• Published 6th Jul 2012
  • 5,240 Views, 232 Comments

Crashing Angels - lillytheomegawolf



A story of how Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash met as fillies. The joys and hardships of life, friendship, and love and all the surprises that happen along their journey as they become best friends--and much more.

  • ...
10
 232
 5,240

Chapter 2: Rain Before The Rainbow

Fluttershy nervously sat down in class, her first class in this big, scary school for young pegasi. She did her best to not freak out in the presence of all the strange new faces. She had chosen the back right-hand desk because it placed her further away from the rest of her fellow classmates. Most ignored her, but she was certain that she was watched by unfriendly eyes. She knew the feeling. It was regular enough all throughout kindergarten and she hadn't expected anything to change now at school. The bland cloud walls with various trinkets their teacher had put up to liven the classroom up surrounded her. She felt like the walls were pressing in on her senses. She gave a nervous smile to the colt next to her and received a bland glance in return just before their teacher cut into her world. The rest of the dozen-strong class attentively turned to the front.

"Good morning, class! To all those who are new here, My name is Mrs Breeze and I'll be your teacher for your first year here at Cloudsdale Central school. If you ever need help with anything, just ask!"

Mrs Breeze was a fluffy cloud-white mare with a flowing sky-blue mane and eyes that sparkled with joy. She smiled down at her class, caring and warmth emanated from her. Fluttershy's attention was interrupted by a wad of paper as it clipped her on the muzzle. She ‘eeped’ in shock and hid behind her mane. A ripple of laughter passed through the foals at the back of the class. Fluttershy sunk into her seat, a futile effort to become invisible. Mrs Breeze caught on to what happened and a quick flash of annoyance crossed her friendly face.

"All right, cut it out, class. You can see the poor filly doesn't like it."

Everypony sat up a bit straighter and became silent, yet the atmosphere remained. Mrs Breeze relaxed back into her introductory speech. Fluttershy inwardly sighed. If only that cool pony she had smacked into were here, too. ‘Why did Rainbow Dash have to be too young?’ She glanced around the class, no pony paid her any attention. It appeared that her time would be spent being either ignored or bullied. ''Maybe one of these ponies wants to be my friend. Then it won't be so bad.' She noticed a dark brown colt mischievously grinning in her direction. The evil look on his face said it all. She hid behind her mane. 'Maybe it would be better if I was out there playing pranks with Rainbow Dash. I hope they are nice pranks.'

She realised that somepony was standing over her and glanced up.

"Eeep!"

Her yellow muzzle disappears behind her pink mane as she springs backwards, toppling over. That somepony is Mrs Breeze. She wore a concerned look on her muzzle. Fluttershy timidly picked herself up. She heard whispered comments and giggling and knew it was directed all at her.

"Fluttershy, you really should be paying attention in class. Please don't let me catch you drifting off like that again."

Mrs Breeze wandered back to the front of the class. “Fluttershy appears to be quite shy. I would appreciate it if you all could make her feel welcome here.”

The lesson did not improve for the poor filly as it continued.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alone in a corner of the majestic school playground sat a yellow filly. She trembled and did her best to hide the tears that streamed down her face. The beauty of the floating clouds and playground was lost on Fluttershy as she continued to quietly cry alone. Her legs ached from too much running and her mane was soaked with sweat and tears. At the edge of her vision, she spotted the light and dark brown coats of two colts approaching. The same two she had fled from all lunch. She attempted to make herself smaller yet knew it would not help. Harsh words flew in her direction, unheard by the intended victim as she continued to cry, lost in her despair. The colts moved in, grinning uncontrollably. It was clear that no pony would try and stop them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy face-planted into the cloud turf. 'Not again!' She pulled her head up only to see several nearby foals were snickering at her. She immediately hid behind her mane, emitting a small 'eep'. This caused the dam to burst for a few of the foals who enjoyed picking on such an easy target and they burst out laughing. Fluttershy teared up, hunched over herself as the teacher arrived.

"Fluttershy, don't cry. You will only make things worse for yourself." She strode up to the cowering yellow filly and awkwardly extended a comforting wing. As soon as the sobbing subsided she removed her wing. She shot the naughty foals a stern gaze.

"Alright class. Let’s try that again. I can see a few of you are starting to find your wings. Just don't forget, not every pegasus learns to fly straight away."

Fluttershy felt as though the last part was directed at her. A small sigh escaped. She picked herself up, and made her way back to the starting mark, ready to fail again.

Although the class had been told not to expect to fly immediately, several foals continued to tease the filly who did the worst. Weeks had passed and still she could do no better than crash on take-off in their morning flying exercises. The normal classes were not a lot better. Everypony seemed to know Fluttershy made the perfect doormat and took every advantage of it. Days dragged by slowly and weeks, slower still.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy lay at home in her bed. She felt all washed out. It was the weekend, yet she did not even feel the energy to extract herself from the protection of bed. All her tears had been spent on the trip home from another miserable day at school and she felt the urge to never go back to school again. She could feel her dad’s disappointed look as it drilled into her skull as her parents entered the room. It was not the homecoming she had hoped for after the last day of her first term at school. The cloud bed shifted slightly as her mother settled down by her side. Without a word Fluttershy found herself shifted into the protective hold of the darker pegasus. She snuggled into her mother’s soft side and felt herself calm down a little. Soon she fell asleep in the embrace of the one pony who seemed to be able to instil calm upon her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy huffed and puffed as she made it to the top of the highest point of Cloudsdale that a non-flying pegasus could reach. Word had reached her ears that it that this small platform and stairs had been constructed for a rainbow maned filly.

Nope. No pony else was here. Fluttershy sighed. She had hoped to run into Rainbow Dash here.

She slowly made her way to the middle of the platform and noted it was just big enough to fit a couple of young pegasi. That would be perfect for two, if Rainbow Dash was here. Or maybe she had better things to do? She did seem like an awfully active filly.

Fluttershy allowed her gaze to roam the city and for a few moments, her mind found peace in the beauty around her. Far below Cloudsdale she spotted what she supposed was Canterlot. It looked like such a pretty, shiny city. Maybe she would get to visit there one day. She hoped they had nice ponies there. The princess was supposed to be nice, if you were lucky enough to get to meet her. Her mind continued to wander as her gaze returned to her home city. Where would a cool, adventurous, fast filly such as Rainbow Dash live?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at school. The second half of the year started no better.

In the filly’s toilets, hunkered down in one of the stalls to attract as little attention as possible, sat Fluttershy. She could hear the calls of the other foals as they drifted in from outside.

"Hey, Fluttercry! Why not come out so we can see those tears!?"

"Oh, I bet she's crying her eyes out right now."

"Come on out, Fluttercry, we won't hurt you!"

The sound of cruel laughter accompanied the last speaker. Fluttershy reached behind her head to feel her latest painful addition. She winced as her hoof came into contact with the offending bump. She blocked out the sounds of the loud mouthed colts as they continue to call out. Hooves over her ears for extra security, she tried to let her thoughts drift away to a better place.She waited for the moment the meanies would leave her alone like her wise old mother told her they would.

She waited till the voices faded then waited some more, just to make sure that class had started. She fearfully peaked out of the cubicle door. 'No pony in sight. Good.' She breathed a sigh of relief. She snuck off, out the gate and toward home, uncaring about missed learning opportunities. She wanted to deal with the bump on the back of her head now and have some peace. Learning could wait. So could her dad’s anger at her for skipping school.

She snuck into her room and made a beeline toward the small set of draws by her bed, withdrew her small pink diary and a pencil and began to write.

Dear diary,
My first week back in this place has been terrifying. I can't even move without making a fool of myself. At last, the weekend is nearly here. Yay!
At least I'll get to

Fluttershy abruptly stopped writing. She remembered her parents were out of town this weekend. 'Looks like I'll only have grandma here.' She sighed, grandma was nice. But at times like this, she really wanted her mother.

Her mind wandered into darker and darker thoughts as she lay there. Was there even a point in her attending school?

"I wish I could have a friend. Just one." Her meek voice barely seemed to reach the walls of her room. She looked toward the door and considered the prospect of running away. She entertained the idea for a few mindless moments before she remembered her wings. 'I can't fly. I would fall.' Fear gripped her and she shuddered. The thought of crashing into something harder than a cloud seemed awfully painful. Her young body hunched up in defeat and she lowered herself into bed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Singing. Singing is good. Singing is amazing,' Fluttershy thought to herself as the melodies rolled off her tongue. She stood in her room, happy to be away from the foals that meant her harm. She slowly found words to accompany her feelings of freedom. Alone in her room, with no pony to harm her, Fluttershy felt like she could finally enjoy the rest of her Saturday. Her spirit found joy deep within and she began to dance to a tune in her heart. She sang as best she could to articulate her feelings. She began to swish her pink mane around, the feeling of freedom that came with the breeze in her hair was wonderful and made her desire for more. 'I wish I could fly. Then I can feel this all the time.'

She leapt for joy as blissful thoughts entered her mind, made real for her by her imagination. Suddenly she saw the ponies who called her names and were mean to her. Her song altered course, melodies changed to her new mood. A tear leaked down her face but she failed to mind this time. 'No pony is watching me, I'm free.’ She attempted another leap, tripped and smashed into the impossible.

Her world is remade as she stared into the rainbow mane in her face. 'It can't be…’ She hastily disentangled herself from her impossible intruder, not caring in the slightest that she had just been performing to the rainbow maned prankster.

"Hi there, Fluttershy. Guess what?" Rainbow lead off with her usual enthusiasm.

"Um… what?" Fluttershy asked, what could the filly she had collided with for a second time be doing in her sleeping quarters.

"I get to be your classmate! Isn't that so awesome?" The rainbow and blue ball pounced on Fluttershy, and drew the nervous filly into a hug. A few shocked moments pass. Rainbow was about to pull away in embarrassment when Fluttershy warmly returned the unexpected show of affection. She stayed locked in the embrace for what felt like an eternity.

With a start Fluttershy realised she had drifted off into dreamland while singing. She was in fact still alone. It was also still the middle of Saturday. That meant another rough day of school come Monday.