Hurricane Fluttershy
"You found it yet?" Spike's voice echoed from across the room.
"Evidently, I haven't, otherwise we still wouldn't be looking for it," answered Dusk.
"Okay, I was only asking to make sure that you hadn't stumbled across it or anything."
"If I had stumbled across it, I certainly wouldn't have kept it from you."
"But you might have."
"But I haven't. Unless you've found it."
"Of course not. Otherwise, I wouldn't be asking you."
"Exactly my point. I haven't found it, neither have you, so let's stop asking each other pointless questions and keep looking."
Spike raised his claws. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you when I do find it."
"Likewise, I shall do the same." A moment of silence passed. "You do realise I'm just joking with you, right?"
"Yeah, but when I do it, it's funny," countered Spike. "When you do it, it's confusing."
"I don't know, I do find your puzzled expression quite amusing. So does Twilight, for that matter."
"Then both you and she are weird." He went back to rummaging while Dusk smiled, glad that he was back with them.
Dusk had to do a little rummaging around in the dark of the basement with Spike in order to find the film projector Twilight said was kept down here. She said that it was never used very often, so she had never properly categorised where exactly it was down here, among all the other things kept down here. She just told them to look until they found it.
Simple in its concept, yet frustrating in being vague. How many times had Dusk had to deal with that situation in his life?
It wasn't just that they felt like finding it today, though Dusk had been surprised to learn that they had one to begin with. Rainbow Dash was using the library as a meeting place this evening for all the pegasi in Ponyville to make an important presentation. And no, it wasn't about herself, she answered when Spike had asked, in the form of a glare and a punch.
She and Twilight were getting things ready upstairs, while he and Spike were searching down here in the dust and darkness for the projector. Spike had made some crack about mares not wanting to get their hooves dirty and had earned two more glares from both Twilight and Rainbow Dash as a result. Dusk had simply watched from the side-lines, quite torn as to which he might consider to be worse if he were in his place.
Dusk himself didn't mind the task. It was his job as second assistant, friend and coltfriend to do what was asked of him. Even so, the dust was starting to make his nose tickle and he was eager to find the projector and leave.
"Hey, I think I found it!" Spike announced.
Dusk shone his light over. "You think or you have?"
"Don't start that again." He held it up to show that it was what they were looking for. "See, I did find it."
"Well done, you did." He stepped forward. "Do you want me to levitate it upstairs for you?"
"What? So you can take credit for finding it?" He puffed his chest out proudly. "I'm gonna be getting the glory this time."
"If you insist," said Dusk, giving him a small bow out.
"I do." He grunted, trying to lift it. He stopped to rest and tried again. On the third attempt, he managed to lift it up an inch before dropping it. "Yeah, I think I could use a little help."
"I thought you were managing just fine by yourself." He chuckled a little from Spike's look. "Don't worry, I'll help you. It's what I'm here for."
"Great, thanks. Just so long as you say that I found it," he added while Dusk levitated it up.
"Of course." They started to head back upstairs. "There'll be a lot of pegasi gathered tonight if they all show up. I'm wondering if the library will be able to hold all of their numbers."
"It should be fine, this is the biggest venue Rainbow could get on short notice," he shrugged. "I just hope all the noise doesn't scare Peewee."
"As I understand it, phoenixes aren't easily shaken. He'll be fine, especially with you looking after him," he added with a wink.
"Yeah, I know," he mumbled with a blush. "Those books Phoenix sent us are great help too. The guy really knows his stuff."
"I would think so, seeing how he's eponymously connected with your chosen pet," remarked Dusk. "I'm sure you're managing just fine with Peewee."
Spike's blush deepened. "Thanks bro."
"Anytime," he said smiling, arriving back up top. "We found it. Well, Spike did, I just carried it up."
Twilight smiled over from where she was setting up the screen. "Always the modest one. Just set it up over there. Good work, both of you."
"Thanks, Twilight." Spike swelled with a little more pride while they did as she asked. "You know, we should use this thing more often. We could have a movie night or something."
"That's not a bad idea, Spike. That does sound like a nice way to spend an evening," agreed Twilight. "Get some reels of some classics, put the lights down, get some snacks…"
Dusk took it up when he saw the look she gave him. "Curl up together on the sofa, share each other's food, hold hooves while embracing…"
"And partake in a dating tradition I've read up on that involves and I quote, 'making out in the back of a theatre'." She winked over at him. "We haven't done that before and I rather like the idea of trying it out."
"I must say, it does sound quite appealing," he returned, while she fluttered her eyelashes.
Rainbow poked her head out and frowned. "Are they always like this?"
"More than you'd expect, but less than you'd hope," groaned Spike. "Even with my ideas, you always find some way to turn into some kind of date/romance study session and I don't know which is worse."
"Well, we do need to keep up in that particular aspect of study." She giggled a little. "Relax, Spike. If we do have a movie night, Dusk and I will try to keep the sappiness down to a minimum if you're there."
"The keyword being try," added Dusk, earning another giggle from his marefriend.
Spike growled a little and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we were also talking about Phoenix Wing's books he gave me."
"Oh yes, those have been a fascinating read," she said quickly. "I would have found some other bestiaries concerning magical aviaries, but Phoenix really goes into far more detail than any other books I've read."
"I should think so too," nodded Dusk. "It must take some real courage to follow that line of work. Either that, or he's completely mad."
"Madness and brilliance are often two sides of the same coin," quoted Twilight.
"Plus, he's a pretty cool flyer and you can tell he keeps in shape." A slight red tint came to Rainbow's face following that. "I mean, you know, for an egghead."
That reminded Dusk of something. "Hey Rainbow, didn't Phoenix mention about you two staying in touch?"
Her head shot up, her cheeks red. "Yeah, so what? It's not like that means anything? I mean, I'm allowed to have a pen pal, aren't I? What are you trying to say, huh?"
"Nothing at all," he replied, keeping his voice level. "I'm just saying that it's good you two are making an effort to maintain your friendship. You seemed to get along quite well."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" she demanded, zooming up.
"Um, Rainbow? They're here," Twilight said, pointing out the window to where a number of pegasi were arriving.
Apparently quite happy to have a distraction, Rainbow darted forward and opened the door to greet her fellow flying ponies. Dusk was just left exchanging a knowing smile with Twilight. After what had happened to her concerning him, it was nice to see her having the prospect for another that might make her happy. It was a small chance, but it was there.
Once everypony was sat down, Spike proceeded to show the film, explaining how Cloudsdale's rainwater came from highland reservoirs from different parts of Equestria. The only way to get this water up to the city of clouds was if a group of pegasi created a tornado of eight-hundred wing power to send it up so it could be converted into clouds.
It was all going well, until Spike decided to put his finger in the spoke against Dusk's wishes, causing the film to be unravelled from its spool and the movie to stop.
"Uh… intermission?" he tried when the pegasi all turned to face him.
Regardless, Rainbow took up the speech, telling them that it was Ponyville's reservoir that had been chosen to provide the much needed water. In addition to this, the Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire would be arriving to oversee the transfer and record their top tornado wind speed, which Rainbow intended to bring up to one thousand in order to break the record set by Fillydelphia.
"If each and every pony trains, and trains hard to get their wing power numbers up." She paused when somepony coughed. "That coughing better be from a popcorn kernel, Thunderlane. Nopony's getting sick on my watch. So, are we gonna train hard? "
"Yeah!" chorused the crowd.
"Are we gonna be strong?"
"Yeah!"
"Are we gonna be fast?"
"YEAH!"
"Record-smashing fast?"
"Yeah!" roared a particularly buff stallion.
"Who's with me?"
The whole crowd was left cheering in support in the wake of her speech. Dusk noted that she appeared to be glaring at something in the front row. It only appeared to be a minor thing, for she still had full support of the rest of them.
"You think they can pull it off?" Twilight asked, once they all left.
"You know me. Have faith, right?" He yawned noticeably. "Well, I'll see you both tomorrow. Good night."
Spike echoed his action. "Yeah, we better hit the sack too. Later."
"Not so fast, you two." Twilight's magic yanked them both back. "We've got to tidy this place up before we go to bed, now come on."
Dusk looked around at the discarded cushions, scattered kernels and askew bowls left in the wake of the meeting and sank visibly.
"You know," he said to Spike, "as much as I love working here, there are rare times when I think I should seek different employment."
"Is this one of them?" he asked in understanding.
"It's getting close to it, yes." Knowing it was best to get this over with, he moved to assist Twilight. So much for an early night…
Wearing her coach's cap and whistle for effect in her role, Rainbow watched as the pegasi of Ponyville began to gather together for their first training session in preparation for the transporting of the water and breaking the wind speed record.
Of course, they didn't have to actually try and break the record. The main reason they were all here was to make sure that the water was transported up to Cloudsdale. The record was entirely optional. Even so, there was an opportunity to aim even higher than what they were given and Rainbow was prepared to see that they took that chance, especially with Spitfire coming along to watch.
She could just now start to picture the expression on the captain's face when they broke the record and told her that she was the one who responsible for doing it. This could be another chance for her to secure a spot with the Wonderbolts, as well as make Ponyville famous. Even if they didn't break the record, she was still prepared to do her duty to both Cloudsdale and Equestria. Nothing was gonna stop her from achieving those goals.
Her fellow pegasi started to get to work with various exercises, from trotting to wing lifting and wingups. Just looking around now, motivating and calling to them, she could tell they were all prepared to give this task their all too. Nice to see that she wasn't going to be alone in this and her motivational speech had worked. Of course it had, who wouldn't wanna get behind her?
She found herself wondering what that Phoenix guy would think if he could see this. She then blushed and batted down that thought with a mental stick, forcing herself to concentrate on what was important.
However, she was distracted again when she saw a familiar green form sat under a tree not far off from the track. Making sure the others were still practicing, she flew over and grinned at him.
"Trying to hide from me under a tree, huh?" she asked, noting the pencil and notepad he had with him. "Should have woken up earlier to try and sneak up on me."
"Oh no, my plan has failed." He suddenly vanished and his voice came from behind her. "Surprise attack!"
She jumped a little and laughed. "Okay, you got me. Anyway, what brings you to this neck of the woods?"
"Curious expression that. Woods have no bodies to speak of, so why would they have necks?" He shrugged. "I'm just here to spectate. Dusk told me about what was happening here and I thought it would be worth checking out."
"Just here to watch me work, huh?" she asked, with a wink. "You don't have to try and hide it from me, Ray, I understand."
"How sincere of you," he returned.
Another thought occurred to her. "Shouldn't you be at the farm or are you just bunking off for me?"
"If only it were that simple," he laughed. "Actually, Applejack kindly gave me a few days off on account of my hard work, so now I'm just freeloading around here."
"Right, I getcha." Not able to ignore this any longer, she peered over at his notepad. "What's this for? You're not gonna go all Twilight on me and start drawing up some kind of regime, are you?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing like that." He smiled and held it up. "This is for one of my novels. I haven't really had a whole lot of time to work of them lately and let's just say I've got plenty of information from recent events."
"I bet you have." She found herself a little intrigued from this, remembering that he said he wrote adventure and fantasy stuff. "Mind if I have a little look at what you got so far?"
His smile brightened. "Sure, if you-"
"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" a voice called from the track. "Little help here? Blossomforth is a little more tangled up than we thought!"
"Be right there!" she called, looking back to Ray. "Sorry, I gotta take care of this. Maybe another time?"
"Sounds good to me," he nodded.
Rainbow returned the smile and went to untangle Blossomforth from herself. She glanced back at the unicorn as he started to make notes. She had to admit, he was a pretty cool guy. It was too bad he was more into Fluttershy, but she wasn't going to make the same mistake the last time she had her eyes set on a stallion.
Another thought crossed her mind if Phoenix was single, batted down that thought again and returned her focus to training up her fellow pegasi.
An hour passed in which Rainbow observed her team training, knowing that they were getting stronger and faster with each second that passed. Each time it would be a little closer to breaking the record. Feeling something needed to be said, she blew her whistle to get their attention.
"Keep it up! We're gonna need all the wing power we can get to break that record!" she encouraged.
"Yeah!" roared the muscled Snowflake.
"Good work, everypony! Everypony except Fluttershy," she added to herself quietly.
A whole hour now and the butter yellow Pegasus still hadn't shown up for practice. She remembered how nervous she was about attending the meeting and how she'd tried to avoid that and now this. What was up with her?
She didn't really want to leave the session, so she looked and saw Ray still sat under the tree. Perfect.
"Hey, Ray!" she called. "Can you go check up on Fluttershy and bring her back, if you can?"
"No problem!" he called back, placing his stuff inside a saddlebag and heading off.
She would have gone herself, but hopefully Ray would be up to it. If anypony could get Fluttershy to come along, it was him. She silently wished him luck while he headed off and was distracted by coughing.
She returned to her element and rounded on the culprit. "That better not be you, Thunderlane or you're in for a lot more trotting!"
In the bathroom of her house, Fluttershy looked herself over in the mirror, using a brush and paint to put on the effect she wanted. She had been sleeping with a hot water bottle, so she should be convincingly hot and the makeup she'd put on made her look pale and sickly. In her opinion, she'd done enough to make this work.
She didn't like letting down her friends, but Rainbow had all of those other, much better pegasi to work with for this. She didn't need her, what could she contribute? Besides, she couldn't do this even if she wanted to. Not that she didn't. All of those ponies, watching her, like she was performing in front of them all.
It made her quiver just thinking about it. Then again, that might help to make her appear more sick.
She squealed slightly when she heard a knocking at her door, followed by Ray's voice.
"Fluttershy? You in there? Rainbow just sent me to check on you and why you haven't come to tornado duty!"
Blushing a little at thought of facing the stallion wearing her robes, she went to the door, took a second to prepare herself and opened it, doing her best to look as sick as possible.
She put on a hopefully convincing sneeze. "Oh… hey, Ray."
"Whoa, what happened to you?" he asked.
"Oh, I… I think I have… the pony pox," she said, with a cough. "I'm sorry, I really, really wanted to come to training day today but this pony pox has really knocked me for a loop." She added an extra sneeze for good measure.
Ray stared at her for a good few seconds, before smiling slightly. "Nice try, Flutters, but I'm gonna have to say you're not sick at all."
"What?! I mean, um… why would you say that?" she asked, caught off guard by that.
"Three reasons. First of all, that's the fakest sneezing I've ever heard. Second, you were perfectly fine yesterday. Third, you're clearly wearing makeup," he finished, wiping some off for emphasis. "Also, bonus points, pony pox spots are red, not brown."
"Oh… right…" Feeling utterly humiliated at being found out by him, she backed up into her house, getting another idea. "I'll just get out of these robes and-" She affected a fall to the floor. "Oh, my wing, oh, ow, it's hurt, I guess I can't fly after all-"
"Boo!" Ray teleporting right next to her and shouting made her shoot into the air, hovering before she knew it. "Wow, curing pony pox and a broken wing. Maybe I should be a doctor."
Fluttershy just lapsed into embarrassed silence. Ray's expression softened and he beckoned her down.
"Talk to me, Flutters. What's really wrong here?" he asked sympathetically.
"Oh… well… you see, um…" All of a sudden, it just tumbled out. "I just can't do it! I can't fly!"
"What do you mean? You look like you can fly just fine to me," he noted.
"That's just for normal times, for getting around," she explained. "This whole tornado thing, it's more like a performance, and you know how I hate performing in front of others. Did I ever tell you about when Rainbow and I were at flight camp?"
He thought for a moment. "I think she mentioned it one time, but not in any detail."
"If she had, then you'd know. I couldn't gallop hard, or fly fast, not with everypony looking at me!" she squealed.
"It can't have been that bad," he tried optimistically.
"You're right, Ray, it wasn't bad. It was horrible!" The memories flooded back, being shoved off a high jump and trying to fly, but failing. "The other foals used to tease me, a lot!"
That horrid chanting echoed in her head like a mantra.
Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!
She shook her head to clear it. "I just can't risk that sort of humiliation again..."
"I see… well, maybe you could…" He trailed off whatever he was going to say and nodded. "Actually, in the end, it's your decision. I'll go and tell Rainbow about this. I'm sure she'll understand."
Even though his voice was understanding, she could hear the tones of disappointment in it while he started to head back outside. Suddenly, Fluttershy forgot about her fears after hearing that. Ray had been sent to find her and bring her back, expecting her to at least try. Now, she was sending him away, empty-hooved, back to an equally disappointed Rainbow Dash.
He'd gone out of his way to come here and find her, with Rainbow epxpecting her help. Even though she could still hear the echoes of that chanting in her head, the feeling of letting down two of her closest friends was even greater.
"Ray, wait." The words were a little harder to get out than she thought. "I'll do it."
"Really? You will?" She nodded and he beamed. "That's good to hear, Flutters. You'll be great, I know it."
"I hope so…"
He glanced at the clock. "Actually, since practice is almost over for the day, you might as well stay here and get some rest. I'll tell Rainbow you'll be there tomorrow. See you then."
"Right… see you then," she repeated, watching him go and leaving her to wonder if she'd made the right choice.
Twilight set down the anemometer while Dusk sat nearby with a quill and notepad, taking in the fresh air. This would certainly be a nice change from working indoors and it was a beautiful day out, with a beautiful mare to match. He winked over at Twilight, who blushed and smiled, returning it.
"We all set up here, Dusk?" Twilight asked, while he looked over the device.
He hesitated a moment. "I have absolutely no idea if this is actually working, but I'm going to say it is."
"That fills me with confidence," she giggled. "Just turn the fan and see if the pointer goes up."
"Right." He did so and nodded. "Yes, it's working. It's true, you do learn something new."
"Congratulations, you know how to spin a fan. Will wonders never cease?" They both laughed it off. "Thanks for coming along to help out today."
"No problem. With Spike looking after Peewee today, it's obvious I need to do my part," he said brightly. "I just think of it as a date. A very professional, scientific date."
"I suppose that does make things easier," she agreed, as a Pegasus called Cloudchaser approached.
"What exactly does this machine do?" she asked when she reached her.
"This is an anemometer. It measures your accelerative velocity and translates it into wing power, thus gauging your cumulative H2O anti-gravitational potential," she explained. "Any other questions?"
"Yeah." Her friend Flitter turned to Dusk. "What exactly does this machine do?"
"As best I understand it, it tells you the speed of your flight and the strength of your wings," he told her.
The rest all nodded in understanding, while Twilight frowned from his apparent devaluing of her explanation. He gave her a sheepish smile, just when somepony in the crowd coughed.
"Is that you again, Thunderlane? Please, we need to have a germ-free environment," she reiterated, spraying a detergent can near him.
"It wasn't me, it was Blossomforth," he protested.
"Don't worry, Twilight. Thunderlane's just cooking up an excuse to spend tornado day in bed," assured Rainbow. "Why don't you get over here and be our first test flyer, Thunderlane?"
He saw him glare at a mare he assumed was Blossomforth before he went to take his place on the starting line. Almost the instant he left, he heard her cough. He caught her eye and the look he gave her made her blush and look away. He returned his attention to the track, before Twilight accused him of staring at other mares.
Dusk took off his glasses and replaced them with the Wonderbolts flying goggles Rainbow had given him once. Even if it was during her fairy possession, they were still good quality and he didn't want to discard them.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Why are you wearing those?"
He shrugged. "I'm just getting in the spirit of things."
"But you're not even flying."
"It doesn't mean I can't show my support in my own way."
"Can you see okay out of them?"
"I'm fine, Twilight." He looked over at her. "You're looking very orange today."
"How kind of you to notice." She gave an exasperated sort of laugh and nodded to Thunderlane.
Dusks stood ready to record his wing power. His wings buzzed and he sped off from the starting line, spinning the anemometer as he flew by.
"We have 9.3 wing power," reported Twilight, while the others all commemorated him.
Rainbow looked over his shoulder at the result. "Not bad...not bad."
Cracking the joints in her rear legs, front legs and wings to loosen them up, Rainbow took her turn. Dusk could see what was coming and was very glad he held onto his hat when she sped by. Even the watching crowd had to brace against the wind she produced.
"16.5 wing power!" read out Twilight, her mane slightly askew from the strength of the wind.
The spectators cheered louder than ever for this display, until Rainbow quietened them for another speech.
"Now listen up! If each of you can get your numbers up to at least 10.0 wing power by the end of the week, we'll no doubt set a new tornado speed record. We'll be number one!"
They all cheered, flying up in excitement. All except for one certain little sister of his, who remained on the ground, smiling tentatively and her wings fluttering unsurely.
The rest of the pegasi all flew by, taking their turns. The numbers were looking good already, most of them scoring between eight or nine wing power. All very impressive, though Dusk had to question how exactly Snowflake managed to lift himself off the ground, let alone achieve the 9.9 that he ended up scoring.
Eventually, they were narrowed down to only one more.
"Impressive," noted Rainbow, looking at the results. "Fluttershy, your turn."
She blew her whistle while Fluttershy took her place, her legs shaking noticeably and everypony else gathering to watch. She took a deep breath and took off, evident strain on her face. She picked up some good speed, and looked pleased with herself but faltered towards the end, around the time some others started laughing.
She grimaced and reduced her speed, resulting in a very gentle breeze. Twilight and Rainbow looked at the reading and exchanged nervous looks, urging the other to tell the expectant Pegasus what she achieved. Dusk didn't like where this was going and stood next to Ray, who had made his way over to them.
Eventually, Rainbow turned to her. "Um... great job, Fluttershy! You measured, uh, uh, .5."
At first, she looked pleased… then, she actually started to let that sink in. Out of all of the group, she had done the worst. Her eyes narrowed in terror, her legs shook violently and she shied away from voices Dusk couldn't hear. In the end, she did the only thing he knew she would do.
She ran, quietly sobbing, her face hidden behind her flowing mane.
"Fluttershy, wait!" Rainbow and Ray both took off after her. "So some punks poked a little fun at you and you got stage fright, big deal. You aren't gonna go quit just because of that, are you?"
"Yes!" Dusk could feel the pity like a punch to his gut from how she sounded.
"But you can better, you just need to train more," tried Ray.
"No, no I won't!" she sobbed, tears streaming down her face.
"But I need you!" urged Rainbow.
"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, I just don't have the courage right now..." Before they could say anything else, she galloped off back home.
"Let her go, Ray," said Dusk, when it looked like he would follow. "I know it's hard, but I think she needs some time to herself right now.
He struggled for a bit, but sagged in concession. "Fine… if you say so…"
Rather reluctantly, he returned to the course. Rainbow ended up kicking the dirt in frustration, but also headed back, regret showing clearly on her face.
Though the training went on that day without further incident, Dusk could tell that Rainbow had lost much of her previous vigour. She still called out support for the other pegasi and motivation for them to try harder, but he could still see the troubled expression on her face. Now and again, he'd see her looking for something, then her face would screw up in disappointment and she'd shout at somepony for no reason.
Likewise, whereas Ray had been rather excited and supportive before, he became uncharacteristically quiet and reserved. If Dusk tried to talk to him, he would respond with single word answers and little else, occasionally glancing in the direction Fluttershy had fled to. He knew he wanted to help her and it was eating up at him inside. He wanted to help her too, but he there wasn't much they could do. At least, right now.
That was why later in the evening, when Rainbow and Ray had just drifted off home, Dusk made his way to Fluttershy's cottage. It was out of his own volition as being like her brother and at Twilight's request that he was doing so, but he knew it would be good to offer her some encouragement and support to try and lift her spirits, hopefully returning with good news.
He became worried when he knocked on her door and she didn't answer. Was she so distraught she wasn't accepting visitors? Then he heard grunts of exertion coming from around the back. Curious, he wandered around and came across an unexpected sight. Practically sweating in buckets and motivated by her animals, Fluttershy was performing wing-ups with exhausted, yet resolute vigour.
He watched from the shadows, hardly daring to believe it. Instead of letting her depression get the better of her, she was actively trying to improve herself, training harder than possibly all of the other pegasi he'd seen practicing today. Even just watching her, he could feel pride starting to well up inside. Those assertive lessons had really paid off.
Deciding to leave her to it, he smiled and slipped away, knowing he'd definitely have some good news for tomorrow.
The following day was back at the training course, observing how all of the others had improved since yesterday, most if not all of the flyers here getting their wing power up to ten. Even from the following day, Rainbow was still excited at the prospect.
"This is crazy awesome! We're gonna smash that record!"
Twilight had to agree. Though she wasn't flying, she could still appreciate all of the hard work the pegasi were putting in to achieve their goal. Plus, it was rather fun to watch them, especially when it was with Dusk.
Ray, on the other hoof, was still rather forlorn, sat under the same tree he had been before. Were it his own choice, he probably wouldn't even be here. But Dusk had told him to come along and when asked why had given the same response he had to Twilight: you'll see.
Did that mean he had spoken to Fluttershy and she was now feeling better? Was she going to come back or was she just not upset anymore? Her thoughts were interrupted by a ssurriel, who chittered excitedly near her hoof?
"I don't suppose there's any point in asking what he's saying," noted Dusk.
"Do I look like I speak squirrel?" she returned.
"I don't either, but I'd say his meaning is very clear." With a triumphant smile, Dusk pointed towards something in the glare of the sun.
Flying with a confidence that made her seem like a whole different pony and surrounded by her animals, Fluttershy floated on the scene. She barely even glanced at them, her eyes fixed on the starting line. The only one her gaze lingered on was Ray, who was staring quite openly before he remembered himself and cleared his throat with a heavy blush.
She took her place there, fluttered her wings and sped along the track, whizzing by the anemometer at a much greater speed than yesterday. She looked so confident, so assured as she did… until her wing power was read out to her.
"2.3. 2.3?!" Like an ice cube in a fire, her confidence melted away. "That has to be some kind of mistake! I worked so hard!"
"We know and it really shows," encouraged Ray. "That was much better than yesterday."
"You did awesome, Fluttershy," added Ray.
"No I didn't. I thought I'd gotten over my nerves, but they still got the best of me!" Tears started to brim in her eyes again. "There's no way I'll fly with 10.0 wing power by tomorrow!"
"So you won't fly with 10.0 wing power. Every bit counts!" she insisted.
Fluttershy glared cynically. "How would you feel if everypony else was flying with 10.0 wing power and you were flying with 2.5?"
"Fluttershy, it wouldn't matter if you were flying with 0.25 wing power, you'd still be making a difference," insisted Ray. "I know that, no matter what you might think of how big or small it is, you can have a bigger impact than even you can envision."
That didn't seem to be as effective as he'd hoped. "And how would you know that?"
"Well… um… I…" He lost his nerve suddenly, rubbing the back of his head. "You know… um… I… well, I…"
"Exactly," she said, like that proved her point. "I'm sorry Ray, Rainbow Dash, but I just can't do it."
Ray started to move after her, but he retracted his hoof and watched her go. Anger flashed across his face, but Dusk somehow knew that it was more directed at himself than at her and he left without a word, shame replacing his anger.
"So much for that then," said Twilight to Dusk, while the rest started to trail off. "What happens now?"
Dusk sighed and tried to speak optimistically. "Now, we look to tomorrow and hope."
She nodded absently. "Do you think there's anything we can do?"
"As much as I hate saying this, I don't think so," he replied sombrely. "When I said about waiting, I wasn't talking so much about the tornado."
His words still echoed in Twilight's head when tomorrow did come. Ponyville's pegasi all gathered at the reservoir in the evening, a line that stretched all the way back to town while they waited to do their duty. Dusk was going along making a register of everypony gathered, while Spitfire arrived from Cloudsdale. She could Rainbow restrain herself in the presence of the captain and keep her professionalism.
Twilight made sure the anemometer was working. It wasn't just a bigger version. She had just cast an enlargement spell on her current one in order to use for the final result. Her calculations told her that they'd have enough pegasi to reach eight hundred wing power and break the record, but it was still good to have raw data here. Luckily, the spell hadn't effected the internal mechanism in any way, so they were good to go.
It was all looking good, even Ray had turned up to watch the final event, until Dusk reported to Rainbow that Thunderlane and about eight other flyers hadn't arrived because they were all in bed with feather flu. Just to make sure, Twilight ran some calculations and gasped when she saw the results.
"Don't tell me we won't be able to break the windspeed record?" Rainbow asked fearfully.
"No... you might not have enough wing power to create a tornado powerful enough to lift the water to Cloudsdale!" she told her, breaking her temporary relief.
"Can we still make the attempt then?" asked Dusk.
Rainbow looked around at the worried pegasi and Spitfire, who was now checking her watch with a degree of impatience. Her expression hardened and she pulled down her goggles.
"Yeah, of course we do," she answered confidently. "Forget the record. Cloudsdale still needs water! Okay, everypony! Let's give it all we've got! On Dusk's signal, we take off!"
Twilight hurried to it, made one final check and nodded to Dusk. He did so in kind and made a green colour shape in the air, reading 'fly'! As one, the pegasi took off, circling above the reservoir and creating a tornado in seconds.
She kept an eye on the readings as they climbed higher, Dusk holding firmly onto his hat and squinting through his goggles. It climbed steadily higher, the winds picking up and gaining strength. The water began to rise in little droplets at around five hundred, prompting her and Dusk to brace themselves against the anemometer so they wouldn't fly away, Ray constantly teleporting whenever he lost his hoofing.
It was around seven-hundred and fifty wing power that they received some unexpected company.
"Twilight! Dusk, Ray!"
"Fluttershy! What are you doing here?!" she yelled to the struggling Pegasus.
"I figured... if I couldn't help Rainbow Dash with the tornado... the least I could do was offer moral support!" she called back, Ray teleporting and helping her over. "Thank you!"
"She could sure use it, considering eight Pegasi are sick with the feather flu!" she told her.
"Oh no! That's terrible news!" she gasped, bracing against the wind with them.
Even though she was focusing on the meter, Twilight could see that Ray's mood had visibly improved with her presence, remaining close in case she was blown away. That was one area she was making a difference then.
She looked to see the water started to rise in one, big globule. She thought they might make it… but something happened. She didn't know what, but the tornado began to career out of control, flyers being thrown out of it one by one. Eventually, it lost cohesion and dissipated, the water landing back in the reservoir with a loud splash.
Rainbow crash-landed right next to them, smacking right into a tree. They ran over to check on her, Dusk helping to pull her out.
"Oh, you were so close to the eight hundred wing power minimum!" she informed her sadly. "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash."
However, she was far from perturbed. "We've got to try again!"
"But you've pushed your crew to their limit already!" She caught her by the tail with her magic. "If you break apart again, somepony could get hurt! You should quit, it's not safe!"
But she just swiped her hoof away. "No! One more time! I've gotta know we gave it our all! If I'm going down, I'm going down flying! C'mon, ponies, let's make this happen!"
She really was an inspiration, for all her fellow pegasi were willing to try again. So again, on Dusk's signal, they took off once more and the meter started to rise. Even above the roaring wind, she could hear Rainbow desperately encouraging her team, pushing them to give it everything they had.
She called out whenever the meter rose up to a hundred. She didn't know if they could hear her, but she figured it would help to motivate them. They needed all they could get. Dusk remained close, standing protectively by her side in case the wind carried her away. She took strength from his presence and channelled into holding on harder.
She could see Ray do the same for Fluttershy, the wind whipping up their manes, but always making sure that she was safe before checking he was. She checked the machine, the tension rising to unbearable levels when she saw it.
"Seven ninety five! We are so close!" cried Twilight over the din.
"Fluttershy! They need you!" Ray yelled.
"I won't make a difference!" she insisted.
"Yes, you will! They just need a little more and they'll be able to pull it off!"
"Have faith, little sister!" added Dusk, gripping as hard as he could. "Just try! It's holding at seven ninety five and they can't give anymore!"
"We know you can do it! I know you can do it!" encouraged Ray.
"How do you know? How do you know I can make a difference at all?"
Dusk could feel the immense weight from Ray's next words. "Because I know one thing I know wouldn't be the same without you! My life, Fluttershy! I can't imagine it without you anymore!"
"I… I'm really that important to you?"
"More than you know." He looked her straight in the eye when he said this and even Twilight could feel the conviction in his words. Ray was often direct when it came to this.
Maybe, she thought wildly, he had meant to say this yesterday too.
She noticed that there was a change in Fluttershy. She'd felt it too. All she needed was one last push. As a final gesture, Dusk removed his goggles and gave them to her. She looked at them, her gaze lingering on Ray longer than anything else. Finally, she took them, nodded and with a look of determination he rarely saw from her, she shot off towards the tornado.
At first, there was no change, remaining at seven ninety five. Then, slowly but sure, it rose to seven ninety eight. She was doing it and she was surpassing her best wing power number! She made sure to tell the other two that and kept an eye on the meter. Just a little further, Fluttershy, she urged mentally. Come on, we're so close!
She heard it. Though it was tinny compared to the tornado, the anemometer reported that they'd reached the minimum of eight hundred wing power. Elation mounting, she watched the tornado grow even larger, could see the water rising higher. At last, it reached the top, the momentum carrying it in a stream all the way to Cloudsdale.
She heard Ray whooping, could see Spitfire staring in disbelief and even Twilight was overcome by this success.
"She did it! She did it! They all did it!" She would have gone on, but she'd already grabbed Dusk and kissed him, swept up in the moment.
She let go long enough to allow him to signal them to stop once all the water had been drained and pulled him in for another kiss. By the time they broke apart, all the pegasi were cheering and applauding at their achievement, but there was one still zooming around, apparently unaware that it was over.
Rainbow flew up and stopped Fluttershy by moving a cloud into her path.
She blinked like she had been snapped out of a trance. "Whuh, what? Did we do it?"
"Yeah, we did it! You did it!" she exclaimed, hugging her and sharing a high wing.
She lead her back to the ground, where everypony started to congratulate her, saying they couldn't have done it without her. However, she had eyes for only one pony, who hurried towards her, looking breathless.
"Wow… you did it," expressed Ray, grinning away.
"Yeah, I did…" Silence passed. "Do you… think I made a difference?"
He chuckled. "I don't know, do you?"
She beamed and caught him in a hug. "Thank you, Ray. Thank you so much."
"Heh… no problem, you know, I was just…" Whatever he was going to say descended into gibberish when she added a kiss to his cheek.
"Nice job, Rainbow Dash," commented Spitfite, walking over. "You may not have set a new record, but you showed a lot of guts."
"Thanks, but if you wanna talk guts, then you've gotta give it to my number one flyer, Fluttershy! Let's hear it for Fluttershy!" she cried.
At first, Fluttershy shied away from all the attention, but when it dawned that they were cheering for her, she just let it come, looking happier than she'd ever been over the past few days. As Dusk made colour swirls dance around her and she blushed from Ray's warm smile, Twilight knew this was going to make an interesting letter to the princess.
However, above all the cheering and celebrating, Ray still had one question.
"If we just transferred all of the water in the reservoir to Cloudsdale... then... where's Ponyville gonna get its water from?"
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Note to the author, sometimes it's hard to tell which he or she your referring thoughout the chapter. You might want to use their names a little more, especially since there are so many ponies in this chapter.
RD is about as subtle as a rampaging rhino at the beginning there isn't she?
And yay for Ray xFlutters. They're going to be adorably awkward for a little while I can tell.
2827477 Duly noted. I'll correct that when I have the chance.
2827489
I can't say I disapprove.i.imgur.com/dB5nN.png
2828281
Does this mean your character will be sticking around for a little while?
You Know, I Haven't Thought about That.
2828291 Maybe.. depends on Alpha. Phoenix Wing will probably not be a second Ray by any stretch. I am rather happy with the acceptance he's gotten from the readers.
I fully expected him to be a one chapter figure and then a few mention in regards of books or letters he send, maybe being penpals with Rarity and one of his letters being misunderstood by Spike.
For him to become a love interest of Rainbow Dash of all mares, although Alpha has been showing RD as closet romantic, I never expected that.
Props to Alpha.i.imgur.com/OzWNB.png
Now we just need a partner for AJ i.imgur.com/aPZth.png
and Pinkiei.imgur.com/aMNtT.png
2828591
I'm scared to think of Pinkie >.<
Obviously you couldn't be another Ray though, the personalities are way too different.
2828648 DAY-UM STRAIGHT.
Though I must admit, my OC's confident attitude is slowly being dissolved with every moment he spends in the company of Fluttersh-*coughcough*
Ummmm......*gently rubs cheek*.......moving on.
2828648 Not for Pinkie, whoever she ropes in to be her coltfriend.i.imgur.com/uEidI.png
Party all day, every day. that's got to be tiring
2828672
She has that affect on ponies/dragons/godsofchaos/ect
(Can you imagine Keep Calm and Flutter On? Between Dusk and Ray, it won't be pretty)
2827490 Hey, just thought I'd let you know. As much as I love your stories, I do see some errors and whatnot that detract from the value of the fic. If you want, I could look over each chapter for you before you submit it.
I just want to help.
2833462 There's not many more chapters to go. Once I'm done, with some help that you could provide, I intend to go over and make corrections where there are mistakes.
2835871 Alright then.
As they'd say in the past...Quillin Words, at your service!
That seems like it just kind of came out of nowhere, it made it seem more like Fluttershy was going to do something drastic that she might not make it out of alive more than anything.