Flight School Reunion

by andrizzi

Everypony wins!

Fluttershy glided over the clouds in the sky, humming a merry tune as she enjoyed the beautiful day.

She had woke up early in order to make sure that her critters would have managed her absence. After all, she and Rainbow Dash were invited to the Cloudsdale Flight School reunion, and they had both agreed to go. Now she was flying to join her friend so that they could go along to Cloudsdale.

She lightly landed at Rainbow’s manor and, seeing nopony around, knocked on the front door.

“Come in!” shouted Dash from inside. “I’m finishing to get ready.”

Fluttershy raised a hoof over the knob of the door before stopping abruptly. ‘Rainbow Dash… is getting ready? By her free will?’ she asked herself, bewildered. But the surprise soon turned into an innocent curiosity and Fluttershy opened the door. She nearly tittered at the thought of her tomboy friend starting to get interested in her own appearance.

The front doors led directly to the hall of the mansion, with a bathroom for the guests just near the entrance. When she entered, Fluttershy noticed that the bathroom’s door on the side was ajar. Figuring that Rainbow Dash was in there, she raised her voice and said, “Dash? Are you in there?”

“Yeah, yeah. Almost finished,” came the reply.

Fluttershy barely held a snicker, deciding to be coy. “Take all the time you need, Dashie. I don’t want you to rush your makeup.”

“Haha,” laughed Rainbow Dash sarcastically, “Very funny, Shy. That fru-fru stuff isn’t my thing and you know it. I’m just making sure to look the right amount of amazing.”

“Oh well, that’s ok,” said Fluttershy with a whisper. “Besides, you can never expect a cute girl to be prepared in time.”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but snicker aloud that time and much to her pleasure, she heard Rainbow Dash joining too with her laugh. “Ok, ok. You got me with that one. But I lost time when I couldn’t remember where I left my outfit.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Fluttershy surprised. Apparently, her friend was going to make herself stylish for the occasion. “I thought you wouldn’t have dressed up for today.”

“Well, I’m about to shake your convictions then. Ready?”

Fluttershy barely had time to picture how she was just to see her friend. Would she wear a full dress, maybe something made by Rarity? Or was she going to wear a simple hat with flowers? She would look so lovely with one...

Anyhow, Rainbow Dash flew her way out of the bathroom without waiting for a response, stopping her friend’s imagination. While the door swung against the wall, she floated in the air with her chest puffed out as she proudly showed her figure.

Grinning cockily in midair, Rainbow Dash was wearing her jacket from the Wonderbolts, badges included, combined with her black shades.

Fluttershy just stared speechlessly.

“Yeah, I know…” said Rainbow Dash, swinging her hoof in front of her. “The flying suit would have been more iconic, but Spitfire asked me to only wear that for public occasions, and we’re just going to see some old pals. So, come on!” Dash glided to the front door. “This is going to be awesome.”

Fluttershy remained silent for a moment as her friend flung out, too excited to even acknowledge her shock. Then she supported her forehead with a hoof and sighed.

---

“I'm sure we’ll have a lot of fun at the reunion,” said Fluttershy meekly. “We’re going to see all of our old classmates, reestablish a few connections, we’ll talk about what happened with our lives–”

“Yeah!” stormed Rainbow Dash from her side. “And I have the best update of all to tell: I became a Wonderbolt! I can’t wait to see their faces when they’ll see me.”

Rainbow Dash flew steadily forward with a big grin on her face, followed closely by an annoyed Fluttershy on her side. The former had kept watching an oblivious Dash flatly for the entire trip, deciding it was best to wait until they landed before having a one-on-one.

“Here we are,” said Rainbow Dash, when the two pegasuses landed in front of the old Flight school’s gym. “And we are – as Rarity would say – exquinesitely late.”

“Exquisitely.”

“Yeah, yeah, you got it. Now–” Rainbow Dash climbed on her rear hooves and pointed the door “–let’s enjoy our triumphal return.”

“Um, Dash? Can we have a talk first?”

Dash barely had time to trot a couple of steps forward before those worrisome words dragged her from behind, making her turn over her friend.

“What’s wrong?”

Fluttershy started to push her front hooves one against the other. “It’s, um, I’m afraid I’ll have to be a little pesky now…”

“Uuu, ok…” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “Whyyy…?”

“Because somepony has to tell you,” stated Fluttershy without ceremonies. “Dash, you can’t get in and expect everypony to worship you.”

The words caught Rainbow Dash completely dumbstruck, but that didn't forbid her to reflect on that. She knew better than to not listen to Fluttershy, especially when she acted so resolute about something.

Dash blinked a couple of times before breaking free from her bewilderment. “Oh, I guess this is a ‘don’t brag’ situation, again?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, but–”

“Look,” – cut short Rainbow Dash, raising a hoof between them – “I understand. In fact, you did well to remind me. And I promise,” – Dash raised her hoof higher, pointing up – “I’ll be humble.”

Fluttershy cocked an eyebrow. “You promise?”

“I do,” said Dash sternly.

They remained firm and silent for a long moment. Fluttershy with a skeptical look on her face and Rainbow Dash with her boy-scout in oath pose. “At least, Wonderbolt humble,” added she in the end.

Fluttershy let her face go softening, feeling some of her tension going away. “Fine. That was one thing. Also–”

“Great!” interrupted Rainbow Dash. She had stopped to hear anything after ‘fine’. “Now let’s throw us in. I bet they’re just waiting for me in order to get the real feast started.” And with that, she flew at the front doors.

Fluttershy, from behind, simply expressed her frustration with a facehoof.

“Alright, here comes the champ.” Rainbow Dash put her hooves over the door, ready to slam it open just as Fluttershy would decide to hurry up. When her friend was finally close, she pushed and bolted inside, announcing herself. “Attention, little ponies. Rainbow Dash is in the building!”

Despite the loud entrance, just a few ponies turned their head to see Rainbow Dash.

Then they all resumed chattering with the old-time friends.

Rainbow Dash glanced around in confusion as Fluttershy arrived at her side. “Uuu, hello?” she asked aloud. “Wonderbolt here?”

One pegasus mare approached them with a bright smile. “Rainbow Dash… and Fluttershy! It’s so good to see you,” said she eagerly. “I think that you two are the last who still had to arrive, but now we all have plenty of time to catch up with our lives.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Rainbow Dash looked up and down the mare in front of her, who apparently was an old classmate, trying to remember her name. “So, everypony else is here?”

“Almost,” said the mare, “but there has been an accident at the Rainbow Factory, and they needed all of their workers. Meaning that we won’t have Hoops, Dumb Bell, and Score today.”

“Heh, too bad for them,” affirmed Dash, not bothered by the absence of the old trio.

“Well, I guess you two want to mingle and catch up with all the others,” said smiling the mare, “and I have to supervise the gathering. Those snacks aren’t going to magically appear on the table by their own, after all.” The mare turned back and trotted away consulting a clipboard. “I hope you have fun, see you later.”

“Later.” Rainbow Dash waved at her old classmate, whose name was still lost in memory, and returned her attention to all the other ponies inside the gym of the school.

There was plenty of room for everypony to stand and talk to each other, but Dash knew that they would have all gathered around her in five seconds flat. She just had to…

“Don’t even think about it.”

Rainbow Dash zoomed out from her thoughts and turned bewildered over the stern look of Fluttershy.

“Dash, you promised me that you weren’t going to show off or brag around. We’re here to see our old classmates and to have a pleasant chat with them.”

“But–”

Dash was instantly cut off by Fluttershy. “And we’re not here so that you can stroke your ego in front of everypony.”

The two friends kept staring at each other for a short moment. Fluttershy, with hard sternness. Rainbow Dash, with puzzled uncertainty. Until the latter let out a long sigh, rolling her eyes away. “Fine.”

Surrendering, Rainbow Dash simply walked towards the mass. “I’ll just tell everypony muzzle to muzzle that I’ve made it to the Wonderbolts.”

Fluttershy’s gratification instantly broke as she heard that. “No! I mean, yes but…” Stopping abruptly, Fluttershy raised a hoof in front of her own chest. She closed her eyes, and breathed calmly from her nose. “Let her go, Fluttershy,” she muttered. “Just grab some cake, socialize, and enjoy the evening.”

Then, she followed her own advice.

---

Rainbow Dash blended in the little crowd of ponies, trying to combine their faces with her old classmates. Oddly enough, none of them had yet stopped her to praise her or to get an autograph but, after a quick walk around, she was confident enough about fifty percent of the presents’ identity.

So she decided to approach one of her old classmates by herself, choosing a red pegasus mare as a first draft.

Once she was close enough, Rainbow Dash made her spin over by clearing her voice. “Hey, Red… Cloud isn't it?”

The red mare turned to her with a bright smile. “Rainbow Dash! How long…” she said in a nostalgic tone. “And, actually, it's Red Moon.”

“I knew that.”

“But look at you!” said Red Moon, pointing at Dash. “Is that a Wonderbolt badge?”

Dash triumphed internally. “Hay yeah!”

“That's so awesome.”

“Tell me about it.”

“It has to be such a thrill doing all those crazy exhibitions.”

“Yep, flying among the best flyers in Equestria is very exciting.”

Red Moon tittered. “Oh, I know about exciting. . . , I do bungee jumping,” she said.

Useless to say, Rainbow Dash wasn’t impressed at all. Maybe a little dumbfounded by the sudden change of topic, at most. The two things weren’t even comparable.

She was just about to say that bungee jumping wasn’t a big deal for a pegasus, but she held her mouth on the last instant. Scootaloo was just a couple of cities away, better not to risk saying something she could regret.

“Well, that’s cute,” said Rainbow Dash, after a moment of pondering. “But being a Wonderbolt isn’t just dashing and thrill. There are tryouts, there’s teamwork, and you have to be among the best flyers around–”

“Looks like you have something to be proud of,” commented out Red Moon.

“Oh, you know. Just the fruit of my labors and all my dreams that come true. Everyday stuff.”

Red Moon snickered at the joke. “I’m very happy for you.”

“Thanks,” said Rainbow Dash with true gratitude. She then waited patiently for something more from her interlocutor. Like a praise, a compliment, or the request for an autograph.

Instead, Red Moon broke the silence with a simple, “So, what else?”

“…Uh?”

“Oh you know, where have you been after flight school?”

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash scratched her nape with uncertain. “Yeah. I… moved to Ponyville.”

“Doing what?”

“I was in charge of the weather team…”

“And how’s Ponyville? I’ve heard quite a lot of it recently…”

Rainbow Dash groaned quietly, tired of doing simple conversation. “It’s great and all, but weren’t we talking about me and the Wonderbolts?”

Red Moon’s smile turned into a doubtful muzzle as she cocked her head. “Yes, we were. And I guessed that there was nothing more to say about so I went on with a new subject.”

A short moment of awkward silence followed, as Rainbow Dash quickly considered if she could return to the part where she gets praised without bragging off too bluntly.

“Why,” asked Red Moon, “did you want to–”

“No, no. Never mind.” Rainbow Dash looked around the place and started to backpedal. “But, hey, I guess I shouldn’t stick here if I want to catch up with all my old pals. Been nice talking to you, Red Cloud.”

“It’s Red Moon.”

“I knew that.”

Red Moon watched, with a hint of perplexity, her old classmate getting lost in the crowd. Then she shrugged it off and turned back to the table, aiming at the muffin’s plate.

To her dismay, she found it empty.

A trail of crumbs leading in the crowd was everything left. Following it with the eyes, she saw the back of a gray pegasus with a blonde mane, chomping happily whatever she was carrying.

---

Dash flew slowly around the place, scratching her chin in thought. She couldn’t place her hoof where she did wrong. Talking with an old buddy? Check. Pointing out the Wonderbolt status? Check. Accepting all the compliments in the cool and possibly humble way? Well, check.

Then why didn’t Red Moon look enthusiastic? She should have been thrilled just by the mere thought of having shared the class with a future Wonderbolt.

Scratch that, everypony should be yelling her name as soon as they saw her.

“Rainbow Dash!”

Exactly.

“Yes!” ‘No, wait,’ thought Rainbow Dash, hiding her full grin with a hoof, ‘keep it cool.’ “I mean… hey, wassup?”

Beneath her, a dark blue pegasus was looking up to her. “I’m so glad I could see you,” he said smiling. “Maybe you don’t recognize me. I’m Stargazer, and I’ve always been a fan of the Wonderbolts.”

“Well, who isn’t?”

“You must feel so elated: achieving your dream, flying in the best team of pegasus, wearing that uniform…”

Rainbow Dash landed right in front of him, nodding in agreement.

“I’m just saying,” continued Stargazer, “it’s thrilling to know that somepony who learned to fly near you has grown up this much.”

“Thank you,” responded Dash. “I guess it had to happen sooner or later, right?”

The two pegasuses shared a laugh, which was followed by a moment silence between them. Fearing that he would have trailed off, Rainbow Dash pressed him.

“Well, keep on.”

Stargazer looked her slightly confused. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t you have anything else you want to ask me?”

There was another short moment of silence, during which Rainbow Dash had to solidly rely on her patience to not start shouting before Stargazer raised his eyebrow and opened his mouth again.

“About what?”

“The Wonderbolts, obviously,” retorted a very disgruntled Rainbow Dash.

Stargazer scratched his chin with a hoof and took a moment to reflect about that. “Actually…”

“Yes?”

“Well, since you’re so eager to answer…”

“Yeees?”

“Is it true that Fleetfoot has mane extensions?”

“. . .” Rainbow Dash opened and closed her mouth, without emitting a sound, for a couple of times after hearing that. She just… had no way to think of a proper answer in that state of bewilderment. All she had left to voice was a rough, pure, genuine emotion from the bottom of her soul.

“Seriously?” she asked. “That’s all you can think about? You have a living legend, who also flies with the awesomest flyers in Equestria, right in front of you, and all you want to talk about IS FASHION GOSSIP?!” Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof on the cloud while Stargazer simply sweated from the forehead and trembled in fear. “Which attentions do I get?!”

“Um,” Stargazer looked around him, hoping that somepony would intrude and save him for that mad mare, “…congrats?”

“THAT’S IT?!” Dash pressed her forehead against his. “That’s all I get for being awesome?”

Oblivious of what she wanted, Stargazer felt like he was in front of a crazy riddler who would rip him to pieces if he didn’t answer correctly. “Can… can I offer you a drink?”

“EVERYTHING’S FREE!” shouted angrily Rainbow Dash.

Stargazer whined like a beaten dog and backpedaled quickly. She let him get away, breathing heavily from her nostrils as she tried to calm down.

“Wow, what did he do in order to make you snap like that?”

Forgetting about Stargazer, Rainbow Dash looked at the source of the nasal voice behind her. She found a pegasus with glasses and a white coat looking up to her. He was little in stature, and his Cutie Mark was a feather resting over a scroll. “Hey, I remember you,” shouted Dash with refounded enthusiasm. “You’re Feather Brain!”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but snicker while recalling that name, but she immediately stopped when Feather Brain narrowed his eyes at her. “Ahem, not that I think it’s a funny name or anything.”

Feather Brain looked away from her. “Used to it,” he said bitterly. “And who are you?”

A big, wide, and clearly fake smile froze on Dash’s lips. “Rainbow Dash.”

When he took a moment to think about their past connection Rainbow Dash wasn’t able to keep the appearance, dropping her smile into a thin and flat line.

“We didn’t bond much for what I recall, right?”

“True, but” – Rainbow Dash pretended to scratch her jacket, while in fact pointing at her badge – “I’m still pretty famous.”

Feather Brain didn’t miss the mark. “Oh, you’re a Wonderbolt.”

A long and forceful hum from her confirmed that, smoothly inviting him to add something.

“They’re our elite squad of flyers,” said he with a neutral tone.

“Thanks,” muttered Dash between her teeth. “But I don’t suppose you want to keep talking about that.” Guessing that his last line was going to be the closest thing to a compliment among what he would have said, she gave him her back and started to move away.

His voice, however, stopped her on her track and filled her with hope. “Wait. To be honest, I have a lot of technical questions…”

---

“…and that’s why you’re obliterating the original Firefly effect if you steer sharper in midair before landing. I’m sorry, am I boring you?”

Feather Brain stopped his long and detailed analysis of the Wonderbolts’ new maneuver and looked directly at Rainbow Dash, who was entertaining herself by playing with the food for six minutes now.

She put down general chip near the evil imperator donut and answered, failing to restrain herself. “No crap, Sherlock.”

“In that case–” he lifted his chin and turned back “–take well, Watson.”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and scolded herself as her offended friend walked away. It was already her third fiasco in a row at conversation, and she hadn’t been acclaimed by anypony yet.

Shaking her head in dismay, she spun on her hooves and bumped into a white coated stallion. She was about to apologize when he looked at her and his lips turned upward into a smile.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!”

She quickly looked through him, trying to recognize any of her former classmates. “Hey… you.”

“Good to see you again. And in a Wonderbolt suit, no less,” he said approvingly.

Rainbow Dash felt some of her enthusiasm coming back. “Oh, yeah. Sure!”

“It certainly suits you. I’m glad to see that one of us lived up his dream.”

“Don’t get down, now,” said Dash waving her hoof. “There can be only one best flyer in Equestria, after all.”

“What?” he said quietly, furrowing his eyebrows. “I never wished to be a flyer.”

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes wide, realizing her mistake. “Oh, um. Did I say best flyer? I meant…”

He looked kept looking at her with a puzzled expression.

“…skier?”

His eyebrows fell flat. “You don’t even remember my name, do you?” he asked with a blank voice.

“What? Of course I do! It’s…” Dash darted frenetically her look between various objects in the gym, trying to come up with a name. “…Cloud Ceilingbench?”

The white stallion slowly shook his head in disapproval before turning over and moving away.

Rainbow Dash let him go, lowering her head until it represented her sunken mood properly. But before hope could abandon her completely, a cyan and puffy pegasus reached her.

“Did you call for me?”

Dash raised tilted her head. “Huh?”

“Cloud Ceilingbench!” he said. “I’m surprised that you even remember my name. I actually don’t think we’ve ever talked.”

Rainbow Dash watched him with a skeptical and disenchanted look for a few seconds and started to leave. “Yeah, whatever…”

“B-but I remember you,” he said hastily. “And I was hoping to see you today, to be honest. I really wanted to ask you a couple of questions about your job.”

Now the look that Rainbow Dash tossed him was just slightly skeptical, but she felt like feeling the water before jumping in. “You’re talking about the weather control?”

“What? No! I’m talking about that awesome masterpiece that you pulled off years ago.”

“You mean the Sonic Rainboom?” Rainbow Dash flew right in front of him, grinning excitedly from ear to ear as her eyes were simply glimmering. “Why didn’t you say so? Of course, ask me whatever you want about the feats of these two babies.” She ended the sentence by landing and smacking her two wings together in a display of force.

Which oddly froze Ceilingbench on his spot. He just looked at her with wide eyes as the words weren’t sure if to come out from his mouth. In the end, he spoke with an half-apologetic smile. “Actually, I was referring to when you built your mansion. That was… very impressive from the… architectural point of view.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t answer. She just let fade her smug smile and came back on four hooves, getting silently and slowly away.

She was too disappointed to get angry.

---

“Ooh, they're so cute,” chirped Fluttershy after looking at a photograph of two little newborn ponies.

The black pegasus who was holding the photo chuckled as he put it away. “Spend half a day with them and you’ll change your mind,” he joked.

“Oh, please.” An orange pegasus mare wrapped her wing around him in a hearty embrace. “You should see him when he’s entertaining them. He’s the most immature of all.”

Fluttershy joined in with the giggling of the two ponies as they cuddled playfully, but stopped when she caught Dash’s figure with a glimpse of the eye.

“Please excuse me.” Fluttershy diverged from the happy couple and headed towards her friend.

Rainbow Dash looked the opposite of what she was at the start of the day. She was sprawling lazily on one bench looking in front of her with an empty interest, all of her enthusiasm from before was off. She didn’t even flinch when Fluttershy took a seat along with her side.

The two remained silent for a while, looking at all the other ponies scrambling around.

“I don’t get it,” said Rainbow Dash, still looking forward. “I did a lot of awesome things and I achieved my dream. My name will be in the records of the Wonderbolts, and probably will be mentioned in a history book. I showed everypony what I’m made off.” She turned her head towards Fluttershy, and her eyes mirrored her trouble. “Then why doesn’t it look like they care?”

“I’m sure they care,” said Fluttershy looking back to her eyes, “they’re just being casual about it.”

Rainbow dash jerked for the bewilderment. “B-but it’s big stuff! Shy, you know how much I worked to arrive this far.”

“Of course” – Fluttershy lent a hoof over Dash’s shoulder as she smiled reassuringly – “and I’ll always be proud of you. You pursued your dream since you were a filly, and you achieved it. That’s the, um, awesomest thing.”

“I know!” Rainbow Dash pointed at all the other ponies in the room. “Then why aren’t they impressed?”

Instead of answering, Fluttershy watched their old classmates in deep thought. Then, she pointed at one of them while smiling at Rainbow Dash. “Do you remember her name?”

Following the hoof, Rainbow Dash saw that she was pointing at the mare who had welcomed them, but… “Uuu, I didn’t pay much attention in class. Or at school, in general.”

“She’s Left Wing. She was the class president back in school, and she had always wanted to become a representative for all pegasuses in Cloudsdale. Now, she’s the mayor assistant and everypony believes that she’ll be to next to sit behind that desk.”

‘She could be the next mayor?’ thought Rainbow Dash, surprised to apprehend that one of her old classmates was doing so good without her knowing. “Oh. Well, that’s cool I guess.”

Fluttershy shifted her target and resumed to talk. “That one is Ceilingbench. He didn’t have much ambition at school, so he just followed the steps of his father and went working with the builder’s pegasuses. He told me that he soon made a passion out of it.”

Fluttershy pointed another little pony. “Remember him?”

“Yeah, Feather Brain.” Rainbow Dash almost snorted while saying the name.

“Yes, he was so distressed for his own name and fed up of ponies mocking him that he promised himself to study and become an intellectual. Now he’s a professor with several degrees.”

“Ok, that’s Twilight awesome.”

Fluttershy pointed at the white pegasus that Dash had bumped before. “That one is Sharp Impact.”

“Ooo! So that’s who he is. I do remember him.” Dash accompanied her next description with gestures. “He had the punky hair, and liked to go around with a guitar telling other ponies that he was going to become a rock star.” She stopped abruptly, opening her eyes in disbelief. “What happened to him?”

“He lived his dream as long as he could. He kept playing, joined a band, sold an album even. But then he met his special somepony, and he was afraid that his life didn’t pay enough. So he quit and found a simple job, and now he’s going to marry in the next two months, while his first foal will be born in seven. His face was so joyful when he was telling me about it.”

Fluttershy moved to the next, pointing at the couple she was just talking to a little before. “And they are Romena and Julio. I remember them spending all their time near each other, planning to start their life as a married couple right after school. Their parents convinced them to wait for a little until they were sure, but they kept being sure for all the time through. And they have a little couple of adorable twins, now.”

Rainbow Dash raised her hooves. “Fine fine fine. I think I see the pattern. What’s your point?”

“We’re not foals anymore.” Fluttershy spun her head and looked her friend right in the eyes. “We all went on with our lives, Dash. Just like you, we all had our goals and plans and we did our best. It didn’t turn out how exactly we hoped for everypony, but we’re still proud of what we accomplished.”

“Ok but… I’m the only one who became a Wonderbolt,” said Rainbow Dash, with half-pleading eyes.

“And you were also the only who dreamed of becoming one.” Fluttershy looked up at the ceiling and bit her inner cheek. After shortly, she looked back at Rainbow Dash. “Take me and Scootaloo, do you think that we should become Wonderbolts too?”

Rainbow Dash jerked for the surprise. “What? Of course not. You’re already awesome just the way you a… ah.

“Wow… I kinda feel like a dummy, now,” she said after fully understanding what Fluttershy had meant to tell from the start of the reunion.

In silence, Dash spent the next few minutes by watching all the other little ponies in the room. She thought about them. About all her old classmates and all the lives that they could have waged in all those years. “So,” she concluded, “I guess that being a Wonderbolt isn’t that important now.”

Fluttershy reached her shoulder and smiled reassuringly. “Just not for everypony, but what really matters is how important it is to you. And I know how much that is. You only have to remember tha–”

A shrill scream made them shudder as a gray pegasus mare, slightly younger than them, flew fast and landed right in front of Rainbow Dash. “Omygoshomygoshomygosh, it’s really you!”

Rainbow Dash looked at the newcomer with a mist of curiosity and concern. The gray pegasus, on the other hoof, had eyes filled with awe.

She nervously rubbed her front hooves into each other, without breaking the eye contact with Rainbow Dash, as she worked up the courage to talk. “I–I’m sorry, my big sis told me that she was in your same class at flight school an–and I’m a big fan and I just wanted to I mean I was hoping I mean… .”

Amused, Rainbow Dash burst a laugh. “Woah, kid. Calm down and take a breath.”

Following the advice, the young pegasus took a big breath and run the words through her head. What followed sounded like “Hiyou’reawesomewouldyouliketocometomyWonderboltfanclub?”

Dash looked at Fluttershy with a smirk on her lips before standing up boldly. “Sure, if you can hold on for an hour. I would like to catch up with some old acquaintance first.”

Shaking her head with a little smile, Fluttershy watched the two pegasuses getting to the center of the reunion. Then she went back at socializing, enjoying the evening.

Comments

[Nuanced]

If only RD listened like this in canon. Then her friends wouldn't have to invent elaborate conspiracies to publicly humiliate her just so she could learn what was blatantly obvious.

[Smashology]

Honestly, I think the writers wasted a great idea and all because of mentioning it in Pony Point of View. If they really wanted a Rashomon-style story in the show, this was a better option than what we actually got because it's far more interesting (and needed for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's development) than watching Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie flanderized and arguing in an episode with a Deus ex Machina and a rejected season 1 script.

Congratulations for making this wish come true!

[andrizzi]

7780383 I totally agree with you.

P.P.O.V. Is probably my least favorite episode of the entire series, and for sure the only one that I didn't like from season six.
Not just that, but also they wasted something so interesting as the flight school reunion just to give a good excuse for why RD and Shy weren't in the episode.
Or maybe they wanted to give us some fanfic material.

7779997 No mysterious mistress this time. She only had to make a fool of herself in front of several old acquaintances.

[Skylight77]

My problem with stories like this is, what is Fluttershy? What's in her name? She's a very shy pegasus who's had trouble with socializing with other ponies. But in this story's case, she doesn't have a single shred of problem socializing and all the conflict revolves entirely on Rainbow Dash.

So why is Fluttershy so comfortable socializing? Because she's learned? Hasn't Rainbow Dash learned lessons like this too? What makes Fluttershy's lessons so different that she is capable of talking with so many ponies and learning everything about them, as if she wasn't shy at all?

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I feel like the conflict should've revolved around both of them together for their different issues, rather than just solely focusing on Rainbow Dash's conflict.

[andrizzi]

7780512 You make a good point, but we've already seen Fluttershy grow out of her shyness so many times already!
Also, in all season six, I haven't seen Fluttershy flinch in front of anypony. Not even ONCE!
Like in Las Pegasus, she was completely casual about meeting new ponies, and some of them were quite... kinky.

As for Dash, I simply thought that it's very likely for her to fall back into that mistake after she became a Wonderbolt. Especially in a situation like that. But it's not like she has forgotten about it (she promises to be humble at the start), she simply had to see that same lesson from in a different way to fully acknowledge it.

I could have written something more about Fluttershy being at unease, yes. But I simply thought that I had no more lessons to share about that. Instead, I preferred to revere Fluttershy's growth and show her as she has become (Or at last, how I think she has become after all these seasons).

However, I would like to thank you for pointing out this issue. It's actually a valid critic, and I should keep it in mind for the future. But I still believe that a conflict around Fluttershy was too much to add in this case.

[Skylight77]

7780575

You make a good point, but we've already seen Fluttershy grow out of her shyness so many times already!
Also, in all season six, I haven't seen Fluttershy flinch in front of anypony. Not even ONCE!
Like in Las Pegasus, she was completely casual about meeting new ponies, and some of them were quite... kinky.

That's what I'm afraid of with Fluttershy. People will take that and make Fluttershy out as a Mary Sue type character, like this story did. She may have grown, but when it comes to talking about herself, or asking others about their-selves, it wouldn't be as casual as talking with friends when these are ponies who used to tease her during Flight School, and when she has pasts such as Putting Your Hoof Down that she probably wouldn't want to talk about. (This story seems to make out that she talked about so much of their pasts with how much she learned from so many ponies.)

But oh well. If the conflict wasn't purely on Rainbow Dash, I'd have no problems with this story and would've loved it.

[andrizzi]

7780718

That's what I'm afraid of with Fluttershy. People will take that and make Fluttershy out as a Mary Sue type character, like this story did.

I really have to think about that. Maybe I'll have to reevaluate Fluttershy modern character completely for the future, but I'm still satisfied with what I did here.

For the sake of this story, I assumed that all of their former classmates were good ponies (that's why I specified from the start that Hoops, DumBell and Score were out) but I admit that it was a limiting choice. It also allowed Fluttershy to open up freely with other ponies out-of-scene. This was meant so that I could focus on delivering the morale, but I understand your disappointment.

[Starlight Nova]

What episode is the picture from?

[andrizzi]

7781184 It's called photoshop.

Background: From "Sonic Rainboom"

Rainbow Dash: From "Top Bolt"

Fluttershy: From "Flutter Butter"

If you thought that it was a real screen from one episode, it means that I did it well.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

"The Class of 57 " by the Statler Brothers
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+class+of+57+lyrics&&view=detail&mid=5D31557F47C2A46C53A65D31557F47C2A46C53A6&&FORM=VDRVRV

[Discorded Imagination]

Interesting story. You capture Dash's brashness and a need to have her fame acknowledged well. If I must point out a bit of a flaw, it might had been better to do Fluttershy actually interacting on her own rather than tell Dash about it. This would better show Fluttershy trying to grasp at getting to know ponies at the reunion.

Still, you play her with the intent of keeping Dash honest and I did find that amusing to read.