Dreams and Nightmares

by UndercoverBrony

Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Pretty in Orange Google Docs

Fluttershy looked down at the curls of pink hair littering the floor of her cottage. I know it’s a silly thing to get upset about, she thought, but I feel like I’ve lost a part of myself. Um... which I guess is sort of true. Her head certainly felt lighter, and a little colder than usual. Although that’s probably just my imagination playing tricks on me.

“Want to take a look?” asked Surprise, picking up a mirror in her mouth.

“Um... not really,” admitted Fluttershy. Oh, I hope she doesn’t think that I’m upset with her... “But thank you for cutting it for me.”

Surprise laughed, muffled somewhat since her mouth was occupied. “It’th not that bad! Really!” Before Fluttershy had a chance to look away, Surprise thrust the mirror in front of her face. “Thee?”

“Oh...” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. She dipped her head forwards, then to the side, getting a good look at her new mane. Surprise certainly knew what she was doing. It was a lot shorter, of course, but fluffier as well, standing up in a series of wavy spikes. Just like Spitfire’s. Behind her, her tail had gotten a similar treatment. It was a little shorter, and a bit ragged around the edges. Well, it isn’t really me but... how would Rainbow put it? “I look... um... cool?”

“I thought you looked pretty cool already.” Lightning had been relaxing nearby, watching the makeover as it progressed. “But yeah, you look extra cool right now, for sure!”

She blushed, as usual unable to take a compliment. Oh, you silly foal, she thought to herself. He talks like that to everypony. Well... everymare anyhow. She was starting to relax a little around the Wonderbolts, as she got to know them a little better. Apart from Ice Wind, of course, who continued to be obnoxious.

There was a knock on the door, but Rainbow didn’t bother to wait for an answer and just burst in. “Hey guys are we... whoa!” She stopped mid sentence as she spotted Fluttershy. “Morning Fluttershy, you’re looking... different.”

She doesn’t like it. “Um... good different, or bad different?”

“No, not bad,” replied Dash quickly. “Not at all. Just... well it seems that you’re full of surprises these days! First the Wonderbolt outfit, now your mane; it’s like you’re a whole different pony!”

“Oh... okay.” I know she meant that as a compliment, Fluttershy thought, but I’m not sure that I want to be a different pony.

“So anyway,” Dash continued. “As I was about to say, are we ready to go? We’ve got a lot of training to do, and only a few days to do it in!”

“Just a little longer,” replied Surprise. “I think we should be testing out Fluttershy’s full disguise today, so I just need to apply the dye. It’s temporary, so it should just wash out at the end of the day.” She started laying towels on Fluttershy, around the side of her mane and tail. “Now hold still, we don’t want any getting on your coat.”

“Orange... yellow...” Rainbow looked at the series of bottles that Spitfire had prepared. “Hair bleach? Pink? What do you need those for?”

“Oh, that’s just in case we can’t get all the colour out at the end of the day,” explained Surprise. “I don’t think we’ll need them, but I wanted to be sure. We’re trying to be covert here. If somepony sees Fluttershy out of costume with the wrong mane colour, they might get suspicious. Besides, I thought that she’d prefer to look her normal self as much as possible. Am I right?”

Fluttershy smiled. “Thank you so much, you needn’t have gone to so much trouble just for me.”

“Are you kidding? It’s the least I could do!” Surprise finished with the towels, and started to work the dye into Fluttershy’s mane. “So, have you guys ever been to one of Celestia’s birthday celebrations before?”

“Celestia’s birthday?” Rainbow’s face scrunched up in confusion for a moment, before the cogs turned and she realised what Surprise was talking about. “Oh right! You know, I was so focused on the performance that I completely forgot what it was all in aid of!”

“That’s alright Dash,” said Fluttershy. “I probably would have forgotten myself, what with everything else to worry about. But I always remember when Princess Celestia’s birthday is, because it’s only five days after mine.”

“Yeah, I guess that would make it-” Dash froze. “Wait... Fluttershy, that’s today!”

“No it isn’t!” Fluttershy giggled. “Don’t be silly Rainbow, we still have plenty of time before Celestia’s birthday!”

“Not Celestia’s birthday! Your birthday! Your birthday is today!” Dash let out an aggravated sigh. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Oh, I didn’t want to make a fuss.” Fluttershy smiled sweetly. “We’re going to be so busy with training; I don’t want my birthday to distract us. Besides, Pinkie Pie will remember. She always remembers everypony’s birthday. Except for her own, for some reason. I’m sure she has some sort of surprise party planned for tonight.”

“Ooh!” Surprise perked up. “Surprise always loves a surprise party! Can I come?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I expect so, Pinkie Pie wouldn’t mind, and I assume Fluttershy wouldn’t either?” She looked at Fluttershy, who nodded in agreement. “How about you, Lightning?”

“Will there be pretty mares?” he asked, with a grin.

Rainbow smirked back. “Not as pretty as me, of course, but yeah. All of our friends are mares, except for Spike.” She paused. “Now that I think of it, there’s a bit of a stallion shortage in Ponyville in general...”

“Sounds like my kind of party! I’m in!”

“All the Wonderbolts are welcome to come,” confirmed Fluttershy. “Um... at least as far as I’m concerned, anyway.”

“Even Ice Wind?” asked Dash.

“Oh...” Fluttershy paused. I hadn’t thought of her... well, it would be a little rude to invite everypony but her. “Yes, she can come too. Maybe a party will help her relax a little.”

“Great!” Dash grinned. “Everypony is invited! This is going to be so cool!”

However, not every pony was as pleased by this as Dash. Unseen by the others, Spitfire was loitering at the top of the stairs, listening in to their conversation. “Not everypony...” she muttered to herself, looking down at her hooves.

---

“So, how do I look?” Fluttershy stepped into view. With the mane dye now applied, and dressed in her Wonderbolt outfit, she was barely recognisable. The only things that gave her away were her voice and her mannerisms. She lacked Spitfire’s confident expression, and proud stance.

“Pretty good,” replied Dash. “If I didn’t know better, and I was at a distance, you’d have me fooled for sure.”

“All that’ll be for nothing if you can’t fly well enough,” Ice Wind pointed out. Dash glared at her.

“Yes, well we’ll see the proof of that soon enough,” interjected Stormy Skies. “Dash, you’ll be leading the formation, but that doesn’t mean you’re in charge. Follow my instructions to the letter, understand?”

Dash saluted. “Question the orders of a living legend? Not this pony!”

“Right, let’s start things off slow,” he continued. “You’ve both flown in pairs, so let’s just step it up to threes for the first hour or so. That’s how the new routine starts, anyway. Dash, you’re with me and Lightning, Fluttershy, you’re leading the mares.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow interrupted. “Why exactly am I on team stallion?”

“Well let’s see...” Ice Wind grinned. “Firstly, we’ve got uneven numbers, so somepony has to. Secondly, you’re standing in for Soarin. So as far as we’re concerned, you’re a stallion. Finally... well frankly the first time I saw you I mistook you for a stallion anyway.”

Lightning groaned. “For Celestia’s sake, Ice, will you give it a rest?”

“How about everypony gives it a rest?” Stormy Skies hardly raised his voice, but something about the way he scowled at them silenced them all. “Ice, keep the point scoring for when we aren’t training. As you have been so keen to point out, we’re on a tight schedule here. Dash... congratulations! You followed my instructions to the letter for, what, five seconds? Let’s have some professionalism here, and get to work.”

They lifted off into the sky. Flying in threes wasn’t really that different from flying in pairs. In fact, leading was in many ways easier than following, at least while they were just flying in straight lines. All Dash needed to be careful of was maintaining a constant speed, and keeping her wings moving to the correct tempo. Fluttershy, on the other hoof...

“Faster!” yelled Ice Wind. At height, it was always hard to get a good sense of speed. With the ground so far away, even at full pelt it could feel like you were barely moving. At Fluttershy’s speed, it looked stationary. If there had been a headwind, they probably would have been. “This isn’t an afternoon stroll, this is supposed to be an air display! Is this the best you can do?”

“I’m sorry...” replied Fluttershy, her voice wavering. She tried to beat her wings harder, moving all the way up from a snails pace up to that of a tortoise. Ooooh... I’m so high up, she thought. Without the cloud cover from the previous two days, the ground seemed a long way down. That made it even harder than usual to keep her calm, and to keep her pace up.

“Don’t be sorry, be fast!” Ice Wind was not the most pleasant pony at the best of times, and the frustration of dealing with Fluttershy’s poor pace was not helping things.

“Come on Fluttershy,” Surprise encouraged her. “I know you can do it!” In contrast to her companion, Surprise was an apparently endless reservoir of calm support. This only made Fluttershy feel worse; letting Surprise down was almost as bad as putting up with Ice Wind’s anger.

“Oooh... I can’t...” Fluttershy closed her eyes, as tears began to well up within them. The worst thing about this is.... I know I can go faster, she thought. I’ve done it before. Why can’t I do it now? But most of the time, when she had flown fast it had been because she had needed to. To save a friend. To escape danger. It wasn’t something she could just turn on.

She cast her mind back, trying to remember the feelings that had spurred her on before. Discord. Her eyes snapped open. If I can’t fly faster... Ice Wind wins! She stared at Ice through narrowed eyes. “You’re a big, dumb, meanie!” As she shrieked the final word, she suddenly shot forward.

Unprepared for Fluttershy’s sudden change of pace, the two Wonderbolts were left floating in her wake. Ice grinned. “Now that’s more like it!” The pair of them rushed after Fluttershy, falling back into formation. Dash spotted the sudden change of pace, and guided her team around to pull alongside.

“Way to go, Fluttershy!” she shouted, raising her voice to be heard over the rushing wind. “I didn’t even have to trick you into it this time!”

“It’s alright,” admitted Stormy Skies. He was keeping his voice level, but Fluttershy caught the hint of a smile on his lips. “I’d prefer faster, but that’s good enough for what we need. Now let’s see if you can keep it up.”

---

“She fought off a dragon?” Lightning laughed, pushing open the door to Fluttershy’s cottage. The light was fading on another day of hard work, and everypony was glad to be off their wings. They had spent the day working through every part of Spitfire’s routine, although at much lower speeds than they would have to in the real performance. There had been no major issues, so everypony was in good spirits. Even Ice Wind was keeping quiet, which was the closest to happy that Rainbow had seen from her so far.

“You betcha!” replied Rainbow Dash. “Of course, I’d already softened him up for her.”

Surprise gasped. “Wow, Flutter, there’s more to you than meets the eye...”

“I didn’t fight him,” explained Fluttershy. “I just explained the situation to him calmly, and he understood. Dragons really aren’t that unreasonable if you just take the time to talk to them. I do wish you wouldn’t exaggerate so much, Rainbow. I’d hate anypony to start thinking of me as a violent brute.”

Stormy Skies snorted. “I think that’s rather unlikely...”

“Oh yeah?” Dash grinned. “Wait till I tell you what Twilight saw her do to a bear...”

“No!” interrupted Fluttershy, shaking her head urgently. “It was a massage! I keep trying to tell you...”

“Yeah, well remind me never to let you give me a massage then...”

There was a brief silence, as the ponies settled themselves down to rest their weary bodies. “We did good work today,” Stormy Skies congratulated them. “But things only get more intense from here on in. Everypony should rest well tonight, we’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“After Fluttershy’s party, that is!” interjected Surprise.

Stormy Skies grinned. “Alright, that’s fair. Just as long as nopony gets too carried away.”

Dash sighed. Her wings ached like they never had before; she felt like she’d just flown to the moon and back. “Don’t worry, I don’t think that I could get carried away right now, even if I wanted to!”

“There you are Dash! I’ve been trying to catch you all day!” The unexpected shrill voice of Pinkie made Rainbow jump. She was standing in the open doorway, apparently having just arrived. “I could see you all flying around, but you were so high up! I tried bouncing, then I tried jumping... I even tried leaping, but I just couldn’t reach! Then I came here to bring Fluttershy to her party, but then you were here instead! Hey, are you coming to Fluttershy’s party?” She turned her head slightly to the side. “What are you doing in Fluttershy’s cottage without Fluttershy anyway?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but Rainbow quickly shoved her hoof in it. “No, let me explain, Spitfire, we were just... coming here to wish Fluttershy a happy birthday!” She decided to change the subject, which with Pinkie was never particularly difficult. Especially if there was a party involved. “And I’d love to come to the party, is it alright if we bring some friends?”

“Of course!” Pinkie bounced on the spot. “The more the merrier! It’s in Applejacks barn, right abouuut.... now!”

“Great!” Rainbow started pushing Pinkie back out of the door. “You just go make sure everything’s ready, and I’ll make sure Fluttershy gets there.”

Pinkie beamed. “Okie-dokie-lokie!” Dash slammed the door in her face.

She let out a sigh of relief, along with the rest of the room. “That was too close...”

“I’m sorry...” Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. “I’m not very good at this, am I?”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Surprise consoled her. “I don’t think she spotted anything strange. Just go get yourself back to your normal self so we can check out this party already.”

“Okay...” Fluttershy started walking upstairs, but was met by Spitfire on her way down.

“So... you’re all off to the party then?” she asked. She was trying not to let her feelings show, but the smile on her face was clearly faked. “Well, have fun...”

“Oh no...” Fluttershy picked up on her feelings immediately. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think. You’ve been here alone all day, and now we’re leaving you alone all evening as well... Don’t worry, I’ll stay here with you if you want. Everypony else can go enjoy the party.”

Even in her dejected state, Spitfire couldn’t help but laugh. “You can’t back out of your own birthday party, Fluttershy! Don’t you worry, I’m a big girl, I’ll be fine.”

“Well... why don’t you come as well?” suggested Dash.

“Did you forget the whole ‘trying to keep her injury hidden’ thing?” asked Ice Wind.

“No, I didn’t,” snapped Dash, shooting her a look that could shatter glass. She turned back to Spitfire. “Nopony here knows you, not outside of your uniform. You could just pretend you know Fluttershy from Cloudsdale, and that you’re here to visit on her birthday.”

“That... could work,” agreed Stormy Skies.

“I don’t know... I have a pretty distinctive look...” Spitfire flicked her mane with her hoof.

Dash grinned. “You sure do, but don’t worry, I have an idea to solve that little problem. I think a little turnabout would be fair play...”

Comments

[Jacky2734]

Awesome fic dude. A story involving Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Spitfire, and none of them are getting shipped, ingenious. I also liked how you fit Surprise into the story, although I'd have preferred it if you had had one of the characters draw a comparison between her and Pinkie. Finally, nice reference to the horror that was G3 Rainbow Dash.

[ArcaneTrex]

XD LOLOLOLOLOL NICE ONE JACKY
btw, whens the next one?

[UndercoverBrony]

35030
The next chapter is written, but currently waiting on editing/proof-reading, so probably a few more days.

[Eustatian Wings]

It's a real pleasure to work on this story. If you ponies are all wondering where the next chapter is, it's kinda my fault. I took Thanksgiving off and none of the other critical readers took it.

I've read and commented. It's fun. You may now blame Undercover for any further delays.