It was Fluttershy’s first day in summer flight camp, and she was very nervous. She knew she was very weak and not good at flying at all. Nopony said so, but Fluttershy knew they were all thinking the same thing: How can a pegasus be so bad at flying?
As she entered the flight school, she could feel pairs of eyes on her. She lowered her head and hid her face behind her mane.
“Why is she so skinny?” a pony whispered.
“And why so old?” another murmured.
“Maybe she is so weak, she has to go to this part of flight camp, the younger part!” a mint-colored pegasus said in the loudest and wettest whisper ever.
Fluttershy’s lip trembled. The pegasus was right. She was so bad at flying, she couldn’t go to her level and had to practice with the younger fillies. Pathetic! What kind of pegasus was she, an “earth pegasus?”
“Hey, doesn’t she know she’s supposed to fly at flight school, not mope around?” a pony taunted. His big friends laughed along with him, and Fluttershy blushed.
“Yeah, maybe she’s too weak and doesn’t know how to fly yet!” another pony laughed.
Tears started rolling down Fluttershy’s face. She lowered her head even more and walked slowly along. She had known this would happen, but it was even more embarrassing and scary when it actually did.
“Look, the little baby’s crying!” the first pony said. He went closer to Fluttershy and asked, “What’s your name anyway, baby?”
“Um...I’m...I’m F-fluttershy…” Fluttershy squeaked.
“What was that? Klutzershy?”
“N-no, Fluttershy…”
“Ha! More like Klutzershy! What a klutz!” the pony teased.
“Yeah! Hey Klutzershy, who’s your best friend? Klutzerpoo? Klutzercrash?” the second pony laughed. "Oh, right. I forgot you don't have any friends!"
“Good one, Dumbbell!” the first pony said, bro-hoofing Dumbbell.
Dumbbell grinned. “Yeah, Hoops! You too!”
Fluttershy didn’t know what to do. She looked around for help, but nopony seemed to notice her.
“She doesn’t even know how to fly, even if she has wings,” Hoops said.
“She’s gonna be moping around all day!” Dumbbell laughed.
“Maybe her wings are fake and she’s just an earth pony!” a third pony cawed.
“Ha! Nice one, dude!” Hoops said to the third pony. “Maybe you’re right!”
“Or maybe, she just doesn’t want to scare you!” came a voice.
A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail suddenly appeared. Fluttershy’s mouth dropped open. She was beautiful, especially in front of the sun. Her rainbow mane and tail glinted and sparkled.
To her great surprise, the rainbow-haired pegasus flew over to Fluttershy and sat next to her. “Don’t worry about them. Stick with me, and they won’t get us,” she said. “I’m Rainbow Dash, by the way. And you are?”
“Uh...um...I’m Fluttershy…” Fluttershy said quietly.
“You sure about that?” Rainbow teased in a friendly way.
“Yes,” Fluttershy said, feeling a bit more confident.
Rainbow smiled as Fluttershy slowly stood up. “Want me to help you fly a bit faster?”
“Yes...th-thank you,” Fluttershy sniffled.
Rainbow patted her on the back as she flew up once more. Fluttershy noticed that she was a bit younger than her, maybe by one or two years. Still, she’d stood up for her. Fluttershy admired Rainbow a lot and hoped they could become friends.
“Ha! Look, Klutzershy’s hangin’ out with Rainbow Crash! What a baby!” Dumbbell said.
“Yeah! Crashie is so small, and Klutzy is so tall!” another pony said.
Hoops nudged him. “That wasn’t even funny, Score!”
“But-”
“Your taunts are so bad! Just shush your mouth and let us talk,” Hoops said.
“I’m smaller because I skipped the baby part of flight school,” Rainbow Dash smirked. “And Fluttershy is tall because she’s older and more mature!”
Fluttershy was amazed. How did Rainbow Dash pull out so many insults? She couldn’t help but smile as the small, spunky pegasus insulted the bullies away.
“Wow,” Fluttershy said. She laughed.
“Yeah, that was fun!” Rainbow agreed.
The two girls collapsed in giggles as they thought of Rainbow’s mocks and taunts.
“Um...anyway...thanks for standing up for me…” Fluttershy said shyly after the laughing had subsided.
Rainbow smiled and shrugged. “No problem. Don’t let those silly boys get to you. One day, they’ll pay for the teasing when you beat them in a race!”
Fluttershy knew that would never happen, and so did Rainbow, but she was glad for the kind words.
“So, let’s get going. I hope I see you again, Fluttershy! And don’t hesitate to use some of my taunts on the bullies,” Rainbow Dash said, making an evil voice in the last sentence. Fluttershy giggled. The evil voice was so bad!
“Bye,” Fluttershy said. She watched as Rainbow flew away. Rainbow is so brave and I’m shy, but we are alike in some ways, she thought.
She started to get up, but was stopped by a hoof. She let out a cry and spun around.
It was Hoops.