//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Angels in Trouble // Story: Crashing Angels // by lillytheomegawolf //------------------------------// It was lunchtime. A bright, glorious sunny day in the great city of Cloudsdale. For most of the young pegasi at Cloudsdale central school, it was all set to be another fun playtime. However, for two young ponies, despite the warnings of yesterday, one blue troublemaker had once again insisted upon leading her best friend astray. Two social outcasts stood alone at the edge of the flight course for the older foals. A staggering array of obstacles dotted the course. Fluttershy’s tummy filled with butterflies that flittered aggressively about. The course was void of ponies since the older pegasi were still in class. "Dash. I really don't think this is a good idea…" “Why? Nopony's going to catch us Fluttershy. Come on!” Blue wings flicked into action but were halted by the words of her friend. "But Dash, I can't fly." All the colours of the rainbow swished about as the young speedster glanced from one end of the imposing course to the other. She shrugged lightly. ”Neither can I. But that’s not stopping me.” Grinning her big Rainbow Dash grin, the young speedster strode off along the cloud walkway to the courses start line. With a sigh, Fluttershy hurried to catch up before her friend got too carried away. She yelped as the leading filly span around and blue hooves grabbed her. A whirlwind of eager rainbow lead Fluttershy to the start line. Rainbow Dash knocked her hooves against the starting line eagerly, her mane created a mighty spectrum around her as it flowed in the breeze. Fluttershy smiled at her friend, drinking in the amazing sight of joy incarnate as the athlete continues to prepare for an imaginary race. Rainbow Dash turned to her best friend, ”come on Fluttershy. I'll race you." Fluttershy froze at the challenge. "M-me?" "Of course. Come on, it'll be fun." “Okay…” Putting her negative thoughts of failing behind her, the shy pony stepped up beside her friend in acceptance of the challenge laid out before her. Blue wings fluttered in eager anticipation. ”That’s it! Are you ready? First to that cloud over there wins.” ‘That cloud over there’ was, in fact, a cloud a good two hundred hooves away. It hung above the walls around the zone for older students and the only way up was flying or jumping from cloud to cloud all the way up till you reached it. There was a good five to ten clouds that led up to the top depending on which path you decided to take. Some floated slowly around in small circles while others floated side to side. To add difficulty, there were also a few hoops hung out both in the air and between the raised clouds. There was, thankfully, a thick looking bed of cloud below the whole zone so there was no chance any unfortunate souls might fall from the floating city. The realization that she would have to use her wings to help jump high from one cloud to another filled the shy filly with nerves. There was no way she could make the pathway up that utilized fewer clouds. That was clearly meant for pegasi who knew how to fly or something. Fluttershy’s mind raced and her heart rate spiked. This did not look like a good idea. “Hey, are you okay?” A blue hoof fell upon yellow shoulders and Fluttershy jumped slightly. “I- I think I can try?” “Alright.” A massive grin lit the blue filly’s muzzle. “Three, two, one, let’s go!" Rainbow Dash immediately took off, sprinting full tilt, wings flaring in excitement. Fluttershy’s wings shot up in surprise at the amazing turn of speed her friend had pulled off. Cyan eyes shone as they beheld the power and agility. Suddenly she realized that she should be out there racing instead of gawping at the rapidly receding flank of her best friend. The shy filly charged after her friend, giving all she could to run faster. Despite her best efforts, Dash effortlessly leapt to the final cloud while Fluttershy was still three clouds away. She leapt through a low hoop and scrambled up the final clouds to the finish line. The two fillies met grinning at each other huffing and puffing slightly. Despite Fluttershy's uncertainties, she found herself beginning to enjoy the feeling of being active with somepony who didn’t judge her for being too slow. "Follow me Dashie." The shy pegasus unsteadily glided down from their target cloud. After a few triumphant moments of airtime, she fell ungracefully to the safety cloud below and landed on her side. Fluttershy righted her gangly legs, tiny wings flapped for balance as she watched the graceful descent of her grinning friend. The spiky rainbow mane glinted in the sunlight, cyan coat blending in with the sky. The yellow filly’s heart soared at the beautiful sight, her troubles forgotten. Rainbow Dash fell a filly length to the raised cloud not far in front of Fluttershy. The blue pegasus was quick to right her footing before she threw on a cocky grin and pulled off a pose. With wings proudly erect, Dash strode up to Fluttershy and lightly tapped her shoulder with a forehoof. “That was cool! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you glide that far, not even in flying class!" A massive grin light up the day as Dash smiled at her best friend. “Ummm, thank you.” Fluttershy felt her cheeks flush at the praise and hid behind her mane. Dash’s grin grew in size at the praise from her friend. “Come on!” Small legs pumped hard as the cerulean filly charged off, wings fluttering. The shy one galloped full tilt after her comrade, intent upon matching the mighty rainbow this time. Up ahead pink eyes glanced back. Sighting the charging filly, a smile invaded and Dash allowed herself to slow. She threw herself into the air, her mighty leap carrying her across packed up equipment lying along the side of the track. Dreams of flight only added to the intensity of the tiny wing beats as the filly cleared the stacks with ease. Rainbow Dash dreamt of flight nightly, however, with Fluttershy by her side and the wonder of the track, her dreams felt close enough to be real. She sprinted onwards, leaping from cloud to cloud, small wings beating like crazy in an effort to gain lift. “Doing great Flutters!” Dash dived towards her friend with her wings buzzing. She bounded over the gangly yellow filly then hurried off in another direction. Caught up in her companion’s excitement Fluttershy forced her long limbs to put on greater speed to catch up. As they bounded from cloud to cloud, laughing and shouting to each other. Fluttershy felt herself opening up, a massive smile broke out across her yellow face, mirroring her friend. "Hey, Fluttershy. Watch this!" Rainbow Dash took off from a cloud up ahead, gliding along with a triumphant grin on her face. She circled around then glided all the way back to her stunned friend. "Rainbow… That was… Amazing." Awestruck, Fluttershy plonked her rear down on the soft cloud they shared. It was clear that the filly in front of her was destined to be a great flier. Dash interrupted the gangly filly’s train of thought, "come on Fluttershy. You can do it too. Let me show you." Blue connected lightly with yellow as the bold tried to push her friend to the edge of their cloud. "But Dash… I can't…" Fluttershy mumbles miserably. “Awww, come on! I know you can do it…” A cyan head turned and Dash gazed into her friend's aquamarine eyes, doing her best to look supportive. "Just follow me. We can try over there. There's a cloud floor in case you fall." Butterflies filled the pink maned filly’s tummy and she timidly choose the only option her friend offered. "O-okay Rainbow Dash. I'll try." A massive grin erupted across Dash's face, fighting away Fluttershy's fears. The shy one allowed herself to be led up and along to the first pad off to the side of the main course. All the while she did her best not to shake too much from the quiet fears that resided inside. Dash took off leaving Fluttershy behind. Eyes wide, the timid pegasus took a deep breath then barrelled off the edge after her friend. She noticed her friend glance back and correct her course a bit. As the duo continued to glide along, drifting slowly down, Fluttershy realized that it was easier to glide like this. Dash must have been making it easier for her to glide by working harder herself! Determined to keep their sort of flight up as long as possible, Fluttershy flapped madly to stay aloft. The filly in front noticed and grinned back at her. A breeze kicked up, wafting a wall of pink mane into Fluttershy's eyes. She 'eep'ed' in surprise at the unexpected invasion into her line of vision. Terror gripped the gangly filly as she felt feels herself falling, legs flailed uselessly as her wings locked to her sides. Rainbow Dash landed triumphantly. Wearing a supreme look upon her small face she turned, grinning only to drop all pretence of awesomeness at the mangled sight of her pink maned friend. "Fluttershy… Are you okay?" Cyan bounded up to canary yellow and a tender hoof shifted the mass of pink revealing a disheartened filly. "Hey, it's okay. It took me forever to be this cool at flying. I guess you just need a little more practise." The bold filly did her best to come down to her not so able friend’s level whilst maintaining her sense of awesomeness. With a helping hoof to guide her ascent, Fluttershy stood. Her gaze fell to the soft cloud under hoof. A blue hoof guided her face back up to meet pink eyes. “Hey- uh… do you want to try that again?" Hope lit up those cerise eyes, banishing Fluttershy's fear of failure. The failed filly nodded slowly, unable to say no. “Cool! Follow me!” Dash strutted off without a backwards glance. A soft sigh escaped the gangly filly. At this rate, she was going to make herself look like a real fool in front of her best friend again and again... and again... The eager pegasus led her companion up and around several clouds till they came to an edge of a new cloud, one with a closer target point. “Don’t worry Fluttershy. Just stay behind me, if you fly behind me it should make it easier. Or at least that’s what my mom always says. It’s a slip something.” She grins cheekily. “You never know... it might just work.” The weak flyer inwardly groaned. Her friend clearly thought just like the rest, that she is too useless to make it on her own. ‘But she’s right. You are weak. No pony likes a worthless filly.’ A tear slid down the poor pegasus’s face. The multi-coloured plush ball glanced over at her friend one final time for confirmation but sighed in despair at the incoming waterworks. “Look... If you don’t want to do this, all you have to do is say so... We can try other things too you know. Maybe even something… well, kinda... a little more you?” Fluttershy’s mind flew into a panic. As much as is it meant to her, hearing that Dash would stop and try a different activity if she accepted the athlete’s offer then it would only make her look even more like a failure than she already is. “N-no... I...w-want to do this.” The shy pegasus attempted her best at a smile. An unsure gaze comes her way from those sparkling cerise eyes. “You sure? It would be like... totally cool to have a flying partner, you know. But it’s also ok if you would rather do some together that’s… I dunno… something else, hopefully, cool too?” “I can’t fly.” A second tear leaked out and the yellow filly sagged. The admission and accompanying liquid despair tugged on the bold filly’s heartstrings. Dash’s turned away, totally unsure of how to handle the situation. It was not cool to cry. But how to get Fluttershy to not cry? Dash knew her best friend was in fact cool. It was just frustrating seeing the filly’s lack of self-confidence in action. Something of her inner feelings must have escaped, for her next glimpse of the long-limbed filly by her side showed a dam about to burst. Fluttershy rubbed a hoof at her eyes, trying to rid them of the tears that were escaping. She turned away, ready to run. With a slight shake, she stood. Timid yellow tried to take off into a run to escape the situation but found herself caught. “Hey! Don’t go.” Dash pleaded as she held onto her friend’s yellow barrel. “You just need somepony who is super cool, like me, who believes in you.” A bright grin lit up the day as the rainbow maned pegasus adjusted her contact, turning the tackle into a hug. Warm fuzzies made everything all better for the cowering filly who melted into the strong, warm hold. They settled for a few moments. The contact calmed the fearful pony’s pulse, restoring her faith that her far superior friend really did care for her. She nuzzled into her strong defender, relishing the new feelings that poured from the contact. The cheeky filly pulled away a little, a cocky grin upon her face. She licked the shy pony on the muzzle, unhastily, content to let this moment at least, hold. As the warm tongue brushed against her yellow muzzle, it washed away residue fears and the youngster began to calm down. Fluttershy slowly gathered herself up, standing tall and confident beside her friend. “Thank you Rainbow.” Fluttershy offered a nuzzle, sweeting the close moment. “You’re welcome Fluttershy. I just hope you feel better.” A nonplussed cyan filly gently shoved her overly affectionate companion off. “Ready?” “Um…” “Or do you wanna do something else?” “Can we-“ Fluttershy faltered. “Do uh-“ “Something else?” Dash offered deadpan. A yellow chin bobbed up and down hastily. Light blue shoulders shrugged then the energetic filly relaxed. “That’s cool. What does Fluttershy want to do?” The duo heard incoming sounds of older pegasi and Dash jerked upright. “Time to go!” Yellow wings locked up in fear and Fluttershy found herself unable to stand. “Come on Fluttershy!” Blue hooves pressed into the frozen side of her companion. Terrified by the prospect of being found out by the older school ponies, Fluttershy ordered her body to move, yet she remained locked in position. Her rear skidded forward as Dash shunted her slowly along. “Come- on..!” As the first older foals touched down nearby, Fluttershy's body, at last, decided to obey her mind and she leapt into action. Rainbow Dash rocketed forward and face planted into soft cloud. Surprised at the sudden movement it took a moment for her to register what exactly happened. Wings blazed as she rose once more then sped forward. The couple dashed off, eager to escape the questioning glances of the older peagsi. Fluttershy sighed with relief as she burst back into the younger foals zone. She collapsed against the cloud wall that hid the older foals courses from view and allowed her lungs to go into overdrive as she panted. “Please- don’t… again.” Dash sunk down at her friend’s side with a grin. “Awww, but that was fun…” Fluttershy shook her head. Her best friend was crazy! It was the end to another day at school at Cloudsdale Central. Young pegasi barreled out of their classes in the afternoon rush to head home. The soft beat of wings above was drowned out by chatter of the students. The main courtyard filled with fillies and colts passing through on their way out. Rainbow Dash was one such youngster who bounded out of the hallway and into the afternoon sunlight. “Come on Fluttershy! I can see the gate, home time here we come!” “Wait for me Dash!” Fluttershy cried as she hurried to keep up with her speedy companion. Rainbow Dash rushed out of the gateway and onto the road outside school. She scanned for signs of her mother. Red eyes failed to spot either desired mother and quickly began to wander in search of something to fill her time. “Hey Fluttershy, let’s go play in that alleyway behind the bakery!” “Oh,” the lanky yellow filly tried to spot her mother. “Uh... I think I’ll just wait here for mom.” “What?” Why?” Dash stared at her friend as though the taller filly were crazy. “I bet our moms are like... five minutes away. That gives us five minutes of fun!” A blue hoof reached out and tugged at a skinny yellow foreleg. Fluttershy gave one last look to the skies then sighed. “Um... okay.” “Great!” Dash bounded past the stream of students who were headed into the bakery. Two young fillies bounded around a corner to find two colts they really didn’t need to meet. “What are you punks doing out here?” Dash asks aggressively as she slowly advanced upon the duo who looked like they were in the middle of something suspicious. “We could ask you two losers the same thing, Rainbow Crash. Bakery is out front. Back here is for cool colts only.” Dumb-bell shot back as slipped several apples behind a trash can. “What about fillies?” The proud youngster challenged, her eyes on the lead colt. “What about them?” Hoops casually asked as he stuffed a crumpled creme bun into his mouth. “I’m cool!” Dash announced. She then placed a foreleg confidently around her shrinking companion. “And so is Fluttershy here.” Both colts burst out laughing. “Sure she is.” Chunks of pastry flew out of Dumb-bell’s mouth as he continued to laugh. “Fluttercry is the coolest!” Taunted the young colt. He threw the rest of his food at the yellow target in front of him. Dash growled as she whipped the food off her best friend. "Get lost! Do I need to smash you two again?" "You didn't smash us you stupid filly," Hoops spits. The colts began to close in and Dash felt Fluttershy begin to shake. “Um... uh...” The shy filly managed, her voice powerful like a mouse. “What if I tell the bakery you were stealing from them?” “Who says we stole food?” Hoops replied. Light brown came within pouncing range. With a breathtaking rainbow trail, the bold filly lashed out, bonking Hoops in the muzzle. Dumb-bell jumped in with a cry, assisting his friend. In a flurry of angry filly, Dash laid into the pair as her friend hid behind a garbage bin. Fluttershy continued to cower until she felt a comforting hoof contacting her coat. She jolted in surprise, relief flooding her system at the sight of her defender. "See… Told you I would protect you." Little yellow forehooves envelop the bold guardian who wore fresh injuries. “R-Rainbow...” “Ssssshhh...” Dash rubbed the tearful filly’s back strongly. “You’re safe. I kicked their flanks.” “I... I think we should check if our moms are here yet.” Fluttershy suggested softly. Dash sighed. “Yea... Mom’s gonna kill me though.” Fluttershy nodded as she led the way back to the road outside school. As the pair walked in the shade of the alleyway, the shy pegasus turned nervously to her friend. “D-Dash...” “Yes ‘Shy?” The bold filly turned, facing her friend with an inquisitive look upon her face. The lanky yellow filly paused and gave her best friend a big hug, careful to not apply unwanted pressure to the sore spots. “I’ll help you with your mom. I think those two might have been stealing from my brother’s bakery.” “Your brother owns the bakery?” “Na...” Dash chuckled softly. “But he’s there like... all the time, so I think he should.” Fluttershy couldn’t help but join in the giggles. The pair fell into silence at the sight of their parents who were talking at the opposite side of the open gate to school. Fluttershy’s mother was first to spot the duo and nudged the weathermare with a forehoof. Dash waved nervously at her mother who gave her an unimpressed look in return. Fluttershy relaxed on her mother’s back as the dark yellow pegasus flew along at a sedate pace. “Sunshine?” No response from the filly on top. “Fluttershy? Honey, what's wrong?” “I wish... I wish Dash would stop...” “Fighting?” The deep yellow mare finished her daughter's sentence. The shy young filly nodded into her mother's back. “That is up to her. I worry that she might be a bad influence on you.” “She’s nice...” The defence of the bold came out quiet, barely audible above the beating of the older mare’s wings. “I really like her.” “You think she’s special?” The small pegasus nodded briskly. “Then please try and encourage her toward other activities. I can even suggest a few activities for you both to do.” “Did you ...have any in mind?” Scarlet Sunset smiled to herself. “Well for one, you could always see if she’s interested in a good book. I’m sure someone such as herself must have a very active imagination. You could even invite her around one day.” “I think that would be nice...” Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile. Both of those activities sounded great. It made Fluttershy wonder if her mother could offer more useful ideas on what to do with Dash. Though the busy Cloudsdale streets a young rainbow maned filly walked alongside a greyish-blue mare. The older pegasus gave her two toned light red and orange mane a flick as she glanced at her daughter. Rainbow Dash had her gaze locked on the clouds underhoof. It was as though she found the cloudstuff they trod on highly interesting all of a sudden. The filly already had a solid black eye coming on and small marks on her right shoulder, forelegs and barrel. Gust was sure her daughter had given it back in equal measure, but that did not excuse violence. “I thought you told me you would stop getting into fights.” Gust sighed. “Yes, okay... it was dumb-” “Your mother is taking, sweetie.” “But-” “No buts. You will listen to what I have to say.” A light red eye settled on the sheepish foal who scuffed the clouds underhoof. Dash fell into obedient silence as she walked alongside her mother. Pegasi flew overhead in all directions as they went about their afternoons. Around them on the clouds walked the occasional family or chilled out pegasus. Several stared at the beat-up filly as they passed, but none offered any words. At last the grey, blue mare spoke up once more: “Do you know how many ponies have passed us by in the last five minutes?” Dash glanced up at her mother, lost as to where the question had come from. “Several hundred. How many do you think go around, picking fights with other ponies?” “Uh... some of them?” Dash offered. Gust shook her head. “More than likely, none. Unless you count drunken parties after hours.” Dash huffed as images of her own father came to mind. “What, like dad?” “Do you want to grow up like your father? I recently had to talk to his boss at the rainbow factory down from firing him.” “What? Why would they kick dad out? I thought he was one of the best there? Like one of the bosses or something.” “He beat up one of the stallions in the refinery. He did so because apparently the poor stallion had been behind in his work and was rude to your father.” “Dad beat somepony up for being rude?” The young speedster had a bad feeling creep over her. Hadn't she just attacked two colts for being rude? “I will take a guess and say you got into a fight because the other foal was rude to you or Fluttershy.” “But Hoops and Dumb-bell were also stealing from Soarin’s favourite bakery! I just know they were!” “Then you report it. You do not take the law into your own hooves.” Gust chastened her daughter. “If your father gets violent at work one more time, I will not be able to make an intercession for him and he may even find himself on the street. I will give you one more chance too.” The pair walked in silence for a few moments as Dash build up the courage to continue the uncomfortable conversation. Her dad on the street? Mom would throw dad out? How was that even possible? But what about her own little... fights. “Uh... what happens if I do ...accidentally get into another fight, mom?” The mare shot her daughter a guarded look. Her gaze settled on the street up ahead that led to their own corner of town. She sighed. “I am considering something along the lines of removing all your Wonderbolts posters and imposing a strict curfew after school hours.” “Hey, you can’t take my posters! And after school is when I go to my high cloud and do flying stuff!” “I will take two of your posters off you when we arrive home.” Gust stated. “Mom!” Dash wined as though in physical pain over the loss of her precious posters. 

 The greyish-blue mare gave her daughter another hard look. “I mean it. One for each fight you have recently been in. And don’t make me remember back to before your party.” Dash cowered under her mother’s gaze. “Okay...” “If you are good for a week, I will give one back. If you are good for the rest of the school term, I’ll give you the other one back.” “Yes, mom...” Dash’s gaze was fixed on her forehooves as she began to lag behind her mother.