Chapter III
“So, what did you get on number 42?” Dash asked. Fluttershy just stared at her, then blinked twice. “Two? Thanks.”
The pair were in their dorm room in the evening, doing homework. Rainbow Dash was notorious for not getting her homework done at her old school. But here there was nothing else to do. Unless she could produce an acceptable hover, the skies were closed to her. None of the popular students would speak to her, not after she'd bucked Ace, the Airball captain, right in the eye. And the bullies? Forget it. They wouldn't even tease her now. They just waited from the shadows and jumped her whenever they felt like it.
The only pony who might possibly be her friend, the only one that would be in the same room as her, was her silent and helpless mute of a roommate. Fluttershy stuck to a strict regiment. Wake up in the morning, cry, make the bed, sit and cry, be late for breakfast, cry into the food, be late for class, cry all throughout, get yelled at by coach, pretend not to cry, go to bed, cry herself to sleep. Dash decided it was just easier to go along with the flow than try and change the established order.
Dash had been at flight training for two weeks now, and Fluttershy still had yet to say one word. At night Dash sometimes heard her singing to herself, but the youngster was so tired she never knew if she was dreaming or not. In the morning when she awoke, Fluttershy would already be up, ready for the day, and sitting on her own bed, watching Dash. Always watching her. It was kind of creepy.
There was a habit the younger pony had taken too lately, that was sure to get her expelled if she was caught. At night, after the sun went down, Dash would sneak out and spend the evening flying. Coach McHard Cheese had refused to let her into the air until Dash had mastered hovering and gliding. Never one to be held back, Dash just found her own way up. She just needed to think, to be herself. She needed to fly. Sometimes Rainbow thought she was being followed, but there was never anyone there. Whenever she got back to the room, Fluttershy was already asleep.
Dash sighed. Her destiny sure wasn’t what she thought it’d be. While she hadn’t really expected to just waltz in the doors and be hailed as a heroine… She’d expected to just waltz in the doors and be hailed as a heroine. It had been two weeks already! She should at least be an understudy for the Wonderbolts by now. Life was much harder than her picture books said. And her roommate wasn’t helping.
“Why don’t you talk?” Dash finally asked. Fluttershy looked away. “I know you can. I’ve heard you singing to yourself.”
Fluttershy proceeded to hide behind her mane, the same thing Rainbow Dash did when she wanted to hide from the world. Dash didn’t know how to treat her roommate. She was at least three years older, if not five. Most fillies usually had their Cutie Marks by her age, or could at least fly. Fluttershy was 0 for 2 in both categories.
“Is it because of me?” Dash asked, hanging her head. A flash of alarm crossed Fluttershy‘s face. “You don’t like me either, do you? You think I’m a failure and a screw up just like everyone else.”
“Don’t you dare say that.”
Dash was so startled to hear something aside from her own voice in the silent room that she nearly sprung her wings in alarm. At her age the natural defense reaction wouldn’t have been so bad, but it would have still embarrassed her.
Looking up, Fluttershy slid off her bed, walking over to Rainbow Dash. “You stood up for me when no one else would. You’ve been my only friend in this terrible palace, Rainbow Dash, and I won’t have you saying such horrible things about yourself.”
“You… you talked!” Dash just stared at her.
“Oh.” Fluttershy looked away. “Would you prefer I not?”
“No! I mean yes. I mean…” Dash took a deep breath. “I though I was going to go crazy, just listening to my own voice.” Dash stared at her. “So…?” Fluttershy still didn’t reply. “Oh come on! You’re not going to clam up now, are you?”
“What do you want me to say?” asked the older filly.
“Um…” Dash eyed the posters on Fluttershy’s side of the room. “I notice you like birds?”
“Oh yes! They’re very beautiful and so elegant when they fly. I just love how they soar so peaceful and quietly. I wish I could fly like them.”
“But you can fly.”
“Oh no, not like they can. They do it so effortlessly.” Fluttershy protested.
“But you have wings.” Dash couldn’t seem to get through to her.
“M’humm.” She nodded. “So do you.”
“Yeah, but I use mine.” Dash pointed out.
“Yes. And may I say I love how you fly?”
“You like my flying?” Dash beamed.
“Oh yes, very much so. I love how you soar so very high and then go below the clouds. It’s very impressive.”
“Wait a minute, that’s a move I’ve been practicing. How do you know that move?” Dash made a skeptical face.
“Oh, um, I…” Fluttershy trailed off, her voice dropping to a shrill squeak. “I watched you our first day in Coach’s class?”
“I only did a few back flips that day.” Dash remembered. “It’s you! You’re the pony that has been watching me at night! Admit it!”
“Oh, I, um…” she trailed off again.
“Fluttershy.” Dash gave her a stern look.
“I suppose… I may have… snuck out and watched you… now and again?” She admitted slowly. “Please don’t be angry with me, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy pleaded, tears welling to her eyes again.
“Why would I be angry?”
“Because Ponies who ask too many questions get sent away.”
“From here?!” Dashed was shocked. How could they run a school if the students couldn’t ask questions.
“Oh, no. Not here.”
“Then where?” Now she was only confused. Fluttershy may have said something, but it trailed off. When it was clear she wasn’t going to say anything else, Dash changed the subject. “Well, since you already know, you wana see something cool?”
“Oh yes, please!” Fluttershy cheered up.
Dash reached under her cloud pillow and pulled out a sheet of paper with mathematical equations on it. She talked through her teeth as she pointed to various ones with her pencil. Dash wasn’t great at math, but this was something she wanted to get right.
“I’m working on my signature move.”
“‘Signature move?’”
“Yeah. My mommy has one, so I need one too. Oh, it's going to be so awesome! I think I’m gona call it the ‘Blow Up the Sky!’”
“Oh my.”
“I know, right? Here’s what I’m thinking. I start way up high, convert altitude into speed, and then slingshot around some clouds to gain more speed. Then, when I can’t go any faster, I’ll break the sound barrier, and probably shatter the light spectrum as well, if I don’t punch a hole in the fabric of space time.”
“Is that what all these doodles are?” asked Fluttershy.
“Well, some of it is math, and that’s really hard. The rest I got bored and drew myself performing my Blow Up the Sky move for the Wonderbolts.”
“Here, let me take a look.” Fluttershy began pouring over the equations.
“You’re good at math?”
“I’m the school champ, you know.” Fluttershy squeed.
“So how long have you been here?” Dash changed the subject as Fluttershy corrected her math.
“Um, almost three years?”
“And you haven’t graduated yet?” her answer surprised Dash. Fluttershy just shook her head. “Where did you go before Cloudsdale?”
“I went to a preparatory school when we lived in Manehattan.”
“Wow, you lived in Manehattan? What was it like?”
“Loud.” Fluttershy replied. “I don’t remember much. There were lots of clothes and shopping. The maids were nice, but I didn’t have any friends though. Not like you.”
Dash blushed. “Why did you transfer here?”
Fluttershy stopped, her eyes growing wide in terror as she looked into space. The tremble of her lower lip fought to prevent the flood of tears that were surely about to burst through the dam. She was brave and held it in though. She had a friend for the first time, and she wasn’t going to cry in front of her. Distracting herself with numbers, Fluttershy turned back to the paper.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” she said quietly.
“That’s okay. I don’t like talking about my old schools either.” Dash said sadly.
“You had friends?”
“Not really. Some, but never any once I left. My mommy says I run my mouth more than my wings. I was always getting into fights.”
“I don’t like violence.” Fluttershy said slowly.
“So I figured.”
“But I’m glad you fought for me. No one has ever done that before.”
Now it was Dash’s turn to wipe away the tears. She could still hear her mother’s words echoing in her head, but she had no idea that watching out for weaker ponies would be so hard. Or so wonderful. Dash never minded playing alone. She always had her mom to hang out with. But now, alone in the world, it was nice to have a wing mate.
“Are you done with those stupid papers yet?” Dash snapped.
“I… I think so?” Fluttershy clammed up again. Dash could have kicked herself.
“Sorry. Can you show me?”
“Alright.” Fluttershy pointed at the paper. “You’re going to have to hit your mark at a 12° angle. Otherwise the air pressure will bounce you off. Because Sign of theta of the mach cone is equal to the velocity of sound over the velocity of objects. Or Sin(8)=V sound/V object.”
“I… I don’t know what that means…” Dash’s jaw hung agape.
“Oh. Well, I suppose you could always just do it by accident if you were going fast enough, like in a race. Or I could show you.”
“Great idea! Come on!” Dash leapt up, pulling Fluttershy out the door.
“What-- Where are we going?!” she squeaked.
“We’re going flying!” Dash grinned.
“But it’s night! We’re not supposed to fly! You’ll get in trouble!”
“They already grounded my wings for fighting. What are they going to do, ground me more? Sometimes you have to go around the rules.”
“But… but…” Fluttershy stammered.
“Come on, live a little.” Dash continued pulling her for the main exit.
That was when Fluttershy realized the truth: she had a psychopath for a roommate. Of course she did. She was Fluttershy. Who else, aside from a crazy pony, would want to spend time with her? Even her own father didn’t want her around.
And then, something happened. Fluttershy began walking under her own power, following Rainbow Dash outside. The pony who was afraid of her own shadow was about to do something incredibly against the rules and quite possibly dangerous. Absently Fluttershy wondered if she was the crazy one. Then she realized that it wasn’t dementia she was feeling, but rather the magic of friendship.