The afternoon dwindled away as Twilight and Fluttershy spent their time together playing in the park. Every now and then, the two fillies would take a break, roll over onto their backs, and stare into the sky, watching the occasional bird fly by.
“Twilight, I’ve umm, never seen you here before... are you new here?” Fluttershy asked, keeping her voice soft as to not attract attention.
“You're so quiet,” Twilight giggled, as she rolled over to look towards her new friend. “I'm fwom Canterlot. Me and my teacher Princess Cadance are here for my new lessons.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy whispered. “What's Canterlot?”
Twilight's eyes opened in amazement. She could not believe there was a pony, despite being her age, that did not know about Canterlot. “Well,” she said. “Canterlot is the biggest city in all of Equestria. It's where Princess Celestia lives, and almost everypony there is Unicorns, everypony... except me.”
Fluttershy nodded her head, listening intently to Twilight's story. “So um... why do you live there if you are a Pegasus? You should be here in Cloudsdale.”
“My Mommy and Daddy are Unicorns...” Twilight said, earning a look of shock from Fluttershy.
“That's, wow that's....” Fluttershy stuttered.
Twilight rapidly shook her head, hoping to dispel her new friend's disappointment. “No no, it's OK. I love being a Pegasus, I love flying” she said, as she waved her forelegs into the air. “But... sometimes I wish I was around more ponies like me.”
A thought exploded within Twilight's mind as she jumped to her hooves. “Oh I know what we should do!” Twilight cheered.
Fluttershy looked away nervously; pawing the ground she replied. “Umm... what?”
Twilight took Fluttershy's hooves into her own, gently pulling her up. “Let's go flying!”
A moment passed. Twilight was saddened when she saw her friend sit back down. “Umm... are you OK?” Twilight asked.
“I umm...” Fluttershy whimpered, as she slowly crept backward.
Seeing this, Twilight crept forward to match Fluttershy's pace.
“Umm.... I ummm...”
“Yes Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, continuing to match her pace.
“I umm..... I can't....fly” She whispered, as she shut her eyes and covered them with her forelegs.
“What?” Twilight gasped.
An awkward moment of silence befell the two, as they sat there together. Twilight watched as a lone tear fell from Fluttershy's eye, and slowly approached her. Twilight sat beside Fluttershy, and pushed softly into her side as she slowly lowered herself to the ground. Seeing another tear fall, Twilight spread her wing gently to flick the tear away.
“I'm sorry” Twilight whispered.
Fluttershy rested her head upon Twilight's forelegs for a few moments. “Umm... I'm not good at flying... I can float for a second or two but... I always end up falling.”
“Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy's ears twitched at the sound in the distance. She quickly recognized the sound as the voice of her mother.
“Fluttershy dear, where are you?” she heard call out again.
Fluttershy sat up quickly before calling, in a somewhat still quiet voice, to Twilight's amusement. “Momma, I'm over here, behind the cloud bush.”
A few seconds passed until an older mare flew gently over the bushes and landed. Her long pink mane trailing gently over Fluttershy, before falling back upon her own white fur.
“Oh sweetie, what are you doing behind here?” She said, before noticing Twilight who was still pressed up into Fluttershy. “Did you make a new friend dear?”
Fluttershy nodded, “this is Twilight Momma.”
“Nice to meet you Twilight.” She said, as she reached a foreleg out to help Twilight up. “I'm Morning Dew, Fluttershy's mother. Please excuse me for one moment.” she said.
“She's over here Cirrus!” Morning Dew called out.
Within a few seconds a stallion came flying in, at a much faster rate than Morning Dew had. “Blast. Fluttershy, you had us worried. Why did you run off like that?” He asked in a forceful tone, quite opposite of Fluttershy's timid voice.
Twilight observed her friend's father. She determined where Fluttershy received most of her physical traits from. She and her father shared both their fur and eye colors, however his mane was short and black, with a few red streaks running through it.
“Cirrus, please lower your voice. You're frightening her.” Morning Dew stressed, seeing the scared look in her daughters eyes.
Cirrus looked toward his shaking daughter on the ground, and quickly scooped her up into a hug. “I'm sorry sweetie. You know how I get when you go missing without telling us.”
Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs around her father's neck, and silently sobbed. “I know daddy, I'm sowwy.”
He gently pet her head as he sat her back onto the ground. His soft eyes hardening once more when he caught sight of the purple Pegasus. “And who are you? Are you one of those bullies? If I catch you picking on my daughter I swear I'll.”
“Daddy Daddy!” Fluttershy pleaded as she hugged his forelegs. “That's Twilight, my friend... She's not a bully...”
Cirrus calmed down when Morning Dew stroked his mane softly. “Dear, she's not a bully. Look at her... she wouldn't hurt a firefly.” she cooed softly into his ear. “Sweetie, where are your parents?” Morning Dew asked.
“They're in Canterlot,” Twilight replied. “Why do you ask?”
Both of Fluttershy's parents stood there wide-eyed. “They went to Canterlot and left you here alone?” Cirrus asked.
Twilight shook her head. “No... We live in Canterlot. I'm here on a field trip with my teacher Cadance.”
“I see,” Cirrus said. “And does your teacher know you're here with my daughter?”
Twilight once again, shook her head. “I don't even know where she is right now. She met one of her friends, and I left with her daughter.”
“Go on sweetie.” Morning Dew coaxed.
“Well, she led me to a bunch of her friends, and they were a bunch of meanie pants. They made fun of me, and they all said hurtful things about another filly there. I... I flew away as fast as I could, and I ran out of energy here.” Twilight said as tears slowly leaked from her eyes. With her motherly instincts tingling, Morning Dew picked Twilight up and embraced her tightly.
“I'm sorry sweetie. They are probably the same bullies that are giving Fluttershy a hard time.” Morning Dew whispered. “Cirrus, can you try to find her teacher? And I'll take the girls back home for some dinner.”
“Sure thing dear.” Cirrus said. “Twilight, what does your teacher look like?”
Twilight sniffled and replied with a few sobs. “She's pink... about as tall as you, maybe just a little bit shorter... umm... she's an Alicorn and...”
“Whoa woad. An Alicorn you say?” Cirrus said, being met with a nod from Twilight. “You mean to tell me, your teacher is Princess Cadance? The niece of Princess Celestia?” he asked through gasps, only to be met with more nods from Twilight. Cirrus nodded, and placed Fluttershy onto her legs and took off flying in search of the Princess. “Just who is that filly?” he though to himself as he sped off, determined to search all of Cloudsdale in under an hour.
“OK you two... how about some dinner?” Twilight smiled, as did Fluttershy, as they were led across town. The walk was short, but Twilight was now able to take in some sights she had been unable to earlier. “Well girls,” Dew said as she opened the door to a quaint little cloud home. “We're here.” The three walked inside, each taking turns wiping their hooves on the floor mat. “I'm going to get dinner started. Why don't you two go play in Fluttershy's room and I'll call you down when it's ready?” Dew suggested. Without hesitation the two fillies smiled before leaving and heading up the stairs.
Fluttershy opened the door to her room, leading Twilight inside. “Umm.... it's not much but please....” she said quietly, shyly hiding behind her mane.
Twilight shook her head. “No no no, this is great Fluttershy, really!” she cheered. She glanced the room over quickly. A small bed with earthy green linens, a small white dresser in the corner, and... Twilight's eyes widened when she saw the small bookcase in the opposite corner.
“Oh! You like reading?” Fluttershy asked, as Twilight eyed the bookshelf.
“I love books.” Twilight said through excited gasps, earning a small giggle from her friend. One book caught her eye, and she hesitated, but soon removed it from the shelf, setting it onto the table and reading the cover. “Emergency Procedures For Small Woodland Creatures.”
“Umm... I like taking care of birds when they are injured.” Fluttershy whispered. “So....”
“That's so cool!” Twilight cheered.
Fluttershy smiled as she sat down next to Twilight. “I like helping the birds... they are so helpless on their own when they get hurt. I can't just sit by and watch them... It's just... to me it's...”
“It's the right thing to do?” Twilight asked, receiving a nod.
“So... what do you do for fun? In... Canterlot I mean?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight laid her head onto her forelegs. “There's not much to do for fun in Canterlot...” Twilight said. “Well... I guess that's not true... there's lots to do there but...”
“Nothing for a Pegasus?” Fluttershy added.
Twilight nodded. “If I'm not flying, I'm either with Cadance, or at the library.”
“You don't have any friends?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
Twilight shook her head. “No... except for you... we're... friends right?”
Fluttershy smiled, and slowly nodded her head. “If you really want to be friends with me,then sure.” She said with another smile, and a soft hug.
Pushing into the hug, she replied. “Why wouldn't I want to be friends with you? You're so kind.”
Fluttershy lowered her head and softly pawed at the floor in front of her. Closing her eyes she let a single tear fall. “Nopony wants to be friends with scaredy mare me.” Fluttershy cried.
Twilight pulled her trembling friend into a friendly embrace. “But I do.”
Unbeknown to Twilight, a pink Princess flew softly outside the bedroom window, accompanied by Cirrus flying close to her side. Cadance smiled as she watched her 'student' make her first friend.
“This is why I brought her to Cloudsdale Cirrus. I wanted her to make a friend.” Cadance said.
Cirrus smiled. “Flutters is so shy, I never thought she would make a friend.”
Cadance nodded as she watched. “She's the complete opposite of you Cirrey.”
Cirrus playfully swatted at Cadance as she flew and gained a few feet of distance. “Don't remind me of my nickname Princess.” He chuckled. “For Flutters... it can't be easy... being the daughter of a military corporal... you know?”
“But... Auntie really enjoys having you on her personal force.” Cadance said. “But it must indeed be hard on her... Only being allowed to see her 'daddy' every few months.”
Cirrus chuckled. Normally, he wouldn't dare show an emotional side of him to a Princess. “I remember when you were Flutter's age... no... you were a little older.”
Cadance nodded. “When Auntie first adopted me.”
The two continued to watch in the window, both of them sharing a laugh when they saw the two playfully rolling across the floor, Twilight being the stronger one and occasionally pinning her down playfully, before Fluttershy would roll out from under her.
“You know, if they were older I'd be worried.” Cirrus said, earning a giggle from Cadance.
“What?” Cadance asked, playfully sticking her tongue out toward Cirrus. “Scared of Fluttershy liking another mare one day?”
Cirrus forcefully coughed. “I um... don't even wanna think about that.”
“Fair enough.” Cadance replied.
Cirrus lowered himself to the ground, closely following behind was Cadance. “You going to join us for dinner Princess?”
Cadance nodded and smiled. “I would love to, if you would have Twilight and myself.”
Cirrus opened the door, showing Cadance the way in. “I'm going to go check in on Dew, why don't you go up and get the girls.” He suggested. “Up the stairs, second door on the right.”
Cadance nodded as she slowly trotted up the stairs. Truth be told she didn't need directions, as the sounds of the fillies giggling was all she needed to locate her 'student'. Reaching the door, she opened it, and within a second, was met with a gasp and a purple filly clinging to her foreleg.
“Hiya Cadance!” Twilight giggled.
Cadance picked her up and cradled her into a loving embrace. “I was so worried... I'm glad you're OK though.”
Twilight giggled as she playfully pushed away at Cadance's nose. “I'm OK, really I am. Umm....”
“Hmm?” Cadance moaned.
“Cadance... this is my friend Fluttershy.”