A Dash of Shyness

by TM2 Dinobot

Chapter V

Chapter V

The next few weeks went better for everyone. As the semester dragged on, a general malaise fell upon the school, a sort of apathetic, unbreakable routine. The bully trio settled down, only occasionally making rude comments. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were eventually passing in Coach McHard Cheese’s class, more or less. Even the teachers appeared to grow tired, struggling to make it through the semester with no end in sight.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash became even more inseparable, filling in where the other couldn’t. Fluttershy helped Dash with her book studies, the older pony having taken the classes before. Dash covered for Fluttershy during flight training, helping her fly stronger, or watching her back in Airball. As a result, neither of them excelled at her full potential, but neither lagged behind either. For once they both got what they wanted, just to fit in.

Flirefly and Skystriker visited their daughter and her roommate every few weeks. They'd bring little treats and the four of them would go on picnics. At first Fluttershy refused to join in. She wouldn't even look at Skystriker, and it utterly confused her how Dash played rough with her father, how Skystriker adored his daughter. But soon, with Firefly's coaxing and Dash's prodding, they managed to get the little filly out of her shell and into the sun. Dash absolutely loved those moments were her family. Yet, they were becoming more infrequent; Firefly was arriving less and less, while Dash's father stepped up more and more.

Dash still wished the ‘important’ ponies at school would notice her, however. She longed to one day fly in the Wonderbolts, though that dream seemed to shatter every day at lunch. Dash would get her tray and then try to sit at a table. Any table. They would all miraculously fill however, or somepony would be saving seats for friends, or just be an unpleasant atmosphere of neighing. Ace, the captain of the Airball team, never seemed to reject her. Nor, however, did he stop his teammates from doing so on their own.

So every day Dash would make the rounds, and with all avenues closed to her, sit at the one table at the back of the cafeteria with the only other lone occupant. The yellow pony was grateful not to eat alone any more, and Dash couldn’t say she minded the company. She knew her quite well.

“So how did you do on your math test?” Fluttershy smiled as Dash sat down.

“I didn’t.” she sighed, pushing her food around the tray with her snout.

“Oh my.” Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Even when I showed you how to use the abacus?” Dash shook her head. “Oh my.”

“How was your wind tunnel test?” Dash munched on some alfalfa.

“It, um, went… okay?” Fluttershy hid behind her bangs.

“Did you get off the ground even?” Dash sighed. This was not unexpected.

“No.” Fluttershy’s face was completely obscured now. “I did lose a feather though.” she held up a wing. A laugh from another table caused her to snap it back in place, even though no pony would ever pay attention to the two in the corner.

“Cool. You have a story to tell now.” Dash tried to muster up some enthusiasm. “Did it hurt?”

“No. It… it was kind of loose already.” Fluttershy drank some apple juice.

Dash sighed. “Fluttershy, what’s happening to us? When did our lives become so boring?”

“Boring is nice.” Fluttershy smiled.

“Not this boring. I thought by now we’d be learning how to do barrel rolls or dog fight or something.”

“But this is pleasant. No one has gotten hurt. School is fun.”

“No, school is boring. I want to fight terrible creatures or something.” Dash waved her hoof off handedly.

“No you don’t.”

It was such an oddly definite statement from the filly that Dash had to do a double take. Fluttershy wasn’t angry or shouting. She just plainly stated a fact that no one could refute. Except now she wasn’t looking at Dash; she was staring out the window as hard as possible. Dash watched her closely. She wasn’t crying or trembling, but she didn’t smile either. She was more emotionless then Dash had even known her to be. It was creepy.

“At least we have history after this.” An unnerved Rainbow Dash changed the subject. “That’s sometimes fun.”

“Ugh.” Fluttershy groaned.

Fluttershy, while not a bookworm, generally loved studying more than the average filly. She would check out stacks and stacks of books from the library, both novels and text books. Her favorite story was The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumare. Fluttershy would sometimes leave her lantern burning long into the night, falling asleep sprawled over a good read. Dash would have to wake up, tuck the egg head in and blow out the light.

Yet, for all her love of knowledge, Fluttershy could never muster enough feeling one way or the other to care anything about history. Dash, on the other hoof, quite cared for it. Well, parts of it. Seeing as how they were in flight school, they often covered historic races or flight-related events. Dash soaked it all in, absorbing everything she could about flying.

The pair left before the bell, leaving their unfinished lunches and a cafeteria of whispers behind them. Stopping on a balcony, they stepped outside, leaning on the rail and watching the Cloudsdale skyline. The autumn winds had set in, and it was actually cold at their altitude. Both fillies found themselves wishing they had their scarves.

The winds buffeted the clouds, shifting and molding them like a potter’s clay. The city of Cloudsdale employed superior materials in all their buildings, reinforced with super light but incredibly strong ice beam hatch work. This meant that the city stayed together instead of being torn apart be the sharp seasonal winds. The downside however was that it moved the city at random. It was possible to employ a team of Pegasi to move the city manually, hold it in place perhaps, but the subspecies were notoriously lazy. It was sometimes possible for a strong gust of wind to blow straight through a building, but that rarely happened. Besides, they were Pegasi; they could fly. Well, most of them.

“Do you ever wonder what’s out there?” Dash watched beyond the cloud line, at the mountain ranges bordering Equestria.

“No.” The wind whipped Fluttershy’s mane back, exposing her face. “Sometimes I want to just fly away though.”

“We will someday. Together.” Dash promised, her own long hair flapping in the breeze as well.

“You mean that?” Fluttershy watched her. “Are you really serious?”

“Of course.” Dash smiled an open, inviting grin.

“You and me, Dashie. We’ll fly away together, and you’ll never abandon me?”

“Anywhere you want to go.”

“I don’t care where we go.” Fluttershy stepped close, hugging her. “Just so long as we’re together.”

“Aww, Fluttershy.” Dash blushed but hugged her back.

It was an inopportune moment for the bully trio to walk by. Touchdown was about to yell an inappropriate comment through the window, only to be stopped by Hoops. Hoops was not the smartest pony in the stable, but he was an excellent bully. And the sight of two fillies sharing a tender embrace was an opportunity not to be passed up. Nor, however, was it an opportunity to exploit right away. So he kicked Touchdown in the gut, ceasing his braying before it began.

“What was that for?” the larger pony asked.

“Shut up. Just keep walking and laugh like I said something funny.”

“Like what?”

He square-jawed Dumbbell, while not as clever as Hoops, had more common sense than Touchdown. He didn’t know what their ‘leader’ was planning, but whatever it was would be good. He laughed at Touchdown’s stupidity, and Hoops joined in. The third colt seemed oblivious to the laugh at his expense and joined right in.

Fluttershy heard the laughter and pulled away immediately. Before Dash could blink, Fluttershy was on the other side of the balcony, acting as if nothing had happened. It left Rainbow dazed and confused. As soon as the laughter was out of earshot, Fluttershy turned and headed inside.

“We’re going to be late.” she said briskly. Dash followed.

It was not a good day in history class. They were not covering the Grand Prix, or the history of flight. In fact, ponies barely featured in the lesson at all. It was some boring lecture about Celestia and treaties and border disputes. Dash drifted in and out until Miss Skywishes said something that got the entire class’s attention.

“What eats ponies?”

It was a question no pony had ever considered before. Ponies were at the top of the food chain, so to speak. No other creature in Equestria rivaled their intelligence and technology. Certainly a few creatures of legend were supposed to have eaten their share of herbivores though.

In the time before time the Ursa Major was said to have eaten entire villages of ponies with a single bite. The Hunter, a bipedal creature of horror with two legs and two hands and a wit that put any pony to shame. He was deceitful and wise and foolish all at once, and cared nothing for the effect of his actions. Then there was Discord, but he never ate ponies. He just… did what he did. It could be argued he devoured souls as he slaughtered millions, but what were semantics over mythology anyways? And lastly there was the Chaos Bringer, the devourer of entire planets who was said to be locked out of their universe forever by an ultimate sacrifice. But Dash couldn’t think of anything alive today that actually ate ponies. How barbaric.

One of the students raised a hoof. “Buzzards?”

“Very good, Renaldo. Anything else?”

A few more guesses were hazarded. Insects, large predatory birds, the Head Mare. Every pony laughed at that one.

“Alright.” Miss Skywishes smiled. “Ponies have not always been as well protected as we are today. In our history many beings have preyed upon us: Griffons, Hydras, and Mountain Lions. Celestia, our beloved leader, has made Equestria one of the safest lands in our world. Yet it was not always so. There was a time when Equestria was at war with our greatest enemies; the Dragons.”

Skywishes flipped over her teaching board to 'ooh's and 'aah's. There, on the board, was a dragon in its full fury. As large as a house, it had razor sharp spines and nigh impenetrable scales. Teeth as long as a pony’s leg guarded its fire breathing maw, and claws of pure death tipped its toes. Two huge wings spread on its back as it breathed fire at a poor pony sure to become incinerated.

Only she wasn’t. The pony was casting a spell of protection, shielding itself against the great heat. Outlined by the orange fire she looked almost pink, but there was no mistaking that regal stance, and those spread wings. Celestia was battling a dragon.

Dash glanced at the desk next to her. Fluttershy had grown small and still, her eyes quivering orbs. It may have been a trick of the light, but she appeared two shades paler than she had moments before. Dash reached out and touched her, but there was no response.

“This is a dragon.” Skywishes continued. “In fact, this is Apollyon, leader of the dragons in the Great Equestrian War. Dragon physiology is quite fascinating. They eat red meat, and a bacterium in their gut produces hydrogen, a lighter-than-air gas. This allows them to fly, and believe me when I tell you they are most proficient flyers. I dare say no pony alive today could out fly one.”

“Except for Rainbow Crash.” Hoops snarled.

The entire class laughed. Dash had picked up that name when she took a hit in Airball and slammed into the ground at top speed. She’d been laughed off the field, spending the rest of the day in bed with a mild concussion by the nurse’s orders. No one except for Fluttershy knew that she took that hit to save Fluttershy from suffering the same fate. The delicate Pegasi didn’t know how to crash land safely; she might have broken something. So Dash intercepted the hit instead. Fluttershy stayed at her bedside the entire time.

"Now, class." Skywishes got back on topic. “In addition to requiring a constant supply of food, which, unfortunately, they seemed to like the taste of horse flesh, dragons have a second biological imperative. They required platinum, a precious metal found in more abundance in Equestria than in the mountains where they live. Dragons ingest the platinum, storing it in a second pouch in their mouths. When in danger, a dragon is capable of expelling hydrogen from their flight bladder, and a small amount of platinum from their mouth pouch. When the two chemicals are exposed to oxygen, a reaction occurs.”

Miss Skywishes moved to the table, exposing a bowl mixed with hydrogen and platinum to the open air. There was a satisfying ‘WHOOF’ as fire rushed out, extinguished as quickly as it began. Some of the students in the class screamed. Others found it amazing. Dash leaned forward, fascinated. Fluttershy watched in horror, trapped by her own memories. The picture on the board did not do him justice. That dragon had a face that, once seen, could never be forgotten.

“The Great Equestria War began some 1,300 years ago and lasted for almost two centuries. The combined forces of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were enough to beat the scale faces back beyond our borders. After catastrophic losses on both sides, the merciful Princess Celestia offered the dragons a truce. They quickly agreed, though Apollyon himself refused to surrender, choosing instead to be exiled from his own clan.”

One of the ponies raised their hoof. “If the Princesses had them on the run, why did she offer a truce?”

Miss Skywishes smiled. “The war was costing more lives than anypony imagined. Everpony thinks of soldiers as casualties in war. But in actuality more than 75% of casualties are civilians: Stallions, mares and foals like you. A solution needed to be reached quickly. And while Princess Luna’s... modified Shrikebat forces proved to be particularly devastating, it is always unwise to keep throwing lives at a problem that has another solution. So a treaty was reached that is still in effect to this day. Equestria is off limits to all dragons and dragon sub-species, unless explicitly invited by the Princess herself. Any encroachment into Equestria by enemy forces could be seen as a violation of the treaty, and the war could start again. There is an exception to this, however. Does anypony know what it is?"

"The... forest?" one of the colts asked.

Skywishes nodded. "The Everfree Forest, while in Equestrian borders, is neutral. Any species that pleases may live there. And while any dragons living there must remain peaceful, we have not had an official sighting in well over twenty years.”

“What happened to Apollyon?” Rainbow Dash found herself surprised that she was actually paying attention. Fluttershy seemed even more horrified at that question, if that were at all possible.

"An excellent question, Rainbow Dash. I'm glad to see you paying attention for once. Apollyon left Equestria and headed for the mountains, taking a small contingent of hydras with him. He swore vengeance on Princess Celestia. Then, about twenty years ago, he made his move, marching on Canterlot with his ten remaining hydras. He never got there. A small force was created, led by six ponies hand picked by Princess Celestia herself. Apollyon was defeated and fled to the Everfree Forest where he is presumed to have died of his wounds. His last three hydras abandoned him, retreating and avoiding capture. No one knows what happened to him after that. He is incredibly old though, even for a dragon. If he did survive his last battle, which is incredibly unlikely, his war lording days are long behind him. He's nothing to be afraid of."

A single tear rolled down Fluttershy’s cheek, as an undeterminable mummer lodged her in mouth. “That’s what you think.”