then did something nopony expected. She kissed Iron on the cheek.

Everypony gasped at seeing this.

It was not until after she had done it that Fluttershy realized what she had done and her face did a bright red tomato impression. Iron likewise was blushing, amazed at what had just happened. That is, till his smirk reappeared. "Don't mention it shrimp," Iron said before the two went to join the rest of the celebrating crowd.





Later that night...

"She kissed him?" Flash asked in amazement.

"She sure did," Twilight replied as she put up some graphs she had made when helping with the tornado.

"Wow. Go Iron."

The two were in his room, talking about what had happened at the reservoir. Flash's fever had broke, which amazed Twilight at the speed of it, and he looked to be on the road to recovery.

"A part of me wishes I could have helped," Flash commented as he felt his nose twitch. "Though another part of me is glad I couldn't."

"Really?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. If I had been there, we would have had enough power to create the tornado and Fluttershy wouldn't have had to push past her limits. Now she can feel proud at her accomplishment."

"I guess you're right," Twilight said as she finished filing the papers.

"I know I am." Flash grumbled before turning to Twilight. "Now, can I ask a small favor?"

"Sure."

"UNTIE ME!" He gestured to the ropes that were still keeping him trapped on the bed.

"You promise not to get up?"

"I promise." The next thing he knew, the ropes were being untied and he was free.

"That's all I needed to hear. After all, I know you don't break promises."

"Darn right I don't," Flash said as he relaxed himself in his bed. "Can't believe you still don't trust me after all this time..."

"You'd better get some sleep," Twilight said as she ignored his last statement. "One more day of rest and you'll probably be back to full health."

"Right..." Flash said as he got comfortable. "Night."

"Night," Twilight replied as she walked out the door.

As Flash felt himself slowly drift to sleep, he thought back to the events leading up to today. He was happy Fluttershy was able to dig deep and show her true strength, while also being happy that Iron was able to help her bring it out of her. Those two really were good for each other. One was able to help the other improve their social skills in very different ways. As the last of Flash's consciousness faded, he wondered what the future would hold for those two.