Bitter Regrets
High over Cloudsdale, in the Junior Speedster Flight Camp obstacle course, soared a rainbow-maned filly who glided through and past the obstacles with a lazy grace. The filly, who was in the middle of a training exercise and being watched by all of her fellow classmates, didn't seem to care about the fact that her time on the course was being timed. She effortlessly flew over clouds and found her way through a field of clouds that were scattered in every direction. True, her accuracy could have used work, but there was no doubt that this filly was quite an exceptional flyer. Nopony knew it yet, but it was less than a month before this certain filly would go on to perform the mythical Sonic Rainboom, a feat unheard of by the best of flyers, let alone by such a small filly.
Her favorite obstacle, a row of cloud rings, was rushing at her as she maneuvered through the course. The filly licked her lips in anticipation as she entered the cloud rings, adding a little twirl when she was halfway through them. As she exited the rings, she thrust a hoof in the air in victory. Nothing could stop her! Passing through Flight Camp would be as easy as counting 1, 2, and-
"Rainbow Dash!" The instructor, a burly stallion wearing sunglasses, a hat, and a white shirt with "OFFICIAL JUNIOR SPEEDSTER INSTRUCTOR" written across the front, yelled up at the rainbow-maned filly, "Hurry up!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'," Rainbow Dash murmured to herself. Below her, she spied three colts gathered together snickering as they watched her.
"If Rainbow Crash goes any faster, she'll break a wing!" One of the colts hooted, getting a few giggles from the other two. Dash glared down at them, and folded up her wings. Her flight abruptly ended, quickly being replaced with a freefall from several stories up as Dash rocketed toward the thick cloud where her class waited for her. There were a few gasps of shock as Dash drew closer, and she distinctly heard somepony scream "Dear Celestia, she'll kill us all!" amid the frightened foals. At the last second, Dash extended her wings and managed to gracefully land on all four hooves. The instructor, while still looking a bit taken aback, cleared his throat and adjusted his sunglasses as he lifted up a clipboard.
"Now then... you did a fine job navigating through the course, but your timing was behind by far. Work on that speed, Rainbow Dash, or I cannot recommend you continue in..."
Dash was no longer paying attention to her instructor's words, uncaring as she strolled over to a Griffon that was waiting on the edge of the cloud.
"Hey G!" Dash greeted Gilda the Griffon as the two high-fived with their wings (high-winged?), "How'd I do?"
"Pretty lame compared to my time," Gilda answered, lazily stretching out her wings, "You're pretty slow."
"Well, I'm just not in a hurry to get anywhere!" Dash replied defensively, "I'll get to places when I want to get there, not when somepony tells me I have to be there."
"Whatever, dude," Gilda shrugged as the instructor finally stopped talking about Rainbow Dash's performance.
"Alright, listen up, everypony... next up is... Fluttershy!" the instructor announced. Nopony came forward from the mass group of Pegasi foals on the cloud, "Um... is Fluttershy here...?"
There was a squeak from somewhere in the crowd to Dash's right, and then a yellow filly was pushed forward, shaking with nervousness as everypony stared.
"Ah, there you are..." the instructor noted, writing a few things on his clipboard, "Now then, you've been watching everypony else do it, so you should know what to do..."
Dash knew Fluttershy, although just barely. The two had talked a few times when they were both still new to Flight Camp, but Fluttershy had always acted like she was nervous or worried whenever she was around Rainbow Dash. At first, Dash thought it was because Fluttershy was afraid of her for whatever reason, but then Dash realized that Fluttershy acted that way around everypony. She was simply a shy pony.
Fluttershy timidly took her place on the edge of the cloud as the instructor lifted a stopwatch.
"Ready... set... aaaaand GO!" the instructor shouted as he started the stopwatch with a tiny click. Fluttershy spread out her wings, sucked in a deep breath, and then gave a pathetic little leap into the sky before she came crashing back down, landing on her thin, fragile-looking legs. Gilda, along with most of the class, laughed as Fluttershy reluctantly climbed onto her hooves and stretched out her wings to try again. Fluttershy hopped into the air again, and flapped her wings madly, but quickly tired and fell back down. The laughter only escalated. Dash herself forced out a little giggle, which was lost amid the other foals howling at the shy filly's latest failure.
"Ha!" Gilda nudged Rainbow and then whispered, "I bet she'll have worse time than you!"
"Heh! Are you kidding?" Dash replied, adding a tiny smirk for good measure as Fluttershy gave another try, "Fluttershy... Fluttershy can hardly fly!"
Gilda snickered as Fluttershy came back down, "Hey, that rhymes!"
Rainbow Dash watched as Fluttershy took a few deep breaths before leaping into the air once more. She flapped her wings at a steady pace, and actually managed to remain in the air for a few moments. Fluttershy looked hopeful, and gasped in surprise when she realized she was hovering in the air. A stunned silence came over the group as Fluttershy's quiet exterior vanished, being replaced with a proud one before she suddenly fell forward and hit the cloud roughly. Dash suddenly found herself thankful that the Junior Speedsters practiced on clouds instead of anything hard.
"Hah! Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!" Gilda called over the silent schoolponies, and sparked an outburst of laughter and giggles. A few ponies repeated what Gilda had said, and soon half of the group was cheering.
"Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!" came the deafening sound of half the class mocking the shy pegasus's latest failure. Fluttershy gazed around helplessly, looking completely terrified and humiliated as the cheers continued. Rainbow Dash was completely speechless.
Gilda turned to Rainbow Dash with a wide grin, "Look! We started a chant! Haha!"
"W-what?" Rainbow Dash said, a deep sinking feeling growing in her stomach as she watched Fluttershy burst into tears and hurry away, pushing through the crowd and sobbing as she scurried off, "What do you mean we...?!"
"Fluttershy can hardly fly!" a filly in the back of the group called after Fluttershy. The instructor's jaw dropped, and for a moment he looked even more surprised than Rainbow Dash as he chased after Fluttershy, leaving his stopwatch and clipboard discarded behind on the cloud.
"Well, I guess this exercise is over," Gilda yawned as she rose into the air on her wings. She scooped up the instructor's stopwatch and tossed it up and down in her clawed talon a few times, "I'm outta here. Later Dash, meet ya in the dorm!"
Gilda zoomed away, taking her prize with her. The rest of Dash's class began to disperse as everypony began to leave as well, chortling at what had just happened. A few of them were repeating the chant they had just learned as they flew off the cloud. Soon, after a walleyed Pegasus had flown off the cloud, only Rainbow Dash was left sitting alone on the cloud in complete astonishment. Her ears and head drooped as she realized that Gilda was right; Dash had played a large role in Fluttershy's humiliation. Everypony was still cheering that same stupid chant inside her head, over and over again.
What did I just do...? Rainbow Dash thought to herself, closing her eyes and cupping her hooves over her ears as though it would make the horrible chant stop. Instead of making the voices stop, they only grew louder, and now Dash could picture Fluttershy's completely terrified face just before the yellow filly had run off.
Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly! Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly! Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly! Fluttershy, Fluttershy!
~~~
Nearly an hour after the catastrophe on the obstacle course, Rainbow Dash was slowly flying toward the Junior Speedster dormitories, halfheartedly flapping her wings as she stared at the clouds below her, lost in her thoughts and dwindling in her guilt.
I swear to Celestia... the last thing I want to hear right now is-
"Fluttershy can hardly fly!" squealed a shrill filly's voice, shattering the tranquility of Rainbow Dash's thoughts.
Startled at the sudden outburst of the chant that she had accidentally started, Rainbow Dash quickly scanned the clouds below for where the sound had come from. Below, there were two fillies ganging up on another filly, who was crying. Dash instantly recognized her as Fluttershy. The two fillies kept chanting.
"P-please! Stop!" Fluttershy begged as she struggled to fight back her own tears. Seeing the yellow filly so weak, Rainbow Dash reacted on instinct. Without any hesitation, Dash suddenly soared down toward the cloud at speeds that she had never hit before.
"Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly-"
Dash landed directly between the cowering Fluttershy and the two unknown fillies, cutting off the one who had been chanting mid-sentence as the two of them backed away in surprise, and glared at them with the most poisonous look she could conjure.
"Hey!" she demanded, "Get lost!"
For a moment, they looked at Dash as though they were going to attack her (Good... Dash thought, I deserve it) and then they turned and started trotting away, mumbling to each other. Dash watched them leave through narrowed eyes.
"R-Rainbow Dash?" Dash heard a small, hesitant voice behind her, "Um... um... I-I... I want to t-thank you... for what you just-"
"Stop," Dash sighed, refusing to turn around and look at Fluttershy. She knew that if she did, her emotions would overpower her and she would break down, "Just... just go away. We're not friends... and I... I don't want your gratitude."
Fluttershy gave a surprised gasp, and then went silent. Rainbow Dash could just imagine her face, and felt like she had just been punched. Her guilt increased, burning like a ball of lava around her heart. Dash heard the distinct sound of Pegasus hooves on clouds, and knew Fluttershy was leaving.
don't look back don't look back don't look back, Dash thought to herself. Dash looked back.
Fluttershy was trying to fly again, probably so she could get to her dorm. Fluttershy gave her trademarked pathetic leap and met with the usual result. Somehow, this time, the impact felt even deeper. Dash felt a sting of pity as Fluttershy lie on the cloud, having finally given up. Dash shook her head as she moved closer to Fluttershy.
"No no no," Dash chided, making Fluttershy look up in surprise, "You can't jump and THEN flap your wings, you have to flap them WHILE you're going up. Like... here, watch... like this..."
Dash demonstrated for Fluttershy, who got back to her hooves.
"Can you do it again?" Fluttershy asked. Dash showed her how to do it again. Fluttershy took a deep breath and then tried. She fell back down.
"Don't give up!" Dash said as Fluttershy lowered her head again, "You have to practice and keep trying. Do it again."
After four or five failed attempts, Fluttershy finally got airborne and remained that way. Dash's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as Fluttershy, the class joke and the weakest flyer she knew, rose higher into the sky. Fluttershy looked down in awe, even more shocked than Rainbow Dash. For the first time since Dash had met her, Fluttershy smiled.
"I... I did it!" She exclaimed breathlessly, "I'm FLYING!"
Rainbow Dash couldn't help smiling at Fluttershy's excitement, and cheered for her as she flew around a little more. Dash felt a certain warmth in the pit of her stomach... not like the guilt-lava she had felt earlier, more like... sunlight. The warmth only increased as Dash watched Fluttershy flap her wings and soar around. It was as though the smaller filly had never flown before...
"Come on, Fluttershy," Dash called to her new friend, "Let's get to the dorms."
Fluttershy landed on the cloud, still in open-mouthed shock, and trotted next to Rainbow Dash as the two set off for the Junior Speedster dormitories. The two walked side-by-side, but with a certain distance between them. They were next to each other, but not necessarily together.