My Little Pony: Nine Elements Book 2

by BlueBioWolf

Chapter 15: Hurricane Fluttershy (S2:E22)

It was two weeks after Spike’s greed-induced rampage. Two days afterwards, he saw the state of Blueflare and started a relationship with Rarity (in its early stages of course). On this particular day, Rainbow was flying around Ponyville, rallying the pegasi there.

“Calling all pegasi!” Rainbow announced. “Mandatory meeting tonight at the Golden Oak Library!”

She spread some flyers. Some were caught by Pegasi, others landed near them. Fluttershy looked at the flyer that landed on her head and beat a hasty retreat. She hid behind a barrel within view of two pegasus mares, Cloudchaser and her twin sister, Flitter.

“This looks important, Flitter,” Cloudchaser said.

“Yeah,” Flitter said. “We should go to the meeting tonight, Cloudchaser. Maybe we’ll be seated next to Thunderlane.”

“I repeat,” Rainbow called. “Mandatory meeting tonight at the Golden Oak Library! Be there or be square!”

That night, all Ponyville pegasi were entering the Golden Oak Library. Well, almost all Ponyville pegasi. Rainbow noticed who was missing and she walked over to a nearby tree outside of the library.

“That means you too, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said flatly to a tree. That same tree had Fluttershy’s eyes appear on its trunk. “I know you said you wanted to be a tree, but, I need you to be a pegasus now. Come on.” She began pushing Fluttershy in, which was difficult with her resisting. “If I say you can hold Spike close, will you stop resisting?”

Fluttershy heard this. “Yes,” she said. She stopped resisting, causing the two to suddenly jolt inside the Golden Oak library. They landed in a rather compromising position around the other pegasi.* “I’m okay…”

They got up quickly when they realized the position they were in. “Hey, Spike!” Rainbow called.

“Yeah?” Spike replied as he went over.

“I need you to be held by Fluttershy for this meeting,” Rainbow said. “I’ll make this up to you later.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Spike said. “I’ll never say no to being with my other mother figure.” He cheerfully sat near Fluttershy, who held him like a teddy bear.**

“Thank you, Spike,” Fluttershy said. “I feel better already.”

“Okay, Twilight,” Rainbow said. “Bring out the projector and movie screen.”

Twilight did so, using her own strength to wheel out the projector and using her magic to prop up the movie screen. She started up the projector, which played this cartoon. However, the film suddenly ended up getting damaged. This left the pegasi confused.

“Technical difficulties,” Twilight said with a slight sweatdrop.

“I’ll take it from here, Twi, but, thanks” Rainbow said. “Now, Cloudsdale has chosen Ponyville’s own highland reservoir as a source of the rainwater they need for all of Equestria. And you know what that means. It means it’s up to Ponyville’s pegasi to bring that water up to Cloudsdale.” Most of the pegasi made excited chatter. “Not only that, but, Spitfire will be here to oversee the water transfer and record our top tornado speed. Last year, Fillydelphia broke the windspeed record with a top speed of nine hundred ten wingpower. But, I think we can do better. I believe we can get a top speed of over a thousand!” More excited chatter could be heard. “If each and every pony trains hard enough to get their wing power numbers up, that is.”

The crowd of pegasi grew mostly silent, which was quickly broken by a pegasus stallion coughing into his hoof. This didn’t go unnoticed by Rainbow, who pointed a hoof at a stallion sitting between Cloudchaser and Flitter.

“That coughing better be a popcorn kernel in your windpipe, Thunderlane,” she said. “Nopony is getting sick on my watch! So, are we going to train hard?!”

“Yeah!” said most of the pegasi.

“Are we going to be strong?” Rainbow asked with ever-growing enthusiasm.

“Yeah!” said most of the pegasi again.

“Are we going to be fast?!” Rainbow asked, raising the motivation of most of the pegasi.

“YEAH!” most of the pegasi said again.

“Record breaking fast?!” Rainbow said, focused on an oddly bulked out pegasus stallion with noticeably tiny wings.

“YEAH!” the stallion said before grabbing the nearest globe and smashing it over his own head, visibly disturbing all the others present. He seemed to notice this. “Too much?”***

“Maybe a little, Bulk,” said a white coated pegasus mare with a cerise and lime green streaked mane.

“Anyway…” Rainbow said, trying to get back on track. “Who’s with me?!”

Most of the pegasi cheered loudly. Fluttershy, however, still felt uneasy.

The next day, the pegasi were training with Rainbow supervising.

“Stretch those glutes, Flitter,” she said. “Nice flexibility, Cloudchaser. Though, remember, this isn’t just to look good for your shared coltfriend.**** A… little too much flexibility, Blossomforth.” She saw the same mare who spoke to Bulk last night tied like a pretzel. “Can somepony help untangle Blossomforth? Let’s see some faster trotting, Thunderlane! Your marefriends are watching! Good pace, Silverspeed!” She blew her whistle. “Keep it up, everypony! We’re going to need all the power we can get to break this record!”

“YEAH!” Bulk said before snorting.

“Good work, everypony!” Rainbow smiled. But, her smile faded once she noticed somepony missing. “Although, where’s Fluttershy?”

“Have you checked her cottage?” Rainbowshine asked. “That’s where she’s usually holed up.”

“Hmm,” Rainbow said. She then flew off towards the aforementioned cottage.

Once she arrived, she gave a somewhat courteous knock on Fluttershy’s door.

“Fluttershy, are you in there?” Rainbow called. “You’re supposed to be out in the field training with us for tornado duty. What’s going on?”

The door creaked open. Fluttershy nervously peaked out, her facecheeks were stained with tears and her sclerae were slightly pink. She used a handkerchief to wipe out one of her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow,” Fluttershy apologized.

“What’s going on, Flutters?” Rainbow asked.

“I know the importance of Cloudsdale getting rainwater through tornado power,” she explained. “But, I’m just so nervous because I know I’m not as strong of a flier as you and other pegasi are.”

“This is about flight camp, isn’t it?” Rainbow asked insightfully.

Fluttershy sniffled. “Uh-huh,” she said, her voice breaking. “What if I’m the reason we don’t break the record?”

Rainbow realized she unintentionally put too much pressure on her friend. “You think I care more about a record than doing my job as a weatherpony?”

“You used to care more about napping or practicing stunts than your job as a weatherpony,” Fluttershy said. “And winning something.”*****

Rainbow winced a bit. “Yeah, that was a stupid question,” she admitted. “But, that’s not me anymore. Confidence or no confidence, Cloudsdale does need water to produce the clouds. We may not be able to break the record, but, I know we can get that job done. The routine is in a few days. Why don’t you take some time to think it over? If you decide you do want to, that’s awesome. But, if not, that’s okay, too. I also swear that if you do decide to join, I promise that the record takes a backseat to doing the job.”

Fluttershy took in Rainbow’s words. She could tell that Rainbow was serious about this responsibility. So, she took a deep breath. “I’ll do it.”

Rainbow felt encouraged. “Yeah! I know you’re going to do great. I believe in you.”

At the track, Twilight and Spike were helping to set up a strange looking device. Flitter and Cloudchaser, having never seen anything like it before, walked up to them.

“So, what exactly does this thing do?” Cloudchaser asked.

Twilight began explaining. “This is an anemometer. It measures your accelerative velocity and translates it into wing power, thus gauging your cumulative H2O anti-gravitational potential. Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

The pegasi present couldn’t understand what she said. “Uh, can we get the version for those of us who don’t have their faces in a book all day?” Flitter asked.

“Basically,” Spike summarized. “It tells you how fast you’re flying and how strong your wings are.”

This explanation was one the pegasi could understand.

“Thanks for the layman’s terms translation, Spike,” Twilight smiled. She then realized what Flitter said. “Wait, I don’t have my face in a book all day!”

“At least most of the time anyway,” Flitter said. A cough was heard.

“Thunderlane,” Twilight called. “Was that you coughing again?”

Thunderlane was indignant. “It wasn’t me! It was Blossomforth!”

“Either way,” Twilight said. “You guys need to take care of yourselves.”

Rainbow flew in. “Thunderlane’s just looking for an excuse to spend Tornado Day in bed.”

“Well,” Twilight said. “I guess it takes a slacker to know one.”

“Very funny,” Rainbow said dryly.

“Who said that was a joke,” Twilight asked plainly.

“Okay, moving on,” Rainbow said. “Why don’t you come on over here and be our first test flier, Thunderlane?”

The dark pegasus went to the starting line. As he took his place, Blossomforth coughed into her hoof. He flew past the anemometer, making the fan spin.

“Nine point three wing power!” Twilight called.

Cloudchaser and Flitter both kissed one cheek on Thunderlane’s face as the others cheered.

“That was great, Thunderlane,” Rainbow said. “Who’s next?”

“How about you, Rainbow?” Spike suggested.

Rainbow smiled and nodded, taking her place at the finish line. “One, two, three…” Rainbow counted to herself and she zoomed past the anemometer, which recorded her wing speed. Rainbow’s speed kicked up gale-force winds.

“Sixteen point five wing power!” Twilight called. The pegasi cheered.

Soon, most of the other pegasi tested their wing power with the anemometer.

“Ready to give it a go, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked encouragingly.

The demure pegasus took her place at the starting line. She took a deep breath and flew her hardest past the anemometer. It spun very weakly.

“How was that?” Fluttershy asked.

Spike, with a nervous sweat, stepped up. “You scored… a point five,” he said.******

Fluttershy was aghast at her own results. In her head, she heard voices ringing from her fillyhood of some mean-spirited pegasus ponies chanting at her.

Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly~! they mocked.

She panted with unease. Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow could see she was feeling stressed out and they asked the other pegasi to back away from her to give her space.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight soothed. “We’re here. Take deep breaths.”

Spike walked up to Fluttershy and hugged her. All of this resulted in Fluttershy calming down, her pants slowly fading into deep healthy breathing.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said softly.

“Is everything alright?” Spike asked.

Fluttershy sighed. “A little,” she explained. “Do you remember when I told you and the Cutie Mark Crusaders that I was a very weak flier during my Cutie Mark story?”

“This has something to do with that, doesn’t it?” Spike summed up.

“Yes,” Fluttershy replied. “Days before I got my Cutie Mark, I was tasked with leaping through an obstacle course, but, I stumbled with my weak flying. The other Summer Flight Campers chanted cruelly, saying that I can hardly fly.”

“I’m guessing Hoops, Dumb-Bell, and Score were among them?” Spike asked.

“Yes, actually,” Fluttershy admitted. “Although, I mostly saw other fillies picking on me. I mean, I know they grew up and aren’t as mean anymore, but, their voices still haunt me.”

Spike nuzzled Fluttershy’s barrel. He had tears of his own.

“I’m so sorry you went through that,” Spike sniffled.

Fluttershy could see the little dragon’s tears and instinctively held him closer.

“Oh, Spike,” Fluttershy said. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “I know how you feel. Things that others say can really affect someone’s mind.” He looked up at her. “But, you can’t let it get to you or you’ll never get far in life.”

Fluttershy listened to Spike’s sage advice.

“You’re right,” Fluttershy said. “If I’m going to help get the rainwater to Cloudsdale with the other pegasi, I have to keep trying and work harder. I will need some help in forgetting the voices, but, I’m going to do what I can.” She kissed Spike on the forehead.

“If you need help,” Rainbow said. “You can count on us.”

Fluttershy began training with the help of her animal friends. There was a lot of sweat and some tears, but, Fluttershy was determined to not give up. As she practiced, she improved drastically by day four. The animals cheered for their fluttering friend. With newfound courage, she felt more confident that she could help.

The next day, Flitter tried her luck again.

“That’s wonderful, Flitter,” Twilight smiled. “You’ve improved since yesterday.”

“This is crazy awesome!” Rainbow said. “We’ll smash that record!”

“You’re getting competitive again, Rainbow,” Spike said.

“Sorry,” Rainbow said. “Force of habit.”

Suddenly, a squirrel ran up to Twilight. He chattered excitedly.

“Too bad none of us are Critter Whisperers,” Spike noted. “Then, we’d be able to understand what this squirrel is saying.”

The squirrel recognized that they couldn’t understand him and pointed in another direction. Twilight and Spike looked to see a more determined Fluttershy flying towards them.

“I’m ready to try again,” she said. “I’ve been practicing for the last four days.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow cheered. “You got this, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy took her place. She then flew with all her might past the anemometer. It spun much faster, measuring in at 2.3 wing power.

“Wow!” Twilight said, genuinely astonished. “That is a vast improvement!”

Fluttershy, however, was less than pleased.

“Two point three?” She muttered. “Two… point… three?! This has to be some kind of mistake! I worked so hard!”

“It shows,” Spike said. “Two point three is more than double what you had the first time.”

“But, it’s still not enough for the tornado power!” Fluttershy said.

“No one pegasus can produce 800 wing power,” Twilight said. “It takes several pegasi working together.”

“But, my efforts are still too little to matter,” Fluttershy said sadly. She sighed likewise. “I’m sorry, Rainbow. I won’t be able to help break the record.”

“Listen here, Fluttershy,” Spike said. “It doesn’t matter if Ponyville breaks the record or not. What matters is the job gets done and there’s enough wing power to do it.”

“Tell that to Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said. “I know she’s more concerned about the record than doing the job.”

“Well…” Rainbow began, only for Fluttershy to run off in an emotional huff.

“She’s not exactly wrong,” Twilight said. “I still remember that story you and Applejack told us about the Running of the Leaves and how it got both of you banned from participating.”

Rainbow sighed gloomily. “I really messed things up with her. If only there was something I can do to help get her out of the dumps.”

The next day, the pegasi were all lined up by the reservoir. Spitfire flew in by a giant anemometer.

“Are you all ready to do this?” Rainbow called to the pegasi that had gathered.

“Yeah!” cheered the pegasi.

Rainbow landed and was about to blow her whistle when Spike ran up to her.

“Look!” he said, pointing to a clipboard he was carrying. “I did roll call earlier and there are eight absent ponies including Thunderlane and Blossomforth.”

“Lazy Thunderlane!” Rainbow said while Spike rolled his eyes. “He’s been trying to get out of tornado duty all week with his fake coughing and all.” She then called out to a young colt. “Rumble, where’s your lazy brother?” Spike began raising his claw. “The irony is not lost on me, Spike, so, put your claw down,” Rainbow said without even looking at him.*******

“He’s got the feather flu,” the colt, whose name was Rumble, answered. “He’s down at Ponyville Hospital.”********

“Same with the other eight absent pegasi?” Spike asked.

“Yeah,” Flitter said. “The only reason Cloudchaser and I didn’t let the feather flu infect us is because we took medicine to take care of ourselves.”

“We tried to get some for Thunderlane,” Cloudchaser said. “But, the pharmacy was sold out.”

A short time later, after accounting for the eight sick pegasi, Twilight was figuring things out.

“Alright,” Twilight concluded. “With eight sick ponies out of commission…” She gasped suddenly. “Oh, no!”

“What is it, mom?” Spike asked.

“We may not have enough wing power to lift the water to Cloudsdale,” Twilight said.

“Well, what can we do?” Spike asked. “We can’t just give up, can we?”

Rainbow wore a determined expression.

“We certainly aren’t going to give up!” Rainbow said. “We aren’t going to try breaking the record. Cloudsdale still needs water and by Celestia’s name, we’re going to get it up there!” She put on her aviator goggles. “Okay, everypony! Let’s give it all we got! On the sound of the horn, we take off!”

Spike ran up to a large horn while Twilight checked the anemometer. Once everything was set up, Spitfire gave the approving nod. Spike took a deep breath and blew into the horn, causing it to make the sound of a ship’s horn. Once the horn blared, the Pegasi flew up and began to spin in a circle over the reservoir. Spike quickly made his way to Twilight.

“You think they’ll make it?” Spike asked.

“I hope so!” Twilight said over the fierce wind. She then held on tightly to her little dragon son. She read aloud the wing power speed on the anemometer as the gauge rose. “One hundred and fifty wing power! Two hundred and fifty wing power! Five hundred wing power! Seven hundred and fifty wing power!”

“Twilight!” Fluttershy called out.

Twilight and Spike focused their attention on Fluttershy’s voice.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight called. “What are you doing here?”

“I figured…” Fluttershy said. “If I couldn't help Rainbow Dash with the tornado... the least I could do was offer moral support!”

“She could certainly use it,” Twilight said. “Considering that eight pegasi are sick with the feather flu!”

“Sick with the feather flu?!” Fluttershy said. “That’s terrible!”

“It is, especially since the pharmacy’s sold out of medicine,” Twilight said. “Once I calculated the numbers, Rainbow decided to forget setting the record and focused on just getting the water up to Cloudsdale!”

One pegasus, Sunshower Raindrops, grew tired and strayed from her post. This caused her to collide into other pegasi and knock the tornado out of formation. The water they managed to lift fell back into the reservoir with a big splash.

“Is everypony alright?!” Twilight asked with concern in her voice.

“I’m fine,” came the muffled reply of Rainbow, who collided facefirst with a tree. She peeled herself off and asked, “How close were we?”

“You were so close to the eight hundred wing power minimum at seven hundred and fifty wing power,” Twilight said.

“We have to try again,” Rainbow said.

“But, you’ve pushed your crew to your limit already,” Twilight said. “If you break apart again, there’s a risk of somepony getting seriously hurt. And that’s the best case scenario!”

“I know it’s a risk,” Rainbow said. “But, I got to know we gave it our all for the benefit of Equestria getting its much-needed rainclouds! If I’m going down, then, I’m going down flying!” She took to the skies.

“Wow,” Fluttershy noted. “She really is determined to do her job…”

So, the pegasi began to tornado over the reservoir once more and the anemometer measured the wing power.

“Okay, here we go,” Twilight said. “One hundred wing power! Two hundred! Five hundred!”

“Stay in position!” Rainbow shouted. “Flap those wings! Faster!”

“Seven hundred!” Twilight said. “Seven hundred and fifty wing power!”

“This is where they fell apart!” Spike said.

“Seven hundred ninety five!” Twilight said. “They’re almost there! They just need a little more…” She then looked towards Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, they need you up there!”

“I won’t make a difference!” Fluttershy said.

“You can make a difference,” Twilight said. “I’ve seen what you’re capable of and I know you have improved before! You could improve here, too!”

“My measly two point three wing power is still too little!” Fluttershy said.

“If you don’t even try,” Spike said. “There won’t be any rain! No rain means no food for your animal friends!”

“Besides,” Twilight said. “Small things make a difference! Do it for Equestria! Do it for Rainbow Dash! Do it for yourself! Show that you can really fly!” Twilight levitated aviator goggles to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy listened to her friends’ words. She suddenly gained new determination to not only benefit Equestria’s weather, but, also to help her animal friends. So, she grabbed the goggles, put them on, and flew to join the tornado formation. She flew a bit clumsily at first, but, soon found her balance. Twilight and Spike saw the wing power on the anemometer slowly but steadily move.

“It’s working!” Twilight smiled. “Seven hundred and ninety eight! She surpassed her best wing power number!”

In the tornado, Fluttershy began flying faster, much to the surprise of everypony.

“What was that?” asked Serenity.

“I think it was Fluttershy!” answered Slipstream.

As Fluttershy flew, she did hear the taunting voices ringing in her ear. But, with sheer willpower, she ignored the taunting and flew on.

“No!” Fluttershy said aloud to herself. “I’m not a weak flier anymore!”

The water in the reservoir climbed higher and higher. With the effort of all of the pegasi, the water rose up from the reservoir all the way up to Cloudsdale where it poured into the cloud generator. To say Spitfire was impressed would be a profound understatement.

“You’ve done it!” Twilight called. “Cloudsdale has rainwater! You can all stop now!”

The pegasi dispersed and landed safely. However, they saw Fluttershy still flying around in circles. Rainbow flew up to her.

“Flutters,” Rainbow said. “You can stop now. We did it! You did it!”

Fluttershy stopped flying in circles once she heard this. She blushed sheepishly and she and Rainbow flew down to the ground close by the reservoir. She was surprised that she actually made a difference. Spitfire walked up to Rainbow.

“You didn’t beat the record,” she said. “But, you met the minimum and showed guts doing it.”

“Thanks, Spitfire,” Rainbow smiled. “But, if you want to talk guts, then you got to give it to the flier who came around in our time of need… Fluttershy! Let’s give it up for Fluttershy, everypony!”

The other pegasi cheered.

“Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can really fly!” they chanted.

Fluttershy wasn’t used to so many ponies cheering for her, but, she was proud of her own accomplishment that she let it happen. After the cheering died down, she saw Spike holding a quill and parchment.

“You must have guessed that I wanted to write what I learned to Princess Celestia for me,” Fluttershy said. “It’s a lesson that I wouldn’t have learned without you, Twilight, or Rainbow to help me.”

“That’s right,” Spike said. “Let’s get started.”

“Dear Princess Celestia,
Sometimes, you can feel like what you have to offer is too little to make a difference. But, today, I learned that everypony’s contribution is important, no matter how small. If you keep your head high, do your best, and believe in yourself, anything can happen.

Sincerely,
Fluttershy.”

Spike rolled up the parchment and sent it on its way.

“Thank you, Spike,” Fluttershy smiled. “For everything.” She embraced the little dragon and nuzzled the top of his head. Up in Cloudsdale, the cloud generator was chuffing hard producing rainclouds for the sky.

End of chapter.