Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash meet for the first time when Dash stands up to Fluttershy's bully.
Hardships serve to reveal true friends and expose false ones. True friends are not bound by convenience, rather by the ability to stick together and pick each-other back up when times are rough, even if the two "friends" barely know each other.
This is the lesson Fluttershy learned the first time she met Rainbow Dash, back when the cyan pegasus stood up for her against the most popular filly in Cloudsdale Flight School. A time when Fluttershy's own "friends" didn't stand up for her.
This is the story about how Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, two fillies with radically different personalities, became friends.
“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” -- Walter Winchell
Chapter 1: “Princess” Hail Blitz
There is truly no worse feeling in the world than being afraid to say the wrong thing to the point of near paralysis. To become withdrawn when it feels like everything one says will be judged and nitpicked, wrongly causing one to feel like an idiot, even if what they say makes complete sense. When one's own friends turn their back on you for the sake of popularity, even going so far as to ridicule along with one's tormentor, it becomes hard not to believe their criticisms, even if they are blatantly false. Slowly, but surely, one retreats into the comfort of their own mind, keeping to themselves and rarely speaking up, preferring a social life of reclusiveness to a social life of ridicule.
If there’s anypony that can attest to this, it’s Fluttershy.
Years ago, Fluttershy was, like most pegasi ponies, a student at Cloudsdale Flight School. It was a relatively large institution, broken up into an elementary, middle and high school. The elementary school went from first to fifth grade, the middle school accounted for sixth through eighth, and the high school went from ninth to tenth grade, as flight school stopped short of twelve.
The elementary school was by far the largest part of Cloudsdale Flight School. The gymnasium was huge, as it needed a lot of room to teach young ponies how to fly before moving on to the upper grade levels. Inside there was everything from obstacle courses to basketball courts.
The rest of the school wasn't any different from other schools. The hallways were cramped with students in-between classes, the smell of disgusting cafeteria food filled the building as the hour-hand approached noon, and the students were organized into well-defined cliques.
This is where the story begins, back when Fluttershy was a really young filly. Back when having a blank flank wasn't anything to be ashamed of. At this time, Fluttershy was an outgoing filly. Well, maybe not to the point of being gregarious, but she didn’t have the overwhelming fear of speaking up that she does now. No, back then she was a carefree grade-school filly who loved to learn.
She didn’t rip herself to shreds, she wasn’t afraid to speak up when something was on her mind, and she wasn’t afraid to joke around with her friends when the time was right. Though she didn't stand up for herself that much back then, either as she still had the problem of being too nice.
She did have occasional bouts of shyness, mostly when it came to talking to a colt that she had a crush on, especially Thunderlane. Unfortunately, he never seemed to take notice any filly in the school besides Blossomforth who, in turn, ignored him just as much as he ignored the other fillies. Amazingly, this only seemed to drive the love-struck black pegasus to want her even more. Fluttershy didn't get it.
Sure Fluttershy still wasn't the kind of pony to put a lamp-shade on her head and dance the Macarena, but she wasn’t so timid that she didn't saying anything either. And, as one might expect, she was the kindest filly in the school, always doing the right thing and helping those who were in a sticky situation, such as failing a class or simply needing somepony to listen to them.
Yet nopony outside of a core group of good friends seemed to know who she was, even with all of her kind-hearted gestures and actions. But that was the price she paid for being who she was and helping others out.
The friends she did have were supportive and kind fillies that she had a close bond with ever since the first grade. Even though she was the quietest one out of all her friends, Fluttershy never felt un-welcome. She loved her friends and they seemed to love her back.
Yep, everything appeared to be going fairly well for the future bearer of the Element of Kindness.
That is, until she arrived.
About three weeks into Fluttershy's third grade school year, rumors of a new student enrolling in the school spread like the plague. A new student enrolling at Cloudsdale Flight School was a big deal, since so few pegasi ever entered the academy after first grade. Most pegasi started in first grade and left upon graduation. This was mostly because the only time a pony would enter a grade level other than first was if they already went to a flight school and passed grade levels before enrolling. This meant any pegasus that entered Cloudsdale Flight School came from outside of Cloudsdale, usually Ponyville and, sometimes, Canterlot.
Ponies began to speculate. Would the new pony be a boy or a girl? Would he/she be good looking? Would he/she be smart or a complete dolt? Would the pony be athletic or a nerd or a hybrid or neither? Did this pony even exist, or were the rumors, as so many rumors before it, false?
One bright and sunny Monday morning, just as everypony in the school finished packing their saddle-bags and were about to head to their first class, a new pegasus waltzed into the building; her head held up high with her nose pointed up at the ceiling. A prideful smile spread across her face as she made her way down the corridor, students of all ages staring at her as she passed them by.
Her name was Hail Blitz, the pegasus everypony was gossiping about for the past week. She was from Canterlot, born to one of the wealthier families, as well as one of the only pegasus households in the unicorn-dominant city. She was well-off and it showed. But this wasn't the only thing the school ponies noticed about her.
Right off the bat, before anypony even had the chance to speak to her, one of the many rumor-induced questions was answered.
She wasn't simply good looking; she was downright beautiful, virtually flawless in every way. The colts that saw her walk in had their jaws on the ground and their eyes bulging out as their hearts began to pound faster than the foot of an impatient rabbit waiting for his dinner.
Her silky coat shone a brilliant lavender color and her eyes were a glistening blue. But it wasn’t just these physical attributes that drew everypony's attention to her.
It was her face. Rather, what was on her face.
Hail Blitz wore so much make-up that if she went to the circus, it’d make a clown do a double-take. Some ponies felt like it was an excessive amount of make-up, but she didn’t care. As long as it made her feel more dignified and mature, as she felt that make-up was the sign of a full grown mare rather than a filly, it was worth the criticism. Especially when it came from ponies she saw herself as being superior to.
So, every morning, she would lather her face with layer upon layer of powders and mascara.
Ironically, in twenty to thirty years she'd be going out of her way to do the exact opposite, to appear more youthful and less like a pony that was succumbing to the physical changes of aging.
Her personality went hoof-in-hoof with her faux appearance. She was cold and elitist, freely expressing her strong belief that she was superior to every other pony in the school. Whenever she spoke, she spoke with a tone not drastically different than one a member of a royal family would use in addressing his or her loyal subjects.
Yet, like one might expect from young ponies in grade school, everypony loved her. Not only did they gravitate towards her, they worshipped her. They put her up on a pedestal and treated her as if she was heir to Princess Celestia’s throne. Colts would carry her books for her as their cheeks turned a rosy red. Fillies would gossip with her and ask for her advice on fashion and diets.
Even the teachers, full grown ponies, seemed infatuated by her. In class, they would always give her compliments on her looks and award bonus points on tests for being…well…Hail Blitz. She soon held the unofficial title of miss popularity of Cloudsdale Flight School. Even Fluttershy and her friends got caught up in the moment, often joining the crowd of ponies that gathered around her locker, hoping that she would notice them.
She had truly become the "princess" of the school.
Strangely enough, she seemed to be drawn to Fluttershy and her friends, paying extra attention to them, talking with them more than others, an even giving them pointers on how to pick up colts. Pointers, as some of them found out, which proved to be extremely helpful. Unlike her friends, Fluttershy was never directly addressed by Hail Blitz when they hung out. The lavender pegasus never even looked her way. But it didn’t matter to Fluttershy. She still felt included.
She still felt like she part of Hail Blitz’s popular “clique” or “posse”.
She felt popular.
Yep, everypony seemed to be in love with the new filly. But there was one pony that seemed immune to Hail’s “charms”.
And that pony was the cyan filly with the rainbow-colored mane; the prideful Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy didn’t personally know Rainbow Dash at the time, but she heard about her. In fact, the entire school had, as she was one of the only ponies that entered third grade with the ability to fly. While not up to the level she would reach when she got older, she was still rather good for her age. This caused many ponies, mostly the competitive colts in her grade, to envy her and degrade her just to make themselves feel better.
Naturally this caused Rainbow Dash to become a bit of a braggart. Not only because of the ego she had from knowing how to fly, but also because she was picked on by "doubters". She constantly found herself having to defend her ability from those who criticized her.
Whenever anypony called her "Rainbow Crash" or some other annoying nickname that's sole purpose was to grate on her nerves, she wouldn't hesitate to fight back. This was especially true when she was around her griffon friend, Gilda, who always told her that not standing up for one's self was the worst kind of weakness anypony could have.
Rainbow Dash refused to submit to the pressure and criticism; she fought back against it the only way she knew how, with a confident, sometimes borderline cocky, attitude. Though she did care what others thought about her, she’d never let them know about it. She would go down kicking and screaming before she let her stubborn nature cave in and reveal her true insecurities.
She also used the envy her classmates had for her as motivation to separate herself from the crowd. She refused to become a follower and join the masses who would like nothing more than to see her fail. She was independent; she acted on her own accord. She was going to make a name for herself with her own efforts and hard work, not by riding somepony else’s popularity.
So it seemed only natural that while everypony obsessed over Hail Blitz, Rainbow Dash just stood at a distance and watched, occasionally rolling her eyes at the sight of her classmates groveling to the “Princess” of the school.
Gilda would sometimes make snide comments here and there about the lemming-like nature of their classmates, and Rainbow Dash would just answer with a simple nod before changing the subject to something more “awesome”, such as flight training or the Wonderbolts, something that annoyed Gilda but Rainbow Dash couldn't get enough of. She aspired to be a Wonderbolt, after all, and would often find herself bringing them into conversations that had nothing to do with them in the first place. She even managed to bring up the Wonderbolts in a discussion she and Gilda were having about a math test that had nothing to do with flying.
If there was one thing Rainbow Dash didn’t want, it was to buy into the hype surrounding Hail Blitz, or anypony for that matter (besides the Wonderbolts and herself, obviously). She was an individual, not a follower, and would go to the grave as such. Not only that, but just watching how the popular filly acted, with her snobby attitude that seemed to be overlooked by everypony else, made Rainbow Dash even more determined to not allow herself to get sucked into the mayhem.
So she just watched from the sidelines, quietly observing the circus known as the student body. She didn't know it then, but this filly would be detrimental in her future friendship with a certain pink-maned pegasus that was among the masses, trying her hardest to impress "Princess" Hail Blitz.
Over the next couple of days, Fluttershy and her friends started spending more time hanging out with Hail Blitz. They would walk down the hall with the popular pony, eyes wide with interest as they listened to their new leader rant on about un-fashionable ponies in the school, or "losers" to put it bluntly. She would also talk about different colts she had her eyes set on, even occasionally suggesting some names to the others as to who met her "coltfriend criteria", which included how handsome they were and whether or not they were athletes.
If they weren't one of those two things, they immediately fell off Hail's romance radar and into the batch of colts she called "the lovable losers".
Hail Blitz seemed to be chummy with everypony in this group of fillies, talking with each of them like they were her old friends.
Except for Fluttershy, that is, who she seemed to completely ignore.
But at the moment, Fluttershy didn't care. She still felt like she was part of the group, and was fine with not being included in conversations. They probably just didn't think about her, eventually she'll be addressed.
This is what she told herself to make being ignored less painful to endure. Fluttershy's desire to stay "popular" blinded her from the truth. That Hail Blitz was deliberately snubbing her, pretending she wasn't part of the group. Fluttershy didn't know it, nor would she want to, but the deliberate ignoring was only the beginning. Hail Blitz was already planning to make things worse for her in the near future.
Soon the group started to eat lunch together. Early on, when they first started hanging out, Hail Blitz told them how she wanted the fillies to prove to her that they were worthy to be her friends before she did something so "public as sit with you in front of the entire school at lunch".
When Fluttershy first sat down to have lunch with Hail with her friends, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of honor and pride. They had all successfully gotten the attention of the most popular filly in school, and impressed her so much that she was now going to eat lunch with them. It was the typical “dream come true” for anypony in grade-school. Of course Fluttershy, unlike some of her friends, didn’t act arrogant around others. She was still Fluttershy after all.
Still, she felt beyond lucky to be considered one of the amazing Hail Blitz's friends.
Or so she thought, before reality reared its ugly head during their first school lunch together as a group.
If Fluttershy had paid attention to the way Hail Blitz treated ponies during her first few days in Cloudsdale, she wouldn’t have been as surprised to find out how malicious she could be towards other ponies, especially fillies. She would have realized that Hail Blitz was the kind of pony that got a sick, twisted thrill out of stomping on a "weaker" pony’s self-esteem until there was nothing left. This was mostly driven by Hail Blitz's desire for power, and how she felt that she needed to make another pony look weak in order to make herself seem more powerful.
She usually accomplished this by figuring out the weakest link in a group, and then pouncing on said “weak link” like a lion on a helpless gazelle. It only took a few minutes after meeting Fluttershy and her friends for Hail to identify Fluttershy as the "weak" one of the group, and she instantly put a mental target on her for later.
Of course, even in her more social youth, Fluttershy was the most reserved filly out of her friends. She didn’t shield herself from talking altogether, but she still had brief moments of silence, where she minded her own business and let her friends do the talking. Plus, she was way too nice, a problem she still has to this day
Especially when it comes to a very stubborn, white rabbit.
She would often let others speak over her, and was still hesitant to defend herself, even when others joked about her flaws. In fact, she often agreed with the criticisms they gave her.
That's how much Fluttershy hated conflict.
Hail took note of this and mentally put a target onto Fluttershy to direct her wrath so she could improve her already high standing image. Over the next couple of days, Hail made Fluttershy the sole recipient of her most brutal wrath. Anytime the young pegasus began to say something to try to join in the conversation, Hail would interrupt her and say, “Oh my gosh, nopony cares what you have to say Foalshy.”
Yes, Fluttershy had a nickname.
“Foalshy”.
A truly shining example of the “creative” and "mature" sense of humor found in elementary schools.
Fluttershy was initially confused by Hail’s behavior, but initially passed it off as Hail's style of huor. However, as it continued, she began to feel progressively worse. She never expected somepony to be so cruel, especially not the filly she looked up to.
Lunch after lunch, this character assassination continued. Fluttershy soon realized that Hail Blitz was deliberately trying to hurt her feelings. Even when Fluttershy asked Hail Blitz to stop, she just laughed and called her Foalshy before pushing past and trotting off with her nose held up high, leaving a very dis-heartened Fluttershy in her wake. Even when Fluttershy started to cry, Hail simply laughed at her and kept saying "Awww, little Foalshy gonna cry"?
Needless to say that she did.
Fluttershy’s friends never helped her out. In fact, not only were they clearly ignoring Hail Blitz’s bullying, they even began to mock Fluttershy as well. They would even join Hail Blitz in chanting "Foalshy, Foalshy, Foalshy is gonna cry".
Fluttershy couldn't believe that her once strong group of friends turned on her, leaving the poor pony outnumbered at a ratio of six ponies to one at every lunch.
Actually, it was more like one ring leader and five brown-nosers to one very sad, vulnerable, and miserable filly.
On the rare occasions that Fluttershy would meekly attempt to make a joke or make a come-back against one of Hail Blitz’s insults that were directed at her, Hail would simply retort by saying how “stupid” she was and how her jokes “were not funny” or were “immature”. Hail Blitz would then add that she should just “be like a foal; seen and not heard”.
Eventually Fluttershy began to take this to heart. After all, her friends, the fillies that she grew up with and had such a close relationship with were siding with the abusive Hail Blitz over her. Not only that, they even began to join Hail in taunting her, calling her a "stupid foal" and even "Foalshy". It didn't take long for her to begin buying into the idea that she really wasn’t funny. That she should do what Hail says; be like a foal and shut up.
Soon she began to overthink everything she wanted to say. She worried about the consequences of what she’d say so much that soon she hardly said anything at all. She just sat at the cafeteria table, her large, teal eyes focused down at the tray that held questionable cafeteria food that the disgruntled lunch mares dished out for the hungry students to eat.
In her mind, Fluttershy tried to imagine being teleported someplace else. At the same time, she had to fight the constant desire to burst into tears in front of everypony, which would only hurt her reputation even more. Nopony cared enough about her to defend her. And if they did, they were too infatuated with Blitz and all her glamor to go against what she was saying.
It didn’t take long for her parents to start wondering where their little, sweet, relatively carefree filly had gone. How in a matter of days she went from being her cheery self, whistling one of the recently popular songs in Cloudsdale as she trotted with a hop in her step, to being withdrawn and not uttering a single word unless she was coaxed to do so. She would spend her nights locked in her room, her eyes staring out the window as Luna's moon shone its light across her tear-streaked face. Even her parents calling for her to come out barely received a response unless it was a call for dinner.
She felt alone, completely stranded on an island with no friends and no support. In essence, whether she was at home or in the sea of chaos known as school, she was isolated.
She never truly understood what ponies meant when they said how they felt like prisoners in their own body, but now she did. Maybe she wasn’t sick like most ponies who used that analogy, but she still thought that if, maybe, she was somepony else, all of this pain and suffering would go away. Maybe she could be funnier, maybe she could have some good comebacks that wouldn’t result in even worse insults being hurled her way.
She didn’t just hate the situation she was in, she hated herself. She hated how she let herself get to this point. She hated how she drove her friends away, leaving her without anypony outside of her family to care about her. In reality, none of this was her fault. But in her mind it was. In her mind, she blamed herself, and as long as nopony showed her that they cared about her, she would keep slipping into the abyss of sorrow she had created since the first lunch she had with Hail Blitz and her friends.
Every night, before she cried herself to sleep, she'd make the same wish.
"I wish I wasn't so alone. I wish I had somepony to help me through this, though I'm not sure if I deserve anypony. Please, I want this pain to stop."
Little did the yellow pegasus know that one pony, one not sitting at her table and not falling for the "Hail Blitz illusion", had watched Fluttershy's change in personality. Slowly, both her hatred of the promiscuous filly and her sympathy for the defenseless Fluttershy elevated.
She knew that she needed somepony to stand up for her; somepony to protect her from ponies insulting her.
She needed a friend, and not like her superficial “friends” who now joined their queen in making fun of her just so that could seem popular.
As usual, the cafeteria was filled with young ponies. The stench of the mystery food the school served wafted throughout the lunchroom, making some ponies with sensitive stomachs wretch and gag as whatever good food their parents made for breakfast threatened to make a comeback all over the floor. It was relatively packed, almost every table occupied by at least one or two ponies, slowly munching away and chatting about whatever was popular in music, movies or, in the case of fillies, fashion.
Not saying there weren't colts into fashion, though, because there were quite a few.
Over at a table near the side of the lunchroom sat Hail Blitz and her group of cronies plus Fluttershy, who found herself in same exact position she’d been in for the last couple of lunches. Getting the little self-esteem she had left stomped into a fine dust by the arrogant Hail and her former friends, who had now become full-fledged followers, even going so far as to wear make-up in the same manner that Hail Blitz did.
Fluttershy remembered when she meekly asked if she could borrow some make-up to wear. Hail Blitz scoffed at her question and bluntly spat how “no amount of make-up can fix that disaster you call a face”. This caused Fluttershy to start tearing up as her former friends continued their chant, "Foalshy. Foalshy. Foalshy is gonna cry."
Naturally Fluttershy stayed quiet and kept her eyes averted, staring down at the tray of odd potato-like mush and sloppy greens that stunk up the cafeteria to high heaven. The others were saying mean things about her, but for the time being they weren't directing the conversation at her. To keep from being dragged into it, Fluttershy kept her head down thinking that if she stayed silent, she wouldn't be dragged into the conversation, and wouldn't have to face Hail Blitz’s direct scorn.
Oh, how wrong she was.
“Who the hay does your mane?”
Fluttershy looked up to see Hail Blitz looking at her with her plastic smile. Her cold eyes half-closed like a typical snob. Fluttershy let out a small “eep” and looked back down at her food. She knew her "friends" were looking at her, their eyes bearing into her, analyzing every aspect of her being as if she were a bowl of fruit and they were meticulous painters looking to capture every single detail as perfectly as possible.
Hail grinned, relishing in the embarrassment she was causing Fluttershy to endure. Taking a sick, twisted satisfaction in watching Fluttershy's cheeks turn a slight shade of pink.
“Heloooo, Earth to Foalshy. Who does you mane?”
Fluttershy realized she had to answer, but when she tried to, she couldn’t find the words. Her throat was dry, her mind was racing at ten-thousand words a minute, and her voice was weak. Her cheeks darkened from light pink to a darker shade of red. It wouldn't take long for Fluttershy's humiliation to cause her face to turn a completely dark crimson.
“I…I…”
“Too scared to answer you little wimp?” Blitz interrupted, followed by some sneers from Fluttershy’s "friends".
“I…I do it.” She whispered.
“Sorry, would you speak up I couldn’t hear you.” Blitz said as she placed her hoof behind her ear to emphasize how Fluttershy’s answer was incomprehensible.
“I…I do it.” Fluttershy whimpered. She was met by a slew of “come on” and “speak up you weirdo” from the other ponies that sat at the table with her. Hail just kept smiling her arrogant, smug smile that would make most ponies want to wipe it off with a nice, hard buck to the face.
Fluttershy swallowed her throat so dry the saliva barely made it down. She then had a hard time keeping it down as she began to feel queasy.
“I do my mane.” She muttered at a louder volume, but a quicker rate. Hail understood her this time, that is, if she didn’t understand her the other times. Chances are she did, but just wanted to keep making Fluttershy feel more uncomfortable by asking her to repeat herself.
“It’s so bland and…foalish. That’s what you are. You’re a foal Fluttershy.”
“I…”
“You walk around with your pink little saddlebag with the kittens on it. You. Are. A. Foal.”
“No...I mean…yes…I mean…please stop.” Fluttershy shrunk back in her seat, putting her hooves over her ears to drown out the laughter coming from all around her.
Laughter from her so called "friends".
“You know I bet you don’t even do your mane. I bet your mommy does it for you.”
Again, her “friends” all agreed with their new queen bee and began to spout off fallacies, hoping to impress Hail by tearing down their former friend.
“Yeah I’ve seen her mom do it for her!” one chimed in.
“She totally gets her mother to do it.” Said another. "Plus she clearly has extensions."
"I heard she doesn't even bathe herself." said a third.
"She told me she still wets the bed." A fourth filly muttered to a fifth one, who burst out into laughter.
Like an arrow directly to her heart, more than anything else her friends making fun of her and denouncing her along with this pony hurt more than the actual insults.
”Maybe I am just a foal. Maybe I am just a wimpy little foal who can’t take care of myself.” Fluttershy thought sadly, her eyes starting to water. This, of course did not go unnoticed.
“Awwww, little foal gonna cry?”
Fluttershy didn’t even bother to respond, she just kept crying.
“This is why you’re a foal. You’re too immature to take valid, adult criticism that could better your life.”
Fluttershy was just about to break out into sobs when suddenly somepony flew beside her and landed before approaching Blitz. Fluttershy looked up to see Rainbow Dash, as short as she was, trying to appear intimidating to the bully, her eyes focused and her stance almost combat-ready.
“Hey! Why don’t you leave her alone you jerk?” Rainbow Dash hissed.
Blitz seemed taken aback by the filly’s assertiveness, as did everypony else at the table. They weren’t used to see somepony not suck up to Blitz, much less confront her.
“Um…excuse me?” Blitz asked in shock.
“You heard me miss frou-frou queen. Leave the her alone; can’t you see how much you’re hurting her?”
“Um…yeah that’s the point. She deserves to have her feelings hurt.”
“Says who?”
“Me? Hail Blitz? Maybe you’ve heard of me, I’m kind of a big deal in this school.” Hail answered in a tone that suggested she felt it should have been common knowledge.
“Really? A big deal? Tell me, who are you besides the worthless leader of a group of shallow fillies who suck up to you just because you’re “popular” and they want a piece of the action?”
“Hey!” said one of Fluttershy’s former friends.
"And you bozos," Rainbow Dash turned to her and the other fillies that were formerly Fluttershy's friends, “are by far the absolute worst kinds of ponies imaginable. You threw your friend under the bus just to seem cool and "hip". You should be ashamed of yourselves, all of you.”
This made some of the fillies blush and look away with a mix of embarrassment and shame.
At this point, everypony in the entire lunchroom had their attention now drawn to the argument between the prissy queen of the school and the rough-and-tumble tom-boy pegasus. Fluttershy could feel her cheeks become even warmer, her embarrassment rising as she felt everypony staring at her table. She wasn't sure if their attention was drawn solely to the two arguing fillies or to the entire table, but the realization that this public argument was taking place because of her made her stomach tighten. She shrunk back in the seat and hid behind her mane as Rainbow Dash continued to go at bat for her.
"I want to know what kind of pony treats another the way you treat her!"
"This isn't your any of your business."
"When you make other ponies feel bad, you're darn right it's my business."
"Coming from miss "I'm the fastest flier in this school?", please. You're just as arrogant as me."
"Yeah, but I do it only to shut up those who constantly put me down. Besides, at least I walk the walk. What do you do miss "adult" filly? Make yourself popular by tearing others," Rainbow Dash pointed at Fluttershy, "like her, down and call her foalish, while in the same breath calling yourself an adult? You are by far the most foalish filly in this school...and that's saying something!"
Fluttershy couldn’t take it anymore. She felt so weak and defenseless. No matter how much she appreciated Rainbow Dash standing up for her, all it did was serve to make her feel even more foalish, like she truly couldn’t stand up for herself and needed somepony else to do it for her.
She quickly jumped off of her seat and bolted from the cafeteria, tears streaming down her face as she made a b-line towards the bathroom, stumbling a few times as she tried to take flight only to fall back to the floor.
She pushed her way into the filly’s room and locking herself in one of the stalls.
Once she was safe in her box, she let out all of her emotions. A torrent of tears gushed from her eye-balls; her sobs were loud and uncontrollable. Her body shook and her mind raced as she reflected on how “stupid” she believed that she looked.
”I’m worthless, I can’t do anything. I can’t talk without sounding stupid. I’m worthless.”
As this thought, and more, raced through her head, she heard the door to the bathroom open. She let out a small, instinctive “eep” and got into a fetal position on the toilet.
She felt her body tense up as she began to worry about who could possibly be coming into the bathroom? Was it just a student who drank too much apple juice, or ate too much bran? Was it Blitz or one of her many other tormentors? Was it the principal come by to ask her to come out and tell her that everything would be fine?
The possibility of the last one made her feel even more pathetic than she already felt.
She heard the sound of tiny hoof-steps land in front of the stall that she was sitting in. She looked through the gap under the stall door to see four little cyan hooves. Fluttershy realized who was on the other side even before she heard the familiar filly’s raspy, tom-boyish voice.
“Hey there, are you okay in there dude?” Rainbow Dash asked in a concerned voice that was hushed to a volume that wouldn't startle Fluttershy too much. Fluttershy was somewhat comforted to hear that it wasn't Hail Blitz or one of her cronies. But she still felt too pathetic to talk to anypony; especially the pony that made her feel so stupid. No matter how much she did appreciate her actions, she made her feel weaker.
“Go…go away.” Fluttershy whimpered. She just wanted to be alone, to wallow in her own thoughts and misery.
Rainbow Dash would have none of it, and was determined on coaxing her out of the stall.
“Listen, I just want to talk to you.” The cyan pegasus said in the friendliest way she could.
“Please…”
“Look, I can tell by the tone of your voice that you're upset. And I’m not leaving you alone until I cheer you up.”
Fluttershy sniffed, “Why…why do you care so much, you...you don’t even know me.”
“That doesn’t mean I want to see you treated like dirt. I saw the way those girls treated you and it burned me inside. Listening to your crying only makes me feel worse that I didn’t buck that jerk Hail Blitz in the face when I had the chance.”
Fluttershy wiped some of the tears away. She never got such comfort from anypony before.
“I am weak.” Fluttershy whimpered, “I mean, I had to rely on your help to…”
“How does that make you weak? It’s not your fault all your friends became lemmings and turned against you.”
“But I…I can’t stand up for myself.”
Fluttershy could hear Rainbow Dash let out a sigh, “Look, friends are supposed to back each other up. It doesn’t make one wimpy just because they need the others’ assistance; it just means they have somepony to care about them.”
Fluttershy looked up at the door. She couldn’t see Rainbow Dash’s face, so looking in the direction of her voice, at the barrier that separated them, was the closest thing for the time being.
“You…you’re my…friend?”
“Of course.” Rainbow Dash said without hesitation. Fluttershy couldn’t believe it. She hardly ever spoke to this filly, and yet she considered her a friend? Not only that, she proved to be more supportive than her actual friends. Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile.
“Wow…thank…thank you so much. It means a lot.”
Rainbow Dash chuckled, “No prob. By the way, my name's Rainbow Dash.”
“I know, everypony in school knows who you are.” Fluttershy said with a soft chuckle
Rainbow Dash laughed, “Darn right they do. I am the best flier in third grade. Heck I could give some of the older ponies a run for their bits! And soon, I’ll be the best flier in Equestria.”
Fluttershy giggled, “You are really talented.”
“He-he, thanks Fluttershy.” Fluttershy couldn't see it through the door, but Rainbow Dash blushed at her compliment.
Fluttershy suddenly was overcome with confusion. How did this pony know who she was? Sure she knew who Rainbow Dash was, but that was because she was so vocal about her talents, and everypony in the school talked about her, whether it was to pick her to pieces, or to praise her flying ability.
But Fluttershy wasn’t a gifted flier. Heck, she couldn’t even stay airborne for more than half a second before face-planting. In fact, she was the opposite of Rainbow Dash. She was behind most of the ponies in her class when it came to flight.
She didn't think she was good at much, and the things she was good at, like school, weren't really something that made her stand out. She was smart, but among the Cloudsdale student body the focus was more on athletics and flight rather than book-smarts. She always thought that she just blended in with everypony else, nothing seemed to distinguish her. But now this pegasus was saying she knew who she was? How was that possible? Especially considering the notoriety she had. She should have been taking notice of somepony else instead of her.
Finally, she came up with a response.
“You...you know who I am?”
“Yeah, I mean. We never talked, but I've seen you around and stuff.”
“But how could you remember me? I don't have a special talent that makes me stand out like you.”
“But you do have a special talent."
"Yeah, then what is it?"
"It's your kindness." Rainbow Dash answered without hesitation, "That's what your talent is, and that's what makes you stand out. I mean, you hold doors open for others. Even when it’s a long line of ponies and you have wait for everypony to get through before you finally let go of the door and continue on your way. You're always there to help others with their schoolwork. Hey, I remember how when you found three bits on the floor and you brought them to lost and found. Hardly anypony would’ve done that. They would’ve just taken the bits and left, but not you. You did the right thing and turned them in.”
Fluttershy never felt so appreciated. In all her years of hanging out with her friends, not once did any of them give her such unyielding praise for her. And yet there was this filly that she hardly knew before now, re-building her confidence from the remains of shattered self-esteem that Hail Blitz destroyed.
"Well," Fluttershy began, not sure what to say. So she decided to continue with the conversation about the bits, "it wasn't my money. It wouldn't have been nice to just take it."
“You see,” Rainbow Dash said with a small laugh, “you always think about others. That’s what I respect about you.”
Fluttershy grinned as her eyes starting to water again. But this time rather than being caused by sorrow, it was brought on by joy. A little bit of pride started to well up inside her. It was something that she hadn’t felt in a long time. She was proud of herself.
She liked herself.
“Really? You…you respect me?”
“Duh. In fact, I wish I was more like you.” Rainbow Dash said. It may not have been the most honest statement at the time, but she did respect Fluttershy. Plus, after thinking about it, Rainbow Dash did think that she should be more like her.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy was quite shocked to be given such a compliment.
“Wow. I…I don’t know what to say. Thank you Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy said with a small smile, "You know, I’ve always sort of admired you too, what with your bravery and talents and all that.”
“He-he, doesn’t everypony?” Rainbow Dash said with a tone suggesting she was joking, followed by a hearty chuckle that Fluttershy couldn’t help but join in. “So, what do ya say? Wanna come out of that stall now so we can see each other face to face?”
Fluttershy let out a little sniffle and wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof. She then opened the stall and was met by the sight of the little tom-boy filly, much shorter than she was yet with ten times the confidence. Her rose-colored eyes met her teary blue ones. They were friendly and welcoming.
Fluttershy smiled more as she trotted over so she was right in front of Rainbow Dash.
“Thank you for making me feel better.” She said as she looked down at her hooves shyly.
Suddenly, she felt Rainbow Dash’s hoof rest reassuringly onto her shoulder. She looked up at her new friend, who smiled back at her.
“Hey, what are friends for, right?” Rainbow Dash lowered her hoof and motioned to the door with her head, “Let’s get back to the cafeteria while there’s still time for lunch.”
Fluttershy smiled, “Sounds good.”
And with that, both fillies trotted off side-by-side, Rainbow Dash’s hoof back on her new friend’s shoulder.The comforting feeling of having a friend by her side made Fluttershy realize that her night-time wish had finally come true.
The entire cafeteria was abuzz when Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash returned, only to be stopped when the two fillies trotted through the door. Fluttershy could feel butterflies in her stomach as she looked around to see all of the speculative eyes, studying her like a group of researchers studying a wild animal.
She took a frightened step back, only to be stopped by Rainbow Dash’s hoof. She looked at her new friend, who just smiled and gave her a small nod, as if to say ”don’t worry what they think, I’ve got your back.”
Fluttershy gave her friend a kind smile before turning her attention back to the cafeteria. After taking a deep breath, slowly exhaling to calm her nerves, she trotted into the large room, the silence even more present once inside. Fluttershy started to get nervous, but feeling Rainbow Dash’s hoof over her shoulder made her feel better. They walked by several tables, every time getting snide and curious looks from their classmates as they passed.
They finally reached the table that Fluttershy’s “friends” and Hail Blitz were sitting at. Hail Blitz chuckled as she watched the friends pass, their eyes not meeting once. Her smile fell once she realized they were snubbing her. There was nothing worse in her mind than being deliberately ignored. She thrived off of the attention of others. Positive or negative, it didn’t matter. As long as they acknowledged her or gave her attention, she was happy.
There is no such thing as bad publicity. At least that's what Hail believed.
But she absolutely despised going unnoticed, especially when it was done purposefully. Heck, she would take a verbal argument over snubbing any day.
“Foalshy! Rainbow Crash! Yoo-hoo! Look at me!”
Fluttershy instinctively began to turn her head, only to have Rainbow Dash pull her back so she was facing the table at the back of the lunchroom where Gilda sat, staring at the unlikely duo approaching her with a confused expression on her face.
"Hey dummies, turn and look at me!!! I'm calling you! Don't you dare ignore me!"
“Ignore her.” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath as they finally reached the table. Fluttershy slowly took her seat. She looked over her shoulder to see everypony staring at her like she had three heads. She shrunk forward and let out a small squeal.
Rainbow Dash notices this and turned to the entire cafeteria and growled. “What the hay are you looking at! Get back to eating your gross lunches!”
This was all everypony needed to hear from the spunky pegasus before they turned their attention away from the back table and got back to their own private, group conversations.
Hail Blitz kept shouting “Foalshy” from where she was sitting, her hooves cupped around her muzzle to amplify her voice. But it was no use, Fluttershy wasn’t turning around, she was busy getting acquainted with Rainbow Dash and Gilda, who only gave a small “’sup” before putting in her MP3 player and eating, showing no interest in becoming Fluttershy's friend like Rainbow Dash had.
But Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy talked throughout the entire lunch. They got to know more about each other; about their likes, their dislikes. For being two ponies with completely different personalities, they clicked amazingly well. In fact, when lunch ended and they had to go to their separate classes, Rainbow Dash suggested they hang out sometime, ignoring Gilda’s gagging noises as she thought Fluttershy was a dweeb.
Fluttershy accepted the offer and after a quick hoof-bump, the walked off. Well, technically Fluttershy walked off, Rainbow Dash flew at a slow, graceful pace with Gilda by her side.
“Jeez, RD why did you go out of your way to help her like that? You don’t even know her.”
“Well, I know her now.” Rainbow Dash said as she turned around and looked back, watching as Fluttershy disappeared into the crowd of ponies. Just before she was completely engulfed, the yellow filly turned around and gave Rainbow Dash a modest wave. Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself and returned it. Gilda, however, wasn’t done making her point.
“But you didn’t then. You stood up to the most popular girl in school, in front of EVERYPONY. Do you know how much of a social risk that is? Not to mention you two aren’t anything alike.”
“We’re more alike than you think.”
"How?"
"We've both been picked on for being who we are."
And Rainbow Dash knew this was true. Both she and Fluttershy had been berated by the school’s cliques. Both were put down by others. Rainbow Dash’s flying ability was questioned and doubted by envious classmates while Hail Blitz and Fluttershy’s friends used the pegasus’ kind nature to destroy her self-esteem. Sure, both fillies were extremely different, especially in their personalities. But both were the same in one way, they were outcasts among the drones of followers who went lock-step with the rest of the school, fighting for popularity even at the expense of who they truly were. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash didn’t let this happen to them, they overcame it and, in the end, became great friends.
After mulling this over, Rainbow Dash let out a sigh before looking up at Gilda with a smile.
"But that doesn't matter anyore, because we're friends."
Gilda seemed to take this in, her eyes wide in interest for the briefest moment, before she returned to her nonchalant self and shrugged.
"Eh, whatever floats your boat dude. Come on, we've got gym."
With that, Gilda started to walk off. Rainbow Dash looked back one last time in the direction that Fluttershy went, as if expecting to still see her standing there, giving the modest wave of her's. When she saw that Fluttershy was gone, Rainbow Dash smiled. After all, she'd see her again real soon. Perhaps after class? Maybe after school?
Either way, she'd see the timid yellow pegasus again, and when she did she would greet her like a true friend. A cheerful smile on her face and her arms open for an embrace. But that was later.
Right now, Rainbow Dash had to go kick some flank in dodgeball and prove to the doubters that she wasn’t just the best flier her age, but also the best athlete.
With that, her face changed back to an expression of pride, her eyes closed and a smile on her face, as she trotted off in high spirits, ready to enjoy the rest of the day.
