The Untold Secret

by Rubez2525

Chapter 3: Memories

-----

It was a sunny day in flight camp for the first flight test of the year. Young Fluttershy sat far below the starting position, already having opted out of the test. She did not have the courage nor the ability to even try.

She saw her fellow peers. Some flew high and others flew gracefully. Some even stumbled and fell, but they picked themselves up quickly.

One pony in particular caught her attention. She was a small filly with a frizzy rainbow colored mane and tail and had determination in her eyes. This filly was well known around camp. She would always have confidence in herself, one would even say she had an inflated ego, but she would often crash into things whether it would be a wall, column or the ground. Her constant screw ups even earned her a reputation.

Fluttershy watched as she took her place at the starting position and took off.

"Hey, Rainbowcrash!" one of the colts called out. She looked back just long enough to clip her wing on one of the floating columns. She plummeted and crashed ahead of where Fluttershy was sitting. Pain was prevalent on her face as she sat up and massaged her damaged wing.

Two colts wearing wicked grins on their faces flew down and landed next to her. "Better luck next time Rainbowcrash" one of them said.

"Maybe if you look where you're going, you might actually accomplish something" the other one mocked. They laughed and hoof-bumped as they took off to leave her sitting there with an injured wing.

After seeing the bullies fly away and disappear, the rainbow filly curled up into a ball. Fluttershy watched from afar as she began to cry. This was not the confident pony that Fluttershy was used to seeing. She seemed weaker and more fragile, in need of somepony to come and pick her up.

Try as she might, Fluttershy could not approach the other filly. She simply watched from afar, hoping the once brave pony would be able to pick herself up.

-----

Fluttershy replayed the memory. That was the first time she saw underneath Rainbow Dash's shell. Under that shell of bravado was a pony that was soft, vulnerable and alone. It was something that Rainbow Dash does not want anypony to know, even her closest friends. It was something that she and Fluttershy kept to themselves. Fluttershy knew that having the rest of their friends catching a glimpse of that would cause the blue pony to be very distressed.

Fluttershy was flying through the sky towards Rainbow's house. She guessed the blue pegasus would wind up going there, out of the reach of her friends except for yellow pegasus herself of course.

Fluttershy landed on the small patio and knocked on the door. "Rainbow Dash?" she said softly.

She knocked more intently. "Rainbow Dash?"

After a few moments, she boldly decided to just let herself in.

"Rainbow Dash?" Her voice echoed but was slightly muffled in the large cloud-structured foyer. She walked into the kitchen in search of the blue pony.

She saw no sign of Rainbow. She continued her search on the first floor, calling for her friend as she went from room to room. She eventually went upstairs and to her bedroom door. The door was closed.

"Rainbow?" she said as she knocked silently. She checked to see if the door was locked, it was not. She slowly opened the door to see a blue body laying on top the bed.

She approached the bed and, in the dim light, saw that Rainbow Dash was sleeping. She was lightly snoring and had dried tears around her eyes and on her muzzle. Fluttershy smiled slightly. She wondered what Rainbow went through once she flew out of the library out of embarrassment, but now she looked peaceful.

Fluttershy maneuvered to the closet and silently opened it to pull out a spare blanket. She unfolded it and covered up the sleeping pony. She gently stroked the top of her rainbow mane before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

She went back to the kitchen and unpacked Rainbow's breakfast. She set the oven to low and placed it inside to keep it warm. She then went over, sat at the dining table and waited.

...

"Dragon!"

"Wait Fluttershy, what are you doing?!"

"NOOO!"

...

"Hey Fluttershy" a familiar squeaky voice called out.

Fluttershy looked up to see Rainbow Dash walking up to her. "Hi Rainbow Dash, you look well rested."

"To bad I can't say the same for you" Rainbow Dash said quite accurately. Although both their manes looked ruffled, Fluttershy in particular looked quite lousy. She sat there with a slump, her head hung low, and she had slight bags under her eyes.

"Yea well, I came here to see how you are doing" Fluttershy said.

"I could be better." Rainbow Dash frowned.

An awkward silence fell in the kitchen. Hoofs shuffled slightly on the floor as the pair tried to think of what to say next.

"You know, they don't think any less of you" Fluttershy finally said.

"Are you kidding? You saw how they were laughing at me."

"Rainbow Dash, it's our friends we're talking about here. They are not those mean bullies from flight camp."

"Well, they still should not have laughed at me." Rainbow Dash looked down. A huff of annoyance escaped her lips.

Fluttershy got out of her seat, walked up to Rainbow and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "They are actually very sorry for what they did. You should know they still love you no matter what."

Rainbow let out a sigh, her face softened. "I don't even know why I even try."

"Try what?"

"Try to be the brave one. I mean, you have seen how I am whenever somepony makes fun of me or whenever I fail."

"But you ARE brave Rainbow Dash. At least you go out and try. That counts for something, and you have accomplished so much." Fluttershy looked sad all of a sudden as she mentally compared Rainbow’s number of accomplishments to her own.

"Well, it isn't all that great when you have a reputation to keep."

Rainbow Dash stood there, her mind thought about the conversation they had. Soon enough, she looked around when as took a whiff of the air.

"Hey, what's that smell?"

Fluttershy perked up. "Oh, Twilight wanted me to deliver your breakfast to you. She made pancakes."

"Thanks, I could really use some breakfast right now" Rainbow said as she rubbed her stomach.

Fluttershy pulled the pancakes out of the oven and placed them on the table. She sat down as Rainbow Dash grabbed a glass of orange juice and joined her at the table.

The blue pegasus ate as Fluttershy watched intently. She started to feel uneasy. She could have just left, said her farwells and headed out the door, but she had the feeling that she needed to say something, to be sure that Rainbow Dash was ok.

"You know, there is nothing wrong with hugging somepony you like."

"Yea, yea, but it is something that I do not want to make a side show of, Fluttershy."

"But you were the one that wanted to hug me at the slumber party." Rainbow gave her a look. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

The blue pegasus let out a sigh. "Well, that was a mistake. I should have never done that."

Fluttershy bit her bottom lip. "Don't be like that. Don't you trust our friends?"

"Yea, but that does not mean they won't think any differently of me."

"You are still the same Rainbow Dash though. You shouldn't worry about how they think at the moment."

Rainbow Dash responded by resuming eating. Fluttershy did not want to press the issue so she decided that it was time to leave.

"Well, I should get going" she said as she headed towards the door.

"Wait, Fluttershy."

"Yes Rainbow?" Fluttershy turned around to look at her. The blue pony shifted slightly she looked a little embarrassed about what she was about to say.

"What exactly did you mean by 'thank you for understanding'?"

"Oh, umm, did I say that?" Fluttershy thought for a second. "I guess I didn't really know what I meant when I said that."

"Okay, I guess I'll see you later then or whenever" Rainbow looked disappointed.

"Of course." Fluttershy went to the front door and left the house. She thought about her question.

-----

Try as she might, young Fluttershy could not fly through the cloud ring. However, after a bunch of tries, she finally managed to land her front hooves on it after a struggle for the short flight up to it. She had a wide smile on her face after her personal achievement, but that quickly vanished when she stumbled and fell.

She slid down the ramp and was thrown into the air, and collided with an orange flag midair. After crashing into the ground, she took the flag off her head to find two colts flying over her and laughing.

"Nice going Clutsershy, they outta ground you permanently" one of them said as they landed in front of her.

"My baby brother can fly better than you" the other one said while the assault of laughter continued.

Fluttershy did not fight back. She had simply sat there, accepting the verbal abuse and the humiliation.

Suddenly, the blue pegasus she had seen before swooped in and landed next to her.

"Leave her alone!" she yelled, staring daggers at the colts.

"Ooo, what are you gonna do Rainbowcrash?" one of them said mockingly.

"Keep making fun of her and find out."

"You think you're such a big shot? Why don't you prove it?" the other colt said.

"What do you have in mind?" she responded with a smirk.

…

Later, they found themselves at the race course. 'Rainbowcrash' and the two colts stood at the starting line while Fluttershy held the checkered flag, prepared to signal the start of the race. Some of their peers sat in the stands, eager to watch the race start.

"You're going down" the lighter colored colt said.

"In history maybe, see you boys at the finish line" was the rainbow pegasus' response. Her ego and confidence was shining yet again.

Fluttershy waved the flag. The three flyers took off and their wake sent her into a spin. She spun and fell off her little cloud perch. Her minimal flying skills left her helpless to recover as she plummeted towards the ground. The only thing that saved her was a cloud of butterflies just a few feet from the ground.

It was then that Fluttershy discovered where she truly belonged. She was awestruck by the critters that live on the ground and found she had a special connection to them. After a huge, unexplained explosion, she communicated to the animals and found confidence that she did not know she even had. The butterfly pattern that appeared on her flank confirmed that she definitely had a sense of belonging here.

Suddenly, the blue pegasus filly swooped in and landed next to Fluttershy looking quite flustered.

"Omygosh, are you ok? I didn't mean for you to fall" she had a hint of worry on her face.

"I am doing wonderful. This place is amazing. I can't believe I never came down here before" Fluttershy said, taking in her newfound critter friends.

"I feel so stupid. I can't believe I didn't notice you fall. You could've gotten seriously hurt."

Fluttershy studied the blue filly that just stood up for her. She looked concerned, not like how she was at the start of the race. Fluttershy also noticed a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt cutie mark on her flank. Had that always been there?

"I'm ok. Umm…what is your name? I am assuming it's not…well…umm 'Rainbowcrash', is it?" Fluttershy shrunk down as she regretted even mentioning the nickname.

"Listen, I don't want you to pay attention to what those jerks have to say. The name's Rainbow Dash by the way."

"Oh, sorry, I'm…I'm…Fluttershy, and I…well…would like to thank you."

"Hey, don't worry about it, Fluttershy. I understand what you went through…" the blue filly trailed off at that last statement. "And well, I just want to let you know that I'm here for you. Somepony's gotta stand up to those jerks."

Fluttershy was dumbfounded. Never before had she met somepony that was so willing to defend her. Being so quiet also made her so alone. The only ponies that approached her only wanted to tease or bully her, except for this frizzy haired rainbow pegasus. She suddenly felt very guilty for not approaching Rainbow Dash before, when she was curled up, crying, in need of a friend. Now that Fluttershy thought of it…

"Does that mean we're f…friends?" she spoke her thought as she looked at the young filly.

"Sure, just don't get used to the sappy stuff" she responded. A slight smile came across her face and she waved her hoof as she spoke her words.

"It’s a deal."

-----

Fluttershy was trotting along the dirt path back to Ponyville. She was so lost in her memories that she did not notice a certain orange mare in front of her, that is, until she collided with her.

"Oof, sorry sugar cube, I didn't see you there" Applejack said.

"Oh, it's ok Applejack. What brings you out here?" Fluttershy asked.

"Ah came to apologize. Ya know, for treatin' you and Rainbow so rotten this mornin'" she looked a bit sullen.

"That's awfully kind of you" she responded warmly. Fluttershy was never the one to hold a grudge against a friend, but with the way Applejack looked at her, she could not help but think it would be hard for anypony not to forgive her.

"Is Rainbow home? Twilight told me that Ah could probably find her there."

"Yes, she is actually."

"Would you mind bringing her to me?" Applejack took off her hat and held it in front of her muzzle. Her green eyes had a slight pleading look to them.

"Of course" Fluttershy said.

She flew back to Rainbow's house and knocked on the door. After a short moment, the blue mare answered.

"Fluttershy? What brings you back so soon?" she asked.

"Well, um, I ran into Applejack while walking back, and well, she would like to talk to you." Fluttershy hid behind her mane.

"You can forget it." The blue pegasus scowled.

"But she wants to apologize. She actually is very sorry for what she said."

"Well, I don't really feel like talking to her right now" Rainbow half-moaned.

"Come on Rainbow Dash. Will you please come down and talk to her? For me?" Fluttershy gave her a pleading look.

"Ok, fine." She grunted, rolled her eyes and followed Fluttershy down.

Applejack was looking down, poking at the ground when the two pegusi arrived. She looked up at Rainbow Dash when they landed.

"Howdy Rainbow" Applejack said.

The pegsus simply responded with a pout.

"Look, Ah came to apologize. I should've never laughed at you before, but…" Applejack sat on her haunches and took off her hat again. She started to fiddle with the brim with her front hooves.

"But what?" Rainbow Dash gave an angry look.

"But I thought you liked being teased" Applejack admitted.

"Well I didn't" Rainbow stomped the ground.

"Anyway, Ah want to make it up to you. How about Ah take you and Fluttershy out for a camping trip?"

"What? So you can laugh at me again?" the grumpy pegasus sat down, her back towards Applejack, and crossed her forelegs.

"That would be lovely." Fluttershy intervened before Applejack could respond. "A camping trip does sound relaxing."

Applejack did not speak but instead replaced her hat onto her head and stood up. She walked up to Rainbow Dash, sat down, and wrapped her forelegs around the pegasus's upper chest and shoulders.

"There is nothin' wrong with hugging somepony you like." The earth pony spoke smoothly into her ear. "Ah promise, Ah won't make fun of you like that again."

Rainbow Dash tensed up. She had no idea how to react. Was the farm pony mocking her? The way she spoke those words and her unfailing reputation of honesty, however, made that seem unlikely. She wanted to think that this was some sort of cruel, sick joke, but she could not deny that even despite everything, Applejack was being sincere.

Fluttershy smiled warmly at them. Applejack was still holding Rainbow. Her orange head nuzzled slightly into the rainbow mane. The blue pony did not rip away or freak out. Instead, she simply sat there looking tense and alert.

"Ok, fine" she finally said. "I'll go on your little camping trip. Could you just let go of me?" The request was only spoken verbally as her front hooves remained planted to the ground.

Applejack released Rainbow Dash and stood up. "Alright, Ah just gotta schedule some time off of the farm. How about you two decide on the destination and Ah'll take care of the rest."

The blue pegasus crossed her forelegs and grumbled under her breath.

"Ah better get going. Ah'll see you then" Applejack said, and with that, she trotted off.

When Applejack was out of sight, Fluttershy smiled at Rainbow.

"You see, you have nothing to be ashamed of" she said.

"Whatever" she said as she rolled her eyes for the second time that day. "Why would she make fun of me and then pull THAT on me?"

"Maybe she just wants to make you happy." Fluttershy paused. "As I do."

Author's Note:

I do apologize. It has been another two months, hasn't it? This chapter is more for setup/development into the story, so I hope it was not too slow or boring for you. The good news is that I now have a good, elaborate idea on the overall storyline and ending. I just hope I do not over-complicate things. Thanks for reading.

Comments

[Rubez2525]

5342733 Well, it is my first story.

[Firebrace101]

5496831

It is an amazing first story I must say, I want to thank you for writing this.