//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Rainbow Dash: Before the Awesome // by redpackman4421 //------------------------------// The other ponies had gone back to their conversations, leaving Rainbow alone with Gilda. After a few minutes of silence together, Gilda asked Rainbow Dash, "So, do you have any siblings?" Rainbow responded eagerly, "Yeah, I have three! My two big sisters Flasher and Supernova, and my baby sister Spectra. She's really little, and can't even fly yet. She's so young she even sucks her hoof!" Rainbow said getting a bit carried away. "What about you?" "Naw, I'm an only griffin. I've always wanted a sibling though." Gilda said longingly. "They're not THAT great. In fact, they can be really mean sometimes. Like this one time, when we were at the zoo, I wanted to get a closer look at the turtles, and Flasher pushed me into the pool right when they got close to us. It was really scary cuz I couldn't swim and I thought I was gonna drown the whole time! My dad had to dive in and pull me out, and it was really embarrassing because I was crying and all wet and I couldn't even fly back then. It was worth it though 'cuz Flasher got in SOOO much trouble." Rainbow said reminiscing on her past memory. "That sounded scary!" Gilda said, impressed by the story. "Yeah, it was. Looking back though I wish I hadn't been such a wuss about it." Dash said regretfully. "I don't think you're a wuss. I think you're really brave! Not a lot of people could be able to go through something like that and still be able to talk about it to a friend." Gilda responded encouragingly. Dash paused for a moment. Did she just say friend? She thought to herself. Dash smiled and so did Gilda. She hadn't felt this happy in a long time. She had just made a friend. It was then that they heard a voice rise above the rest. "Alright everypony, settle down, settle down!" said a happy, clear voice. The conversations of the little fillies quickly ended as the class waited attentively to finally meet their teacher. Just as this happened though, one last small pegasus walked through the door and sat in the last avaliable seat to the right of Rainbow Dash. Dash turned to get a closer look at the filly, and was shocked by what she saw. "Hi, I'm Ditzy Doo! What's your name?" the filly said, noticing Rainbow staring at her. Dash paused for a moment, still taken aback by the filly's appearance. She had a normal gray coat and vivid yellow mane, but her eyes... "Hello? Equestria to Rainbow Dash, come in, please!" said Gilda, making her best attempt at a spacepony. Dash snapped out of her small trance. "Oh, um, hey there....I'm Rainbow Dash!" Dash replied hesitantly. "Yeah, and I'm Gil-" Gilda chimed in, but stopped suddenly when she saw the filly's eyes. The eyes of the gray pegasus seemed to be looking in multiple directions at once, but neither of them were focused on Gilda or Rainbow Dash. "Hey, what's wrong with your-" Gilda started, but she was abruptly poked by Dash who signaled upwards to her. Standing over them was a mare with a snow white coat, a yellow mane, and deep blue eyes, looking a bit flustered. "Ahem," she spoke sternly, "Are you three about finished yet?" The other students snickered in the background as Gilda meagerly replied, "Sorry." "That's quite alright, I just need to get started with the class is all." The white mare said, smiling. "My name is Ms. Moonbeam and I'll be your teacher for this year. I love teaching young fillies and colts like you all, and it always brings a smile to my face when I see a student learn something for the first time!" she said addressing the entire class now. "Why don't we go around the room and hear everypony's name and their favorite activity? Let's start with you." she said, pointing at one of the fillies in the front. "Um.....me? the filly responded nervously, trembling a bit. She had a light pink mane, and a coat the shade of butter. "Yes you, silly filly!" Ms. Moonbeam said to her softly. "I....um.....I..I'm...I'm...Fl-Fluttershy.." the little filly whispered, almost in a squeak. "What was that? None of us can hear you, make sure you speak up." the teacher said to Fluttershy. Everypony was staring, eyes locked in on her refusing to move. "My n-name is... Fluttersh-shy." she said once more, voice shaking and tears swelling in her eyes from all of the sudden attention. "What?" The white coated mare said again, "All we want is your name sweetie, just give us your name." After another failed attempt to speak, the yellow filly burst out crying and ran out of the classroom. "Oh no." Ms. Moonbeam said to herself, exasperated. "Fillies, just stay in your seats for a little while longer, I'll be back in a second. You all can talk quietly to your neighbors." With that, the teacher went out to find Fluttershy, leaving the classroom unsupervised with a classroom of young, rambunctious fillies....