//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's Trials. // Story: Sunset Shimmer's magical adventures Volume 3: The Conclusion, Part 1 // by Justafanfictioner //------------------------------// Less than half an hour passed when the Eclipse finally started. At Canterlot, Stygian and Adagio knew it would be only a matter of minutes before the villains attack them. At his castle, Grogar opened a portal leading to Canterlot. At Camp Everfree, our heroes immediately tried to resonate with their Element of Harmony. Onboard a plane, Moonlight and Sunny were about to jump off and make a badass entrance. Finally, the girls figured out how to enter their realm of Harmony. The first one to do it was Fluttershy, and she found herself in C.H.S , or what seemed to look like it. She was in the middle of the classroom and Cranky Doodle was teaching. ”What am i doing in class?” she thought. “I graduated years ago...” Angel Bunny appeared on her desk in front of her. “Angel?!” what are you doing here?!” she asked. “I’m not who you think i am” answered the animal. “I’m the spirit of Kindness.” “What am i doing there?” she asked. “In your memories” answered the spirit. “Don’t you remember that day?” She noticed that everyone were looking younger than usual. “My very first day of school at C.H.S...” said Fluttershy. “It was the first time i set foot into a high school and i was terrified...” “Do you remember what happened to you this day?” asked the bunny. “I got bullied by a group of older girls for loving animals...” answered Fluttershy. “They would have hurt me if Rainbow Dash didn’t stop them.” “And this isn’t the first time it would happen...” said the spirit of Kindness. “Each time those bullies were harrassing you, Rainbow Dash, like a shining knight, always jumped in to protect you...” “She always protected me from bullies since kindergaten...” said Fluttershy. “But where are you going with this?” “You never stood up for yourself...” said the magic bunny. “You never had to because your friend always rescued you from those bullies. How many time did she took out a beating for you?” “Too many times” answered Fluttershy. “She got hurt all those times because you were too weak to affirm yourself.” said the spirit of Kindness. “Even today, you’re unable to defend yourself in the face of danger. You still don’t believe in yourself, you see yourself as weak, useless and a deadweight to everyone.” “Are you trying to tell me being kind make me weak?” asked Fluttershy “No” answered the bunny. “Far from it...Your kindess make you strong...it’s literally the source of your power. But you lack so much self-confidence, assurance and a backbone and it wear you down. If you learned to stand up for yourself, to affirm yourself against those who belittle you, your life would have been so much easier...and better...” “Is it the key to awaken my true potential?” asked Fluttershy. “You’re a smart one” answered the spirit. “Yes...If you want to awaken your true power, you have to get rid of what hold you back. In short, everything i mentionned earlier.” “How can i do that?” asked Fluttershy “I’m going to test you, of course!!” answered the spirit. “And you can call me Angel if you want...” “Got it” said Fluttershy. “What’s the test about?” Angel brought Fluttershy further in the past, when she a student at Cloudsdale. She looked at herself and saw that she was 7 years old and talking to a squirrel. “I remember that day too well...” thought Fluttershy. “It was the first time those meanie directly confronted me. They were mocking me all year for being weird because i spent my time with animals.” She saw the 3 young girls walking in her direction. They were her bullies...Those 3 were sisters and their parents were super rich, owning a multimillion company specializing in security systems and equipments. The oldest one, who was the leader of the trio, was Golden Locks, because of her beautiful blonde hairs and pearly white skin. The tallest one, standing to Golden’s right, was Silver Lock, because of her silver hairs and white skin. The younger, and smallest one, was Copper Lock, due to her shiny orange hairs. “No...It is because i ran away that my friend Dashie ot humiliated by those girls.” she said to herself. “Tell me, little guy, what would you do if you were bullied?” The squirrel looked at her. “Stand up for yourself” answered the critter. “Show them you are not afraid of those meanies...I learned this lesson the hard way when a bigger, tougher rival was harassing me. The moment i stopped giving my nuts to that brute and stood up for myself and my family, he left, never to come back...A friend of mine told me that a dog got him...If you want my opinion, that’s well deserved karma.” “Thank you” said Fluttershy. She waited for the girls to arrive in front of her. “Well well!!” said Golden Locks. “If it ain’t the Critter Freak!!” Fluttershy laughed all of a sudden, listening to her squirrel friend. “What’s funny, Critter Freak?” asked Silver Locks. “That’s not nice to say, mister” said Fluttershy to the squirrel. “That’s an insult to birds...” “What did he say?” asked Golden Locks. “If you could understand animals like i do, then you would know what he just said...” answered Fluttershy. “Too bad you can’t. You’re only special because your parents are rich and famous...If you were a normal girl, with normal parents, you would be like the rest of us, who you look down upon so much...I’m special because i can understand animals and communicate with them...So, before you bully someone because he’s poor, lonely or disabled, tell yourself that without your parent’s fame, you would be nothing...” Everyone was looking at them with surprised expressions. Only using words, Fluttershy just straight up put the 3 bullies to their places. Golden Locks, seeing that she was loosing the face in front of everyone, walked away with her sisters without saying anything. The words Fluttershy said had the effect of a knife to the chest and would have for effect to get her to do some soul-searching. “Wow, Fluttershy!!” said Rainbow Dash. “You didn’t need to roast her that bad...” “I just told her a fact, that’s all!” said Fluttershy. “She needed a good dose of reality to get her, i hope, on the right way.” “Did you realize what you’ve done?” asked Rainbow Dash. “You just stood up for yourself!!” “You’re right...I did...” said Fluttershy. “Then again, i was being very nice to her...” “Ah, Fluttershy, always so kind, even toward scumbags.” she said. Rainbow looked at the people looking at them. “You should all take example on her next time those girls try to boss you around!!” she said. Suddenly, everything around her disappeared, and she reappeared in her room. Angel was sitting in front of her, looking proud. “How did it feel to put those girls to their place?” asked Angel. “It felt...honestly great on my self-esteem” answered Fluttershy. “If only i had the courage to stand up for myself back then, to say those words...My life would have been so much better...Too bad this was all fake.” “Actually, i lied to you” said Angel. “I didn’t bring you in your past memories, but rather back in time!” “Really?” said Fluttershy. “So...that like, totally happened?” “Yes...” answered Angel. “The paradox you created should hit any time soon...” A few seconds later, Fluttershy got new memories of her life after the day she learned to stand up for herself. She was still the same kind and caring girl that loved animals all those years, but being confident made her life much easier and helped her reach her goals much quicker. “You passed the test with success, Fluttershy.” said Angel. “Enjoy that newfound confidence of yours!! It will bring you far in life!! Also, yes, your true power is awaken, now, so get out and kick some butts!!” Everything around Fluttershy faded to black. Now, it was Rainbow’s turn...This one opened her eyes and saw she was in a soccer field, along with her teammates. In front of her, a turtle was looking at her. “Tank?” asked Rainbow Dash. “What are you doing on this field?! It’s dangerous, someone could kick you by accident!!” “I’m not your pet turtle, Rainbow Dash” said the turtle. “I’m the Spirit of Loyalty...I’ve taken that form because you’re very familiar with that creature you call Tank. Do you recognize that day?” “It was my first day in C.H.S Soccer team...” she said. “I ended up impressing them so much they made me their team captain...Why did you brought me to that day?” “It was the first time in a couple months that you touched to Sports again” answered the spirit. “You must remember that humiliating defeat you brought to your team during the Finale of the National Junior Soccer League.” “Don’t remind me of that day...” said Rainbow Dash. “I messed up big time...Near the end of the match, i felt a searing pain in my right leg. After the match, i learned from the doctor that i put too much strain on my leg muscles, which ended up tearing them just as i was about to hit the ball. I missed my shot and our enemies took possession of the ball, and they scored a goal 3 seconds before the end of the match...Lightning Dust was so mad at me for costing them the victory, since she had an opening...But, as always, i wanted to play solo and get the credit of the winning goal.” “If you had the opportunity to go back to that day and change things, what would you do?” asked the spirit. “I would have trusted my teammates more...” she answered. The spirit of Loyalty brought Rainbow back in time, on the day of the League Finale. She was sitting in a room with all her teammates. “Listen, everyone!!” said the coach. “We made it all the way to the Finale, mostly thank to our two Star players, Rainbow Dash and Lighting Dust!!” He finished his cheering speech and shared the match plan with the team. The announcer called in the two teams who made it to the finale. “Hey, Dustie!” said Rainbow Dash. “Can i talk to you for a moment?” “Of course!” answered Lightning Dust. “I’m sorry for being such a jerk to you” said Rainbow. “For hogging the spotlight for myself, when i should trust and support my teammates instead...” “Rainbow Dash, apologizing?” said Ligthning Dust, smiling. “Well, i’m glad my words put some sense into you...I wouldn’t want our team to lose the match because of your misplaced pride...” She hugged Rainbow Dash. ”Yeah...That would be awful...” said Dashie for herself. ”I got a second chance and i won’t miss it...” They joined the others on the field and placed themselves in the front line. The referee gave the start signal and the match began. Immediately, the ball was in Rainbow Dash’ possession. The match plan was simple; Rainbow Dash would use her speed and agility to confuse the enemy team, while Lightning Dust, with her amazing technique and accuracy, would be scoring the goals. Originally, Rainbow Dash hated that plan, having to play the bait while her rival got all the credit. But this time, things were different, because she had learned from her mistake and wouldn’t do the same one again. With that strategy, her team got the lead early on with a score of 3 to 0. But when their opponents figured their strategy, they found a way around it and set the score 3 to 3. Now, there was only 1 minutes left to the match and the pressure was immense for both team. Rainbow Dash felt a searing pain in her right leg as she was juggling with the ball. Despite it, she swiftly dodged her opponents’ charge and 20 seconds before the end, she passed it to Lightning Dust. Her leg’s muscles tore up and she felt on the ground. ”Dashie...” thought Lightning Dust. ”You can count on me!!!” She was galvanized by Rainbow’s trust in her and she scored a goal for her team 5 seconds before the end. Her team cheered her and threw her in the air. Seeing her friend so happy made Rainbow Dash feel good...Lightning Dust looked for her friend and saw Dashie doing a thumbs up to her, a smile on her face. Lightning told her teammates to put her down so she can join her friend. She helped her get up, and Rainbow Dash made a grimace due to the pain. “Nice job, Dustie...Ouch...” said Rainbow Dash. “That was the best feint i’ve seen in my life...” “You idiot!!” said Lightning Dust. “I can’t believe you got hurt to the leg and told nobody about it!!” “I didn’t want to let our opponents know about it...Might have ended up costing us the victory...” said Dash. “If i tried to score a goal, i would have probably cost us the victory, so i prefered leaving the winning goal to you.” “Selfless as always...” said Lightning Dust. “You hid your pain to avoid demoralizing our team and when you couldn’t take it anymore, you passed down the torch to me. Hey, you two!! My friend is injured!! So move your asses here and carry her, got it?!!” They obeyed and helped Rainbow Dash stand up. They were given the National Junior Soccer League Cup and assisted to the closing ceremony. After it, Lightning Dust was approached by a renown coach from one of the best Major Soccer League team that offered her scholarship to their sport academy. She hesitated to accept and looked for Rainbow Dash. She found her at the infirmary, being examinated. “Go for it, champ” she said to Ligthing Dust. “Don’t worry about our friendship, i’m not mad nor jealous. One day, our paths will cross again and we’ll still be best friends. I gave it my all to help you reach your goal, so you better not back down right now.” Lightning Dust kissed Rainbow Dash on the mouth and left the room. That kiss left Rainbow Dash slightly confused and red. The spirit of Loyalty appeared in front of her. “Let me guess” said Rainbow Dash. “I passed the test?” “No...” answered the spirit. “You aced it!! What you did was the greatest proof of your loyalty to your best friend!! I couldn’t be more proud of you. You are indeed worthy of the Element of Loyalty and you have awakened your full potential...Goodbye!” Everything around her faded away and she fell into darkness.