After the Rainboom

by MissytheAngle

After the Rainboom

It all happened far too fast for her to truly describe, but this much she knew:

She just performed a Sonic Rainboom, and it was awesome.

Rather than find words to describe it, of course Rainbow Dash reveled in the moment, absorbing the feel of adrenaline rushing in her blood. The wind whipping through her prismatic mane, perfection bloomed from this very moment. She licked her lips and soared longer through the air, the rush of her amazing speed building up.

And, of course, there was her new Cutie Mark, embroidered to suit her name perfectly. Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria—yeah, I can see that. That was simply the icing on the cake. She could never be prouder of herself than this moment.

But then something else entered her mind, something not too connected with her victory and pride. Grinning wider, she thought, Wait 'till those jerks know I did all this! Then they know not to mess with anypony again, or they'll deal with me.

Her thoughts drifted back to what started this very event that gave her a Cutie Mark. That poor cream colored filly, slightly older but still not matching the flight abilities Rainbow Dash pertained. With such a weakness comes those willing to rub it in that pony's face in the rudest way possibly. As if Rainbow Dash would have any of that!

No way would she allow bullies to bother anypony in any way; not when she had anything to say about it, not when she had even a speck of a chance to protect somepony getting bullied. That just irked her, the thought of somepony

She knew exactly what that felt like.

However, her drifting mind returned as she found the finish line, with neither of those colts in sight. Of course she found it first; of course she beat them to it.

As she burst through the scroll of red, puffing out her chest, cheers erupted from the few ponies—most being the fillies of the camp. Though if it were for her Sonic Rainboom or her winning the race, she could not tell. But it didn't matter. She smirked while many of what she believe were her new fans surrounded her. The throng complimented her accomplishment(s).

Then one colt shouted, “Hey, is that a Cutie Mark?”

“Oh, yeah!” How could she forget? Then again, she was so absorbed in her victory that she almost forgot the mark that was now painted on her flank. She twirled around—once, then twice—for everypony to see. “Check out this bad boy. Sweet, hunh?”

Ponies murmured and awed in agreement. It was then that they heard wings fluttering from the skies from which the race had just happened. Rainbow Dash looked up.

She flew by the face of her opponents, who plopped onto the cloud ground the second they crossed the already finished, well, finish line. Her already brash smirk was wide against her face and obvious to those who were panting on the floor before her. Just the sweat emanating from their foreheads and their chests heaving gave her an ego boost. Both colts slowly turned to her.

Getting into the faces of the one colt with a chocolate coat, she said, “That's what you get for messing with me.” A glint in her eye appeared, with the colt just staring nervously. “And check this out.”

She whirled her flank around, revealing her Cutie Mark, the bolt of rainbow colors striking under a puffy cloud. Rainbow relished when the colts' eyes grew; as if accomplishing a Sonic Rainboom wasn't enough, now she had a Cutie Mark to boast about to prove it.

“It's not cool to make fun of other ponies who aren't as awesome as I am,” she declared, on the brink of glaring daggers toward both colt; though her cracking voice made it not quite as threatening as she wanted. Nonetheless, if it meant they'd back off that poor pony, then whatever worked was fine with her. “Mess with anypony here, and I'll know. Got it?”

The two nodded at the same time, and very vigorously at that. She smirked. “Alright, then. See you two losers later.”

Rainbow Dash headed into the skies, but then figured something was missing. Something was wrong. Turning around to see a sea of little ponies talking amongst themselves, it came to her quickly.

“Hey, where's that girl?”

She dove down to the ponies on the cloud floor, asking this very question, adding detail to what she remembered what the filly looked like; though all she could say was that she had a yellow coat and pink mane, surely that would help.

Yet no one from the small crowd responded. Her eyes scanned the camp more, desperate to find this pony. The least that pony could do was thank her for defending her from those bullies when they ridiculed her bad flying.

Not a sign of her still. Rainbow Dash raised a brow at herself.

However, regaining some memory of what happened at the beginning of the race, she definitely saw a yellow coated filly several feet away, flag at the ready. She was that filly, signaling the start of the race—yes, she was there. But then what?

She had whipped the air with the flag very gently, but clearly good enough for the three competitors to see. After that was a blur of memory; all she saw was the clear blue skies ready to welcome her as she raced passed the mare.

Beyond that, there was nothing to be remember about her, though for a second, she had felt as if she had brushed something wit her shoulders and she and those two colts passed the filly—

Oh. Rainbow Dash gulped and looked down, deep down below to the ground, her face fallen. She slowly landed on a tuft of cloud as an idea popped into her head, one that made way too much sense to not actually have happened. She bit her lip; it was a really long way down. Did no one really notice, no one help? Surely, someone must have.

Well, where was she, then?

Should she tell someone—no way! She could find her lickity split! Besides, she just got her Cutie Mark from flying, for Celestia's sake.

Flapping her wings before setting off, she made sure no coaches loomed the skies around her. One could get in trouble for flying out of camp without permission.

It didn't matter to her. She dived down, speed increasing the longer she soared to the ground. She had been so arrogant in the race that she made the very filly she was defending fall all the way down there. Stupid, stupid! How could she let that happen?

A year ago, she had promised herself to at least try to do the same another did when she laid in that same, weak position in the year before's Flight Camp.

To beg for help would be a sign of cowardice, which she refused to succumb to. And yet she felt so terrified, she was on the brink of giving in. The three ponies stood around her, trapping her in a corner with no hopes for help that which she was aware of.

She was not Rainbow Dash the brave or tough—in this moment, where her weak points were nude to everypony, shoved in her face, she felt just pathetic. They took this as a sign to attack, and while there was no violence involved, she sure felt herself shrinking as if expecting it as they encompassed her.

The two colts and one filly each wore the very same smirk, all three of them mocking the very sight of the fallen Rainbow Dash. The bully filly spoke up in between the other two, saying, “Rainbow Crash—it's a much better name, don'tcha think? She can barely fly a straight line for one second!” A chorus of laughter erupted from behind her, and all Rainbow Dash could do in this moment was watch with wide, watering eyes.

Just as she shut them again, covering them with her hooves, there was a voice.

“Rainbow Crash? That's the stupidest name I've ever heard!”

Her ears twitched, and her eyes gradually escaped from behind her hooves to the source of the voice.

Rainbow was not one to be easily intimidated, though this felt like a reasonable time to. Though the figure was not large, it was what she was that caught her off guard. She gradually got onto her hooves and stared at the griffon landing before her, in the way of the three ponies.

Upon the glaring daggers of this creature, the three bullies were shocked, to say the least. If anything, those claws and teeth, while nothing compared to that of an adult griffon, still shined in Celestia's gleaming sun, bringing a sort of fear into their knees so that they shook a bit.

“Hey, you three think it's real cool to make fun of a pony just 'cause they aren't good fliers? That's just lame!” declared the griffon in a snarl, which caused the two colts and filly to fall flat on their flanks. Their pupils dilated visibly to both the griffon and Rainbow Dash, who slowly walked to the griffon's side as she slowly began to realize what this griffon was doing for her.

She was helping her out, standing up for a stranger. They sure as feather did not know each other—hay, she didn't even know her helper's name at that time—but Rainbow Dash guessed it didn't matter to the griffon.

The one colt with a yellow coat bit his lip, anticipating a burst of courage. When he said, “Mind your own business,” however, even that abrupt moment lacked any bravery, especially his deflated ears.

“I can jump in anypony's business if some stupid jerks are tryin' to mess with other ponies!” fought back the griffon.

No response. They looked as if they'd wet themselves on the spot. “Scram!” demanded the griffon, a hint of a growl escaping her lips. The three did exactly that, scattering in multiple directions.

Rainbow Dash stared at the griffon, unable to speak up at first, not sure what to say other than thank you. However, when she opened her mouth to finally speak, the griffon beat her to it, turning her eyes towards her and muttering, “Ponies like that are just the worst.”

“Totally,” Rainbow agreed.

“Hey, if ya ever need someone to knock some heads, just let me know, kay?” asked the griffon, and Rainbow Dash then noted the sudden change in her emotion: in an instant, her anger towards those kids changed to a calmer, cooler attitude.

“Yeah, I will. Thanks. That was pretty cool of you,” said Rainbow, attempting to brush off that embarrassing moment of being down without defending herself. Like she'd ever her herself go through that again. She smirked as she added, “I'm Rainbow Dash.”

“Gilda. I'll make sure no one gets in our way again. But seriously, you should stand up for yourself. That only gives those lame-os the idea they can step on whoever they want,” the griffon advised.

Rainbow nodded. “I know. I'll keep it in mind for next time.” She even knocked the side of her head with a hoof. She smiled at Gilda, who grinned back with sharp teeth.

That had been a year ago, and Rainbow Dash felt herself change from that moment on, ready to take on bullies like Gilda did. It was an inspiration, a new motivation to challenge bullies when others needed the help. She had yet to see Gilda this year, wondering at all if she would arrive, but she had another Pegasus to find.

After her flashback, she found herself closing in on the ground. Her speed had been as careful as she could make it, a bit terrified about landing flat on the ground. But as she found herself about a few dozen feet away from the grassy plains below, she searched for other colors for yellow or pink amidst the green.

Not too far in the distance, sure enough, lay a bright yellow figure with bright pink strands cascading delicately around her head. Her back turned, Rainbow Dash nonetheless knew who this was—except for her name, of course.

She breezed toward the mare, who she now realized was surrounded by animals. Not the kind that could be considered dangerous, not even close. If anything, the tiny squirrels and bunnies were enjoying the filly's company, and vice versa; caressing these animals and murmuring to them, she appeared almost serene in this situation, as if she hadn't fallen several hundred feet from the air. Rainbow saw a peek of her large blue eyes, glowing with a calm aura, in deep contrast to when she was at Flight Camp.

“Hey!”

A squeak was the filly's response, and a yellow blur jumped several feet into the air—no flying required—and ducked behind a tree in seconds.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened at her reaction. Taking a few feet forward, she said, “Hey, it's okay. I don't bite or anything.” She set herself on the ground and stood beside the tree where the filly hid. With an awkward glance at it, she added, “Sheesh, I didn't mean to scare ya.”

Slowly, very slowly, the filly's head poked out from the tree. Big blue eyes were the first thing to notice, and they observed Rainbow Dash. It took a minute or so—and a bunch of patience Rainbow struggled to hold onto, while she rolled her eyes and blew tufts of rainbow strands from her face—for the filly to finally step out to reveal her yellow coated self.

“Y... you're the one who stood up for me from those boys,” stated the filly quietly as if it just came to her now. Perhaps it did. At Rainbow's smirk, the weak flier smile gently at the ground. “Thank you.”

“It's no problem.” Rainbow waved a dismissive hoof, and then brushed it to her chest. “Those idiots didn't know who they were messing with.”

The filly stood unresponsive, shuffling her hooves against the ground. Dash hated the awkwardness but did not know what to say at the moment. Finally, she found the right words. “Uh, you know... I didn't mean you make you fall,” she said, as close to apologizing as she would ever get. “That was just an accident. We were racing so fast, and I didn't see you there, so...” She shrugged the rest of her sentence away.

Again, the response from the filly was not instant. Hiding most of her face in her pink mane, she watched a few animals arrive around her. It was then that a warm smile pulled onto her face, as if these animals brought her from her shell. “Oh, it's alright. The butterflies softened my fall,” she said, nuzzling a nearby chipmunk.

Rainbow Dash raised a brow at her. Rather than think about it too much, though, she continued, “Whatever. 'Least no one got hurt or anything. Then I'd be in huge trouble—at least, bigger trouble than I usually get here.”

“But you came down here to get me. Would... wouldn't that mean you're breaking a rule?” questioned the filly. Before Rainbow could so much as open her mouth, she went on, her voice breaking, “I-I don't want you to do that for me, though. I'll just feel awful if you get in trouble because of me. You should just go now and—”

Rainbow grimaced as she noticed the tears falling from her face. Struggling for the right words for this distressed pony, she stuttered, “Hey, don't-you don't need to cry or anything. It's no problem. I mean, they'll understand when I tell them I came down to see if you were okay. It's nothing, really, just... don't cry, okay?”

The filly's head gradually rose up, those blue eyes red at parts of the rims and sparkling from tears. “But...”

“I'm Rainbow Dash,” she cut her off. She poked a hoof at her chest, also wanting to drop the conversation and hope this would

“My name's... Fl...” As if her voice got caught in her throat, it cut off mid sentence.

“A bit louder, how 'bout?” Rainbow requested, cupping one ear with a hoof as she leaned in slightly.

“... Fluttershy,” the filly introduced herself. Still looking down, she sat on her flank and looked away.

Rainbow got on her hooves and stared up at the long pile of clouds they descended from at one point. “We should get back. Now everypony will wonder where we are.”

At this, Fluttershy bowed down her head with a tiny whimper. She remained on the ground, not moving an inch. The confusion on Rainbow's face was gone unanswered, so she asked, “What's wrong?”

“I don't-I don't want to go back,” she whispered, shielding her face with her hooves.

The blue Pegasus walked closer to her, brows quirked. “Why not?” Though Fluttershy did not answer, the answer clicked in Rainbow's head quick enough. She frowned. “C'mon, now, you shouldn't let those jerks get in your head. They're always like that.”

“But...” Whatever she added could only be heard by the animals around her. All Rainbow understood was mere murmurs in a small squeal.

“But what?” she urged.

Sniffles registered in Rainbow's ear, which drooped when she realized Fluttershy continued to cry. “But they're right. I am a bad flier. I didn't even want to go to flight camp. M-m-my mother just wanted me to try it. But I didn't like any of it, and n-no one likes me. They're going to keep making fun of me, and I don't like it.” Most of what she said was full of stutters, interrupting by crying as tears streamed from her eyes, tiny little rivers against her cheeks. The whole day's occurrence overwhelmed her; she knew this would happen, yet she went along with it anyway. She should have begged her mother never to let her go—it was a horrible mistake.

“Well, I like you.”

Fluttershy's heart skipped. Perking her head up, she stared right at the Pegasus standing before her. Did she hear her correctly? “Hunh?”

“You seem cool. So what if you can't fly real good? You just need to start training more—and have more confidence in yourself. Hay, if you want, I can help you get better. Can't be that hard, right?” She shrugged.

Her chest fluttered as she processed what this meant. If this pony was being honest, the very thought made her smile. A new friend, at least a little, even in the midst of that chaotic day. She let out a toothy grin, but tried to hide herself as she put her veil of a mane over her face. “Really?” she asked a bit sheepishly.

“Sure, why not?” She nudged Fluttershy. “By the way, if anypony messes with you again, let me know, kay? I'll make sure to give them a piece of my mind.”

“Oh, I wouldn't want to be a bother...”

“Ah, it's no problem. Nopony should mess with anypony and get away with it.”

Never had Fluttershy felt so grateful to have somepony outside her mother at her side,and she felt comfortable to have this pony tap her shoulder with a nod. Though there were bullies up in those clouds, she quickly reminded herself of the pony standing beside her, ready to protect her from those colts when she needed it.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Her eyes traveled up to the clouds. “But...” She looked back at Rainbow. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

Rainbow's grin widened. A question such as this opened yet another opportunity to show off. “Because of this!” She showed Fluttershy her Cutie Mark, which Fluttershy gasped at. “I got that from the race... if it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have gotten it.”

“That's great, Rainbow,” she complimented. Her eyes fell down to hers.

Rainbow followed her gaze, and her brows rose. “You got yours, too? That's awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, zooming to her side again and wrapping a hoof around her shoulder. Immediately, the filly slipped from her grasp while Dash went on, “So we both got our Cutie Marks today? I gotta say, this is sweet. It's the perfect story to brag about.”

But as Rainbow Dash mused at the idea of telling this story to fillies her age when she was older—oh, it could totally happen—something obvious clicked into her head. Looking up to the clouds of Flight Camp, which looked like mere, well, clouds in the distance, she sighed. She floated a few feet in the air, earning a confused glance from Fluttershy.

Pointing up, she said, “We should get back before anypony notices—if they haven't already.”

“But...”

“But what?” she groaned.

Fluttershy just stared, but it was enough.

“Oh... uh,” Rainbow struggled to answer, knowing she was trapped here. Nice or not, this Pegasus had a huge flaw involving her wings. She saw her missing those hoops; how could she fly so high into the air when she couldn't get up a few feet?

Rainbow Dash 'hmm-ed' in ponder and looked at their surroundings. She couldn't quite figure out what to use for this situation nor did her mind go too deeply into coming up with an easy plan.

So she shrugged, giving up, and soared down to Fluttershy. “I'll take you up?”

“What?”

Not answering, she zoomed back to Fluttershy and wrapped both hooves under her armpits. At first, the pony shrieked in protest, right in her ears as Rainbow Dash tried to fly up. Eventually, as Fluttershy grasped Rainbow's hooves tighter and tighter, she quieted down. Going just a bit higher into the air, it started to get complicated.

Rainbow strained to hold onto Fluttershy. Over and over, the weaker flier apologized for every detail (“Sorry, I'm trying to help.” “Oh, I'm so sorry you're struggling so much.”). Rainbow also struggled not to say anything about it, and instead tested her strength. While Fluttershy was not heavy weighted or the likes, and Dash had some physical strength to her name, being only a filly trying to carry another in the air put a lot of strain on her.

About half-way up into the air, however, a few dots appeared in front of them in the distance, soon becoming more than dots. Rainbow stopped and stared. There were about three or four figures flying straight at them. Ponies from Flight Camp; even better, they were the coaches.

The coaches finally began to do their job and help the poor filly. They took the filly from Rainbow's straining grip and guided her onto a cloud as a means of transportation (why didn't she think of that?). Rainbow flew beside her, chatting in great detail the 'awesomeness' of her first Sonic Rainboom. Her excitement bloomed out easily as they glided up, and she even started talking about other subjects, such as how the rest of her day went. Fluttershy had actually joined in on speaking up once or twice when not just laughing or responding curtly to what Rainbow said.

The fact this pony not only defended her in her embarrassing moment, but also was genuinely concerned enough about her to find her made her feel sad around this confident mare named Rainbow Dash. She was the first pony she was comfortable enough that did not include her mother. It felt... nice.

Dash, however, did not feel quite the same. She thought about how she had broken the rules to go down and get Fluttershy. Fluttershy, they could understand... but not the same for her. And for all she knew, she could get in serious trouble. She felt her ears slip down; for all she knew, they could kick her out.

But staring at that filly's face, how calm she was around Rainbow as they spoke, she decided to not say anything or show her fear of getting kicked out. So she had kept on a strong face and let time pass by talking about the highlight of her day. And the filly listened.

It did not last, though, for when they arrived to Flight Camp, the coaches dropped them off at the front of their head coach's office. Reality was to be faced. Her face fell, and this had gone noticed by Fluttershy, who placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Something wrong?”

“Nothing, I'm fine,” she lied as the one gray coated coach opened the door for them. It was a small building, and did not even have many rooms. As soon as they entered the building, they found themselves staring at the head coach, who leaned against his chair and quirked his brows as the two fillies walked in behind the three coaches.

After the coaches explained the situation to their boss, the boss requested the two fillies to sit in the seats before his desk. A few moments later, the boss cleared his throat, eying the two fillies in an almost intimidating fashion.

“You know what the rules are, both of you, and you both broke them today. You that that, at all times, leaving Flight Camp grounds without any coach's permission is one of them. And it's one we're very strict on, especially since young fillies like you can find themselves once,” he called out. “So when somepony breaks this rule, consequences must be made.”

As Fluttershy feared the worst, Rainbow stepped in. “Now hold on!” she shouted, receiving shocked looks from not only Fluttershy but the coaches and boss. Fluttershy whispered something to her but she did not bother with it. “It's not her fault she fell down.”

“Fell down?”

Rainbow winced. “Yeah, well, in that race me and these other two flew right into her and... she fell. We didn't mean to do that, and I held bad so I went down to get her,” she explained.

“Well, you could have told us, and we could have gotten her,” said the one coach breezily.

“Nopony was paying attention!”

“Hold your tongue for a second, Miss Dash,” snapped the boss. It took a second for Rainbow Dash to accept his command, sitting in the chair beside Fluttershy. Pushing up his glasses, he continued, “I understand what happened with Miss Fluttershy. I recall reports that her flying is mediocre, at best, so with that incident, not to mention that she is new here, I will not bring any form of punishment for her.”

His eyes flashed at Rainbow behind his glasses. “You, however, I can't say the same for. Granted, you went to save her, but you know you could've let us handle it, told us. And because you broke one of our strictest rules—not to mention many others I refuse to bring up—I will discuss with the coaches as to whether or not you could stay here.”

Just as Rainbow felt something plummet into her stomach, a voice just barely audibly for all whispered, “But sir!”

All eyes turned to Fluttershy.

“Yes, Miss Fluttershy?”

“You... you shouldn't punish Rainbow Dash. She didn't do anything wrong. She just wanted to help me. It's my own fault she broke the rules; I was too weak to get myself back up,” said Fluttershy, much more clearly and not at all stammering. “It was really nice of her, so she shouldn't get in trouble for it. That's... I, um... that's not nice.”

The boss and coaches blinked, and they talked amongst themselves. Fluttershy smiled meekly at Rainbow, who was beyond speechless.

The older stallions turned back to the fillies. “Fine. Given how you simply tried to help a pony in trouble, I suppose we can let this slide... for now. However, we're keeping our eye out for you, Miss Dash.” The boss's eyebrows quirked, his face somber.

“Totally. I'll be good, promise! So can we go?” Already, Rainbow floated in the sky, ready to escape. Fluttershy sat still.

“Yes, but—”

Rainbow Dash, pulling Fluttershy along with her, disappeared from the room leaving a few papers dancing in the air in her wake.

They walked on the clouds outside the captain's office, with Rainbow Dash sighing with relief. “Thanks for saving my flank back there. The last thing I needed was another reason to get kicked out.” Dash laughed at her own joke—even if there was sad truth behind it.

“But I wouldn't want you to get kicked out,” said Fluttershy. Biting her lip, she added, “You're my only friend here, after all.”

Rainbow just grinned, and patted her friend on the back. It was then that when Fluttershy turned, her eyes met with a familiar pony not too far in the distance. Dash faced her. “What's up?”

She took a few steps forward, noticing the figure approach them. And she looked far too familiar to not release her name from her lips.

“Mom?” she squeaked, eyes widening to see the pony walk up to her; one with features that resembled her too much to not be her kin. Her smile brightened, and she trotted to her mother, Gentle Feathers, trapping her front legs in a mild embrace. Rainbow Dash stepped back a bit.

“How's my sweetie doing?” She nuzzled her daughter, not noticing the stiffness that buckled into Fluttershy's knees at that moment. Leaning away, she smiled gently. “How was it? I hope it wasn't too bad.”

“Oh, it wasn't that bad,” Fluttershy muttered, but a sudden flash of hesitance in her eyes said otherwise.

This had gone noticed by her mother, whose eyebrows narrowed. “What happened?”

“It's nothing. Besides, I'm okay now,” the filly excused. To tell her mother about those two boys would probably start a little fight... with her mother on one side.

“Oh, and look.” Deciding to drop the subject, she tilted her hind to reveal her backside, which bloomed with her three butterfly marks.

Her mother gaped, and then she smiled, momentarily forgetting what she was growing mad at. “My Celestia, you got your Cutie Mark. That's great! What... what were you doing?” she asked, embracing Fluttershy.

“Umm, I went down there and played with the animals. They really like me.”

Oh, how the many questions wanted to escape her lips as Fluttershy pointed far below the clouds. Down there? She looked down at the waves of green. How could she get there in the first place? Her motherly instincts were about to kick in when she noticed that her daughter was actually okay—no bruises nor tear stains on her coat. If anything happened, Fluttershy did not seem badly affected by it nor did her eyes say anything else; she would have given any reason to not go back that very morning.

“Well.” She let out a heavy breath. “As long as everything's alright. But now it's time to go.”

“Go home?” echoed the filly, eyes wide. Time really had sped by too fast. She looked over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash, who was chatting—or really just showing off her Cutie Mark—with a group of ponies that had started to arrive one-by-one. But then she turned back to her mother.

Gentle Feathers tilted her head. “Yes, we talked about it this morning. Don't you remember?”

Oh, she did; she nodded. It hit her right then as to what her mother meant, and she thought about the conversation she had with Gentle Feathers just before she left for Flight Camp that morning.

Their departure was soon, and she dreaded each second leading to her arrival at that awful camp. She hardly knew a thing about it, but the title said enough. Flight Camp! She looked at her little wings and felt discouraged at the sight. She sighed and flapped them in a simple rhythms as she tried to soar above a foot in the air, only to fall back on the ground on her belly. She let out a small cry.

“What's wrong now, Fluttershy?” asked her mother, Gentle Feathers, trotting toward her with a bag resting on her back. She leaned down to her daughter with a cautious and gentle stare she hoped would settle the filly enough to explain what she had been so down about that morning.

“I don't... oh, I don't want you to feel bad.”

“I'm not moving a step 'till you speak up, honey,” stated Gentle Feathers with a solemn stare. There was only so little time before she had work and to send Fluttershy up to camp, but it could wait.

“I... don't want to go,” Fluttershy blurted under her mane. She sneaked a peek to see her mother's reaction.

Gentle just sighed. She should have seen this coming. The signs were there, but she wished it had not been this bad. To be so depressed the whole morning, Fluttershy was desperate not to go. Those broad blue eyes said all.

“I know, but Fluttershy, you need to learn how to fly eventually. The least you can do is learn to fly a few feet in the air. I've tried to help, but...” Memories flooded her brain as she recalled the few times she tried to teach Fluttershy to fly, most it of ending with her patience driven up the walls and giving up when Fluttershy only ended back on the ground in tears. She'd do anything for the filly, and she was a fine flier herself, but she was never meant to train ponies, even her daughter. Her patience was as thing as a sheet of parchment, so that did not add up well, either.

“I'm sorry! I'm just... I'm a really bad flier. Everypony will make fun of me!” Fluttershy's legs shook at the image.

The sensitivity of her daughter was obvious, and seeing how scared she acted about her lack of flying skills, she bit her lip as she pondered the perfect diction for this situation.

“Well, that's why you're going there. To be a better flier,” she replied simply, tilting her daughter's chin up with a hoof. She wiped a tear from the coat under her eyes.

“I...” Fluttershy’s voice left her.

This was going nowhere. It could not be bothered with; to force her daughter someplace that only made things worse for her was an awful idea. Fluttershy's teared up eyes made her think, Maybe I can keep trying to teach her instead. I have wings, after all...

Still, she could not give up that easily. “Tell you what,” Gentle somewhat caved in with yet another sigh. “Just try it for one day. I have to work, but I can check on you later today. If you don't want to go so bad, let me know. At least try to enjoy it, but I'll understand.”

Inside, Fluttershy didn't like how her mother said that. Would she be disappointed? She really did not like the idea of going to Flight Camp. Flying was not her best suit one bit, and what if bullies bothered her? She didn't want to be involved with any bullies in any way.

But... she had to try. One day. For her mother. Looking up, she said, “Okay.”

“You ready to go, then?” her mother asked, tilting her body toward the cloud edges.

Fluttershy hesitated, poking at the clouds. It took her a minute to say anything. She could not look her mother in the eye just yet.

The older mare took a minute to understand. She noted the look in Fluttershy's eyes, how different they seemed from when she arrived. They looked... sad, but not in the way she thought.

She smiled, chuckling under her breath. “I see. You don't want to go yet.”

“No,” answered Fluttershy. After gulping, she added, “As long as that doesn't bother you.”

Gentle's laughter was louder this time, causing Fluttershy to flinch a bit. “Of course it doesn't. Dearie, you can stay here as long as you want, if it means that much to you.” She only wished she knew what suddenly changed her mood—what connections did it have to her Cutie Mark? There were so many questions, but she did not doubt her daughter's sudden change in her mind.

All questions were gone unsaid when a loud voice came out. “Fluttershy!”

Gentle Feathers surprised herself, realizing she had yet to notice the rainbow maned filly standing in a not so far distance from them—how that mane missed her vision was beyond her. The filly approached the two, nearly ramming into Fluttershy. Hardly noticing Gentle, she said, “Can we go now, Fluttershy? I could totally show you some neat flying tricks.” Only when she peeked from the corner of her eye did she once again notice Gentle Feathers, and she quickly said, “Uh, hi.”

“Hello. Who is this, Fluttershy?”

“Oh, um, this is my friend, Rainbow Dash,” she stuttered, eyes shifting to and fro from her mother and Rainbow Dash.

At the word friend, Gentle's ears flickered, her expression changed entirely. She smiled. “Well, it's very nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, same here,” said the filly curtly. She then went back to facing Fluttershy, silently gesturing to leave.

“Can I... can I go with her, mom?”

She had an urge to laugh at her daughter's intimidation about small things like her permission, but of course, she held it back. Rather, she grinned. “You go on now. I'll be back in a little while, so you can be with your friend,” she answered, trying not to add too much emphasis on the last word.

“Thank you,” squealed Fluttershy.

“Cool. Now c'mon, Fluttershy, follow me!” exclaimed the blue filly, her patience waning as she jumped back into the air. She soared away, Fluttershy following on her hooves.