//------------------------------// // 88. Hurricane Fluttershy - Part 3 // Story: Blaze the Pony Tale // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// Below a willow tree by the pond, critters gathered around a big red earth pony stallion as he lied beside his fillyfriend, allowing her to cry into his shoulder. It broke Big Mac’s heart to see Fluttershy like this, but he knew for the moment she just needed a sympathetic shoulder to lean on. He marveled at how much the animals around them showed great concern and care for Fluttershy, Angel in particular was combing his dear caregiver’s hair. Fluttershy lifted her face, all the animals seeing her cheeks stained with tears and her eyes a little red. A squirrel hopped up onto Mac’s shoulder and held out an acorn to Fluttershy, making them both smile. “Oh thank you,” she sniffled, “but a couple little acorns won’t solve my big flying problem…” “Feelin’ better `Shy?” asked Big Mac. “Oh Mackie!” she sobbed, “I tried- But- Oh, the way those ponies were laughing at me!” “Now `Shy…” Big Mac started but Fluttershy beat him to the punch. “Oh I know it’s important to have confidence in myself,” Fluttershy said, Big Mac saying, “Eeyup” as he gently nudged Fluttershy onto her hooves. All of a sudden, a badger started chattering persistently at Fluttershy. “Yes, yes, I do remember,” she responded to him. “The river was swelling.” The badger chattered again then flinched and played dead, “And you were scared.” As the badger continued to chatter, Big Mac couldn’t help but feel left out yet was amazed at how Fluttershy could understand these woodland critters so intimately. “Yes, I did tell you to never give up, and… to believe in yourself.” “Sounds t’ me ya gotta start takin’ yer own advice, `Shy,” Big Mac suggested while nuzzling against Fluttershy’s cheek, which she welcomed warmly. She then stiffened her stature, a look of determination on her face, “You’re right, Big Mac, all of you! I will get my confidence up and I will show them all I’m as good a flyer as any of them!” Big Mac smiled happily as he watched his Fluttershy rise up, vowing to become, “A great flyer!” The animals cheered while Big Mac nodded, “Eeyup!” “Mackie,” Fluttershy came down, “Would you please go back to the track and tell Rainbow Dash I’m okay?” “Eeyup,” Big Mac nodded. “Want me t’ come back after?” “No, I want to do this myself,” Fluttershy declined. But she smiled and kissed him on the cheek, “But you’re sweet to offer.” She giggled as Big Mac turned an even deeper red as a big goofy smile spread across his face before he ambled off. Big Mac reported to Midnight, Twilight, and Thunderlane that Fluttershy had not given up, but he requested they not tell Rainbow Dash for the time being. Faust knew what Rainbow might do if she knew Fluttershy was training herself, she might impose her “abilities” as a coach. Over the next few days, everypony trained. Big Mac would go back to Fluttershy’s cottage on the pretense of keeping her company for a while before coming back to the track to help with the training. Big Mac was truly proud of Fluttershy and grateful to her critters for helping her and being so supportive. *WHOOSH, SPINNNNN…* “That’s wonderful, Flitter,” Twilight said after she looked at the anemometer, “much better than yesterday!” “This is crazy-awesome, we’re gonna smash that record!” Rainbow clacked her hooves together in punctuation when a squirrel started chattering and pulling at Twilight’s hoof. “Wha’did he say?” Spike asked. “Do I look like I speak squirrel?” Twilight raised her brow. Then Spike looked in the direction the squirrel was pointing, “What’s that?” They gasped to see a determined-looking Fluttershy approach, her critters in loyal tow, as Fluttershy positioned herself, much to Rainbow’s glee. Big Mac smiled, seeing the determination and boost of confidence in his fillyfriend’s face, and watched closely as she buzzed her wings like a bumblebee before… *Whoosh, spinnnn…* Fluttershy hurried over to look at the anemometer and what she saw broke her heart. “2.3?! That’s it?!” She backed away in disappointment, “Please tell me it’s some kind of mistake, I worked so hard!” “Fluttershy, that’s a huge improvement,” Twilight assured her. “You did awesome, Fluttershy!” added Rainbow Dash. “Eeyup!” Big Mac insisted but Fluttershy broke in tears again. “No I didn’t! I thought I’d gotten over my nerves,” she sniffled as she backed away, “but they still got the best of me! There’s no way I’ll fly with 10.0 wing-power tomorrow!” Rainbow started to get it as she tried to console her foalhood friend, “So you won’t fly with 10.0 wing-power, every bit counts!” “It doesn’t matter what your contribution so long as you try, Fluttershy,!” Thunderlane added. “How would you guys feel?!” Fluttershy demanded, “If everypony else was flying with 10.0 wing-power while all you had was 2.5?” “Uh, actually it was 2.3,” Spike said without tact, earning him a lip-zip spell from Twilight and the stink eye from Midnight and Mac. “Uh, well…” “I guess I’d…” “Exactly, humiliated!” insisted Fluttershy, as she slunk off, “I’m sorry everypony, I just can’t do it!” Everypony watched sadly as Fluttershy left upset again, her animals following. “Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane, it’s okay!” Spike tried to ease the tension, “you’ve still got plenty of wing-power for the tornado. You’ll be able to lift tons of water straight up to Cloudsdale!” *BUCK* “EEYAAAUUGGGHH!!!” Spike was sent flying into a bush, Twilight glaring at Midnight. “What?! Somepony had to do it.” “If only there was a way to lift Fluttershy out of the dumps,” Rainbow sighed. “Dash, listen,” Thunderlane said to her, “You can’t cure somepony of their fears unless they’re willing to do it themselves, it’s the first step for anypony to conquer them. Fluttershy’s just not ready to do that.” “Thunder’s right,” Soarin came up, looking slightly under the weather. He stifled a cough, saying, “Sorry, a little tickle in my throat… Ahem, Rainbow Dash, I was actually a lot like Fluttershy when I was younger.” “You?!” Rainbow gaped at him. “It’s true,” Soarin said with a smile. “I shook like a leaf whenever I felt like everypony was watching me. But my folks and my friends were there for me, patient and encouraging. They didn’t force me until I felt comfortable, and they even did a few bouts of reverse-psychology on me. If they hadn’t I wouldn’t have found the courage to overcome my own case of stage fright and become the Wonderbolt you guys know me as today. That’s why you have to do the same with Fluttershy, you can’t force her until she herself is ready to step up and face her problems.” Rainbow finally got it through her thick skull and sighed. “Well then, let’s all go home and rest, big day tomorrow.” A big day indeed as every pegasus pony on Ponyville showed up at the reservoir, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane, Spike, and even Big Mac were there, along with a bigger version of Twilight’s anemometer so they’d know how much wing-power they produced. And right on time did appear Spitfire in a burst of speed from Cloudsdale, yet landing gracefully next to the device and waved to the fans among the tornado team. Rainbow and Thunder hoof-bumped before they rose up and declared, “Are we ready to do this?!” “Yeah!!!” every pegasus pony answered. But as they landed, Spike came up with a list, “Soarin isn’t here!” “What?!” Rainbow flew up, trying to see her favorite Wonderbolt/crush among the attendees, demanding, “Where is Soarin?!” “He’s down at Ponyville Hospital sick with the feather flu,” answered Rumble. “Mister Blueblood took him in early this morning.” “He’s not the only one,” Spike said warily, showing eight more pegasi weren’t present. “You can’t be serious!” Rainbow looked at the list, and he was right. “Ugh! I can’t believe this!” “Midnight’s out too?!” Thunderlane couldn’t believe it either when… “Uh, guys?” They all turned and sighed to see, “Midnight!” She zoomed up to him but noticed something wrong. He had a horn, not wings. “Why aren’t you feathered up?!” “Uh, heh-heh,” Midnight said sheepishly, “it’s a funny story, really, Dash.” He levitated out his magic goggles and they all saw the lenses were cracked. “So what’s the big deal?” Rainbow demanded. “The big deal is that since the lenses of my goggles are broken,” Midnight explained, “so is the spell they were imbued with! Until I can repair them I won’t be able to transform into a pegasus!” “AUGH! What happened to them?!” Rainbow demanded, making Midnight flinch. “Well…” Midnight began as did the flashback. After a long day of training, Midnight decided to head to Sugarcube Corner for a shake. As he trotted, humming excitably and looking forward to tomorrow, he didn’t notice a certain orange scooter-riding hellion streak out of nowhere. *CRASH/YOW* “Uuuggh,” Midnight sat up, rubbing his aching head when he heard a crack. He looked down and was horrified to see his goggles’ lenses broken. “Uhhh…” He looked to Scootaloo, looking nervous. “Gotta scoot!” she zipped away on her scooter, leaving Midnight out to dry. “Augh!” Midnight whimpered as he tried to use a repairing spell on the goggles, but the remnants of the magic they were imbued with fluxed the spell, rendering his attempts futile. “Three weeks wasted…!” “…and that’s what happened,” Midnight said warily, Rainbow Dash groaning as she facehooved. “Rainbow Dash.” They looked to see Twilight going over some calculations on an abacus, “With all those pegasi out with the feather flu, and Midnight unable to take pegasus form…” She gasped, Thunderlane going over, “What’s wrong?!” “Don’t tell me we won’t be able to break the wind-speed record,” hoped Rainbow Dash. “Worse,” Twilight reported apologetically, “you might not have enough wing-power to create a tornado powerful enough to lift the water to Cloudsdale!” As the unforgiving reality sunk in, they all gazed up sadly towards Cloudsdale, Spike asking, “Well, should we pack up?” Rainbow looked to all the pegasi, seeing their anxious looks and couldn’t bear to break the news to them, “No! Of course not,” she declared, “Forget the record. Cloudsdale still needs water!” Thunderlane smiled proudly, You finally get it, Dash as he rose up and announced, “Alright everypony, time to give it all we got!” As everypony slapped on their goggles and Spike took his position, Rainbow instructed, “On the sound of the horn we take off!” She and Thunder looked to Twilight, midnight, Big Mac, and Spitfire as they stood next to the anemometer. Twilight gestured positively towards Spike, and the little dragon took a deep breath… before blowing a powerful call from the horn, that signaled everypony to take flight! Almost at once, they began flying in counter-clockwise, quickly mixing up a tornado. As the winds began to pick up on the anemometer, Spike asked, “Think they’re gonna make it to 800 wing-power?” “I sure hope so,” Twilight responded as Midnight cast a barrier to protect them from the winds. “150 wing-power…250 wing-power… 500 wing-power!” The water in the reservoir began dripping upwards as the winds started to draw it all upward. “750 wing-power!” “Twilight!” They all gaped to see, “`Shy! What’re y’all doin’ here?!” Fluttershy was trying to approach them, fighting against the winds,a few of her critters accompanying her. “I figured-! If I couldn’t help Rainbow Dash with the tornado,” she explained while fighting the wind as Big Mac hurried over to help her, “the least I could do was offer moral support!” “She can sure use it,” Twilight said as Big Mac brought Fluttershy into the safety of Midnight’s barrier. “Considering some of the pegasi are sick with feather flu and Midnight can’t transform into a pegasus!” “Oh no!” Fluttershy looked up towards the tornado, just as a larger mass of water began to rise into the wind tunnel Alas, it was a losing battle. Without the 800 wing-power minimum, the tornado began to weaken, as did the pegasi. One by one, they tired out and started bumping into each other before the winds threw them in all directions, the tornado broke apart…! And the water fell back into the reservoir, leaving everypony all washed up. Literally. They watched as their friends crashed, Midnight and Mac hurrying over to Thunderlane, who was rubbing a bump on his head. “Thunderlane, are you alright?” “Ugh, I’ll be fine,” Thunderlane groaned as he shakily got back onto his hooves. “You were so close to the 800 wing-power minimum!” Midnight sighed, “I’m sorry, Thunder. If I hadn’t gotten my goggles broken, I could be up there with you.” “No point crying over spilled milk,” Thunderlane declared when Rainbow came over. “We’ve got to try again!” “But you’ve pushed the team to their limits already!” Twilight telekinetically grabbed Rainbow’s tail and stunted her takeoff. “If you lose control and break apart again somepony could get hurt!” added Midnight. The co-captains looked to their pegasi, seeing some of them looking tired, beat, wet, and close to giving up. “No! One more time!” Rainbow insisted, especially to Thunderlane, “I’ve gotta know we gave it our all! If I’m going down I’m going down flying!” Seeing the look in her eyes, and how down their team was, Thunderlane nodded as he zoomed up with Rainbow. “Come on, everypony! Let’s do this!” Everypony cheered. “YEAH!!!” The horn blew again, and again the pegasi took off. Once again the tornado formed, Twilight keeping track of the anemometer, Midnight providing shelter from the wind. “100… 200… 500!” “Stay in position!” “Flap those wings!” “Faster!” “Don’t give up!” “700! …750 wing-power!” Twilight reported, Spike yelling over the roar of the wind, “They fell apart right after this!” “Oh I just can’t watch!” Fluttershy whimpered. “Come on, we’re almost there!” “I can see the water trying to funnel through!” “795, they’re so close!” Twilight felt the suspense killing them. As he concentrated on his barrier, Midnight gasped as he fell into a trance, as did his barrier fall away, the winds blowing against them. This time however was different, Midnight didn’t see anything but he did hear something. Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can really fly…!! “Midnight, what’s wrong?!” Twilight’s shouting snapped him out of it. “Fluttershy, get up there and help them!” Midnight called out. “I won’t make a difference!” cried Fluttershy over the roar of the tornado. “You can make a difference!” Midnight insisted. “My measly 2.3 wing-power is still too little!” “It’s sticking at 795!” Spike worried, “I don’t know if they got any more in `em!” “Do it for Equestria!” Midnight shouted to her over the roar of the wind. “Do it for your friends, do it for yourself!” He levitated a pair of goggles to her, and Fluttershy felt a strong embrace. She looked to see Big Mac giving her an encouraging smile. “Mackie?” “Ah know you c’n make a diff’rence, `Shy,” he whispered to her. “Because Ah love you.” Those four words resonated within Fluttershy, tears of joy welling up in her eyes as she realized, how could she not try when she had ponies who loved and cared for her believing in her? She couldn’t let them down, because she only truly failed if she didn’t try. She set Angel down from her head and slapped the goggles on before she ran up to the tornado. Scared but not backing down, she let it take her away. For a few scary moments, Fluttershy was whisked about, the roar of the tornado was deafening, but she managed to get her bearings and fly straight. It didn’t take long for her to find Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane, who both brightened up to see their old friend from Flight Camp was there. She hadn’t let them down! “It’s moving!” Twilight cheered as she looked at the anemometer, “She’s doing it! Wait… 798! Her wing-power’s increased!” Inside, Fluttershy started to panic and tire as everypony started to leave her behind, and she heard that horrible taunting chant again! It threatened to weaken her will, rob her of her confidence, ruin everything her friends had all worked for this past week… “No!” She wouldn’t let it and gave it everything she had! “What was that?!” “I think it was… Fluttershy!” The anemometer beeped as it reached the 800 minimum, and the water rose through the funnel before bursting from the top! It rose skyward before arching like a shimmering bridge in the sunlight as it made its way towards Cloudsdale! “She did it, she did it!” Twilight cheered as she and Midnight held each other, Spike cheering and waving, Mac just smiling proudly. “They all did it!” Spike then hurried over to the horn and blew it, signaling to the team of their success. The tornado fell away as the pegasi dispersed and landed, cheering and stomping. Rainbow and Thunder came down, smiling but they chuckled to see Fluttershy was still spinning in circles. *Poomf* “Whoa, girl, take it easy,” chuckled Rainbow, having brought Fluttershy to a halt with a cloud. “Wha- What happened?” Fluttershy asked. “Did we do it?” “We sure did,” Thunderlane rose up to join them, “and it wouldn’t have been possible without you!” “Don’t leave me hangin’!” Rainbow held up her wing and Fluttershy giggled as they high-winged each other. As they came down, Flitter and Cloudchaser cheered. “Great job, Fluttershy, that was awesome!” “Yeah, we couldn’t have done it without you!” “Nice job, Dash n’ Lane.” The co-captains turned to see Spitfire giving them a smug but congratulatory look. “You might not have set a new record but you showed a lotta guts!” “Just doing our job, ma’am,” Thunderlane shrugged. “But if you wanna talk guts, then you’ve gotta give it to my #1 Flyer: Fluttershy!” Rainbow pulled Fluttershy over with her wing, grinning with pride. Fluttershy blushed and shied when she felt somepony raise her up and smiled to see it was Big Mac as he let out an uncharacteristically loud cheer, “Let’s hear it fer mah girl, Fluttershy!” “Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can really fly!” everypony cheered. 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 just keep your head high, do your best, and believe in yourself, anything can happen. Especially when you have somepony very special who loves you giving you his support!