//------------------------------// // The Race // Story: Special Friend // by Princess Starflight //------------------------------// “Fluttershy. Fluttershy. FLUTTERSHY!” Coach Strike waved his hoof in front of Fluttershy’s face. “Huh? Oh, I’m sorry.” Fluttershy took a step back. Hoops laughed. “I’m sowwy!” he mocked. “That’s enough.” Coach Strike shushed Hoops. “Okay, Fluttershy. I want you to demonstrate how to do the flying trick I just taught you guys.” “M-me?” Uh-oh. Fluttershy didn’t know what to do. The trick was so complicated! With looping, whooshing, and going around, she didn't have the slightest idea of how to do it. “Come on, let’s hurry it up,” Coach Strike said. “Come up to the front, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy slowly walked up to the front. She opened up her wings. Crouched down. Took a step backwards.  “B-b-but can’t s-somepony else do th-the trick?” she said nervously. “Like, if they really want to do it?” Coach Strike shrugged. “Well, does anypony else want to do it?” And Rainbow Dash raised her hoof. As the coach called on her, Fluttershy let a sigh of relief slip. Her best friend was going to make flight camp a whole lot easier. She would have to remember to thank Rainbow after the lesson. Rainbow Dash nailed the trick, of course. The fillies clapped and cheered. Fluttershy clapped the hardest. But Rainbow was pretty humble about the whole thing. All she said was, “I know I’m pretty good at flying and all, but thank you!” After teaching a few more tricks, Coach Strike ended the lesson and the fillies were dismissed for lunch. Everypony was talking, and they seemed to have already made friends. Everypony except for Fluttershy. She could buddy up with Rainbow, but even though Rainbow had stood up for her and said she wanted to be friends, Fluttershy got the feeling Rainbow didn’t actually like having her tag along. Rainbow probably wanted to hang out with cooler ponies and didn’t want to ruin her reputation. She did get bullied by Hoops and his friends, but that was it. Only three ponies hated her, and Fluttershy was pretty sure they were just jealous. Well, there was that gray pegasus with light yellow hair similar to Rainbow’s. What was her name? Dinky? Dainty? Derpy? Whatever. Fluttershy had seen her getting picked on by Hoops and his gang. Maybe they could buddy up. She looked around for the pony. It didn’t take long. There was a small commotion nearby, and when Fluttershy went over to see what was happening, she found Dinky/Dainty/Derpy. “Please don’t!” Dinky/Dainty/Derpy said as she cowered. “I’m gonna do it and you can’t stop me!” a brown pegasus said. It was Hoops! Fluttershy felt unusually angry, but she didn’t do anything and kept on watching. “Yeah, Dummy Derpy! We’re gonna take it!” Score said. “Who said anything about you taking the muffin? I’m the one who’s going to eat it,” Hoops said. “Oops.” Score shrugged sheepishly. Hoops grinned at Derpy. “Any last words before your precious muffin is in my tummy?” “Please don’t do it! Please!” Derpy cried. "I'm hungry!" “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” came a very familiar voice. Hoops turned around and bumped right into Rainbow Dash. “Ooh, look! It’s little Rainbow Crash!” Hoops laughed. “Whaddya gonna do, huh?” “Stick around and find out!” Rainbow smirked. “You bet I will! I’ll have this muffin in the next ten seconds and deal with you, you big baby!” Hoops said. “You think I’m gonna let that happen? Nope!” Rainbow knelt down beside Derpy and lifted her head. Derpy sniffed. “You okay there?” Rainbow asked. Derpy shook her head. “I just want to eat my muffin!” she said. “Well, that is going to happen. You’re gonna eat your muffin right now and I’m gonna make Hoops pay for what he did,” Rainbow said confidently. She helped Derpy up and snatched the muffin from the ground. Derpy looked scared for a second, thinking Rainbow would eat it, but Rainbow gave it to her and smiled. “Thank you, nopony’s ever been so nice before,” Derpy said. She ate her muffin in two gulps before Hoops could even glance at her. Rainbow stood on her hind legs and faced Hoops. “Time to avenge Derpy!” she said seriously. Hoops laughed like a hyena. “Time to face Rainbow Crash!” he said. And without warning, he lunged at Rainbow. But that’s when Fluttershy snapped. She’d had enough of Hoops bullying everypony, especially Rainbow Dash! Without thinking, Fluttershy pushed through the crowd and slapped Hoops away. She yelled at him, “Who do you think you are?! You’re just a stupid, big bully who likes to make ponies’ lives miserable just because you have nothing else to do in your stupid, worthless life!” Everypony gasped…and to Fluttershy’s great surprise, they started clapping and cheering! Even Rainbow Dash was yelling: “Oh, yeah! 20% cooler and 100% awesome!” Derpy was looking at Fluttershy and Rainbow with admiration and relief. Flustered, Fluttershy stepped away from Hoops, who was glaring at her. "Um, well, I-I'm just saying what I think...I'm sure everypony likes you!" she said quickly. But then the crowd began chanting: "Fluttershy! Fluttershy!" She was lifted into the air, and couldn't help smiling. Hoops looked as angry and dangerous as ever, but no one paid him any attention. It seemed like the whole flight camp was focused on Fluttershy! Even Rainbow Dash was chanting! Fluttershy was carried around by the crowd until lunchtime was over. She couldn't be more happy! Fluttershy waved the flag once. She saw Rainbow Dash and Hoops and Dumbbell open up their wings. Rainbow had a smirk on her face. So did Hoops. Dumbbell had a determined frown on his face. The race had finally arrived. Fluttershy had been biting her hooves and sweating buckets all day, wondering who would win the bet. She knew Rainbow was possibly the fastest filly in flight camp, but Hoops was also pretty fast. She knew Dumbbell was no match for anypony, though. He was fast, but bad at changing direction. Back to the present, Fluttershy thought. She waved the flag again... And they were OFF! The three ponies zoomed away in the quarter of a second. But they were so fast, and Dumbbell wasn't good at flying. He happened to be the closest to Fluttershy, and knocked her off her cloud! Fluttershy raced toward the ground. She screamed and flailed her limbs, but nopony noticed her. They were all too focused on the race! Fluttershy tried to open up her wings, but she simply couldn't. Perhaps she was too scared, or maybe she was just too bad of a flyer. She tried in vain to remember what Coach Strike had taught her. She couldn't do that, either! Oh no. Oh nooooo. Goodbye, Equestria. Hello, pony heaven! The ground was only a few yards away now. Fluttershy closed her eyes and braced herself... Five seconds passed. Nothing. Ten seconds passed. Nothing. Fifteen seconds...was it her imagination, or did she feel something soft? She opened her eyes and gasped. She was being lifted a few inches above the ground by...butterflies! She looked around and saw so many animals. She didn't even know there were that many in the world! Squirrels, birds, ducks, even more butterflies... Everywhere Fluttershy looked, there were animals. And for some reason, she felt happy and safe with the animals. They didn't care if she was a bad flyer. She had never felt so wonderful before, not even when the ponies at flight camp had been cheering for her! The animals gathered around Fluttershy. Like magic, birds perched on her shoulder. Squirrels scurried out of trees and hurried over to her. Even the ducks came out of the water and waddled over to her. Animals were coming out of nowhere and going towards Fluttershy, attracted to her like a magnet. Fluttershy looked up and saw the flight camp in the clouds. She smiled. She was here in this wonderland all because of the pegasus race! And that's when things got weird... Fluttershy saw a fiery rainbow circle explode in the sky, with a rainbow streak flying away from it. With the blue sky and the strange rainbow, she couldn't help thinking of Rainbow Dash with her blue coat and rainbow mane. And then it hit her- Rainbow Dash had caused the fiery rainbow circle! And it was a Sonic Rainboom! Fluttershy stared in awe at the Sonic Rainboom. Then she noticed the absence of her animal friends. They seemed to have fled from the scene because the loud noise scared them. Fluttershy slowly crept towards a tall tree. She stuck her head inside the hole, where a family of squirrels was huddled up, looking surprised and frightened. "It's okay, you can come out now," she said sweetly. She went over to the pond and stuck her head in it. To the frogs she said, "It's alright, there's no need to be frightened." The animals slowly recovered and crept out of their hiding places. They gathered around Fluttershy once more, this time seeming happier than before. Fluttershy also felt that way. She smiled widely... And then she felt something on her rump. She looked down...and nearly screamed! Not because of the cute little bunny, though that was something worth screaming over. It was her cutie mark! Her cutie mark! And it was amazing: three butterflies with pink wings and blue bodies. She had some sort of connection with animals! This was so exciting! She also felt relieved. Her destiny wasn't flying, after all. It really didn't matter if she was a bad flyer! Best day ever! Fluttershy had gotten her cutie mark, Rainbow Dash had done a Sonic Rainboom, and she had won the race! That meant she had won the bet too. Fluttershy smirked. She couldn't help it. Too bad, so sad, bullies!