Alternate Beginnings: Year Four

by Doug Graves


5 Crushing Squall

January 6th, 996

One day. One lousy day. That was all she could stand of Fluttershy's slow flight technique. Rainbow had felt herself slowly going crazy as she followed her herdmate around. She constantly found herself looking up, watching the pegasi in the sky as they rolled out the overcast skies that Ponyville would have for the next few days. Only to be brought back to the ground as Fluttershy pointed out another tree, off in the distance. And then it was a long, slow, excruciatingly boring flight as she made her way to the tree, gathering the nests hidden amongst the branches, and returning to Fluttershy.

Gathering the nests themselves wasn't so bad. They were often cleverly hidden in the branches, requiring a bit of maneuvering in tight spaces. Great practice for her control, but, well, it got painful, as the twigs and branches poked into her wings as she poked into the tree. Her lack of control, despite her friend's efforts, frustrated her more than Fluttershy's insistence on following her instructions on the correct mindset while they were flying around. The issue was that her wings just weren't responding how she is used to them responding. She knows where she wants to go, and gives what she thinks is the proper amount of effort to get her there, and one of two things happen. She doesn't move at all, or she moves too far. It's not like she ever had the ability Fluttershy seemed to expect her to have, the ability to 'get rocked without rocking back' or whatever.

Scootaloo had done... reasonably well. Her filly did fine with the meditation aspects: getting herself calm, sitting peacefully, and paying attention to Fluttershy. Still a little impatient, but Rainbow knows exactly where that came from. Scootaloo had a lot of trouble with flying, though; Fluttershy can lift herself into the air by barely flapping her wings, and then seems to hover in midair without any extra effort. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, couldn't even lift off the ground no matter how hard she beat her wings, often pushing herself forwards instead. And it didn't seem to matter the orientation of Scootaloo either. Maybe if they took her to a hill, or a cliff, and see if she could go up one of those, but that will be a test for another day.

For Rainbow, though, her lack of control will be the norm for the coming months and years. Today is the last day of her medical leave, and tomorrow is her normal day off. In two days she will be back to her normal weather work, which shouldn't be too bad. She'll have to remind herself to take it slow, of course, and she'll assign herself the work she is able to do. It won't be glamorous, by any stretch, as she only trusts herself to push clouds around. At least for now. No busting clouds at top speed, or wrangling a storm into position. At least her team understands her predicament, even if they don't know the full story.

Rainbow sighs, looking up at the sky. Well, might as well go help out the weather team, doing what she can. Which, if she is being honest with herself, isn't much. Rainbow slowly flies up, watching as the buildings get smaller and smaller. She can see her cloud house, anchored just outside of Sweet Apple Acres. Instead of making her way to the staging area, Rainbow first flies to Fluttershy's cottage. Might as well let her herdmate know what she'll be doing, so she won't worry when she doesn't show up.

Fluttershy is outside, basking in the early morning sun. Rainbow spots a few of the same birds flying around as well as Harry the bear. Rainbow slowly lands, Fluttershy flinching and making to sprint away before she realizes who it is. "Oh! Um, hello Rainbow Dash. I didn't think you would be around so early."

Rainbow hangs her head, "Yeah, well, that's just it. 'Shy, I know we both gave it our best, but I don't think it's going to work out."

"Oh. Um. Okay. What are we talking about again?"

Rainbow plops down on the ground, not really wanting to look Fluttershy in the eyes. "The whole slow flight thing. I'm just having a really hard time with it, and I don't think it's right for me. It's not you, Fluttershy, I love working with you, but... well, you know."

Fluttershy slowly nods, "It's okay, Rainbow. I understand. Good luck with getting back in shape!"

Rainbow moves over, nuzzling Fluttershy before taking flight and clumsily heading towards the staging area for the morning weather team. She glances back, seeing Fluttershy watch her fly away, before turning back and noticing she is already off course. Rainbow grits her teeth, correcting her flight path and focusing on moving steadily to her destination.

As Rainbow flies away, Fluttershy watches her herdmate closely. A single tear forms, slowly rolling down her cheek as she moves to her cottage. She grabs a bit of bird feed, refilling the feeders, and sets out for Sweet Apple Acres.

Rainbow flies higher and higher, pushing her way through the overcast layer gathering over Ponyville. The giant pile of clouds will have to be flattened, spread over Ponyville and the surrounding farms, then checked to make sure there aren't any areas that are spread too thin. And then monitored to make sure it didn't break apart or start early. All in preparation for tomorrow's snowfall, burying the area in a foot of the powdery fluff. A nice, easy day, a great way to break herself back in.

"Hey Open Skies, how's it hanging?" she calls, the green pegasus turning and looking at her.

He raises one eyebrow before grabbing a clipboard of papers from his side. "Morning, Rainbow Dash," he says, flipping through the schedule, "I thought you were taking the day off? Shouldn't you be recuperating?"

Rainbow shrugs, "Well, you know me, I'm feeling better already! I'll just be, ugh, taking it slow, and I'm not looking to step on any hooves or anything. Just put me, you know, wherever I'm needed." Rainbow smiles before she pauses, turning and looking at the clouds underneath them with a slight frown, "Or, you know, where I can keep it slow. Just pushing clouds or something."

Open Skies looks again, eyeing the teal pegasus suspiciously, "Are you sure? You don't want to, you know, try something reckless to prove yourself, get hurt in the process, and realize that you should have taken it slow?"

A smirk grows on Rainbow's face, "Yeah, that would have been a great opportunity to learn something, show some character development and teach a moral, right? But it'd also mean that I don't have any trust in the ponies around me, the ones telling me that I need to take it slow."

Open Skies nods, "Yup! Much better this way. So, let's see, I'll start you off working with Cloud Chaser, you'll be taking the top layer of clouds from here to the southern edge of the layer, about a mile and a half south of Ponyville."

"You got it!"

Meanwhile, at Sweet Apple Acres, three pairs of eyes cast nervous glances over their hastily crafted barricades. The overcast skies ahead promise more snow, but it isn't scheduled to fall until tomorrow. The upcoming dry snow won't be great for snowball or fort making and the six are making the best of the slushy snow currently under hoof.

"Alright, Sweetie Belle, what's the score?" Doug asks the filly perched on his shoulders as he packs another snowball, hiding behind the two roughly spherical piles of snow stacked on top of each other. He glances past the multi-pronged piece of wood jutting out the side, spotting Applejack hiding behind a roughly pony shaped piece of snow. Scootaloo is on Applejack's back, about to throw a second snowball; he darts back, the first snowball nearly hitting him in the shoulder.

"Applejack is at sixteen, I think. Pinkie Pie at twelve." Sweetie Belle peeks over the black hat on top of the pile of snow before shrieking, trying to duck down. The snowball arcs over the top, coming down and smacking her in the horn. "Ow!" she calls, shaking the bits of snow out of her mane, her voice losing a little spirit, "And that brings us up to fourteen."

Doug passes the filly another snowball, "Alright, ready? We just need to hit Pinkie three times, and then Applejack four." He glances down at the ten snowballs he has crafted, picking them up and holding them at the ready. "Hopefully they are low on ammo, after that last salvo. We're going to peek, then dodge back, then charge Pinkie. Got it?"

"Got it!" Sweetie Belle cries, grasping the snowball tightly in her hooves, making little indents and deforming the hastily mashed together sphere. She peeks again, this time dodging both of the snowballs thrown her way.

Doug leaps out, quickly passing snowball after snowball to Sweetie Belle as he charges Pinkie's fort. He realizes, as soon as he dashes out, his mistake: the small pile of snow Pinkie Pie has been hiding behind before has been reshaped into a towering wall, complete with arrow slits and battlements. Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom wait at the top, a truly massive number of snowballs behind the pink pony. Doug grits his teeth and charges forward, intent on smashing his way through the snow door. Maybe if he can get to that pile he can stand a chance-

Only for Applejack and Scootaloo to attack from the side, Applejack pushing together snow and tossing the hastily mashed balls up before grabbing another hooffull as she rushes forward. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shriek in delight as they lob snowball after snowball at each other, most missing their target as their steeds gallop around.

Two of Sweetie Belle's snowballs find their mark on Applejack and three on Pinkie Pie before Doug impacts the surprisingly solid door. Pinkie Pie yells, "Hah! Most ponies knock first!" He tries to peel himself away from the snow as a hail of snowballs impact his back from above, Pinkie Pie tossing one snowball after another to Apple Bloom, the filly able to hit the relatively immobile Doug.

The fillies might have relented once they got to twenty hits. But that just meant that the mares decide to join in.

After all is said and done, Doug staggers to his office, a nice cup of hot chocolate with half a dozen melting marshmallows in hand. He shivers a bit, clutching the cup a little closer as he shakes some more snow out of his hair; the ponies keep the house at close to the same temperature as outside, since their coats handle the cold remarkably well; they often only wear a scarf around the neck, if anything. His gloved hands occasionally rub at the light fabric on his chest, the robe doing a reasonable job of keeping him warm in the cold farmhouse, but he still grimaces as he settles into the frigid chair. At least the mares do a great job keeping the bed warm.

The light red Manehatten folder is spread open on his desk, notes and charts spilling out as he reads through the last of the progress reports. He had set them aside when the two mares came into the room earlier, looking to do a bit of play outside with the fillies. He smiles, saying to himself as he finishes the section, "Looks like no changes there. Another one down, now for the suburbs." He tidies up his desk, replacing all of the charts and papers into the folder and makes a mark on an official looking form. He places the form in the out bay, the folder next to a long color coded line of its sisters, and pulls out a dark red folder.

Doug opens the folder as a light knock comes from outside, the door slowly swinging open. Doug briefly glances, "Hello, Fluttershy," before doing a double take. He notices her slightly puffy eyes, a few tear streaks down one cheek, and that she is hiding behind her mane. "What's wrong, 'Shy?" He turns his heavy chair, opening his arms and legs.

Fluttershy slowly walks up, climbing into Doug's chair and wrapping one foreleg, then the other around the surprised human. She leans her muzzle into the folds of his untied robe, maneuvering her way past the fabric to rest her face on his bare chest. Doug wraps one arm around her hind legs, lifting her up as his other arm holds the back of her neck. He lightly pats her pink mane, Fluttershy's soft sobs echoing through the room.

They hold the position for a few minutes, Doug's steady breathing a sharp contrast to the occasional gasp and choked sob that Fluttershy lets out. She turns her head up, light blue eyes staring into Doug's dark blue as he kisses her nose, his eyes barely moving up as to ask her again. She sighs, dropping her face and hiding behind her mane. Doug lets out a long breath, relaxing back into his chair as he continues holding onto Fluttershy. The arm behind her shifts, doing long strokes along her back as his other arm starts petting her mane, finding its way under her long, wavy lengths to scratch at her neck. His hand slowly tightens, turning her head up as his head moves down. He gives her a long kiss, Fluttershy returning it after a short hesitation. One foreleg moves, spreading his shirt open as her kisses grow longer and push harder against his mouth.

Fluttershy pulls on Doug's back with one foreleg while her hind legs step onto the floor, slowly dragging Doug with her. He steps out of the chair, moving to the floor with Fluttershy as she lays down on her back. His hands go to her flanks before he notices that Fluttershy has gone quiet, no longer moving to keep up with him and instead laying with her head to the side, eyes unfocused.

Doug sighs, his hands move to the pegasus' barrel as he lays down on the cold floor beside her, slowly stroking up and down her wings. He tries again, "Fluttershy, you know I'm here for you, right?"

Fluttershy slowly nods, barely noticeable as her long hair spills around her head. A soft, "I do," can be heard, the mare letting loose a long sigh as she slowly turns her head. "Doug?" she hesitantly asks, "Do you like me?"

"Of course I like you, Fluttershy," he responds; one corner of his mouth curls up as a hand moves onto her flank, giving her a squeeze, "Would you like me to show you how much I like you?" Fluttershy sighs, her disappointment apparent to Doug as his hand slowly makes its way back to her side. Doug kisses the side of her head, his hand slowly stroking her as he says, "There are so many things I like about you, Fluttershy. Would you like me to start listing them?"

A smile breaks out over Fluttershy's face as she slowly shakes her head. She turns, her mouth turning to a frown as she looks at him and says, "Why would Rainbow Dash not want to work with me on flying?"

Doug slowly strokes Fluttershy's back as he mentally grimaces; how is he going to deal with this land mine? Does Fluttershy actually want the reasons that Rainbow Dash might not want to fly with her? If she is instead looking for affirmation, words of encouragement, then that would be exactly the wrong things to say to her. If she is looking for ways to improve her working relationship with Rainbow, well, at least she might appreciate some of the things he said about her first.

"Well, Fluttershy, you have very good control over your flying. Sometimes I barely even feel you when you fly in here."

"So, you think she is jealous of me?"

Doug rubs Fluttershy's back a little harder. "I think she is going through a difficult time, and it is good that she has such an understanding friend to be there for her, especially when she might not realize it."

"So, you don't think it is me?"

"Fluttershy, I think you make an excellent instructor, you're incredibly patient and understanding. You love and care about Rainbow, and all of us, and you'll do a great job with your foal, or foals, when it happens. Rainbow just... might have some difficulty working at your speed, even if that is all she is restricted to right now."

Fluttershy smiles, turning and kissing Doug. "Um, we can keep going if you want, I feel a lot better."

Doug nods, stroking Fluttershy's mane out of her face as he goes for another kiss.