> Fluttershy's Secret
>  by RainbowDasher21
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: School Time For Fluttershy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I think I've been having these feelings towards you for a long time. I never knew what they were... Not until that night when I, when I yelled at you. And when I saw you and your wings, I just couldn’t live with myself knowing I did it to a pony I loved. I think it really clicked, on that very night, that I liked you as more than a friend.”

Fluttershy couldn't believe the words that had came out of Dash's mouth at that moment. Ever since they were fillies, Rainbow Dash - actually felt attracted to her? This whole time? Fluttershy didn't know what to say, but, luckily for her - she didn't need to say any more. Before she realized it, their faces were literally a few centimeters apart. Then, from out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash closed the gap, as she pressed her lips onto the timid mare's soft and gentle lips. A small part of Shy's mind was laughing, as she could hear the future-Wonderbolt moaning lightly, clearly enjoying the kiss.

For Fluttershy, it felt like every negative energy that was in her was gone, replaced with never-ending feelings of love, joy, peace and happiness. To Fluttershy, Rainbow's lips were sweeter, than any candy, cake or ice cream, all at once. Even more refreshing than a cold glass of water on a hot day. Neither of them had noticed how lost they were in this first kiss of theirs, until Dash began to pull away. Shy gave a small grunt, really wanting to try and stay connected, but Dash soon jumped out of her seat, flying and doing as many tricks as possible, while exclaiming that this kiss was her "BEST. KISS. EVER!"

==========

After that first kiss, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash started dating. It had been a whole year since her 'incident' with her wings. Fluttershy truly regretted doing that now... In one sense anyway. On one hoof, it had brought her and Dash closer than ever before, leading to the moment she had always dreamed of being in. On the other hoof though, it had put her through an agonizing amount of pain, pain she wished she'd never have to feel again. But, she had received the help she needed for her mental state. She felt better now, and because her friends would always be there for her - especially Dash, she knew that she wouldn't need to put herself in that situation again.....

==========

It was a bright and sunny day in Ponyville. The sun shined through the open window of a cottage. The cottage was located near the edge of the Everfree Forest. Inside it lived a very shy and timid pony. *BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!* The alarm clock bellowed out in the bedroom. Fluttershy lay in her big, soft and warm bed, snoring very quietly. Her ears twitched slightly as the alarm clock went off. She reached a hoof over to the right side of the bed, but she was too far away. With a small grunt, she rolled over from the left side of the bed over to the right, to reach the bed-side cabinet on the right. Once she got close enough, with her eyes still closed, she reached over to find the 'SNOOZE' button. As her hoof gently tapped the button, the alarm stopped beeping. A small smile formed on her little yellow face. She rolled back into the middle of her bed. Shy let out a big, happy sigh. To her, it was a loud sigh. But to any other pony, it would of been like a mouse squeaking.

Fluttershy slowly tried to open her eyes, but there was so much sleep holding her eyelids down, that they simply refused to open. She blinked in vain a few times, before tiredly wiping at them with her hooves. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, imagining that her special pony was standing over her. Her smile grew at the thought of Rainbow Dash being there with her. 'If only Rainbow Dash were here...' Fluttershy thought happily to herself. She could imagine it now - Rainbow stood on top of her, either nibbling her or tickling her until she died of laughter. Fluttershy giggled to herself at the thought. She knew Dash could be a real teaser at times. But, she could tell in her eyes, that Dash seemed to enjoy it. Even before they started dating, Fluttershy seemed to notice how Rainbow enjoyed 'pulling her tail'. She had also seemed to flirt with her a lot, calling Fluttershy her 'sweet little filly', among other pet-like names. Her favourite nick-name, though, was 'Flutters'. Fluttershy found it cute, and even enjoyed being called it. Of course, Shy had come up with her own nick-name for the future-Wonderbolt - Dashie. Rainbow blushed slightly when being called that, but there was nothing to see to say that she hated the name. Her embarrassment was probably out of finding it adorable, or something like that.

Before she even knew it, Flutters' wings began to flutter up with excitement. However, she soon began to notice and shook her head quickly, but not too quickly as to avoid a headache. She gently and slowly pushed her wings back down, as she tried to clear her head of her long-time crush. 'Come on Flutters, you can think about her later,' she thought to herself, 'you got stuff to do right now.' She looked at the alarm, and noticed that the time was 6.50am. Fluttershy's eyes widened, as her jaw dropped. 

"Oh my gosh! I'm running late!" Fluttershy said softly to herself, in a panicked tone. She quickly pulled the covers off of her and sat down on the right side of her bed, while she neatly pulled the covers back up to the pillows. If there was anything you could say about Fluttershy, other than how she was timid and easily embarrassed, it was that she was extremely tidy. A Pegasus who cleaned at all was a rare find, let alone one like Fluttershy.

With a small jump, Fluttershy got off of her bed, and finished arranging her bed in the way she always left it when she wasn't sleeping in it. Luckily for her, Angel had decided to sleep in his house last night. It was a good thing for Shy, since she was pretty sure that she must have active in her sleep last night. Fluttershy stepped into her bathroom, and looked in the mirror. She let out a small gasp, then blushed slightly. Her mane was everywhere, a few strands of it going in all directions. Overall, it was a complete mess. 'O-oh dear, wha-what did I dream last night?' Fluttershy thought to herself, as she grabbed a hair comb from one of the cabinets below the sink. She put one hoof on her hair, and brushed it slowly, as she looked up at the ceiling, thinking to herself. She closed her eyes, trying to remember her dream from last night.

The dream

Then, a smile began to grow across her small, meek face. The memories flooded back in, as she dreamt that her and Dash were running around on some clouds, playing tag. They were smiling and laughing, and just simply enjoying each other's company. It made Fluttershy happy, because it was just like the old days when they played together in flight school. Suddenly. Rainbow lunged into her and they began to roll down a small hill (obviously made from clouds, since they were in Cloudsdale). As they finished rolling down the hill, they just stayed where they lay, looking into each other's eyes.

"You look beautiful, you know that right?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in a calm voice. Fluttershy looked at her with big eyes, blushing like a rose. She hid behind her large, pink mane as she began to get really embarrassed. Dash noticed this, and just giggled. She put a reassuring hoof on her friend's left-shoulder.

"Come on Shy, you don't need to be shy here," Dash explained to her in a soothing tone, "It's just us here." A quiet laugh came from behind Shy's mane. She slowly brushed it away from her face, as she faced the cyan Pegasus once more.

"You... you r-really think... that, I'm b-b-beautiful?" Fluttershy asked quietly. Dash gave a big nod, clearly meaning yes.

"You're not just beautiful Flutters, you're stunning." The cyan Pegasus was not holding her words back. Fluttershy could begin to see a small red blush starting to form on Dash's usually bright light blue face. Soon, the rainbow-maned Pegasus burst into laughter. Fluttershy just lay where she was, as Dash laid on her back, looking like she was having a laughing fit. Once she began to calm down, she spoke again.

"I'm not really one to be all sappy, am I?" Dash asked. Fluttershy shook her head. "Well, I guess that because it's you, I can make an exception with myself..." Rainbow put a hoof on Fluttershy's face, as she looked her right in the eyes.

Fluttershy tried to speak, but all she could manage was "I...." Dash decided to speak up.

"Let's face it Shy - we were made for each other, and that's how I want it to be." Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry, but Dash used her spare hoof to wipe away any stray tears which may have snuck their way out.

"I... I love you. Dashie." Fluttershy spoke softly. Dash smiled even more.

"I love you too Flutters." With that, Dash pulled Fluttershy in closer, so they could share a passionate kiss together...

Back to reality

There was a small repetitive tapping on one of Fluttershy's hind legs. She suddenly snapped out of her daydream and looked down behind her. There, she saw a very angry Angel Bunny, kicking his owner's back legs. Fluttershy turned her whole body around to face the white rabbit, while Angel stayed where he was - crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

"Oh, hello Angel!" Fluttershy squeaked happily, picking up the unhappy bunny in her hooves and hugging him. The bunny tried to wriggle and squirm out of the yellow pony's hooves, but Fluttershy was one strong hugger. In the end, he gave up. After what felt to him like an hour, Fluttershy finally put Angel back down.

"Sorry I haven't gotten you anything for breakfast yet Angel," Fluttershy explained "But mommy's gotta get ready for her first day of school!" Angel didn't seem impressed still, but he nodded anyway.  Fluttershy rubbed his head gently. "I'll get you some food when I come down, alright?" He gave another nod, and hopped down the stairs. She smiled, then looked back at herself in the mirror. Her mane was now much neater than it had been when she first got out of bed. She left the brush on the sink and went back into her bedroom, closing the door. Fluttershy opened a cupboard in her room. She looked for her school uniform.

"Hmmm, not this one." Shy muttered to herself. She closed the first cupboard and walked over to the second one. She opened it, and there stood a brand-new school uniform, all clean and hung up.

"Aha! Found it." Fluttershy squealed quietly to herself, as she picked up the uniform from it's hanger and placed it on her bed. She closed the cupboard door and faced her uniform. Shy looked at it for a moment, hesitating to put it on. 'Oh dear, w-what if I look u-u-ugly in this? And -p-people l-l-laugh at me?' Fluttershy thought to herself, feeling her body shake slightly. Suddenly, she shook her head and snapped out of her daze.

"Come on Fluttershy, you'll be alright," she told herself, trying to make herself feel motivated "You gotta think positively about yourself. Besides, you have your friends to help you out if you need them." Fluttershy nodded to herself, and picked up her uniform. She first grabbed her small white socks. Shy sat down on the left side of her bed, and began to pull on her left sock over her back hoof. Once that sock was on, she put on the other one on. She looked at the alarm clock and noticed it said 7.00am. Fluttershy sighed to herself. She had planned to get up at 6:30 and be ready by 6:45, but she must have overslept the alarm for 20 minutes. That would make sense, since back when Rainbow had stayed with her the night after she got Fluttershy from the hospital (as Dash had to do her usual weather pony duties), the cyan mare barely even heard the alarm it was so quiet.

Fluttershy got up and looked into a draw nearby her cupboards. She opened up the top one, and there lay a folded stack of underwear. The school allowed girls to wear either trousers or skirts, but Shy had decided with a skirt. She picked up a pair - they were light-pink and were laced at the top.

"Well... this, uh... may be a t-tad embarrassing for me....." Fluttershy said softly, "But, I need to... do this." Shy slowly pulled them on, then quickly skipped back to the left side of her bed to pick up her skirt. Her wings came out gradually, as she made herself hover in the air. She carefully stepped into the dress, then pulled it up to her tummy. Fluttershy quickly closed her underwear drawer before she forgot. She calmly turned to the bed and picked up her shirt. She quickly undid the buttons. 'Ok, here goes.' Fluttershy thought as she pulled the sky-blue shirt over her head and incredibly large mane.

Once she pulled down the shirt, she redid the buttons up. Before she forgot it, she went back into the second cupboard and pulled out a turquoise-blue cardigan. Her shirt was short-sleeve, and since Shy was the type that could probably get cold very easily, she figured it would be best to take it with her. She put her front-legs through the sleeves of the cardigan, but left the zip open. She quickly scooted back into the sink, giving her mane another quick brush, before putting the hairbrush back into the cupboard below the sink. Fluttershy stared at herself in the mirror, admiring her cute look.

"Heh... m-maybe I don't, look so bad," Fluttershy admitted to herself, seeing how not only formal, but how excellent she looked in the uniform. She did a little twirl, and her beautiful pink mane gracefully followed.

"Perhaps Mom was right... Maybe... maybe I do have g-good looks..." Fluttershy spoke to herself in the mirror. She smiled in the mirror one more time, before leaving the bathroom and closing the door. She also closed her bedroom door. 'Right, time to go downstairs.' Fluttershy thought to herself, making her way to the stairs. She felt a lump in one of the pockets of her cardigan.

"Hmmm?" Fluttershy mumbled to herself, reaching into the pocket. She felt a strange, soft item touch her hoof. Her hoof quickly jolted out in fear, as she was worried that perhaps a animal or something may have gotten stuck in the pocket and suffocated or something. The thought of this scared Fluttershy. She slowly reached her hoof inside the pocket again, and was surprised to pull out a tie. Fluttershy looked at the tie with a puzzled look. Suddenly, the thought struck her. 'Of course! I have to wear a tie.' Fluttershy thought.

However, a sad look then took the timid mare's face. She stared down at the tie in her hooves, pouting slightly. "Bu-but I can't put them on." Shy said sadly. She put it back in her pocket. Her mum would probably help her with that.

Fluttershy continued trotting down the stairs, as she saw an even-angrier Angel kicking the leg of the living room table, then holding his foot in pain after. Shy gave a disapproving shake of her head, as she sighed to herself. Suddenly, all of her animals came out of their houses, waiting happily to greet their owner as she came down the stairs. As soon as Shy reached the bottom step, they all ran over to her, making their usual animal noises. Fluttershy giggled, as they all hugged her.

"Hehe, it's great to see you all too." Fluttershy told the animals as they continued to cling to her. Angel, however, just watched her. Fluttershy looked at him as he gave some sort of sign language to her to say 'I'm hungry, get me something'. Fluttershy giggled again, before trying to walk away from her owner-loving pets. "Sorry guys, but, Mommy's gotta get your food ready." She explained to them, as they one-by-one let go of her.

They all nodded in agreement by their owner's words, and then went back by their houses - waiting eagerly for their food. "Angel, can you help me please?" The shy pony asked sweetly. The impatient rabbit shook his head no. Shy seemed hurt by that. "Please.... for me?" Fluttershy begged, but the bunny was clearly more thinking about his own stomach rather than everyone else. Fluttershy suddenly had a sneaky plan. A small evil smile grew upon her usual timid face. "Now now Angel, d-don't me make use...." the bunny stared as the yellow pony leaned towards his face.

"...the stare." Fluttershy grinned at him menacingly. The bunny shook in fear at the thought of that. He hated the stare. He nodded probably around a hundred miles an hour, as he suddenly dashed into the kitchen and began going through the cupboards. Shy closed her eyes and smiled, but this time - it was a happy one. 'Yay,' Fluttershy thought to herself. "Thanks Angel." She said, walking into the kitchen to help him get the food. "I'll promise to make you something in return." She reminded him, as he gave her a smile. Seeing this rabbit smile wasn't very common.

The two of them both filled the food dishes with food and put water in the water dishes. The animals happily had their breakfast, while Fluttershy quickly whipped up a quick salad full of carrots for her bunny. "I... I think you deserve this now." Fluttershy exclaimed to him, rubbing his head. He pretended to like it, just so he wouldn't get the stare.

The happy yellow mare smiled with her eyes closed as Angel scoffed down the salad. He seemed slightly-less grumpy now. As Fluttershy turned around to face Angel, she lowered her head down to eye level with him. "Now Angel, you're gonna have to look after the place while, while I'm away at s-school." Fluttershy explained, still nervous about the day. Angel looked at her blankly for a moment, before giving an agreeing nod. Fluttershy burst into a big smile, grabbing Angel and squeezing him in her arms.

"Oh, oh thank you Angel! Thanks so much!" Fluttershy squeaked, while the bunny tried to escape being suffocated by the hug. Fluttershy noticed him squirming, so she began to put less strength into her hug. "Sorry Angel, guess Mommy doesn't know her own strength." Fluttershy apoligised, while Angel rolled his eyes. Once she pla ed him back on the ground, he went back to his house to relax. Fluttershy trotted out of the kitchen and walked to the front door of her cottage, grabbing her school bag from the hook it was hung on. The bag was a pale-ish yellow, similar to her fur. Also, her cutie mark was present on the front, along with a name label which read: Fluttershy's Bag. She put her (messenger styled) school bag around her neck. She undid the Velcro-straps of her new black shoes with her teeth, then stepped her back hooves into them and used a front hoof to strap them back up.

"O-ok. I'm, uh, going now... then." Fluttershy muttered, feeling slightly sad. The animals all came up to her with one last hug, before they went back to their houses again. "Hehe, I'll miss you all too." Fluttershy replied to them, giving them a toothy smile. Grabbing her house keys, she unlocked the door. She put a hoof on the handle, and pulled it open.

Before she made another step, she took one last look at her house and her animal friends. They all waved to her, even Angel, who was actually smiling for once. This made Fluttershy feel happy inside. "Ok, I'll s-see you all, uh... when-whenever I can." Shy told the pets. Angel made a sign to say 'Go on, just go already', although it wasn't in a nasty way. She beamed a final smile at them all, before slowly walking out of her cottage. "Bye everyone!" She exclaimed estatically, feeling her wings fluttering slightly. Shy didn't know whether it was out of just being happy, or if a certain blue pony had somehow find her way into her thoughts again. The animals waved goodbye to their owner, as she stepped out of the building, and closed the door. Locking the cottage back up, so that no one could break in - Fluttershy began to skip towards Ponyville.

==========

It wasn't a too far walk through Ponyville to get to her destination. Fluttershy had just kept walking at a pace which was comfortable for her, but also quick enough so that she wouldn't be late for school. The train was leaving at 8.10am. The journey would be around 20-25 minutes long, which would be fine. School began at 8.45am, so she would have 10 minutes to spare.

A few ponies she knew would say hi to her as she walked past, and she'd kindly give them a warm welcome back. Not a lot of ponies were impolite, but Fluttershy was about the most politest pony you would ever meet. Fluttershy walked with a skip still in her step, as she hummed a tune quietly to herself. The song she was humming was Can't Stop The Feeling by Justin Ponylake. Fluttershy had had the song stuck in her head the last few days, so it was no stranger to her wonderful angel-like vocal chords.

"Hmmm...hmmm...dance...keep dancing..." Fluttershy mumbled to herself, with her eyes closed and a big toothy smile on her face. Her walk was slowly turning into a dance as she continued to make the journey to her mom's house. As she danced like there was no tomorrow, Shy had already made her way into the town centre of Ponyville. A few ponies took a quick glance at the happy yellow mare, but most ponies just ignored her, as they were focused on what they were doing.

Fluttershy continued singing the pre-chorus quietly to herself, as she made it clear to every pony that she was in a good mood. Now, she was up to the chorus, where she got to her favourite part.

"I can't stop the feeling!" Fluttershy squeaked, as her eyes opened for a split second. After she finished the chorus, she continued just humming the tune again. Until she felt her nose bounce off of something. "Oof." Fluttershy groaned softly as she rubbed her nose. She blinked a few times, before opening her eyes properly to see what she had walked into. She opened her eyes, and looked straight in front of her. She noticed a large beige thing stood in front of her. 

"Huh?" Fluttershy meekly muttered, as she stared up above. She had just walked into the back of somepony's house. She quickly looked behind her, to notice how far she had walked from her house. Suddenly remembering what she was doing before she had walked into the house, she laughed to herself, blushing slightly.

"Oh dear, w-what was I thinking?" Fluttershy said, giving her nose another rub. She looked to the right of her, and slowly nodded as she turned to walk in that direction. Fluttershy noticed that some ponies were walking near her. She quickly hid her face behind her mane, to block the blushing in her face from being seen. Luckily for Shy though, none of them stared at her. Once they were behind her, she flipped her mane back away from her face. She walked slowly as her blush slowly began to fade. To avoid walking into something else, Fluttershy decided to try and stop thinking about the song. Unfortunately though, as soon as she managed to get the song to drift away from her mind, another thing instantly flew into her thoughts. A certain rainbow-mane, cyan coloured mare.

Fluttershy felt herself getting all giddy as thoughts of her and Dash together tried to make her wings flutter open. Poor Flutters bit her lip hard, as she tried to her best to keep her wings down. She stopped where she was, and hid her face from view again. Shaking the flashy Pegasus from her thoughts proved harder than the song.

"O-ohhhhhh, D-daaash...." Fluttershy cooed to herself, as she tried her best to think of something else. Her blush came back, even redder than before. Her dream from earlier was coming back again, but it seemed to be doing anything but go away. Fluttershy started to walk again, picking her pace up a bit, to try and get away from all the people around as soon as possible. She moved her mane a little, to allow her to just about see where she was going.

Her heartbeat grew quicker as she found herself beginning to hyperventilate. Shy was getting worried that everypony may be watching her, so she hid behind a rose bush to try and calm herself down. "C-come on Shy, you... you need to c-c... calm down." Fluttershy told herself, as she tried desperately to shake her fast-flying thoughts away. She started by taking deep breaths.

After around 1 minute, Fluttershy began to calm down. Her heartbeat slowed down, and the tingling feelings in her wings stopped. Her blush was still present, but Dash was slowly flying away from her head. "Ok, think... of something e-else." Fluttershy said quietly. Within that moment, the cyan mare was gone from her thoughts, and were instead replaced by thoughts about riding on a merry-go-round with Pinkie Pie, the pink party pony. Shy giggled, as she imagined Pinkie laughing in glee at the speed. However, riding a fast ride only made an image of Rainbow Dash pop into her head. Shy leisurely shook her head as the image faded.

"Come on Fluttershy, st-stay stroooong." Fluttershy stuttered, as she slowly rose from her sat-down position by the rose bush near her. Fluttershy put her bag back around her neck  (as she had took it off and put it on the floor while she was sat down). Fluttershy began walking again, as her blush finally disappeared. She flipped her mane away from her face again, so that she could see clearly.

==========

Within a few minutes of walking and greeting people who passed by and said 'hello', Fluttershy got to the front door of a house she recognised. It was the house her parents lived in. "Yes." Fluttershy whispered, as a burst of happiness overcame her. She had finally arrived at her destination. Fluttershy stared at the house for a few moments more, until she began to make a few, uneasy steps towards the door. Once she was stood right in front of the door, she stared at it.

"Ok, here we go..." Fluttershy told herself, as she knocked a couple of times on the door. She waited for a response. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, the door gently creaked open. Fluttershy's eyes widened, as she saw a hoof holding the door. She moved her head slightly, to try and see who it was.

"H-he-hello?" The pony behind the door asked gingerly.
> Chapter 2: The First Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy stayed where she stood, as she noticed that a pair of magenta coloured eyes, very similar to her lover's, were staring right at her. Could it possibly be?

"M-m-moommm?" Fluttershy asked shyly, peering through the door. The pony behind the door must have recognized Shy's voice, since the door opened much more. A large open-mouth smile grew on Fluttershy's voice as her mother was stood in front of her.

"Mom!" Fluttershy squealed, running up to her mum and giving her a big hug.

"Fluttershy dear!" Mrs. Shy exclaimed, as she gladly returned the hug.

Fluttershy looked up to see the face of her mother. The fur of her mother was of a similar colour to her own, while her mane was a pale-like crimson red. She wore green glasses, and had magenta eyes. Around her neck, was a yellow necklace. She also wore earrings in the shape of little yellow flowers. Her cutie mark was three different coloured flowers - one pink, one green and one yellow.

"It's... it's great to see you here, Fluttershy," Mrs. Shy spoke quietly, "It feels like we haven't seen you... in so long." Fluttershy giggled.

"Heh heh, it's great to see you too mom," Fluttershy replied, making the hug slightly tighter. She closed her eyes and let out a happy sigh. Mrs. Shy seemed to wince slightly as the hug increased in strength with each second that passed.

"Fl-fluttershy dear..." Mrs. Shy pleaded, "You're.... uh... squeezing t-too tight." Fluttershy opened her eyes, as she wore a puzzled look on her face. She had her head resting on her mother's shoulders, as her arms were wrapped around her tightly. She looked up at her mother, as she appeared to be trying to catch her breath. Fluttershy gasped, as she quickly let go of her. She turned away from her, as she hid her face behind her mane. Her face now wore a sad frown.

"I'm s-sorry mom," Fluttershy cried, almost feeling a tear try to drip out of her eye. Fluttershy sat down on a step just outside the house. Mrs. Shy, feeling sorry for her daughter, went over to comfort the sad mare.

"Now now, Fluttershy, there's no need to be sad," said Mrs. Shy with a soothing tone, "You didn't hurt me or anything, you just seem to hug... well, really tightly." Fluttershy moved her mane away from her face, managing a small smile.

"Well... I guess I don't know my own strength," Fluttershy admitted. For someone so timid and shy, she seemed to be able to give really strong hugs. Mrs. Shy decided to invite her daughter in, since she was pretty sure that she could see the yellow mare shaking.

"Why don't you... come in, Shy?" Her mother asked. Fluttershy looked at her with big eyes, then nodded.

"Umm, uh... ok," Fluttershy stuttered, getting up on all fours and following her mother inside. As they both got inside the house, Fluttershy closed the door behind her, to stop the cold wind getting in. The two of them walked into the kitchen, which had a large table with about 6 chairs neatly tucked in underneath it. Mrs. Shy pulled two chairs (which were next to each other) out from under it - one for her, and one for Fluttershy.

"Thanks mom," Fluttershy squeaked as she took her bag off of her and sat down with all four legs on the chair. She placed the bag down on the floor next to her.

"You're welcome dear," Her mother replied, as she sat on her chair the exact same way.

There was silence for a moment. Neither of the two ponies looked up at each other. Instead, Mrs. Shy continued a piece of knitting that she had left on the table, while Fluttershy played with her front hooves. Eventually, Mrs. Shy decided to break the silence with a simple question.

"Well, Fluttershy... uh.... how has your day been, so far?" Mrs. Shy asked politely. Fluttershy avoided eye contact for a moment, while she spoke quietly.

"Umm.. it's, it's been... ok." Fluttershy stuttered. Her mother looked at her daughter, feeling slightly worried that something was up.

"Shy... is something... bothering you?" asked Mrs. Shy, with concern in her voice. Fluttershy continued to look at the floor. There was no answer. "Shy?" Mrs. Shy asked again, beginning to get real afraid. Fluttershy didn't shake or anything, but her mother was still worried that something was wrong - much like any mother would feel if their child was acting funny. Not in a 'ha-ha' funny way though. "Fluttershy, please..." Mrs. Shy pleaded, almost beginning to shake herself.

Fluttershy finally rose her gaze from the floor, and rested her head on the table. Mrs. Shy noticed this, and decided to just wait for her to give a response.

"It's just.... just, I'm... uh, I'm..." Fluttershy struggled to get her words out, as she tried to fight back the tears that were being produced in her eyes. Mrs. Shy just stared in horror as her own daughter was looking as if she was gonna have some sort of nervous breakdown or something.

"I'm just.... s-s-s-scared about, s-school..." Fluttershy spoke softly, wiping a single tear from her eye. "I'm just... I'm scared that... I won't g-get on well with, the others..."

Mrs. Shy instantly put her knitting down and put her arms around Fluttershy, as the tears one-by-one, came rolling down her face. Fluttershy tried hard to stop them and be brave, but she just couldn't do it.

"Fluttershy dear...." Mrs. Shy said with a soothing tone. "Everything will be alright, your, your friends are going there too, aren't they?" Fluttershy nodded, as the tears multiplied. "Well, then... I'm pretty sure they'll, you know... look out for you. It's what friends are for, right?"

After hearing those words, Fluttershy tried even harder to stop crying, so that she could speak. Luckily, the tears slowly began to stop, as the timid mare wiped her eyes with both hooves.

"It's... j-j-just... I don't w-w-want...." Fluttershy was beginning to shake, which concerned her mother. But, she decided that rather than trying to speak over her, she would just let her continue. "I don't, w-want to have to... p-put up with, with the a-abuse... like I had to... b-before....." Fluttershy continued, fearing her tears would soon return.

Mrs. Shy just continued to hug Fluttershy, as Shy rested her head on her mum's shoulders. Fluttershy began to take deep breaths, trying her best to calm down.

"Now now dear, I promise to you that everything will be fine, ok?" Mrs. Shy reassured her, to which Fluttershy responded with a nod.

"Oh, o-ok..." Fluttershy replied with a frightened tone. Mrs. Shy finally pulled away from the hug, then stared into the eyes of her daughter.

"So dear... would I be correct in saying that a certain tie needs assistance in being put on?" Mrs. Shy asked, looking into the left pocket of Fluttershy's cardigan. Shy wore a puzzled look on her face, as her hoof reached into the pocket.

"Hmmm, oh yes. Here, uh... it is." Fluttershy replied, holding the tie out for her mum to see. The tie was purple with orange stripes. Mrs. Shy took the tie from Shy's hooves, and began to place it around the neck of the yellow pony. As she tied it around Fluttershy's neck, Mrs. Shy started to speak to her about the one topic her shy daughter loved to talk about - her animals.

"So... anything you'd like to tell me about your animals lately?" Mrs. Shy asked politely, as she could see Fluttershy pull a face as the tie tightened around her neck. She decided to quickly make the tie less, well... tight around her neck.

"Hmmm, well, Angel recently had a disaster at Rarity's spa." Fluttershy replied, a smile growing back onto her meek, little face. Mrs. Shy had a confused look on her face.

"Wha-what happened?" She pondered, thinking carefully about what could have possibly happened. The tie was now firmly, but not too tightly, wrapped around Shy's neck, and tucked in underneath her shirt collar.

"Well, let's just say that, uhh... I went to Rarity's Spa last Tuesday, since I decided I needed to relax for a bit, and Angel wanted his tail fluffed." Fluttershy explained. Mrs. Shy's mouth opened as she heard about the bunny having his tail fluffed. She decided to let Fluttershy continue though. "So yeah, I was chatting to Rarity in the hot-tub, about her usual 'fashion' stuff, when I hear the noise of what sounded like, some machine trying to explode. I looked over, only to see poor Angel's tail getting chewed up by the machine. I panicked, and Rarity asked some of her assistants over to sort it out. Things got worse from there..."

"Once they managed to turn the power off, the machine just started flying around everywhere until it landed in the hot-tub, causing both me and Rarity to be completely drenched in hot water. Did sting a little bit, but, I... I was ok. Somepony was walking by as it happened, causing them to slip and drop about 4 extremely hot cups of tea over Angel's back legs. ....He was in a lot of pain during that." Mrs. Shy winced as she heard about the cups of tea.

"Ouch, that must have hurt." Mrs. Shy exclaimed. The shy pony gave a small nod.

"It did, quite a bit too I think!" Fluttershy added, as she too winced. "The poor bunny suffered from some nasty third-degree burns after that." Mrs. Shy looked sad.

"Awww, the poor rabbit..." Mrs. Shy said sadly. Fluttershy shrugged her shoulders.

"He's, he's getting better now," Fluttershy explained, "But he's definitely struggling to hop on them." Fluttershy decided to bring a quick ending onto the story, as she noticed that the time was 7.28am. Oh dear, nearly half past 7....

"Anyhoo, the whole trip ended up being a disaster in the end. Luckily though, Rarity said that I wouldn't need to pay for any of the damages... I thought she was joking at first, but she just told me that seeing as it was merely an accident that wasn't our fault, that I didn't need to worry about. I just can't think of how much that'll cost Rarity....."

Fluttershy gave a quick chuckle, until she noticed the look on Mrs. Shy's face. She gave a puzzled look, until she saw that she was looking at the time.

"Time is getting on dear, I think it's best if we talk about the rest of this later." Mrs. Shy told Fluttershy, to which she replied with a quick nod. With that, Mrs. Shy got up from her chair and began to walk into the living room.

"Ok....." Fluttershy murmured. Suddenly, a question popped up into her head. "Hey mom, wha... where's dad?" Mrs. Shy's head swivelled around as the question came without warning.

"He's sleeping Shy... You know how your father is - he enjoys his 'beauty' sleep." Mrs. Shy replied with a laugh. Fluttershy also shared a quick laugh too. She grabbed her bag and followed her mum into the living room. Her mom sat on the sofa in the middle of the room. Fluttershy sat next to her. "Now, before you ask, your lunch is waiting by on top of the fridge." Mrs. Shy explained.

"I'll get it now." Fluttershy explained, quickly darting off into the kitchen to grab the box which contained all sorts of yummy stuff inside. Within a matter of moments, Fluttershy was back in the living room, putting the lunch box into her bag. Before she could sit back down though, a strange noise occurred.

"DING DONG!", went the door bell without warning. Mrs. Shy jumped slightly, even though the door bell was actually rather quiet compared to most other ponies' door bells.

"I... I wonder who that could be at 7.30am in the morning?" Mrs. Shy asked, slowly getting up to answer the door. Fluttershy put a hoof in front of her.

"It's ok mom, I'll... I'll answer it," Fluttershy told her, "You can rest some more if you want." With that, Fluttershy slowly trotted over to the door. The door bell rang again. "Ok, ok... I'm coming." Fluttershy muttered to herself. She gulped hard, then put one hoof on the door handle. Unlocking it with the other hoof, Fluttershy cautiously opened the door.

"H-hello?" Fluttershy called out, only allowing her eyes to be seen. Her jaw dropped when she saw who was stood in front of her. Right before her eyes, stood a cyan Pegasus, wearing a similar uniform to her. The only exception was that she wore trousers rather than a skirt. Fluttershy rubbed her eyes, then looked again. She wasn't seeing things. The Pegasus had magenta eyes, and a rainbow mane. There was only one pony who looked like that...

"Heya Flutters." Rainbow Dash exclaimed, with a wave and an awkward smile. Fluttershy opened the door wide open now.

"R-r-rainbow...?" Fluttershy stuttered. Suddenly, she lunged forward, and gave the cyan Pegasus the biggest hug that she had probably ever given. The hug was with such force, that poor Rainbow Dash nearly fell back onto the floor. Rainbow had to open her wings up and stand on her hind legs to try and stay where she stood.

"Dashie!!" She squeaked, with a big toothy smile and her eyes closed. Rainbow Dash looked away, blushing slightly.

"Heh heh, good to see you too Shy." Rainbow responded, patting Fluttershy on the back with one hoof.

Mrs. Shy looked over the back of the sofa as she noticed that her daughter was hugging another pony by the door. Of course, she instantly recognised who it was.

"Hello Rainbow Dash," Mrs. Shy called out to the rainbow-mane pony. Rainbow looked over to her.

"Hey Mrs. Shy." Rainbow Dash said with a little wave. Fluttershy was beginning to snuggle her head into Rainbow's neck. "Uhhh, Shy?" Rainbow asked. Fluttershy suddenly looked up at her with big eyes.

"Yes Dashie?" Fluttershy pondered, wondering what Rainbow was going to say next. Rainbow itched the back of her neck with one hoof as her blush got brighter.

"Ummm... you can, perhaps... let go now?" Rainbow explained, pointing to Shy's mum. Fluttershy looked over, as her mother smiled at her. She looked at her with big eyes, a blush beginning to form on her cheeks too. Fluttershy looked back at Dash and instantly let go.

"Oh dear...." Fluttershy murmured, rubbing a foreleg with one hoof. Rainbow patted Fluttershy on her back again.

"Don't worry about it Shy," Rainbow Dash explained, before quickly adding in a quiet voice, "Didn't know ya missed me that much." Fluttershy giggled at Dash's quick remark.

Fluttershy thought it was best to just invite Rainbow Dash in for a little bit, seeing as she suddenly felt the need to relieve herself.

"Uhh, Dash?" Fluttershy spoke softly. Rainbow looked at her. "Ummm, you can come in if you want..." Rainbow nodded.

"Ok, if I'm invited in, I'll take the invitation." Rainbow joked, laughing at herself. She walked inside the building, while Fluttershy closed the door after. "Well, it's sure a nice place in here Mrs. Shy," said Rainbow Dash, as she walked around the living room on all fours. Her wings went back by her sides.

"Well, I'm glad you like it." Mrs. Shy replied with a smile. Rainbow Dash noticed Fluttershy's bag on the floor by her mother's back hooves.

"Hey Shy, this bag yours?" Rainbow asked, pointing down to the yellow messenger bag. She nodded in confirmation.

"Y-yes Dash. It's m-mine." Fluttershy responded. "Do you h-h-hate it or something?" The cyan Pegeasus shook her head.

"Of course not!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, before quickly adding, "It's kinda cute actually." Fluttershy felt a blush form on her face.

"Heh, th-thanks." Fluttershy said. Rainbow Dash took her bag off from around her neck. Her bag was virtually the same as Fluttershy's except the fact that it was light blue, had Rainbow Dash's name on it instead of Fluttershy's, and the bag also had the rainbow-mane pony's cutie mark on it too. Rainbow's cutie mark was a white cloud with a lighting bolt coming out of it. The lightninig bolt was a mix of red, blue and yellow.

"You don't mind if I place my bag next to yours, do ya?" Rainbow Dash asked. Fluttershy shook her head.

"Of course not," Fluttershy replied, "You can do that, if you wish." Rainbow nodded and did just that. All of a sudden, Fluttershy felt her need to using the bathroom increase. "Uhh... D-dash?" Fluttershy called out from the bottom step of the staircase. Rainbow was sat down on the sofa with Mrs. Shy. She looked back to see what looked like Fluttershy doing a little dance.

"Yes Fluttershy?" Rainbow responded, sounding slightly curious.

"I'm, just... using the b-bathroom a moment..." Fluttershy said, sounding worried as if Rainbow Dash would say no.

"Shy, if you gotta go - you gotta go," Rainbow Dash told her, "I don't mind waiting here. Honest." Fluttershy managed a small smile, until she ran up the stairs and went straight into the bathroom.

There was silence for a moment. Neither Rainbow or Fluttershy's mum said a word. However, Dash decided that the awkward silence was beginning to get too uncomfortable for her. So, she decided to speak up about something, specifically - the house.

"Sooooo, remind me again what happened to your old house, and why you got this one in Ponyville?" Rainbow Dash asked politely, to which Mrs. Shy turned to face her.

"Sure Rainbow dear, if you wish." She replied. She cleared her throat, then began to speak. "Well, around 2 months ago, our son Zephyr Breeze came over to visit-"

"Wait, Zephyr Breeze!?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "Fluttershy's brother who we saw graduate from Mane Therapy School a while back?" Mrs. Shy nodded.

"Yes. It was him." Mrs. Shy stated. She continued. "Anyhoo, he came over to tell us how a friend of his had helped him in making some sort of RC flying hovercraft... Don't ask why, he just did. But, that day, he came over to show us his invention. It was raining anyway that day, so I just thought that he would understand that and just show us another time..." Rainbow Dash put a hoof under her chin.

"Something tells me he showed you anyway, didn't he?" Rainbow Dash asked. Mrs. Shy's face wore a face of regret.

"Yeee-yes," Mrs. Shy replied, "He did just that." Rainbow wondered where the story was gonna go next. "So, he said that he could just show us inside instead. I told him it wouldn't be a good idea, but he said he would go careful... Let's just say that everything started fine, until I noticed a small leak in the roof. Some water dripped onto it, and well... it went... haywire."

Rainbow Dash waited for a continuation, but there was nothing else to be said. At that point, Rainbow Dash heard something. Dash was 120% sure that it was Fluttershy. The noise sounded like one of relief. 'Wonder what she's doing up there...' Rainbow pondered, while she still waited for Mrs. Shy to continue her story. She felt her mind slip into some dirty thoughts. Dash quickly shook her head to try and get rid of them. 'Don't think like that Rainbow!' Rainbow Dash told herself, 'Even if you are going out with her, you shouldn't be thinking of things like that.'

Suddenly, she heard Mrs. Shy gasp, which meant that she must have either woken back up (Dash didn't check to see if she fell asleep), or she finally remembered how the rest of the story went. At least it meant Rainbow didn't have to think those thoughts of hers...

"The thing just started flying all over the place." Mrs. Shy explained, as Dash felt herself getting sleepy. Perhaps spending most of the night reading the latest Daring Do novel wasn't such a good idea after all... "It was knocking into everything, making dents in the wall, then the silly machine only flew up out of the whole in our house and caused a massive lightning bolt to hit it - then making the house suddenly, well... collapse I guess..."

Rainbow Dash cringed at that. Probably because she was on weather duty that day. It was meant to be small rainy showers, but not large showers and lightning. Rainbow felt bad for that, even if it wasn't her fault.

"Uhh, I'm... sorry to here that, Mrs. Shy," said Rainbow Dash. Mrs. Shy looked over at her, seeming slightly surprised.

"But, you have no need to apologise dear." Mrs. Shy told her. However, Dash put up a hoof and closed her eyes. She opened them again, but she looked away slightly.

"Well, I kinda have to..." Rainbow Dash spoke softly, with regret in her voice. "You see, I was on weather pony duty that day... You probably remember that I do that right?" Mrs. Shy nodded. "Anyway, I was meant to try and stop the clouds from producing lightning that day - since it wasn't forecasted. But, the clouds decided to be a nuisance to me that day."

Mrs. Shy understood what Rainbow was trying to say, but she didn't feel right that the mare was trying to take some of the responsibility of it.

"Rainbow Dash, you did not do anything wrong. You hear me?" Mrs. Shy reassured Rainbow. Rainbow Dash nodded sadly, accepting the fact that Fluttershy's mother was not going to change her mind. Not that it was exactly a bad thing though.

"Oh-ok." Rainbow Dash said quietly. Mrs. Shy tried her best reassuring smile, to which Rainbow caught in the corner of her eye. Dash tried her best at a false smile. That all changed soon however.

The bathroom flush went off, and the sound of running water was heard. Not long after, the door opened and some small hooves could be heard, quietly trotting down the stairs. Rainbow's ears jumped up at the sound of somepony walking down the stairs. She resisted the urge to let her wings open up.

"S-sorry I took so, so long..." Fluttershy said softly. Rainbow Dash turned her head round.

"Ahh, don't worry about it Flutters, me and your mom were just talking about that - catastrophe with Zephyr Breeze." Rainbow Dash explained. A small smile formed on Fluttershy's face.

"Heh, yeah... It was total chaos from what I hear." Fluttershy added. Mrs. Shy quickly looked at the time, then back to the two ponies. The time was 7.42am. She looked at them both with what seemed like a 'evil' smile. The two friends looked at each other with awkward faces.

"Right, I think it's time you two made a move..." Mrs. Shy told them both, "We wouldn't want you to be late on your first day." Fluttershy looked as if she had just seen a ghost. Dash, on the other hand, didn't seem so bothered. Noticing how Fluttershy's face had dropped however, she quickly jumped up and wrapped one wing around the timid mare, not caring how Mrs. Shy was in the room as well.

"Don't worry Shy, I'll make sure we get there on time." Rainbow Dash claimed. Fluttershy tried to look calm, but it wasn't easy. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash's face came closer to hers. "Maybe we can get there earlier, and have some 'private' time..." Rainbow Dash whispered, wiggling her eyebrows. Fluttershy tried to laugh it off, blushing slightly.

Fluttershy's reaction only made Rainbow more embarrassed and nervous of the whole situation herself. 'Man, she's so cute like this.' Rainbow thought to herself. 'But, I'm gonna have to watch what I say. Don't think Mrs. Shy knows yet.' Once Fluttershy managed to calm down, Rainbow Dash took her wing off of her and they both went to collect their bags. Putting them both around their necks, they took a quick glance at each other, before starting to head towards the door.

"Ok, you two have fun now," Mrs. Shy told the two, as Dash opened the door. Mrs. Shy quickly added "Don't have too much fun though..." Rainbow Dash gulped hard at that sentence. 'Oh jeez, does she know?' Rainbow wondered, feeling her forehead was beginning to get a little sweaty. However, Fluttershy knew that Mrs. Shy was just trying to say to them to 'be careful'. Regardless of that though, Fluttershy still bit her bottom lip slightly at the thought that her own mother might have noticed something... 'unusual'.

Fluttershy nodded to her mum, flashing her a quick smile.

"Ok mom, we promise to go careful!" Fluttershy squeaked, gently nudging Rainbow Dash. The cyan Pegasus was startled by the contact, but she could see that the yellow pony looked like she was plotting something. Dash decided that she might as well play along with it.

"Yep, I'll make sure that your daughter here will be safe and sound!" Rainbow Dash claimed, making Fluttershy look away. Fluttershy felt slightly flustered at that, but tried her best to not make her constant blushing so suspicious.

Mrs. Shy waved at the two girls as they walked out of the house. Seeing Fluttershy so happy walking with her best friend made her feel like crying.

"Bye you two!" Mrs. Shy called out, giving one last smile & wave.

"Bye Mrs. Shy!" "Bye Mom!" Rainbow Dash & Fluttershy exclaimed at the same time, giving their own smiles and waves. As the two of them walked into the distance, Mrs. Shy slowly trotted back inside, closing the door.

==========

It was a long tiring journey to Ponyville Train Station, but it wouldn't be as much walking as it could be if they decided not to take the train to Ponyville Academy. It was located near the outskirts of Canterlot. It had been a while since both Dash & Fluttershy had been here. Especially with the others, let alone just the two of them.

The journey had proven to be of the fun kind, with both of them talking and laughing, while occasionally teasing each other as well. However, they had started to become more quiet as they neared the station.

"You... you sure about this Dash..?" Fluttershy asked the rainbow-mane pony, who seemed to be trying to act all cool.

"Relax Shy, it'll be fine," replied Rainbow Dash, not bothering to look at her. As they both reached a sign which said the list of train times, they stopped dead in their tracks. Both ponies stared at each other for a moment, before looking back at the sign.

"Ummm, which train was it again?" Rainbow Dash asked, scratching her head. Fluttershy put a hoof under her chin, then observed the list of trains and to where they were going.

"Aha! This one!" Fluttershy exclaimed, pointing to a image of a train labelled 'Equestria School Express'. Rainbow looked at the train, then at the times. It was 8.09am. Uh oh...

"Awww, for Celestia's sake!" Rainbow Dash cried. Fluttershy looked over at her annoyed friend.

"Wh-whats wrong... D-dashie?" Fluttershy stuttered quietly. Rainbow Dash pointed to the train with one hoof. Fluttershy gave a confused face. Dash sighed to herself, face palming herself with her other hoof.

"Fluttershy... the train is LEAVING." Rainbow Dash explained. Fluttershy looked in horror, as steam came from the back of the train. "We gotta move, now." Without warning, Rainbow grabbed one of Shy's hooves and the two ran towards the train, with Fluttershy trying as hard as she could to keep up. The train doors were about to close, when all of a sudden....

"WAIT!!!" Rainbow Dash screamed, making Fluttershy let out a 'EEP!' in shock. The conductor of the train looked over to the right, to see a cyan-blue Pegasus stood by the train's doors, with a yellow Pegasus cowering in fear behind. He decided not to ask any questions about that.

"You here to travel to Ponyville Academy I presume?" He asked politely. Fluttershy peered at the conductor. He was a pale-red colour, with a green mane and brown eyes. He also had a small green moustache and a little blue conductor's hat.

"Yes we are sir." Rainbow Dash replied. The conductor looked at them both for a moment, then made a gesture to them.

"Hop on board," said the conductor. Rainbow nodded, while reaching into her bag for her purse. She may have been the most tomboyish of the 6 of them, but Rainbow Dash still carried a purse with her like her other friends. Rainbow pulled out  8 bits, 4 for her and 4 for Shy.

"Here ya go," said Rainbow Dash, dropping the bits into the conductor's hand. Fluttershy seemed slightly surprised, but didn't question this until the two of them both found a spot near the back of the train, on the right, which had two seats. Perfect for them both. Even better, they could look out of the window next to them.

"After you." a laughing Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Fluttershy giggled to herself, feeling slightly surprised at the 'royal' treatment her marefriend was giving her.

"Why thank you, Dash." Fluttershy replied, bowing slightly, before going to the seat closest to the window. Rainbow Dash instantly sat next to her, and got herself comfy. Dash made sure that she was as close to Fluttershy as possible, but left enough space so that she wasn't 'invading' her friend's personal space too much. Rainbow Dash took the bag off of her neck and placed it on the floor. Fluttershy seemed to keep hers on.

"Hey, Fluttershy?" said Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy looked over at the cyan Pegasus.

"Uhhh, yes, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked meekly. Rainbow cleared her throat, then pointed down to the floor.

"...You know you can just put your bag down there, don't you?" Rainbow Dash told her, now pointing to her bag. Rainbow quickly added, "Besides, your back must be throbbing. I wouldn't of thought it's exactly lightweight."

Fluttershy rubbed a foreleg with her hoof, thinking to herself.

"Well, I... I guess you're right." Fluttershy agreed, now taking the bag off of her and placing it next to Rainbow's. After that, Rainbow Dash put a foreleg around Fluttershy's neck, and looked out the window to the right of her.

"See? You must feel much better now," said Rainbow Dash, to which Fluttershy nodded yes. Rainbow just smiled. She began to feel her eyes closing slightly, so she decided to rest her head on Shy's shoulder. "Hey, Shy?" Rainbow Dash whispered. Fluttershy looked to the left of her, to notice the pony leaning on her. This made Fluttershy feel somewhat happy, but more than anything - embarrassed. It wasn't that Shy hated this contact, because she loved it. It was just because of how 'public' it was. Then again, they weren't really doing anything...

"Do ya, mind if I sleep on you? For a bit? I'm kinda tired." Rainbow Dash asked, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Fluttershy didn't do anything to try and shake the tired pony off of her.

"Well... I, uh... don't see a p-problem, with it." Fluttershy stuttered, putting on her best fake smile. Rainbow just stared for a moment, then laughed. Fluttershy didn't know what to say, but luckily for her, she didn't need to.

"Oh you..." said Rainbow Dash with a sly smile. "There's no need to worry about it Shy. It's only me, remember?" The yellow pony started to blush again. She quickly hid her face from view with her incredibly large pink mane. Suddenly, Dash began to realize why Shy was getting so nervous. In a soft voice and reassuring tone, Rainbow Dash muttered into Fluttershy's ears. "Don't worry about no body else, ok? I'm sure they won't pay attention. I promise."

Fluttershy listened to every word that Rainbow Dash said. However, she still felt slightly uneasy about it.

"You, you sure?" Fluttershy asked in a slightly panicked voice. Fluttershy was alarmed by the hoof that stroked the back of her mane. Clearly, Rainbow Dash was trying to calm down the shy mare.

"Relax Flutters, it'll be fine," replied Rainbow Dash, before quickly adding, "I'm 120% sure." With that, Rainbow's eyes began to close. Fluttershy felt something warm within her heart. Happiness? Overjoyed? Something in her brain told her that she was just simply - content. It would make sense: comfy chair, nice view out of the window, her special somepony sleeping on her shoulder. To Fluttershy, this was more than enough to make her feel like she was at the top of the world.

Within moments of falling asleep, Dash's arm had fallen behind Fluttershy, and she had also began to snore. Fluttershy rolled her eyes, unsurprised by the usual loudness of the future Wonderbolt-wannabe. Fluttershy had known well enough how loud Rainbow snored when she asleep, since they had slept together quite a few times when Shy had damaged her wings. The thoughts of her ripping out the feathers on her wings still haunted her some nights, but she knew that with the help of her friends, family and her psychiatrist, she wouldn't have to feel so depressed in her life to want to do things like that.

Fluttershy reached down to her bag and opened it. She picked up a book from inside and placed it on her lap, then closed the bag back up. Fluttershy stared at the book, reading its front cover. The title of the book was 'Henry Turtle & Peter Bunny: Adventures in Smallsville'. It was one of Shy's favourite books, much like Rainbow Dash and her 'Daring Do' collection.

Very slowly, Fluttershy opened the book. She searched through the book, until she found the bookmark she had placed on page 20. The bookmark's picture was a blue sky with a patch of green grass, with a rabbit eating a carrot. Fluttershy had gotten it at one of the book stalls in the town centre of Ponyville. Surprisingly, no pony seemed to be questioning or looking at the blue pony which snored loudly, while using her best friend as a headrest. That was a good thing though.

Fluttershy began to read from where she left off, seeing as this was going to be a long journey, and it wasn't like she always had enough time leftover on most days to continue reading the book. Checking quickly to make sure that Dash was properly sleeping (and not just pretending), Fluttershy decided it was time to continue reading from the last bit she had read the last time she picked up the book.

"Chapter 2 - Peter & Henry meet the King of Smallsville." Fluttershy read out quietly to herself, as she started on the first paragraph.....

==========

10 Minutes Later...

The world was moving. The sound of talking ponies was everywhere. Sounds of an engine running however, drowned out what the ponies were talking about - replacing words with a somewhat muffled effect. Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes, although they seemed to be covered in sleep. 'Seems like the sand-dust pony's been around...' thought Rainbow Dash, as she tried to blink out all of the sleep.

Once it was all gone, Rainbow Dash just stared at the vision in front of her - the back of a red double-chair, like the type of chair you'd see on a train or a bus. Dash's pupils widened, as she could hear soft breathing coming from above her. 'Hmmm, that's odd.' said Rainbow Dash in her head, not daring to make a single move. Suddenly, she could feel a hoof caressing her mane. Dash shuddered inside, feeling herself panicking slightly.

'Oh dear, wh-what's going on here?' thought the blue pony, as she felt her breathing get faster. Something in her head told her to look up, but Rainbow Dash didn't dare even move her eyes, let alone her whole head.

Within that moment, the sound of a book closing was heard. Rainbow Dash held her breath in, trying to figure out what was happening. Her eyes looked down slowly, then stared where they were. Her head was resting, on somepony's lap. 'Ok, this is getting weird.' thought a confused Rainbow Dash, as this situation started to feel strange to her. The pony she was resting on suddenly lowered their head down, to stare at the awake Pegasus that was laying on them.

"Morning Dashie." Fluttershy whispered, giving a slight wink. Rainbow Dash gave an expression of shock, feeling all of the stress suddenly go away.

"Uh....h-hi... Fluttershy?" a still sleepy Rainbow Dash stuttered, as she wiped her tired eyes with her hooves. The yellow Pegasus just stared down at her, giving a big smile. Rainbow still had no idea what was going on. "Whu-what happened?" asked Rainbow Dash, in a drowsy voice. Fluttershy just giggled.

"You fell asleep on my shoulder, silly. Remember?" Fluttershy replied, making Rainbow Dash think carefully. Suddenly, it all came back to Dash. 'Of course!' the cyan Pegasus exclaimed to herself, 'I remember now! I felt sleepy, and I asked Fluttershy if I could sleep on her for a bit!' Rainbow Dash finally knew what had happened. But... for how long was she asleep for?

"Hey, Shy?" Rainbow Dash asked quietly, as Fluttershy just stared at her with big eyes.

"Y-yes, Dash?" Fluttershy responded, waiting for what the answer from her childhood friend would be. Dash just smirked.

"Uhhh, how long was I, you know... out for?" Rainbow Dash questioned, wondering how much time had passed since she fell asleep. Dash feared that it could have been ages, and that they both may have missed the stop for Ponyville Academy - making Fluttershy worry about being late.

Fluttershy had thoughts of going through her bag to search for her phone, but she suddenly noticed a clock which was on the other side of the train. She looked at it for a few moments. The clock hands read 8.21am. That meant it was around 10-11 minutes. Fluttershy drew her gaze back to Rainbow.

"Well... it's been around, uh... 10 minutes." Fluttershy admitted. Rainbow Dash couldn't believe it. It had felt to her like she had been asleep for hours, and it was only 10 minutes!? Either the clock was slow, or it was genuinely 8.21am. But Fluttershy wouldn't lie. Rainbow Dash knew that very well. They had been friends since fillies after all - it would be odd if they didn't know each other's characteristics.

"Wow, not long then." Rainbow Dash grumbled, still feeling as if she could snooze longer. Sadly though, they would eventually arrive at the school. Before she moved though, Dash decided to ask a quick question. "Hey, Shy?" Rainbow Dash said quietly.

"Umm, yes, Dash?" responded Fluttershy, wondering what she would be asked.

"Did you, like... lay me down on your lap, and stroke my mane - the whole time?" Rainbow Dash asked, making Fluttershy bite her lip and look away in embarrassment. This was going to be a slightly awkward conversation.

"Uhhh, I um.... y-ye... yes..?" Fluttershy replied, which brought a smile to Rainbow's face. Fluttershy, on the other hand though, was slightly nervous. "Are you... uh, unhappy about that?" Fluttershy added quickly, as she was worried that her actions were a mistake. Rainbow Dash just continued to smile.

"Of, of course not Shy..." Rainbow Dash responded, "Why would I be unhappy about it? .....Actually, I get what you mean. But it's you! I don't mind you doing it Fluttershy." As those words were said, Fluttershy began to smile, while a blush started to form. Rainbow Dash sat up, and began to lean into the shy mare's face. "You can do whatever you like to me Shy... whatever you please." whispered the cyan Pegasus into Shy's ear, which made the yellow pony's blush brighter.

"Heh heh heh, oh-ok..." said Fluttershy, trying to laugh away the 'dirty' image that Rainbow Dash was managing to create by her choice of words. Dash noticed this, which slowly brought a blush of her own to her face.

'Man, Shy gets so flustered about things sometimes...' Rainbow Dash thought to herself. 'It's just so darn cute!' Rainbow decided to talk about something else, since she didn't want Fluttershy to get too embarrassed...

"So, Shy, what's that book you got there?" asked Rainbow Dash, pointing to the book that was on the right side of Fluttershy. Fluttershy looked at the book, then picked it up in her hooves (the best she could) and showed Dash, who just looked at the cover.

"It's, uh... Henry Turtle & Peter Bunny: Adventures in Smallsville," Fluttershy explained, feeling relieved at the sudden change of subject. "It's a series of books that, my uh, mom used to read to me... when I was younger." Rainbow smiled at the thought of Shy's mother reading to her. It almost made Dash wish that she had gotten into books sooner - then she could have been read books by her mother.

"Is it good?" Rainbow Dash wondered, presuming that the story would be really 'cheesy'. Fluttershy happily responded, even quickly summarising what the plot was.

"Uh huh. Yes," replied Fluttershy with a nod, "The story follows Henry the Turtle & his best friend Peter the 'Bunny' Rabbit as they try to 'fight' some evil dragon called Dracon the Destroyer." Rainbow Dash began to get interested into the story's plotline. Of course, she knew that when Fluttershy said the word fight, it was highly unlikely it meant as in literally beating up the baddie. Still though, it seemed alright.

"Hmmm, that doesn't sound too boring actually..." whispered Rainbow Dash, although Fluttershy's ears flicked up. Shy had heard Rainbow's comment. Somehow, it made her feel slightly sad inside. Rainbow Dash looked over, slightly worried that she had hurt the feelings of her bestest friend that she had ever had. Quickly, Rainbow Dash put both forelegs around Fluttershy's neck and somewhat hugged. "Hey, don't get down, Shy. I never said it was lame or anything," explained Rainbow Dash, nuzzling Shy's neck slightly, "I will admit, it sounds rather... interesting. Perhaps you should read me a chapter or two one time?"

A smile returned to Fluttershy's small face. Rainbow looked up at the yellow pony, still hugging her. Rainbow Dash quickly checked around them, to see how the other ponies were far too involved in, whatever it was, to even take a quick glance at the hugging mares. Slowly, Rainbow removed her forelegs from around Fluttershy's neck, while still sitting very close to her.

Noticing the smile on the timid Pegasus' face, Rainbow flashed a toothy smile back. This caused a quick chuckle to erupt from Fluttershy's mouth.

"There we go, that's the Fluttershy I know and love." said Rainbow Dash, as she too began to laugh. The two shared a laugh for around a minute, until they managed to calm themselves down.

Fluttershy had to try and catch her breath, as she also began to put her book back into her bag. After she zipped the bag back up, Fluttershy leaned back into the chair she was sat on. Rainbow Dash just seemed to keep her eyes on her, while smiling lightly.

'Why can't I get my mind off of her?' Rainbow Dash thought, a puzzled expression replacing the happiness on her face. 'I mean, I know I'm in love with her - heck we've been going out for a year now! But, whatever I think about, she manages to sneak her way into it...'

"...Ummm, Dash?" Fluttershy asked, wearing a face of concern. It took a few moments before Rainbow Dash snapped out of her daydream. So at first, Rainbow was all confused.

"Huh, what? ....Oh. Hey, Fluttershy," said Rainbow Dash, rubbing the back of her head, "Sorry about that, I was just daydreaming then." Fluttershy didn't question Rainbow's response, since she didn't feel like she needed to know what was on the cyan pony's mind. Probably her, she assumed. Though Fluttershy wasn't really that bothered about whatever Dash was thinking about anyway.

Rainbow looked at the time. 8.25am. Rainbow Dash's mouth opened slightly, in the shape of a small o. Fluttershy giggled at her face, remembering how many times she had made that face herself. Although that was generally when she was tired, not in shock. Fluttershy's eyes looked at the clock, noticing that that hands were only a few minutes away from reading 8.30am. Seeing as Rainbow Dash was still unmoving, a plan began to form in Shy's head. An evil smile creeped up onto her face.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy said in a smooth tone. Rainbow Dash looked over, to see Fluttershy's eyeswere half closed (her top eyelids were visible), and that she was also biting her lip. Rainbow's eyes widened, as she stared at the yellow pony. She felt something touch her right back hoof. When Rainbow Dash looked down, she noticed Fluttershy wrapping her left back hoof around it. Rainbow looked back at Fluttershy, who now gently placed her front hooves on Dash's shoulders. Rainbow Dash felt a strange feeling absorb her. She couldn't tell whether the feeling was one of excitement, confusion, or even pure fear.

'Is...is this seriously turning me on?' Rainbow wondered, as Fluttershy got ever so closer and closer to her face. Unfortunately for Dash, the thought of the feeling she currently felt being excitement was beginning to prove true, as she could feel her wings trying to force their way open. 'Damn you for being so sexy, Shy,' Rainbow Dash thought, as she tried her best to keep her wings shut. Rainbow Dash felt her cheeks beginning to burn, as a bright pink blush began to form.

Rainbow also began to start feeling uncomfortable at this sudden attention Fluttershy was giving her. A blush started to appear on Fluttershy's face too.

"Uhhh, Shy?" asked Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy didn't answer, she just continued to stare. Fluttershy began to lick her lips. Rainbow Dash gulped hard as she watched the timid mare eyeing her up as if she was going to be her next meal. "Ummm, earth to Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash tried to get Fluttershy stop again. Still, nothing.

'Oh, oh please don't make me yell Fluttershy. Please don't...' panicked Rainbow Dash in her head, knowing that if she did shout, it would certainly bring all eyes to the two of them, and then Fluttershy would be in real trouble - she'd be a target for the bullies for sure. Rainbow Dash thought carefully, trying to think up of a plan to stop Shy from acting, so.... strange.

Then, the thought came to her. Rainbow Dash knew what would probably snap Fluttershy out of her 'romantic daze'. Ever so carefully, Dash opened up one of her wings a little bit. She moved it towards Fluttershy's ear. Once it was close enough to its target, Rainbow Dash began to tickle the inside of the ear.

Fluttershy's eyes went from 'romantic' to 'reality' in an instant. Within seconds of Rainbow's tickling, Fluttershy was starting to become her normal self again. The yellow pony put a hoof to her mouth, to hold in the laughter and giggles. Once Rainbow Dash noticed this, she slowly put her wing back by its side again. Even though they no longer had the urge to jump up now, the tingling still remained.

"Oh, oh, Dash. That, that was, ugh...." Fluttershy mumbled, finding it difficult to find her words. Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy, to make sure that she wasn't still dreaming. When Fluttershy rose her head back up to face Rainbow Dash, her eyes suddenly widened. Fluttershy had suddenly realised what she had just done.

"Oh my! I, I... I, uh.... oh..." Fluttershy whimpered, turning away from Dash and crawling into a ball the best she could (with the amount of space she had). Rainbow Dash looked over, to see Fluttershy completely hiding her face from view, using her large pink mane and her front hooves to do so.

"Hey, uhh, Fluttershy?" asked Rainbow Dash, sounding slightly worried. "You, you ok?" Rainbow began to hear quiet sobbing. This concerned Rainbow Dash. 'Oh no, oh no.' thought Rainbow Dash in her head, unsure of what to do. Dash decided that the best thing (and the only thing) she could do was just comfort her.

"Oh, oh come on, Fluttershy. It's alright.." Rainbow Dash reassured the sad pony, who held her hooves over her eyes. Rainbow didn't fully understand why Fluttershy was doing this, but of course, it somewhat made sense: Fluttershy had just started acting all 'lovey-dovey' around her, when other ponies were around. Luckily, no one was actually looking. However, it didn't stop the yellow mare from getting teary-eyed about it.

"R-rainbow Dash... I'm, I'm SOOO, so sorry...." Fluttershy weeped, her voice sounding muffled due to her mane being in front of her face. Rainbow Dash gently rubbed Fluttershy's back, to see if she could calm her down.

"Calm down Shy, it's fine. Honest," said Rainbow Dash in a soothing tone. She turned her head round to face the left. A light-grey pony with a blondish mane  was looking at her with his green eyes. 'Oh god, how long's he been looking over for?' thought Rainbow Dash. Unknowing to the cyan Pegasus, the light-grey pony had only just turned his head to look at her.

"Hey, is... is your friend ok?" he asked politely, making Rainbow Dash think carefully about what she would say next. 'Ok, ok, I don't think he knows...' a panicking Rainbow Dash thought. Clearing her throat, Rainbow Dash decided to come up with a story.

"Y-yeah, she's fine," Rainbow Dash replied, sweating a little bit, "She's just nervous about school, ya know?" The pony nodded his head, understanding what the cyan mare was telling him.

"I guess she's scared about her first day?" the pony asked another question, to which Rainbow Dash instantly replied to within mini-seconds of the question being asked.

"Yeah, she's worried that she won't get on with anyone, and that she might get picked on." Rainbow Dash explained. Although it wasn't actually the reason that she was crying about at the moment, it was certainly one of the things that did worry Fluttershy. So, in a way, Rainbow Dash was technically telling the truth.

"Well, I'm sure everything will be alright," the pony responded with a small smile. Rainbow Dash returned the smile with one of her own.

"I agree. I don't think anything bad will happen," said Rainbow Dash. The pony turned back round and looked out the window next to him. Rainbow Dash continued looking at him for a few more moments, before turning her gaze back onto Shy. By now, her tears had started to fade. The sobbing got quieter and less with each passing second. Rainbow Dash waited for Fluttershy to calm down, before she started talking again. It was the polite thing to do.

"Ummm, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash whispered to the yellow pony. Slowly, she lifted her head up, and looked up at her with big puppy eyes.

"I, I... I don't know wh-what came over me..." Fluttershy muttered, sniffling quietly. Rainbow continued to rub Shy's back. "I just, I just got... so carried away, within my thoughts. That, that I.... uh..." Fluttershy was finding it hard to think of the right words to say. "I just-" Rainbow Dash interrupted Fluttershy by putting a hoof over her mouth.

"Ssshhhh," said Rainbow Dash "It's fine Shy. Really, it's ok." Rainbow looked around them quickly, then leaned in a bit closer. "To be honest, I think I was actually starting to enjoy it." A small smile formed on Fluttershy's face.

"R-really?" Fluttershy asked, feeling slightly confused by Rainbow's statement. Rainbow Dash gave a big nod.

"Of course, Shy. Why wouldn't I enjoy your company?" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, with a tiny chuckle. The small smile on Fluttershy's face was now a big, happy smile. "Now come on, Flutters, you don't need to stress so much. Just sit back up and we can, you know, cuddle." Fluttershy seemed unsure, but Dash was determined to make Fluttershy feel calm. "Fluttershy, it'll be fine. I mean, I'm pretty sure best friends cuddling isn't unusual, is it?" Fluttershy thought carefully.

"Well, I, I guess not..." Fluttershy murmured. Rainbow Dash instantly put a foreleg around Shy's neck, holding her close.

"There we go then!" said Rainbow Dash, in an excited tone. Fluttershy smirked slightly. It seemed that Rainbow Dash was determined on keeping her in a positive mood. Of course, that was a good thing.

'Wow, Rainbow Dash is being really nice to me. She's, she's really being a true friend...' Fluttershy thought to herself, closing her eyes and continuing to smile. 'I'm so glad I get to be with her. I just feel so... special.'

==========

Rainbow Dash & Fluttershy continued to hug as the train got closer to the school. They began to speak about various topics: their friends, their recent activities, and of course - about each other. Rainbow Dash found it hard not to burst into laughter when Fluttershy brought up the topic about Angel's 'incident' in Rarity's spa. That blasted bunny had given her so much grief when she was looking after Fluttershy, so it was music to Dash's ears that something had happened to him. Of course, she didn't wish for him to be killed - that would be too far. She just felt that he needed to be taught a lesson.

"Wow, I guess he's in a pretty bad mood right now then..." joked Rainbow Dash, giggling to herself like some extreme fangirl. Even Fluttershy was laughing, although she did feel sorry for her poor bunny.

"Yeah, he's got to wear bandages on his back legs and avoid using them too much for the next few weeks," Flutteshy explained, to which Rainbow Dash nodded to make it clear that she was listening to every word.

==========

The train came to a sudden halt. Fluttershy & Rainbow Dash both lunged forward, as the train just stopped. Luckily, their seatbelts protected them from going face-first into the back of the chairs in front of them. Fluttershy made a loud eep as she flung back into her chair. Rainbow Dash instantly put one hoof to Fluttershy's chest (exactly where her heart was), while she kept the other hoof around Shy's neck.

"Woah! You, you ok Shy?" Rainbow Dash asked the scared pony, who had started to hyperventilate a little bit. Dash gently rubbed Fluttershy's back with the hoof that she had originally place around her neck. Fluttershy nodded frantically, although this made her feel a little dizzy.

"Ugh... pant... I'm... pant... f-fine... pant..." Fluttershy replied, trying hard to calm herself down and catch her breath. Rainbow continued to rub her back for a moment longer, before putting it back by her side.

"Ok, I'm glad to hear you're alright," responded Rainbow Dash, as she looked out of the window. Her eyes widened. She quickly turned to face the clock. 8.34am. Dash looked back to the window. She saw a bunch of other ponies stood around and talking outside a building. That building was a school. Ponyville Academy, to be exact.

They had arrived. As long as it felt like it took, after all the things that had happened, they had made it. Rainbow Dash waited for Fluttershy to calm down, before she spoke.

"Fluttershy. Hey, Fluttershy," said Rainbow Dash, very gently shaking the yellow pony. Fluttershy looked up at her.

"Wh-what, Dashie?" asked Fluttershy quietly. Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof to the window. Fluttershy looked outside the window, and noticed that they were looking at the outside of the school.

"We're here," Rainbow Dash replied, trying to sound as cool as she possibly could. Fluttershy looked back to Rainbow Dash, then down to her bag.

"Y-yeah. I, uh... see that," said Fluttershy, picking up her bag. Rainbow Dash instantly put a hoof underneath the strap of the bag, and helped Fluttershy lift it up. This caused Shy to giggle slightly. "Wh-why thank you, Rainbow Dash," exclaimed Fluttershy shyly. Rainbow blushed slightly.

"Awww, it's my pleasure, Shy," replied Rainbow Dash, giving the timid mare a grin. Fluttershy smiled back at the cyan Pegasus, as she picked up her own bag. Fluttershy then put a hoof under the strap of Dash's bag, and helped lift it up. Rainbow Dash seemed somewhat surprised, but thanked Fluttershy none the less. "Well, seems like we're helping each other then," claimed Rainbow Dash, as Fluttershy embarrassedly hid her face with her mane.

Rainbow Dash moved Shy's mane away from her face, looking deeply into her cyan blue eyes. . Fluttershy stared into Dash's magenta eyes.

"Stop being so cute, Shy," joked Rainbow Dash, chuckling slightly. Fluttershy gave a quick laugh of her own, before putting her bag around her neck. Rainbow Dash then did the exact same thing with her own bag. Rainbow Dash sat up from the chair. "Come on Shy, shall we go?" Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash for a moment, before giving her a nod.

"Yes, let's go." she shyly replied, before closing her eyes and smiling. Rainbow Dash returned the smile with one of her own. She then jumped up off of her chair. Rainbow put a hoof onto one of Fluttershy's, as she helped her get down from her chair.

"Come on Flutters, I got ya," Rainbow Dash boldly stated, as Fluttershy ever so slowly, let her back hooves touch the floor. Once they were firmly stood on the ground, she began to walk away from the window and right next to Dash. "Good girl," said Rainbow Dash, rubbing Fluttershy's head. Fluttershy embarrassedly giggled to herself, as she tried her best to hide a blush that tried to form on her face.

Rainbow Dash removed her hoof from Fluttershy's and the two of them walked out of the train together. Before they both left the train, however, Shy decided to compliment the conductor.

"Thank you for the ride," said Fluttershy. The conductor tipped his hat to her, along with giving her a wink.

"You are very welcome ma'am." he replied, to which Fluttershy found funny. Rainbow Dash ushered her out, just wanting to get out of the train.

"Come on Shy, let's go!" said Rainbow Dash, sounding slightly impatient, but trying her best to act calm about it. The last thing she wanted to do was to try and upset Fluttershy before they entered Ponyville Academy.

"Ok, Dash." Fluttershy replied, as she followed the cyan Pegasus out. As the two exited the train, the train slowly began to close its doors. Within seconds of them standing on the ground of the school, the train zoomed backwards, making Fluttershy's mane blow wildly through the wind created from the train's fast speed.

"Wooooah!" eeped Fluttershy, as she almost felt like she was gonna fall over. Rainbow Dash instantly raced over to the yellow pony and put one wing underneath her fragile body to hold her up.

"Ok, ok, I got ya, Shy. It's fine," reassured Rainbow Dash, as the Fluttershy put a hoof to her head. Once the small dizzy feeling that was starting to emerge instantly left her, Fluttershy removed the hoof from her head.

"It's ok, Dashie, I'm... I'm fine," said Fluttershy, as Rainbow Dash gently removed her wing from underneath Fluttershy. Dash nodded to her, to which Fluttershy responded by doing the same.

The two of them began to make their way towards the steps up to the school. Rainbow Dash would have generally ran up the stairs like a cheetah chasing its prey, but because Fluttershy was there with her, she decided to just calmly walk up the stairs. Fluttershy went up each step, one at a time. Although Rainbow Dash didn't really enjoy going slow, because it was Fluttershy that she was doing it for, she didn't mind it too much. Heck, she'd go as slow as Tank if she needed to.

Both of them were now standing right by the front door of the school. Rainbow Dash put one hoof on the door handle and began to pull it open, until she noticed Fluttershy looking down at the ground. Removing her hoof from the door, she went over to Shy. She put a hoof under the yellow pony's chin, so that she could look at her face.

"You ok, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked, instantly regretting it afterwards. It was clear that Fluttershy wasn't ok. The timid mare wanted to cry, but she decided to stay strong and not allow them to appear.

"I'm, I'm still s-scared to e-e-enter the school, Dash...." Fluttershy stuttered, which made Rainbow Dash realise what was getting her into a state again.

"Shy, relax. Please, it'll be fine..." Rainbow Dash reassured her, getting worried that Fluttershy's mental state could drop back down again. She didn't need to go through that again, it was horrible the first time. "Please Shy, you're really beginning to worry me now... And me being worried about something isn't generally common with me." Fluttershy just stared at her, not sure what to say. "I'll be there for you if anything happens, Flutters, just pleasseee.... trust me. Trust your girlfriend for once."

Rainbow Dash quickly looked around them, then planted a quick kiss on Fluttershy's forehead. This managed to bring a smile to Fluttershy's face. Rainbow Dash gave a relieved smile of her own. "Don't worry about it, Fluttershy. Everything will be fine." said Rainbow Dash, repeating the same line over and over again. Fluttershy gulped, then nodded slowly.

"Oh, ok. I trust you, Dashie..." Fluttershy whispered, to which Rainbow Dash was relieved to hear. Rainbow Dash walked back over to the door, and began to open it again. Once she opened the door, she made a gesture to Fluttershy, to allow her to go in first.

"After you," Rainbow Dash exclaimed, chuckling slightly. Fluttershy giggled too, giving Dash a quick bow.

"Why thank you, Dash," said Fluttershy, walking slowly into the building. Rainbow Dash walked in after her, and the door closed behind them.
> Chapter 3: An Awkward Morning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two ponies walked into a building, a school to be exact. One blue, one yellow. One brave and bold, the other timid and shy. One with the cutie mark of a multi-coloured lightning bolt and a cloud, the other with a cutie mark of some butterflies...

Fluttershy & Rainbow Dash looked around them with big eyes and their jaws dropped. They couldn't believe their sights. The school was extremely fancy. All of the walls were clean and shining, the lockers for all of the ponies were brand-new, and there was the sweet smell of freshness around the school. Even better, all of the ponies that they saw seemed to be smiling and waving at them. Fluttershy kindly waved back and smiled, while Dash just nodded to them.

Although the two ponies weren't holding hooves, they were still stood rather close to each other. The two continued to walk around the school, trying to get their bearing around the place, so that they knew where everything was.

"Wow, this school is very fancy, isn't it, Dashie?" Fluttershy squeaked, as she stared in awe at everything she saw. Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes as she saw Fluttershy taking admiration in everything.

"Well, if you say so..." Rainbow Dash responded with a yawn, which Fluttershy found a bit rude.

"Oh come on, Dash. You need to look around you!" Fluttershy explained, although Rainbow Dash preferred to be at home sleeping. In order to keep the peace, as well as to avoid being given 'the stare', Rainbow Dash decided to act interested.

"Hmmm, I will admit - it makes me feel like I'm in one of the poshest schools around," said Rainbow Dash, noticing a empty display on a wall to the right of her. There was some writing above the blank display. The writing read:

"Best Athletes/Talented Students of the Term."

Rainbow Dash stopped where she stood, looking like she was lost in space. Fluttershy looked back at the cyan Pegasus, who was still staring at the wall.

"Uhhh, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy called out to her friend, to which no response was received. Fluttershy walked up to Rainbow Dash, and gently tapped her shoulder with one hoof. Rainbow Dash instantly spun around and looked at the yellow pony. Dash seemed slightly confused at the situation, until she took a quick glance back to the wall.

"Hmmm? Fluttershy?" said Rainbow Dash, in a drowsy voice. Fluttershy didn't say a word. Rainbow Dash shook her head, then looked back into the magenta eyes that were staring at her. "Ugh, oh. S-sorry Fluttershy. I was lost then..." Rainbow Dash managed, still feeling as if she daydreaming.

Fluttershy facehoofed herself, as she tried her best to not burst out into laughter. Rainbow didn't really understand what Fluttershy was finding so funny, but she figured it would be best not to ask. However, when she saw a smirk emerging on her face, Rainbow Dash couldn't resist it anymore.

"Ok, seriously, Shy? What is so funny?" asked Rainbow Dash, sounding slightly irritated. Fluttershy giggled to herself for a moment, before speaking.

"Oh, it's nothing, Dash..." lied Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash didn't look impressed. Fluttershy had another quick chuckle, then added, "It's just, it was like, you were daydreaming or something. I...I found it funny how you were just, stood there." Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders.

"Eeh, I was just looking at that board over there," said Rainbow Dash, pointing to the display she had been looking at. Fluttershy looked up at it, reading the sentence above it carefully.

"Best Athletes/Talented Students of the Term..." Fluttershy read aloud, thinking to herself. Suddenly, she had an idea of what Rainbow was probably thinking. "Sooo, you're... gonna try and get on that board? I, uh... assume?" Rainbow Dash nodded frantically, a big smile on her face.

"Heck yeah!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, while thought about how she would get onto that board, "That would be SOOO awesome!" It was clear that Rainbow Dash only had one goal currently - getting onto that board.

"Come on, Dash, we got to get our keys," Fluttershy told Rainbow Dash, to which the cyan Pegasus seemed confused.

"Huh? Keys?" Rainbow Dash asked, unsure of what Fluttershy was saying. Fluttershy rolled her eyes, as her girlfriend still pondered on what she was talking about.

"You know, for... for our lockers?" said Fluttershy, to which Rainbow Dash's eyes widened, "So that we can, you know, put our bags in there?" Rainbow nodded, now understanding what Fluttershy was talking about.

"Oh yeah, of course. How silly of me," joked Rainbow Dash, laughing at herself, "Ugh, I can't believe I didn't think about that then." Fluttershy giggled again, as she brushed her body gently along Dash's. This made a big, bright red blush form onto Rainbow's face, as her wings opened up. Fluttershy was giving her a romantic face. It was pretty much the exact same face that Shy had given Rainbow Dash after she said that Shy could be a 'naughty filly'. Rainbow's heart began to melt as she remembered the moment.

==========

"Oh, but Dashie. I thought you said I was a naughty filly. Which is it?” Fluttershy had said in a coy voice, as she brushed her tail across Dash's face. Fluttershy's tail had actually tickled her face.

==========

"Oh, you are just so cute when you're daydreaming Dashie." Fluttershy spoke softly, snapping Rainbow Dash out of her daydreaming once again. Rainbow Dash shook her head, and looked at Fluttershy, who appeared to still be flirting with her. Luckily, no one was around in the area that they were in.

"Oh man, Shy, you're... you're a..." Rainbow Dash stuttered, trying to find her words. Fluttershy heard hooves walking towards them, so she decided to quickly end her teasing by brushing her tail along Rainbow's face. This made Rainbow Dash feel tingly inside. 'Oh god, she's doing it again.' Rainbow thought to herself, feeling her breathing pace quicken. 'She better stop this soon. This is really starting to turn me on now.'

Fluttershy stared at Rainbow Dash, who's face was as bright as a strawberry, or perhaps even a tomato. "I'm a what, Dash?" Fluttershy asked in a coy voice, still teasing her (to a certain extent). Rainbow Dash just looked at the yellow pony, a small evil grin beginning to form on her face.

"You are one naughty filly..." Rainbow Dash whispered into Fluttershy's ears, which made a bright pink blush begin to appear on her face. However, her 'romantic' eyes and smile were still present. Fluttershy bit her lip, trying her best to resist going up to the cyan Pegasus and kissing her full on the lips.

A group of ponies were walking behind them, which Rainbow Dash's easily picked up. Even Flutters' ears flicked up, as the sounds of laughing ponies neared them. Fluttershy looked behind her, to see three mares, walking into the toilet. None of them as pretty as the pony next to her.

"Uhhh, how come there's like, hardly anyone around, Shy?" Rainbow Dash asked, feeling slightly awkward. Fluttershy's timid nature had now instantly returned again. She brushed her mane away from her face with one hoof, giving her a shy smile.

"Well, I... uh, I... don't know..." Fluttershy murmured, unsure of how to answer the question. Rainbow Dash wrapped one wing around Fluttershy, as she leaned in towards her ear.

"Why don't we get our keys and put our bags in our lockers out the way, eh?" Rainbow Dash reminded the timid mare, to which Fluttershy remembered that they had been so caught up in their 'private moment', that they forgot all about getting their bags put away. Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash for a moment, before finally giving a slow nod.

"Umm, oh-ok..." said Fluttershy, while Rainbow Dash put her wing back by her side. Rainbow began to walk away, but Fluttershy quickly trotted after her, until they were stood right next to each other.

"Man, you don't wanna leave my side today, do ya?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, before quickly adding, "Not that I'm complaining, of course." Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth and laughed into it. Rainbow Dash was just glad that Fluttershy was in a good mood again, it was better than her being upset and in tears.

"Dashie, why wouldn't I want to be with you?" asked Fluttershy, as the Wonderbolt-wannabe rolled her eyes, while a smile creeped up onto her face. Rainbow turned to Fluttershy, while they still walked.

"Fluttershy, I know we're dating and all, but still! You've never been this clingy to me before, and that's putting it lightly!" joked Rainbow Dash, who also began to chuckle to herself about the situation. As the two ponies neared the 'Student Window', they quietened their voices, so that no one could hear their personal conversation...

"...You, you know I'm, uh...nervous about this..." Fluttershy murmured. Rainbow Dash wore a sad frown on her face, knowing how what she was being told was the truth. Fluttershy had been really panicking herself about returning to school these last few weeks. Having missed a year already meant she was behind, but it wasn't like she'd done it on purpose.

Fluttershy had gone through a lot this past year: she'd mutilated her wings, she'd been kept in hospital for some time while her wings healed up (and to also be given help on her mental state, thanks to her psychiatrist, Dr. Shrink Adink), she'd realized how mentally unstable she was, and most importantly, she'd gotten together with her longtime crush - Rainbow Dash. Together, they were stronger than they could ever be alone.

"Ugh. Relax Shy, it'll be fine." Rainbow Dash moaned, slightly annoyed by the fact that she had to keep repeating herself. She knew why Fluttershy was so nervous about this, and Dash didn't have a problem with that. It was just the fact that it seemed to the rainbow-mane pony that Fluttershy didn't believe her and have trust in her.

Fluttershy tried to laugh it off, but failed miserably. Rainbow Dash put a hoof around Shy's neck, while speaking softly. "I know you're worried, believe me, I can understand why. But, I'm here for you - I'm not gonna let anypony hurt you, alright?" Fluttershy listened to every word that came out of her special somepony's mouth, then nodded slowly.

"Y-yeah, you're...you're right. I'll be ok," Fluttershy agreed, to which brought a big smile to Rainbow Dash's face. Just before they were stood directly in front of the pony at the 'Student Window', Fluttershy quickly added "My big, strong Pegasus friend will help me..." Rainbow Dash felt her cheeks beginning to burn, as a pale-red blush began to form onto her face.

When they finally got to the end of the corridor that they had been walking down, they had noticed how many more ponies were around. This panicked Fluttershy a bit, so she stood as close as she could to Rainbow Dash, nuzzling her head into her neck. Rainbow Dash looked down, to notice that Fluttershy seemed to be 'cuddling' against her. Dash thought about saying something, but her thoughts were soon interrupted.

"May I help you?" asked a kind pony on the opposite side of the window. Rainbow Dash looked back up, to notice a mare with a yellow mane, bright green eyes and light blue fur looking at her. She stared at Rainbow Dash with a kind smile, while Rainbow herself wore a somewhat-confused expression on her face. The pony tilted her head slightly. "Ummm, you ok?"

Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment, as she took a quick peek back down to Fluttershy, who appeared to be acting like an unmoving object. Rainbow was confused, as she wondered what Fluttershy was thinking. The cyan Pegasus turned her gaze back to the pony that still waited by the window. She put on a smile, as she began to speak.

"Hey there, I'm Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow exclaimed, as she gave a small wave, "And this here is my friend, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash pointed down to the pale yellow Pegasus, who was stood right next to her. The light blue earth pony peered over the window, to notice the timid mare that was stood next to the rainbow-maned Pegasus. "We're here to collect our, locker keys... You have those, right?" The pony at the window nodded slowly, as her smile grew bigger.

"We sure do!" said the pony, as she began to walk off, "I'll just get them now." Rainbow Dash nodded in response, as she waited for the pony to return back. Dash felt something move on her, so she looked down again, to notice that Fluttershy had now moved her head from her neck. Shy looked up at Rainbow Dash with big eyes, as her cyan eyes glistened into the rainbow-maned pony's own.

"Hey, you're ok, right?" Rainbow Dash asked softly, to which Fluttershy nodded. She smiled lightly.

"Eeh, yeah. More or less," Fluttershy replied, as she shrugged her shoulders. She stood up as tall as she could, compared to her crouched position while Rainbow Dash spoke to the pony at the window. Rainbow lightly patted her friend on the back, as she returned a big smile of her own.

"I'll be honest with you, I'd rather be at home right now," Rainbow Dash admitted, to which a giggle erupted from Fluttershy's mouth. Dash did not question Shy's sudden laughter. "But, I'm not at home right now - because I have school to attend, boring work to complete.... and a cute little pony to look after." Rainbow Dash moved her hoof from Shy's back to her mane. Fluttershy laughed at Rainbow's comment, as she allowed Rainbow Dash to stroke her mane.

"Heehee, well... if you say so..." Fluttershy whispered, as she stretched out her wings, while letting out a yawn. Rainbow Dash leaned her body to the right, as to avoid accidently being hit in the face by the yellow pony's wing. As her wings went back by her sides again, Fluttershy began to quietly hum to herself. Rainbow looked at her, as she could hear the faint sound of Fluttershy's gentle voice.

Within moments, the pony that had greeted Dash at the window returned, holding two keys in her mouth. She tried to speak, but it wasn't  exactly easy.

"Here ya go!" The pony said, with a muffled voice. Rainbow Dash looked round to face the pony holding the keys. Opening up a wing, Dash picked up the keys.

"Hey, thanks! ....Uh, what's your name?" Rainbow Dash responded, trying her best not to sound rude at asking the question. The pony didn't say anything for a moment. She took a small breath of air, then spoke.

"Well, my name's Scarlet Rose. But you can just call me Scarlet, or Miss Rose, if you want to be formal," Scarlet replied with a smile. Rainbow Dash held out a hoof, as she offered to shake with Scarlet. She gladly accepted the response, and shook Dash's hoof.

"Nice to meet ya, Scarlet," Rainbow Dash said, as she looked back to Fluttershy, who slowly made her way to the window. Fluttershy hesitated a bit, but she kindly held out her own hoof, while she kept her head up.

"I'm uh, Fluttershy... Nice to meet you Miss Rose," said Fluttershy quietly, as Scarlet shook her hoof.

"Yes, your friend told me your name," Scarlet explained, moving her eyes to make Fluttershy look behind her at the future-Wonderbolt. This made Fluttershy smile. Scarlet continued to speak. "It's good to see you Fluttershy... and Rainbow Dash." The two of them both had their eyes on her, as their faces wore expressions of happiness.

Scarlet looked at her watch, to notice that the time was 8.42am. She decided to cut their conversation short. "Well, it's been nice speaking to you both. I hope we meet again sometime. But, I think it's best if you made a move..." Fluttershy seemed puzzled, but then she realised that the time must have been getting on.

"Oh, ok. We best be off," Fluttershy agreed, as she nudged Rainbow Dash with her flank. Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy for a moment, as she tried to get over the fact that Fluttershy had just pressed her flank against her own. Rainbow assumed that it was just a friendly gesture to say 'Come on, let's go,'. Rainbow nodded, and added her own comment.

"Yeah, we'll speak to you some other time!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. Scarlet waved to the ponies, as they began to walk away from the window.

"Bye Fluttershy! Bye Rainbow Dash!" Scarlet called out, as the two ponies looked back and gave their own waves to her.

"Bye Scarlet!" sang both Rainbow Dash & Fluttershy at the same time. Rainbow turned her head towards Shy, and said, "Jinx!" Fluttershy averted her gaze away from the cyan Pegasus, as she felt slightly embarrassed. She put a hoof over her mouth.

"Ok Rainbow Dash, you got me," Fluttershy commented, as she laughed into her hoof. Rainbow Dash just continued facing Fluttershy, as she waited for her to calm down, so that she could continue speaking.

"Too bad it ain't where I want you..." Rainbow Dash grumbled, putting on a frowny face. The yellow pony wore a face of confusion, to which Dash realized that this meant that she had to explain what she was trying to say. "I wish that we, you know... weren't here. Instead, I'd prefer to be somewhere more, private..." Fluttershy felt her cheeks burn slightly, as they began to turn pink. Rainbow squinted her eyes, as she knew that Fluttershy understood what she was saying now.

"...You, you can sleepover with me tonight, if that's what you, uhhh, want..." Fluttershy muttered, to which Rainbow Dash began to wiggle her eyebrows. Fluttershy couldn't look at her friend while she was doing that, she'd just burst into a laughing fit. Or pass from embarrassment, whatever happened first really. "Oh? .....OHHHHH. Oh my..." At this point, Rainbow's actions were beginning to make more sense in Shy's head. She felt her cheeks beginning to burn. Dash noticed a pink blush forming on her friend's face. Rainbow Dash decided to step in and calm Fluttershy down, before she fell unconscious.

"Relax Shy, it's fine. I'm only joking..." Rainbow Dash explained, making Fluttershy realize that the cyan Pegasus was only messing with her. "Besides, we're both only 16 anyway. Well, you're more or less." After she finished speaking, Rainbow Dash decided to drop the subject. Instead, when she opened her mouth again, she began to speak about something different.

"Sooo, what locker numbers are we?" Rainbow Dash asked Fluttershy. The yellow pony was relieved at the sudden change of topic. Her blush began to fade.

"We're at lockers 223 and 224, Dashie," Fluttershy replied softly. Rainbow Dash loved hearing Fluttershy's soothing voice. It made her feel so calm and relaxed. Rainbow gave a small nod, as she looked around her. "It should be straight on... I think." Fluttershy was unsure of where their lockers would be, but she just went with her gut feeling.

"Ok, straight on it is," confirmed Rainbow Dash, as the two of them walked down the corridor in front of them. Rainbow Dash looked left, while Fluttershy looked left. They searched long and hard for their lockers. However, all of them seemed to be in the 300s or 400s, not 200s. "Darn, looks like they aren't down here..." Rainbow Dash commented, to which Fluttershy wasn't so happy about.

"Oh, oh well that's... no good," said Fluttershy quietly, as she turned her head down to face the floor. Looking over and seeing how sad the yellow pony was, Rainbow used her free wing and wrapped it around Fluttershy's delicate body.

"Hey, it's ok. We'll find them, I promise," Rainbow Dash told Fluttershy. Rainbow knew that her friend was panicking about the time, seeing as she knew Fluttershy didn't want to be late on the first day - she wanted to make herself look good to the teachers. Fluttershy raised her to head to face the rainbow-maned pony in front of her. A small sad smile was on her face. Unknowing to Rainbow Dash though, Fluttershy had been smirking the whole time.

"It's, it's fine. Really, I'm not, uhh... too bothered..." Fluttershy responded, "I get to spend this time looking for it, with you. ...So it's not all bad." Those words made Rainbow Dash feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Rainbow stopped walking, as she raised her wing underneath Fluttershy, back to her side. She did a pose, to show as if she was stood on top of the whole world.

"Well, let me say that's it an honour for me to make your day 20% more cooler!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, laughing to herself at the use of her own extremely over-used catchphrase. Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth, as she giggled into it.

"I'm never bored with you around, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy told the cyan Pegasus, who continued to make a number of different poses, "You have a way of making everything more fun... and seem much more competitive." Rainbow Dash seemed to be pleased with herself at this moment.

"Eeh, that's just how I roll Shy," bragged Rainbow Dash, adding a quick laugh at the end, "I'm not called Rainbow 'Danger' Dash for nothing, am I right?" Putting a hoof to her forehead, Fluttershy shook her head, as a small chuckle erupted from her mouth.

"Heehee, can't argue with that!" Fluttershy concluded, while trying to calm down her laughing. She was pretty sure that she'd pass out from laughter if she continued much more. The two ponies walked left once they reached the end of the corridor. Then, at that moment, Rainbow Dash finally found their prize.

"There they are!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed loudly, as she pointed to the lockers in front of them. They had finally found the 200-numbered lockers. Fluttershy looked over to where Rainbow was pointing her hoof to, to find that they had found the lockers they were looking for. A big smile began to grow on Fluttershy's face, as she began to quickly trot towards them.

"Come on, we haven't got much time!" Fluttershy noted, as Rainbow Dash began to quickly run after her.

"Ok, ok, we'll be fine! We'll get there in time!" Rainbow Dash assured the yellow Pegasus, who was searching frantically for their numbers. Rainbow Dash facehoofed herself, as she watched Fluttershy looking high and low at each number of every locker in front of her. Until.....

"Found them!" Fluttershy squeaked, as she excitedly hopped up and down. Rainbow Dash smiled at Fluttershy, who was certainly eager to get her bag in the small storage box in front of her. Dash ran a hoof along both lockers. She smirked.

"Well, would ya look at that Shy, our lockers are right next to one another..." Rainbow Dash pointed out, to which Fluttershy blushed at. "You don't think they know about... 'us', do you?" Fluttershy resisted looking away from Rainbow Dash, as her timid nature was trying to kick in again.

'You don't need to be so shy around your best friend, Fluttershy...' Fluttershy told herself, as she took a deep breath. She put a hoof to her face, as she spoke softly.

"I, uh... think it's just a coincidence, Dash..." suggested Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash gave a slight smile, while the blushing in Fluttershy's cheeks began to disappear. Rainbow moved her right wing towards Fluttershy. Fluttershy picked up her key from Dash's wing in her mouth. "Thanks, Dashie." said Fluttershy, in a muffled voice. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"You are welcome, my pretty little filly..." said Rainbow Dash softly, which made Fluttershy feel like blushing again. It took a few moments for Dash to realize what she had just said. 'I just called her, a pretty little filly? ...Wow, I don't ever remember being sappy like this before.' thought Rainbow Dash, as she closed her eyes. 'Then again, it's Fluttershy. I'll be as sappy to her as I need to. After all, I kinda enjoy it... in a way.'

Fluttershy, although it was awkward, opened the door to her locker. She held the key in her mouth, as she tried to fit a hoof on it to fit it into the keyhole. Once the key was firmly in the lock, she took her mouth off of it. Fluttershy used her hoof to gently turn the key to the right. It made a click sound. She pulled the door open, to reveal an empty space, ready to be filled with stuff. Fluttershy took her bag off of her neck, and carefully placed it inside the locker. Rainbow Dash followed: she took her key off of her wing, placed it inside the lock, opened the locker, and then took her bag off from around her neck & placed it inside the small storage box. They both closed their lockers, turning their keys to the left to make sure that they remained shut.

"Wuh...where do we put our keys now then?" Fluttershy pondered, holding her key in her mouth again. Rainbow Dash poked a pocket that she had on the side of her trousers with one hoof, as the cyan Pegasus used her wing to place it inside.

"I have pockets on these trousers..." Rainbow Dash explained, while the timid yellow mare in front of her looked at her blankly. She pointed to the cardigan that Fluttershy was wearing. Fluttershy looked down to her right, to notice a small pocket. "Looks like you got one on your cardigan, Shy."

Fluttershy put a hoof to the pocket on the top right of her cardigan. Slowly, she opened her mouth and caught the key in her other hoof. She dropped the key into the pocket.

"I didn't notice that at first. Thanks, Dash," replied Fluttershy, as she closed her eyes happily. Rainbow Dash felt a feeling of warmth overtake her, though she was unsure why. Most likely, it was because she had helped Fluttershy stay in a good mood. She'd rather see her closest friend happy than sad.

Within that moment, the bell rang. Fluttershy made a small eep and jumped slightly at the sudden loud noise that echoed throughout the school. Fluttershy looked at the clock. It read 8:45am. She gulped hard. Rainbow Dash noticed Fluttershy's expression change instantly. She put a hoof around the shy pony's neck.

"Let's go going. The last thing we need is to be late, right?" Rainbow Dash said softly to Fluttershy. She replied with a small nod and a quiet "Uh hum." The two began to walk, as Rainbow Dash removed her hoof from around Fluttershy's neck. The yellow Pegasus started to quicken her pace a little bit, to which surprised Rainbow Dash slightly. Dash began to think to herself as they continued to make their way to their tutor room. 'Seems like Fluttershy wasn't kidding when she said she didn't want to be late on her first day. I think she might be panicking a little bit.' Rainbow Dash continued to think for a moment longer, until she decided that it was time to act now and think later. 'I'll cheer her up later if she still feels stressed about this I think,' thought Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, uh... Shy? What room we heading for anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked quietly, as the timid mare next to her focused her gaze on what was in front of her. There was silence for a small moment, until Fluttershy spoke.

"We're in G32, Dashie..." replied Fluttershy quickly, as she tried hard to not freak out about the time. "I'm sorry Dash, but I really don't wanna be late right now. Not on my first day." Rainbow Dash wore an unapproving smile on her face. She knew that Fluttershy was worried about not being on time, but Dash just wanted the yellow Pegasus to relax.

"It'll be fine, Fluttershy. We'll get there," Rainbow Dash responded, as Fluttershy still continued to walk on. She was moving at a quick, but comfortable pace. She frantically turned her head from left to right, as she read the numbers of each room that they passed.

"G27, G28, G29... G30, G31..." muttered Fluttershy, as they got closer to their tutor room. Then, after what felt to Fluttershy like hours, they finally made it to their destination. "G-G32.... We made it." There was a small amount of surprise in Shy's voice as she spoke. She stopped dead in her tracks for a few moments, with Rainbow Dash stood right behind her. Rainbow looked at her, wearing a concerned expression on her face.

"Fluttershy, you ok?" Rainbow Dash asked. She received no answer. Then, the shy pony began to make little steps towards the frame of the door. Rainbow slowly crept behind her. Once she was close enough, Fluttershy peered her head into the room. There was four areas of three tables in the room, all which had ponies sat down by them. Fluttershy felt her legs begin to shake slightly. However, with all of the bravery that she could muster, she decided to speak.

"Ummm, hello?" Fluttershy called out quietly. She made a small eep as she noticed that all eyes were on her. Rainbow Dash walked to the other side and also looked into the room. Then, half of the ponies began to look at her too. It was at that moment, that the two of them both heard hoofsteps walking towards them. Both of their ears perked up. In front of them, stood a tall pony. She was a light-purple mare, with green eyes and a pastel-yellow mane, much similar to the colour of Fluttershy's fur, only it was much paler. She was also a unicorn.

"Why hello there. You must be Fluttershy & Rainbow Dash," the pony said to them. Fluttershy & Rainbow Dash looked up at the pony, who looked at them with a smile. Fluttershy smiled back, as she held out a hoof.

"Hi! I'm Fluttershy!" Fluttershy exclaimed, as the pony shook her hoof. The pony gave a small nod to her.

"It's nice to meet you, Fluttershy," the pony replied. She turned her gaze to the cyan Pegasus. Rainbow Dash gave a small smile of her own, while holding out her hoof.

"Hey, name's Rainbow Dash," said Rainbow Dash, just wanting to sit down on a chair again. It didn't matter if it was hard or soft, any chair would suit her for now, "And... your name is?" Rainbow Dash tried her best to not sound rude when she asked the question of the teacher's name. Luckily, the light-purple unicorn remained in her cheery mood.

"My name is Caramel Drop, although you shall call me Miss Drop..." Caramel Drop explained to Rainbow Dash, shaking the blue pony's hoof, "I shall be your tutor for this school year." Rainbow Dash nodded in reply, as Miss Drop let go of her hoof. Fluttershy walked back towards Miss Drop, looking up at her with big eyes.

"Uhhh, umm... sorry if we're, uhh, late..." Fluttershy muttered, although Miss Drop could just about hear what the yellow pony was saying to her. A big smile remained on her face.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. You're not late - you're right on time actually!" declared Miss Drop, while she pointed a hoof at the clock above the door that Fluttershy & Dash had just walked through. Fluttershy looked up at the clock and was surprised to see that the clock had only just turned to 8:45am. She felt relief and joy warm up inside of her.

"Now then, let's see where you are on the seating plan..." said Miss Drop, as she grabbed a piece of paper from her desk in her mouth. She dropped it onto her hooves as the two ponies next to her came closer to have a look at the paper. On the paper, was the layout of the classroom. There was a group of three tables on the bottom right of the paper. On the very last table in that area of the classroom, was two names, right next to each other: Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"There we are! You sit on the very back row of the table on the right-hand side," explained Miss Drop. The two ponies nodded to each other, then walked towards their destination. There was silence for a moment, until suddenly...

"OHMYGOSH!OHMYGOSH!OHMYGOSH! RAINBOW DASH AND FLUTTERSHY!!!" a certain pink party pony exclaimed loudly, as two ponies next to her tried to calm her down.

"Whoa there Pinkie, y'all don't need to get too excited there," said Applejack, as Pinkie Pie sat back down in her seat. Applejack was an earth pony with orangey fur,a pale yellowish/light grayish olive colour mane and green eyes. She lived on a farm called Sweet Apple Acres, with her older brother, Big Mac, her younger sister, Apple Bloom, and her gran, Granny Smith. Her cutie mark was three red apples. Pinkie Pie was also an earth pony, who lived in Sugarcube Corner with the Cake family. Sugarcube Corner was also the place where Pinkie worked. Pinkie Pie had pink fur, a dark-pinkish mane and light-blue eyes. Pinkie's cutie mark was three balloons: two blue balloons and a yellow balloon in-between.

"I know you may be over-joyed to see some of your closest friends, Pinkie dear, but try and keep the excitement in until later," concluded Rarity. Rarity was a unicorn pony with white fur, a luxurious indigo/purple mane and azure blue eyes, and spent most of her time in the Ponyville Day Spa, as she was always concerned about making her appearance look good. Ponyville Day Spa was a day spa/beauty salon, which was owned by two twins, Aloe and Lotus Blossom. Rarity, however, had now been given the role of assistant manager there - for times when the spa got extremely busy, and the Blossom twins were away. Rarity's cutie mark was three blue diamonds.

"Heya everyone!" Rainbow Dash boldly stated, waving to the ponies which were her bestest friends of all time. Fluttershy decided to give a wave of her own, while she gave a light smile.

"Hi Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack!" squealed Fluttershy, as the three ponies waved back. The only pony who didn't wave back, was a certain book-worm/egghead - Twilight Sparkle. Twilight was a unicorn, with violet eyes, a darkish sapphire blue mane and light purple/pale light grayish mulberry fur. Her cutie mark was 5 white stars, with a bigger white star in the middle and a large pink star over the top of the big white star. She was obsessed with books, as her home, known to many by the name of Golden Oak Library, was completely filled with shelves of books. In fact, it was Twilight's collection of Daring Do books which got Rainbow Dash into reading to begin with. However, it was only Daring Do books which Rainbow Dash would read.

Rainbow Dash shot a dirty look at Twilight Sparkle, although she continued to face her book. Rarity noticed this, and decided to step in.

"Don't mind Twilight dear, she's just doing what she does best: reading books," explained Rarity, although Rainbow still felt anger inside of her, "I think she's reading something about trees actually." Within moments of Rarity finishing her sentence, Twilight closed her book and turned round to face Rainbow Dash. The cyan Pegasus immediately softened her expression into a small smile as the purple unicorn stared at her.

"It is in fact, about trees and plants," continued Twilight Sparkle, as she expanded on what Rarity had said, "It's about how they grow and the way in which photosynthesis works." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at all the sciencey words which were being spoken. Twilight, didn't like that. "It's interesting Rainbow Dash! You may not like it, but I do!" Rainbow Dash was unamused at Twilight's remark, but decided to let it slide.

"It's good to meet you too, Twilight," joked Rainbow Dash, although she still wore a smile on her face. Twilight nodded, as Fluttershy came over and gave her a small hug.

"Nice to see you, Twilight!" said Fluttershy, as her forelegs gently wrapped around Twilight's neck. Twilight smiled back, as she patted the yellow pony's back.

"It's always a pleasure to see you too, Fluttershy," replied Twilight, as Fluttershy let go of her. She walked back to her space, while she looked at Rainbow Dash - who was still stood up and looking at the science-loving pony.

"Uhh, Dash? Aren't you going to sit down?" asked Fluttershy quietly. Rainbow Dash turned her head to face Fluttershy. She looked at her for a moment, before she spoke.

"...Yeah, yeah. Sure, I'll do that..." Rainbow Dash responded, sounding as if she was trying to snap out of a daydream. Rainbow Dash walked over to the chair which Fluttershy had kindly pulled out from under the table for her, then sat down on it. "Heh, thanks, Shy." Fluttershy closed her eyes, as her smile turned into a big toothy grin.

"You're welcome, Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy, while Rainbow Dash tried to make herself comfy on her chair/stool. It was a wooden top, while the legs were made of metal. There was silence from all of the Mane Six for a moment. None of them spoke a word, although the ponies on the other tables were all busy chatting. Miss Drop was busy looking through some paperwork.

Rainbow Dash tapped her hooves on the desk, while Fluttershy played with one of the curls in her mane with a single hoof. Twilight returned to reading her book. Pinkie bounced up and down excitedly, while she wore a huge grin on her face. Applejack adjusted her hat slightly, as she decided to break the silence.

"So uh, Rainbow, what have you an Shy been up to lately, eh?" Applejack asked, catching Rainbow Dash off-guard. Rainbow Dash stared at the cowgirl pony, with big eyes.

"Ummm, well, uh.... we've just been, you know.... hanging out..." stuttered Rainbow Dash, unsure of what to say. An evil smile began to grow onto Applejack's face.

"Uh hmm? You sure sugarcube?" Applejack asked, which irritated Rainbow Dash a bit. Applejack felt a small chuckle erupt from her mouth as she noticed the usually calm and cool expression to Rainbow Dash's blue face begin to turn red.

"What are you getting at, AJ?" Rainbow growled, to which Fluttershy's ears perked up. Applejack's smile began to get more evil looking after each passing second.

"Ah'm sayin, are ya sure that y'all haven't been doing some more.... personal stuff together?" Applejack questioned. Rainbow Dash's wings shot open, as a huge crimson-coloured blush filled her face. Fluttershy made a small eep, as her face too began to fill with a bright blush. She hid her face from everyone's view behind her large pink mane. Unfortunately, Rainbow's mane was not long enough to hide behind.

The sudden noise of wings opening drew the attention of some of the other ponies, who began to stare at the cyan Pegasus. Dash felt worry, panic, and most importantly anger, begin to fill her head. AJ continued to wear a smug expression on her face, while Rarity watched Dash's happy expression instantly change.

"Uhh, Applejack dear?" Rarity whispered to Applejack, who turned her head to face her, "I think you're taking this 'teasing' thing too far: Rainbow Dash looks like she's getting angry." Applejack focused her gaze back onto Rainbow Dash, who was trying really hard to get her wings to go back in. She really was desperate to get them back by her sides.

Rainbow Dash tried to think of something boring and dull. The first thought she got was flying into a tree, which didn't work because it involved flying - one of her favourite things to do. The next thought was fashion: this only made things worse. Images of Fluttershy posing in dresses made her wings become tingly, increasing her blush. 'Ugh, what was Twilight talking about earlier?' Rainbow Dash thought to herself. Then, she suddenly remembered something.

'Aha! Of course, photosynthesis and junk!' Rainbow Dash realized, as she tried as had as she could to make her thoughts to be about the life of plants growing. She scrunched her nose up and closed her eyes, as she forced her mind onto the new topic. It was at that moment, that the thoughts of her and Shy doing, what Applejack would say as 'personal stuff', began to fade. The odd feeling in her wings began to fade, as she felt her face begin to cool down.

Rainbow Dash's wings began to drop down back by their sides, while her blush began to fade. She wrapped her forelegs around her body, giving herself a self-hug. After a few seconds, she put her forelegs back onto the table. She shot a dirty look towards Applejack, with a fiery look in her eyes. A small amount of steam came from her nostrils.

"How dare you do that!" snarled Rainbow Dash, resisting the urge to punch Applejack in her smug little face. All the cockiness that was once in the cowgirl pony's face, had now faded. Her ears drooped, as she realised how embarrassed she made her friend feel. "You are to never mention anything like that again, you hear me!?" With each passing second, the anger that Rainbow felt increased. Fluttershy began to panic, thinking back to the thoughts where Rainbow Dash had shouted at her... the day where the cyan Pegasus had been kicked out from the Wonderbolts... again.

Fluttershy gently tapped Rainbow's shoulder. The enraged blue mare swung her head round violently to face the timid pony. Fluttershy cowered in fear behind her mane. Then, almost instantly, Rainbow Dash's expression began to soften. Knowing that she had frightened her best friend, she tried her best at giving a sad smile, while stopping the steam from emerging out of her nostrils.

"Hey, hey... it's alright Flutters, seriously..." Rainbow Dash murmured, brushing the large pink mane away from Fluttershy's face. She put her hooves on the yellow pony's shoulders, as she looked at her with big dog eyes. "I'm... I'm sorry for losing it there, ok? Honest... it was just, Applejack irritated me then." Fluttershy looked into the deep pools in front of her: the deep pools which were Rainbow's magenta-coloured eyes.

Applejack began to feel guilty. Knowing she had really made Rainbow Dash mad, she wanted to go over there and just apologise. However, it was best to let the rainbow-maned pony talk with her special somepony for a bit.

"Like you said... I think I need, anger-management classes... or something....." Rainbow Dash continued. Fluttershy slowly took her hooves away from her face, as she saw the regret in Dash's eyes. The other ponies in the class stopped staring at Rainbow Dash, as they continued with their own conversations.

"Eeh, it's ok Dash," Fluttershy lied, knowing deep-down that her best friend's outburst really had frightened her. Although that was mainly because of 'that' day. "We all get angry sometimes. ...But, you're right. Some classes, could be useful to you." Deep inside of her, Rainbow Dash felt like crying. Fluttershy was just so nice, kind, charming, innocent... and so much more to her. In fact, she was like that to every pony. Just to have her as a friend, meant a lot to Rainbow Dash. To have her as more than a friend - it meant more to Rainbow than her own life.

"Awww, thanks a bunch Flutters," Rainbow Dash said, giving her shy friend a small hug. Fluttershy was happy at Dash's action, as she gladly embraced the hug. Applejack watched on, the urge to just interrupt and apologize starting to get to her. "It's a good thing I've got a pony like you in my life." Rainbow Dash knew that she could count on Fluttershy to make her feel better. After all, the two of them had always been there for one another when they had to put up with the bullies which constantly harassed them in Flight School.

"It's my pleasure to make you happy, Dashi-I mean, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy responded, almost blurting out her nickname for her very special, future-Wonderbolt, rainbow-maned pony. Rainbow Dash knew what Fluttershy was going to say - it wasn't like she hadn't be called 'Dashie' over a 100 times before. As the two ponies began to pull away, Applejack decided to just get the apology over and done with.

"Listen, ah'm real sorry about that, sugarcube..." Applejack explained, pulling her hat down slightly. Rainbow Dash looked over, to notice a sad looking pony with orange fur and a cowgirl hat. "Ah shouldn't have said what ah did - it's your personal business... Don't think that ah'm saying that y'all have actually went that far with her, ah'm just trying to say that-" Rainbow Dash leaned over and put a hoof over Applejack's mouth, cutting her speaking off. Applejack was starting to speak as fast as Pinkie as she got to closer to ending her sentence.

"Shh, shh... I know, Applejack. It's fine," Rainbow Dash reassured Applejack, the orange earth pony beginning to feel relief take her over, "It's just as much my fault for getting like that, as it was you saying what you did to begin with." Applejack adjusted her hat, so that it wasn't blocking her eyesight. Rainbow Dash gave a reassuring smile, which managed to bring a small, albeit sad smile to Applejack's face.

"Well, ah'm glad that ya don't hate me, Dash. Don't know what ah'd do if y'all never wanted to look at ma face ever again," Applejack admitted. Rainbow looked surprised at Applejack's response.

"Now why would I hate you, Applejack?" Rainbow Dash asked, brining a tiny chuckle to Applejack's mouth.

"I dunno, we have a tendency to argue a lot, don't we?" Applejack pondered, making Rainbow Dash have a giggle of her own.

"Heh, can't argue with that..." Rainbow Dash replied, while the two laughed for a while longer.  After both of them calmed down, the silence returned again.

A few more minutes passed, as each of the six ponies did their own thing: Twilight was still reading her book, Pinkie continued to jump up and down on her seat, Rarity played with her mane, Applejack just sat there and did nothing, Fluttershy tapped her hooves together and Rainbow Dash patted her hooves on the table. Then, Miss Drop rose from her chair.

"Alright then class, off to assembly!" Miss Drop announced, as every pony rose from their chair and began to follow their tutor out of the door. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie and Twilight were already at the door, but being the kind & loyal friends that they were, they waited for Fluttershy & Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy hesitated to get out of her chair, which brought a small amount of concern to Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, Shy. You ok?" Rainbow Dash asked quietly. Fluttershy responded with a slow nod. The cyan Pegasus was about to continue talking, until...

"Soo... I guess this is it huh?" Fluttershy suddenly commented, surprising Rainbow Dash.

"W-what do you mean, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked another question, unsure of what the timid mare was trying to say.

"We're... we're off to assembly, aren't we?" Fluttershy responded, although this didn't make Rainbow's confusion disappear, "We're going to see everyone: all the teachers, the other students, everypony else..." It was at that moment, that Rainbow had a sense of realization hit her in the back of the head.

"Fluttershy, it's going to be FINE. Trust me..." Rainbow Dash whined, feeling fed up of having to repeat herself over and over again. Fluttershy looked down to the ground, covering her face with her mane. Rainbow Dash put a hoof under Fluttershy's chin, and raised her head up so that she could look at her in the eyes. She brushed her mane away with her spare hoof. "Please, Shy. Listen to me. No one, apart from us and our friends, know about our relationship. ...Sure, I understand why you're scared. Believe me, I'm a little concerned too. But, don't let your fear eat you away. If you do, your mental state could drop again... and I really don't want that again."

It was hard for Fluttershy to believe that everything would be alright, but she knew that Rainbow Dash only wanted her to be happy. Fluttershy had already gone through dark times once, she didn't need a repeat of last year. She'd already missed one year of school as it was - two years would be just terrible for her.

"I...I, umm, I guess that... y-you're right..." Fluttershy replied, looking deeply into Rainbow Dash's eyes, "I... I need to s-stay strong. ...I don't wanna h-hurt myself like I did, never again. It was p-p-painful, and horrible... I would never wish that on another pony." Rainbow Dash desperately wanted Fluttershy to be able to forget about the whole situation, but the problem was, Dash had her own reasons why she couldn't forget that fateful event.....

"I... I should have never made myself b-believe, that trying to, rip off my wings... was the right thing to do..." Fluttershy stuttered, feeling herself begin to shake slightly. Rainbow wrapped her wings around the upset pony, as Fluttershy fought back tears.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Fluttershy. It's not your fault," Rainbow Dash explained, trying her best to comfort her friend, "It hurts me too - to know that you would do such a thing, and because of something which I did, which I wish that I never did - it hurts me so bad... SOOOO bad." Fluttershy felt her body begin to relax, while a few stray tears dripped out of her eyes. Rainbow wiped them away with a hoof.

"We're in this together, Shy. We need to be there for one another, to help each other through our problems - big or small. ...We can get through this. I know we can. I believe you in, Fluttershy. I believe in you even more than I ever have before." Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs around the rainbow-maned pony's neck, just wanting to be home.

"I wanna be at home, D-D-Dashie..." Fluttershy muttered, while Rainbow Dash continued to hug her.

"I know you do, I know you do," was all Rainbow Dash could say. Miss Drop suddenly walked back to the room, as she noticed that 6 of her students were missing. She was about to complain, when she saw that Rainbow Dash appeared to be trying to comfort some pony. That pony, was Fluttershy.

"Rainbow Dash? What's wrong with Fluttershy?" Miss Drop asked politely, worried that something bad had happened. Rainbow looked over, with a sad smile.

"Eeh, she's ok, Miss Drop," replied Rainbow Dash, although Fluttershy didn't feel ok, "Fluttershy's just panicking a little bit that she's gonna be picked on by the other students... It's fine, we'll meet you to the main hall ASAP. Promise." Miss Drop was about to respond, until she decided that it would be best to not. She could test Rainbow Dash's honesty.

"Ok, Rainbow Dash. But make sure that you do turn up," said Miss Drop, as she walked out of the room again. Rainbow Dash turned back to Fluttershy.

"Look, just calm down, ok? I promise you that everything will be fine," Rainbow Dash told Fluttershy. Fluttershy went to say something, but all that came out was a breath of air. "Come on, Shy. You can trust me, right? You can trust your... 'big strong Pegasus' friend, right?" Rainbow Dash whispered the last few lines of that sentence. By now, Fluttershy's tears had stopped, and she was no longer shaking. She started to nod frantically.

"Yes, yes... I can..." Fluttershy agreed, as she took her forelegs off of Rainbow Dash. She went to stand up from her chair, so Rainbow did the exact same, "I..... I believe you... Rainbow Dash..." A big grin began to creep onto Rainbow's face.

"Good, because that's the only answer I'm taking," Rainbow Dash responded, patting Fluttershy on the back. Fluttershy gave a smile of her own back to her. They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds.

"I... I love you, Dashie..." whispered Fluttershy, as her smile became bigger. Rainbow Dash continued to smile back.

"And I love you too, Flutters," muttered Rainbow Dash, giving her special somepony a quick peck on her forehead. She took her wings away from Fluttershy, and folded them neatly back by her sides. "Come on then, let's go!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, as Fluttershy gave a weak laugh.

The two ponies tucked their chairs under the table, as they walked to their friends, who still waited by the door.

"We're all ready!" cheered Rainbow Dash, as the others just gave a quick smile. They were happy to see two of their friends in a good mood again.

"That's great news, sugarcube," said Applejack, giving a wink to Rainbow Dash. Dash felt herself blush a little bit at that sentence. She looked over to Fluttershy, who although she wasn't holding her hoof, she still remained very close to her side.

"Okie dokie lokie! Let's a go!" shrieked Pinkie Pie, while Rainbow and everyone else put their hooves to their ears. Twilight rolled her eyes, as she closed her book and held it in the air using her horn.

"No need to shout so loudly, Pinkie," said Twilight, although it seemed like the information hardly went into the pink party pony's ears.

"If you say so, Twilight!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly, still continuing to hop up and down. The six ponies all walked out of their tutor room and made their way to the main hall. Rainbow Dash & Fluttershy still remained close to one another. Rainbow put a hoof around Fluttershy's neck.

"Let's just enjoy ourselves, ok?" Rainbow Dash told the timid mare next to her, who gave a nod to reply "Yes." Rainbow looked at Fluttershy's face for a moment longer, before removing her hoof from her neck. The two looked away from each other and looked straight in front of them, as they entered the dimly lit main hall.
> Chapter 4: Meet Cloud Spark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a few lights on at the very front of the main hall. They weren't that bright, but their light beams could still be seen, pointing downwards. At first, Rainbow Dash couldn't see what was going on, because there was chairs everywhere, which blocked her view. They were the type of chairs you'd find in a cinema.

As she walked in front of the first row of the chairs behind her, she could see a large stage. There was a few ponies stood on it. One of them appeared to be wearing a Wonderbolts uniform. This, ticked Rainbow Dash off. Anger filled her head, but she tried her best to keep herself calm on the outside. The last thing she needed was to make a scene in front of everyone, while making herself look like a complete fool. On the first day too, that wasn't something on Rainbow Dash's 'to-do' list.

There was a pony stood in the middle between the steps up to the second row of chairs onwards. The pony first pointed up, then left. Rainbow Dash just thought the pony was trying to play Equestria's worst ever game of 'Charades' ever, but all became clear to her once he spoke.

"Sit down on the fifth row of chairs to the left, please," the pony said politely. Rainbow Dash did as she was told, and made her way up to the fifth row on the left. Fluttershy was walking in front of her, while the others were behind her. Fluttershy sat on the chair at the end of the row. There was a black railing to the left of her. Rainbow Dash was sat in the chair next to her, followed by Rarity, Pinkie, Twilight, and then Applejack at the other end.

Rainbow Dash was staring at the stage in front of her, noticing that the 'Wonderbolt' wasn't alone. There was a few other ponies there. One of them wore a very posh suit. 'He must be the head of this place,' thought Rainbow Dash. Alongside the tall pony, who had beige-coloured fur, was what looked like a school nurse, and a librarian. However, Rainbow's thoughts still drifted to the pony in the blue and yellow suit.

"Ummm.... R-rainbow, Dash?" a voice called out to the cyan Pegasus. Rainbow Dash turned to her left, only to see that it was Fluttershy had spoken to her. She tried to give a soft smile.

"Hey, Fluttershy," responded Rainbow Dash, trying to act cool. However, the expression on Fluttershy's face made it clear that she knew something was up. She turned her gaze over to the stage, and noticed the pony wearing a Wonderbolt uniform. Fluttershy looked back to Rainbow Dash.

"You're... you're still upset about being, kicked out of the Wonderbolts... aren't you?" Fluttershy asked quietly. Rainbow's eyes told her the answer. There was anger inside of them, even a little bit of fire too. But, it wasn't aimed at Fluttershy. No, it was aimed at the stupid Wonderbolt Academy.

"It's just, grr... so frustrating!" Rainbow Dash snarled, which frightened Fluttershy a little bit. Dash looked at her scared friend for a moment, and then tried to soften her voice. "It's always been my dream... you already know that, Fluttershy. I've always dreamt of being a Wonderbolt." Fluttershy gave a meek smile, feeling sorry for her special somepony. She knew that Rainbow Dash always wanted to be a Wonderbolt when she was younger - the rainbow-maned pony was the best flier of the class after all. Heck, she'd even done a Sonic Rainboom, something which many believed to be nothing more than an urban myth. To Fluttershy, if any Pegasus deserved to be a Wonderbolt, it was Rainbow Dash.

"A stray storm cloud that was full of hail... that was all it was," Rainbow Dash continued, "It wasn't like it was on purpose... I'm pretty sure that old Pegasus never liked me. Then, I received the letter, saying that I was kicked out!" Rainbow Dash began to clench her hooves, remembering the thoughts of when she first received the letter. Soon enough though, as quick as the anger came, it vanished. Thoughts of seeing the bloodied couch in Fluttershy's living room, the floor covered with feathers - it all came back.

"An... and then all that happened, with me, yelling... and....." Rainbow Dash found herself beginning to stutter, as she tried desperately to stop thinking about the thoughts of Fluttershy using her teeth to rip out her feathers. Without hesitation, Fluttershy swiftly put a hoof around Rainbow Dash's neck.

"Dash... I said I forgive you... many times, I've said that..." Fluttershy replied, with sadness in her voice, "And, I know you, d-didn't... mean to... but, it's happened now. You can't, ch-change that..." Rainbow Dash hung her head low, knowing that Fluttershy was right. She wished that she could go back in time and stop that moment from ever happening, but the reality was that she couldn't.

"Besides, I'm sure you'll get back in, one day..." Fluttershy continued, trying to make the mood of their conversation more positive, "...they have to let you back in, Dash. You're like, the best flier, that I know. If... if they can't see how, incredibly, uh... awesome, you are, then... then they're missing out!" Rainbow Dash felt a feeling of pride fill her, as her 'ego' began to take over.

"You're darn right I'm awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, feeling her voice crack a little bit. She rubbed her throat for a little bit, then continued. "I'll find a way to get back in, however long or whatever it may take. ...Thanks for, you know, believing in me, Shy." Fluttershy felt a toothy grin creep up onto her face.

"That's what friends are for, right?" Fluttershy admitted, causing a smirk to come from Rainbow Dash's mouth. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, their irises sparkling.

"Ok, everyone be quiet, please!" a voice suddenly boomed, catching Fluttershy off guard, causing a small eep to erupt from her. Rainbow Dash scanned the whole room, to try and see who it was that had spoken. It was, the head teacher of the school. Fluttershy removed her hoof from Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy placed both of her hooves on her own lap.

"We'll finish our talk later, ok?" Rainbow Dash whispered to the yellow pony, who gave a quick nod, which meant "Yes." The two ponies still continued to stare at each other for a few more seconds. 'Awww, Fluttershy has to be the cutest pony I've ever known,' thought Rainbow Dash, as she rather felt like just looking at her marefriend, rather than look at the people on stage and listen to a boring lecture from the headteacher.

'I'm so glad that my dream, of being with Rainbow Dash, has finally come true,' Fluttershy quietly thought to herself. It was clear that Fluttershy was shy, as even her thinking voice was quiet. After a few seconds of getting lost into each other's eyes, the two mares finally turned away from each other, and looked at what was going on at the front of the hall.

The whole main hall went from loud conversations everywhere, to complete silence. The headteacher of the school wore a small black ear microphone, so that his voice could be clearly heard from the very front rows, to the very back rows of chairs. After he quickly cleared his throat, the tall stallion began to speak.

"Hello everyone! It's nice to see you all!" he exclaimed loudly, while standing up on his hind legs and waving to everyone. Fluttershy decided to wave back, but Rainbow Dash kept her forelegs crossed, letting out a low grunt. Rainbow wasn't the only pony to not wave back, although most ponies did do so. Fluttershy turned her head around to face the miserable cyan pony next to her, but then decided to look back towards the front and not question her.

"For those of you who don't know me because you weren't here last year, my name is Moonshadow Bristle, though you will call me Mr. Bristle..." continued Mr. Bristle, as Rainbow Dash unfolded her arms and gave a look of confusion. However, Bristle did not notice this. It was at that moment, that the urge to chuckle loudly began to fill the rainbow-maned Pegasi's head. Rainbow hardly had enough time to stop it, but she just about managed to.

'Wait... did he say... Moonshadow Bristle?' Rainbow Dash thought to herself, unsure of whether to believe what she had just heard or not. Rainbow scrunched her nose up, while she bit her bottom lip. 'Bristle!? What kind of name is that!?' Dash pondered, still trying hard not to laugh. Rainbow Dash ended up having to put both of her front hooves over her mouth, to avoid a loud laugh from being heard by everyone.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, was having much more 'serious' thoughts. 'Hmm... I've never seen him before..." Fluttershy thought to herself. Neither Fluttershy or Dash had attended this school last year. In fact, they were at a completely different high school back in Cloudsdale the year before that. The only reason that they both hadn't went to high school last year was because of Shy's depression, along with her 'self-mutilating' incident and a few other things.

To try and make life easier for Fluttershy, as well to (hopefully) get away from any more bullying, Rainbow Dash & Fluttershy both decided to go to this school this year. A whole 12 month's worth of work wasn't going to be easy to catch up on, but both of them knew that it was possible if they tried really hard, as well as if they put their minds to it. Then again, as Rainbow Dash would probably say, the two of them weren't exactly 'eggheads' like Twilight.

"One of my main aims this year is to make sure that each and everyone of you receives the right amount of support that you require," Mr. Bristle declared, "because as you may all be aware, it is going to be a very big and important two years. This means that things will not be easy, but with support from your teachers, I know that you can all achieve the grades that you want."

Everypony in the hall knew what Mr. Bristle was talking about: exams. These next two years were going to be completing work required to do the exams within every subject. Fluttershy knew that from now up until the final exam, that it was going to be difficult and stressful. Along with the other things that she had to worry about as well, Fluttershy feared there was going to be a lot of headaches to come. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, wasn't anywhere knew as panicky about it. Sure, she wanted to do well, so she was going to put in effort into her work, but things like exams just weren't scary to her. Clowns, on the other hand.....

'Ugggh, clowns...' Rainbow Dash thought, while quickly shuddering. She tried to shake away the memories of being tormented by a clown when she was just a little filly. Well, 'tormented' was maybe an overreaction, but would anyone really like a clown staring down at them with a big grin? Luckily for Rainbow Dash, only herself and her parents knew about the incident. She didn't want her tough image to be shattered by a silly clown.

Without any warning, every light, apart from the big one in the middle, suddenly dimmed. As this happened, Mr. Bristle announced "Without further ado, let me introduce you to some of this school's incredible talent!" It was at that moment, that a couple of ponies walked through the curtains behind where Mr. Bristle was stood. They were all wearing different costumes and outfits. It was as if these ponies were about to put on a play for the others. But, something happened by the curtains, which caught Rainbow Dash's eyes. There was one pony, a young stallion, who was cowering behind the curtains. This reminded her of Fluttershy, except nowhere near as cute.

Music started to play in the background. One of the ponies, a mare with a pale yellow mane and red fur, was playing a trombone, while another mare with dark green fur and an orange mane was singing. They both performed for about 2 minutes, until they stopped, bowed quickly and stepped back from their spotlights, which quickly turned off. 'Seems like they're showing off different talents within each subject...' Fluttershy thought to herself. The next act was a drama performance. Mr. Bristle walked over to the frightened stallion by the curtains and began to talk to him. Then, the pony finally made his way into the big spotlight with the rest of his group. His fur was a peachy colour, while his mane was brown. He had bright green eyes and wore a pair of black-frame square glasses.

Rainbow Dash gave a small, but quiet, yawn as she watched the somewhat boring performance. However, what she soon found shocking was how brave and bold the small stallion could actually be once he got over his stage fright. He seemed to know a majority of his quotes off by heart, as he hardly looked down at the piece of paper below him. Something which the other ponies seemed to struggle with more. He was dressed up as a knight, while he held a cardboard knightly sword in his left wing. Dash had not even noticed that the pony was a Pegasus like her. Another pony, dressed up as a red dragon, pretended to breath fire at the knight. The performance ended up being about 5 and a half minutes long, with the dragon being 'slain' by the brave knight. Everyone clapped, even Rainbow Dash.

"Well, that wasn't too bad actually," Rainbow Dash muttered. The ponies on the stage all bowed to the audience, as they continued to clap. Fluttershy wore a big smile on her face, having enjoyed the show. Even though she was never a fan of violence, she still liked watching the play. She took a quick look at each of the ponies who had performed. However, it was at that point that the once-terrified stallion looked up from the ground. Their eyes met for a second, before Shy swiftly looked away, hiding her eyes with her large pink mane. The pony had a confused look on his face, but shrugged it off and stepped away from the spotlight with the rest of his fellow performers.

Once all of the creative subjects (Art, Drama, Music, etc...) each had ponies showing off some of the work possible, Mr. Bristle stepped back into the center of the stage. "And with that, I finally draw this assembly to a close," Mr. Bristle announced. Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes, as she looked at the large clock to the left of her. Her pupils widened.

"Jeez, 45 freaking minutes!?" Rainbow Dash murmured under her breath "Talk about dragging it on." Fluttershy moved her head slightly to look at Rainbow Dash, who crossed her forelegs and scrunched up her nose. She presumed her marefriend was probably just ticked off at how long the assembly was going on for, but it was the first day back: an assembly then is always going to be long. Fluttershy gave a small, cheeky smile, before looking back at the stage. Rainbow continued facing Fluttershy, with her eyes squinted. She didn't look very pleased at all.

At that point, Mr. Bristle made a gesture to the front row. "You may now leave the room," said Mr. Bristle with a composed tone. The ponies nodded in response, then left the room in a quiet and calm manner. Ponies on the left exited through the left door, while ponies on the right used the right exit. Row by row, the main hall soon began getting quieter and quieter. Being only on the 5th row, Dash did not have to wait long to leave.

"Next row!" one of the ponies said. The librarian one, to be exact. A big grin began to emerge on Rainbow Dash's face. She had to put a hoof to her mouth, as she nearly shouted in joy. One by one, each pony got up from their seats and walked out of the room with its extremely high ceiling, almost like a church or something.

As she got past the door frame of the main hall's left door, Rainbow did a mini fist-bump in the air. Compared to earlier, she was feeling much happier.

"Phew, finally get to stretch my legs!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, while the rest of the Mane Six followed her. Of course, Fluttershy didn't delay skipping right next to Rainbow's side.

"I guess it was quite... long," Fluttershy responded, continuing on from Rainbow Dash's comment, "And in some places, a little boring perhaps." The six ponies noticed a piece of paper stuck on the wall near the end of the corridor. Pinkie was eager to check it out.

"Ooo ooo, what is it, what does it say!?" Pinkie yelled, hopping up and down like a maniac. Rarity put a hoof to her face and sighed.

"Ah can't see with you in the way!" Applejack replied, gently brushing past her. Pinkie stopped hopping now, but continued to smile. Applejack placed one hoof under her chin and propped her hat up with the other. "Hmmm, says here we all have-ta go Science fer our first lesson."  Pinkie started to jump again.

"Science? Really?" Rainbow Dash questioned, looking a little disappointed. However, she then thought carefully about it. "Eeeh, could be worse I guess. Like MATHS or something, I hate that." As far as primary school, Dash could never understand Maths that well. Sometimes she was sure that it was all the algebra, expressions and formulas that confused her about each and every topic.

"Ooooo, I wonder what type of Science it will be?" Twilight exclaimed in awe, clearly liking the sound of having Science first. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Only eggheads like you would be so thrilled about science," Dash said, wearing a frown on her face. Twilight's head swung round to face Rainbow Dash, while she squinted her eyes at her and had an angry look on her face. Rainbow leaned her head back. "Ok, I'm sorry. Geez, don't take it so personally..."

Applejack decided to walk between the two of them, just to stop any potential fights from happening. "Now now you too, no need to get madder than a wet hen," the cowgirl pony told both Twilight and Rainbow Dash. They both took a deep sigh, then nodded their heads to one another.

"Sorry," the two ponies said in unison. They then turned back round to face what was in front of them. A question suddenly popped up into Twilight's head.

"Wait, so are we in the same classes? Or are we all separate?" Twilight questioned, making the others all 'hmmm' together. At that moment, Rarity thought of something.

"I'm sure we are dear," Rarity responded, "After all, we're all in the same tutor group. Can't see why things would be different." Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie all nodded in agreement, not seeing an argument to that. Twilight was about to ask another question, but was interrupted by Rarity's hoof. "Just believe me darling."

Twilight looked slightly annoyed, but decided to not go any further with the conversation. The Mane Six continued walking down the main corridor, then took the first left corridor to enter the Science Department. As they neared the door, Rainbow Dash had an enquiry about something that she wanted to let loose.

"So, there was that pony in the drama show earlier..." Rainbow Dash started, instantly getting Fluttershy's attention. The timid mare was a bit nervous, unsure where her BGFF was going with the topic. "He seemed really similar to you - in terms of his shyness and stuff."

All that Fluttershy could manage was a nod. She felt too embarrassed to say anything. Feeling her cheeks start to burn, she stopped where she stood. Something didn't feel right about that moment. The way he looked at her. As if, it was intentional...

"Ahh, is that the remaining pupils of my class?" a pony from inside the room near where Rainbow was stood said. Seems that the conversation would have to be finished later, which Fluttershy was completely fine about.

"Yes, we're coming now!" Twilight exclaimed, skipping cheerfully into the class. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and shook her head. Peering into Fluttershy's face, she whispered quietly in her ear.

"We'll talk later," Dash said, as she turned around and walked into the class. Fluttershy tried to shake off her nervousness as best as she could, before quickly following the rest of her friends inside the room. As she entered, Fluttershy closed the door behind her.  The first lesson of the day - was about to begin.