It came before she realized it was around. Thick clouds filled the skies, blocking everything else from sight. And they weren’t tame. They were as wild as the vicious beasts that packed the Everfree Forest. Like the Timberwolves, she couldn’t tame them.
But even if they could be tamed, Fluttershy didn’t know the first thing about how. She covered her head, shivering as those storm clouds blew powerful winds, threatening to zap her at any second. She was all alone, flying in dangerous territory. Nothing but the sounds of thunder pierced her ears.
Then, something appeared before her. In the middle of this great thunderstorm, there was a single cloud that was calm. Through the blur of the wind, she could make out a single blue pony.
Was that... Rainbow Dash? She could just barely make out that rainbow mane. As if it were her only way out of the storm, Fluttershy reached her hoof out towards her while Rainbow Dash reached back. As soon as the cyan hoof met her yellow one, her vision flashed white, and everything went silent.
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“Ooh… my head…” Fluttershy braced her hooves around her face, squeezing her eyes as she tried to clear her mind. She was outside flying in the skies, one destination in mind. It may not have been ideal to be taking a stroll with a headache, but it’s not like she had much of a choice given the circumstances.
“First my hooves, now my head… It feels like whenever my mind gets clouded, Rainbow Dash is there.” Fluttershy looked up to the skies, gazing at the clouds in the air. There weren't many, but they floated much higher than her right now. “But… why?” She paused for a few seconds, but kept flying at her steady pace. “And why am I going back to her house?” Despite her questions, any second thoughts to turn back never crossed her mind. “Oh, Dashie… I hate to ask for help, but… I really need it…” The use of Rainbow’s nickname caused Fluttershy’s body to heat up. It was like her heart was taking over her brain and speaking for her.
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The cloud mansion soon came into view. Since it was still early, Rainbow Dash was probably still asleep. As much as Fluttershy would’ve wanted to wait until she was awake, she didn’t want to miss the time Rainbow left the house to start her morning routines, whether it was exercising her flying or managing her weather duties.
Fluttershy landed gently at the front doors, taking a deep breath as she placed a hoof to her chest, trying to settle her heartbeat. She did say to Rainbow Dash that they should hang out again soon. A few days may have passed since that time, but it still felt too soon. Summoning up her courage, she gave a few knocks on the door.
“R-rainbow…? Rainbow Dash.” After giving a few knocks, she waited for a few seconds to see if there would be a response. Unfortunately, there was none, causing her ears to drop instinctively. She shifted one up and placed it against the door, trying to listen in.
It was faint, but Fluttershy could definitely hear it. She heard the sound of snoring, the very same snoring that Rainbow Dash tends to do. A chill ran down her body before it suddenly heated up in her silent excitement.
Instead of trying the front door again, Fluttershy flew away from it, flying towards the side of the building. She figured, if she was going to wake Rainbow Dash, it would be better to wake her up within view. She believed Rainbow Dash might be a little grumpy being waken up from her nap by a door knock. But she knew Rainbow wouldn’t be grumpy if she was woken up by a familiar face.
“Hmm?” But as Fluttershy reached the window that led to Rainbow’s bedroom, she noticed that no pony was on the bed. It was empty and even neatly made with its pillows and sheets. “Rainbow... Dash?” She checked a little further inside, noticing no pony anywhere in the room.
Actually no, there was one pony in the room. Herself… in cloud form right next to Rainbow Dash’s bed, looking right where she would be sleeping too…
Fluttershy shook her head and started flying back to the front entrance. Something else was on her mind. If she had heard snoring, how come she didn’t find Rainbow Dash anywhere in her room?
When Fluttershy got back to the front entrance, she pressed her ear against the door again, listening for the snoring. Just like last time, she heard the very faint snoring.
“D-did she… sleep on the floor?” Fluttershy tried closing her eyes to listen better. She couldn’t tell how close it was, but something about it seemed, odd… Her eyes shot open when she realized why. She opened her other ear away from the side of her head, noticing that the snoring wasn’t coming from inside, but rather, behind and above her.
Fluttershy turned herself around and looked up. She saw a single cloud in the sky with a familiar rainbow tail hanging down from it.
“Oh… ahehemm…” Fluttershy couldn’t help but blush to herself at how she missed that. “Well… it’s better than sleeping on the floor.” Ignoring her self embarrassment, Fluttershy flew up to the cloud. Rainbow Dash was lying on her side, snoring peacefully with joy and comfort. Her chest rose and shrunk steadily. She didn’t even toss or turn.
Fluttershy wished that she could relax her mind and body enough to sleep like that again. Taking a silent breath, she reached a hoof out.
“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy called as she gently nudged Rainbow. There was a snork in her snoring before it stopped. She moaned and shuffled a bit, but didn’t get up or open an eye.
“Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy nudged her again. “I’m sorry for waking you, but-” Fluttershy was interrupted by a cyan hoof brought in front of her.
“Mmm… give me... seconds… ah-mm…” Rainbow mumbled in her sleep. It seemed like she was waking up, so Fluttershy stopped nudging her and gave her space.
Rainbow Dash gave out a long yawn while stretching her limbs out, her front forwards, her back backwards. But after her stretch, her yawn ended with a grunt while her limbs fell flat. It almost looked like she just fell back asleep, but then she started turning herself over. Except… there wasn’t much room to turn over on this small cloud. Her rolling caused her to slip right off the edge of the cloud, falling…
Fluttershy squeaked while her eyes grew wide at the sight. She rushed to the edge of the cloud, looking down at her falling friend. “Rainbow Dash?!” Rainbow Dash wasn’t responding to the fall. Her body was just limp as it continued to go down, falling face first. “Rainbow Dash!”
Out of fear, Fluttershy leaped off of the cloud, trying to fall down as fast as she could. She could hear Rainbow Dash snoring even through this free fall. She tried flapping her wings harder, trying all her might to catch up.
“Rainbow Dash, wake up! Wake up!” Fluttershy called out, but there was no response. No clouds were around to catch her and the ground was coming to them fast. “Oh no! She’ll hit the ground! Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow Dash showed no signs of slowing down or waking up. Fluttershy continued trying, but she was far from catching up. Rainbow Dash would hit the ground any second. Even if she could catch her now, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from falling before crashing on the ground. Her eyes hurt. The ground was just meters away.
“No…”
But just before Rainbow Dash hit the ground, she spread her wings and came to an immediate stop just an inch off the ground, causing a dust wave to separate from the grass. She then started flying straight up. Fluttershy gasped when that blue blur came straight at her. She flailed her wings and legs, attempting to stop her fall.
Fluttershy yelped when Rainbow Dash latched under her legs, stopping her fall and making her climb quickly back into the skies. In her attempt to catch Rainbow Dash from falling, she found herself being caught instead.
Dejavu struck Fluttershy as she was being carried through the air like this. It was like when she was being carried after their sleepover. But instead of looking at her eyes, the feeling of the wind rushing through her coat made her heart race. But the flying wasn’t doing that, it was the feeling of Rainbow Dash carrying her through this air that was making her heart pump like this.
Fluttershy found herself being set down just by the front door of the cloud house. Rainbow Dash landed soon after, keeping a wing spread while she licked at her feathers a few times. Fluttershy put a hoof to her chest, trying to settle her heart down while watching Rainbow Dash doing a quick preen with her wing. After she set her wing back to her side, she shook her body rapidly while releasing a loud jittering moan.
“Wooh! What a wake up call!” Rainbow Dash shouted, startling Fluttershy before taking hover to the door and opening it. “Come on in, Fluttershy!” she said before rushing inside.
Fluttershy found herself out of breath at the display of energy Rainbow Dash showed. She just woke up and she was as lively as ever. If Fluttershy didn’t know better, she would think she had stumbled by Pinkie’s place, but considering Rainbow Dash loved to take naps, she probably loved exerting her energy after them to greet the mornings.
Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile at the thought, but her mind snapped when she remembered the whole reason she was here. She walked inside the house, closing the door behind her.
“H-hey, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy greeted before swallowing her words.
“Hey, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash landed in front of her and pointed to her legs. “You realize you’re still wearing your socks?” Fluttershy’s head stumbled downward when Rainbow said that, seeing her cyan striped socks still on.
“Y-yes… I mean... no… I mean... um…” Fluttershy shook her head in between her corrections, speaking too quickly for herself. “I need your help, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash rose an eyebrow, but was curious. “Watcha need?”
“Well… u-… oh…” Fluttershy’s ears drooped as she sat down, trying to find her words to explain. “I need some help… exercising my hooves…” she managed to get out.
“Your... hooves...?” Rainbow said, rubbing a hoof under her snout while her face scrunched. “I just saved you from a free fall at cloud heights and you want to exercise your hooves?”
“U-u-umm…” Fluttershy’s face flushed a sharp red at the reaction. She looked away while shaking under intense embarrassment when she realized what she was saying in front of Rainbow Dash. But then, a cyan hoof was placed on her shoulder, followed by Rainbow’s chuckling.
“I’m just kidding around, heheh. What’s wrong?” she said reassuringly. “Still having trouble using them?” Fluttershy was able to look back at her, being more at ease. That reaction earlier nearly scared her feathers off.
“Oh… Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy fiddled with her hooves as she spoke, itchiness spreading on her frame. “I’ve thought about what you said… and I’ve tried, but…” she sadly sighed. “I’ve been too afraid to use my hooves for just about anything. And because of that… taking care of my animals has been so hard.”
“Whoa, hold up,” Rainbow interrupted. “You mean for these past few days, you haven’t been using your hooves at all?”
Flicking her eyes, Fluttershy corrected herself. “Um… actually no. Well… thanks to the socks you gave me, tending to the animals has been a lot easier, because I can’t feel them anymore.”
Rainbow rose an eyebrow, lost at what Fluttershy was getting at. “Um… so, what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that I can’t feel them anymore…” Fluttershy hung her head low as she repeated that. “And they can’t feel me…” Rainbow’s expression changed to that of concern rather than confusion. “Caring for the animals has always been an enjoyable feeling for me. But because of my troubles, by the time I’m done tending with them, I’m too exhausted to play with them. With these socks-” she lifted a forehoof out, “-I don’t have that problem, but the little guys become distant.” She started removing her front socks. “I can’t give them any reassurances because they can’t feel me. And I’m too afraid to touch them. This problem with my hooves is making me lose my connections with the animals. We’re communicating less and less while I continue to cower in fear… oh…”
Fluttershy stopped speaking to bring herself to lay on her back, getting a better position to remove her socks. “Huh,” Rainbow Dash started while she moved to Fluttershy’s back legs. “So you need my help to exercise these boys-” she tapped Fluttershy’s left hind hoof. “-and get them into shape so that they could handle a few harmless animals?”
The pressure on her left hind hoof caused Fluttershy to freeze up after managing to take her front socks off. She wasn’t sure whether the tap or the comment sent the chill down her body.
“Sure! Ya came to the right place, Fluttershy!” Rainbow brought her teeth to latch onto the sock on Fluttershy’s left hind hoof. She started pulling it slowly. Fluttershy shivered at the feeling of that soft material sliding along her hoof. The tightness was causing her hoof to be pulled towards Rainbow Dash. But when the sock slipped off, it thrusted back to her. And then she felt Rainbow’s hoof tapping her exposed one, causing her to flinch and squeak.
“Honestly, I was hoping you’d come here asking to train your wings. Buuut, I’ll help ya out with this.” Rainbow started shaking the yellow hoof, making Fluttershy seethe her breath through her clenched teeth while her mind continued tormenting her. “By the time I’m done with you, your hooves will be able to attack any animal!” She pushed the yellow hoof aside and took to hovering just above Fluttershy. “R-relatively speaking, of course.”
Fluttershy found herself breathless as the pressure on her hoof was released. Catching her breath, she looked to Rainbow Dash, who was just happily flapping her wings as if she was so excited to get started.
“When you’re ready, come follow me downstairs.” Rainbow Dash moved away from her and stopped by the halls.
After taking a breath to relieve herself, Fluttershy removed her other hind sock before picking herself up, placing the socks together on a nearby sofa. She almost had second thoughts about this. She had taken Rainbow Dash’s training before, and she would always agree to train her, but this was gonna be a little different than training her wings. But if she didn’t do this, she and her animals would only become more distant over time. This wasn’t just training, this was a responsibility she had to take care of.
Fluttershy walked over to Rainbow Dash, who started leading her through the halls, deeper into the mansion.
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Fluttershy gasped in awe at the sight before her. Rainbow Dash led her downstairs, somehow, and revealed what looked like a weight room or a gym. The equipments ranged from sandbags, benches with poles, ropes, durable sacks, and even had a circle shape clear of all items, marking a running path. There weren’t any weights, but the poles plus the sacks could probably act as them.
“I’d rather do our training outside, but this will have to do,” Rainbow Dash said. “Come on.” She took to the air, motioning her hoof for Fluttershy to follow her to the first station.
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Fluttershy made light groans as she pushed her body up and down with her front hooves. Her back hooves were placed higher on stocks to prevent them from moving. Rainbow Dash just circled around her, hovering.
“We’ll start with basics. The first thing we need to make sure is that your hooves are prepped to take on pressure.”
Fluttershy continued pressing her hooves against the floor. Despite her sensitive nature, she was performing this with relative ease. Rainbow Dash noticed this and shook her head.
“Too easy!”
Fluttershy yelped when a sudden weight shifted on her back. A small filled sack with the weight of a filled suitcase was placed on her, making her form instantly drop. She groaned louder as she mustered all her strength in an attempt to push herself back up. She wasn’t making much progress until her wings flared and started flapping, allowing her to pick herself up with more ease. She weakly smiled.
“Ahh!” But then she felt a set of teeth bite her wing, forcing her to stop flapping and making her body thump back to the cloud ground. She snapped her wings closed.
“Use your wings, and they’ll snap right off,” Rainbow Dash coached. “NOW LET’S GO!”
The yell and the threat startled Fluttershy to continue pushing with her hooves. But she was unable to lift herself.
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Fluttershy pushed up against the clouds with all her might. There was a huge pack stuffed to a low ceiling that she had to compress as best she could while Rainbow Dash continued feeding it more clouds.
“The trick to this exercise isn’t working under the toughest pressure, but the most sensitive. Let nothing distract your hooves from what they’re doing.”
Despite what Rainbow Dash was saying, Fluttershy’s limbs shook under the pressure that this cloud was pushing against her. She desperately wanted to use her wings to help, but knew Rainbow Dash would bite them the instant she spread them. Fortunately she was keeping her stance, despite the clouds that were piling up.
But after Rainbow Dash put one last cloud, Fluttershy felt something else creepily trekking along her hooves, making her squeal as that tingle tormented her. That second of lost focus on her hooves was all it took for that cloud pile to push back, forcing Fluttershy to fall down with a pomft as that large cloud fell on top of her, pressing her flat to the cloud ground. Rainbow Dash hovered just above her, shaking her head.
“Tch, tch, tch. It’s just water, Fluttershy.”
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*Pant, pant, pant...*
Fluttershy ran the circle track, leaving behind sweat drops that disappeared within the clouds. It was much harder to do than normal running because these clouds kept trying to suck her hooves in.
“Pick of the pace, Fluttershy! We’re only getting started.” Rainbow Dash flew ahead and went up to the ceiling clouds. She gave them swift strikes as she flew along, causing them to activate. Through her pants, Fluttershy noticed large amounts of water poor out of the clouds, circling the path that she was running.
After the large pour, the water turned to a light rain. When Fluttershy reached it, she felt the cloud ground being more soggy and squishy than ever. The added feeling made her jump. Refusing to spread her wings, her landing made her stumble over her hooves before she was able to regain balance.
Fluttershy found her hooves getting rapidly soaked in the clouds while the rain lightly dabbed her coat. But because of those soggy clouds, her hooves became heavy, slowing her down. Suddenly, a sharp clenching pain filled the tip of her tail, causing her to yelp again.
“Faster Fluttershy! Or your tail’s a goner!” Rainbow Dash taunted from behind Fluttershy.
Fluttershy released a silent whimper as her body strained to push herself harder. She felt like she was running away from a Timberwolf with Rainbow Dash tailing her like this. This performance reminded her of why she hadn’t had Rainbow Dash training her more often. Although the actions may have been more unique, the pressure was still similar.
Rainbow Dash’s training style was much like the military Wonderbolts’ training sessions.