Fluttershy's knees were knocking rapidly. "Daddy," she said in a trembled voice to her father, Dragonfly, "Do I have to go to flight school?"
"Of course ya do, Fluttery!" her brash mother, Firefly, interrupted, "Why, when I was your age, I flew in circles all around Princess Celestia's castle and back home to Cloudsdale again! You're my daughter, so I'm sure you can do that too! Besides, don't you want to be a good inspiration for your little siblings back home?"
Fluttershy's mouth stood agape; she then let out a small "uh" but her gentle father cut her off in order to reply to the question she had previously asked him. "Your mother's right, Flutter. You'll be fine. Flying is just a skill every pegasus needs to know. You may or may not make a career out of it like your mother or I did, but I'm sure you'll be fine with doing whatever your heart desires, whether or not it may be flying."
"Alright, Daddy," Fluttershy said with a sigh. "But what if someone asks me who I am and I don't know them? How do I respond? Or worse, what if no one asks me who I am, and then when I need something from them, I won't know their name and I'll be too afraid to ask them? What do I do then, Daddy?"
"Fluttershy," her father replied calmly, "Don't worry about it. Rainbow Dash will be there, and if you need any help introducing yourself, she can help you. Okay?"
Fluttershy let out a heavy sigh. "Okay," she said. "Can you hold my tail while we walk there?"
Dragonfly smiled, but his wife raised an eyebrow at him, She always thought her daughter needed to grow a thicker mane. "Sure, Fluttery," Dragonfly replied, and he gripped his mouth on his daughter's tail until they arrived.
When they had gotten there, they saw Rainbow Dash flying through hurdles as her father, Thunder Dash, and mother, Lightning Dash, watched her. Rainbow stopped midair to greet her friend and her parents. "Hi Uncle Dragonfly! Hi Aunt Firefly! Hi Fluttershy!" Their families were not actually related, but Rainbow Dash called Dragonfly and Firefly her aunt and uncle anyway because they were such good friends with her parents.
"Hi, Rainbow Dash," Firefly said, "How's that Sonic Rainboom coming along?"
"Great!" Rainbow Dash replied, "I think I just need to work on flapping my wings a little harder and it'll be 20% cooler!"
"Wow, that's a lot more cool!" Firefly giggled.
"Yes, of course," Lightning Dash said with a smile. "She's determined to master that Sonic Rainboom of hers."
"That's wonderful!" Firefly replied, "Fluttershy's little brother Ace back home says that as soon as you learn how to do it, he wants to learn. Isn't that right, Dragonfly?"
"Oh yeah," Dragonfly said with a smirk.
"That'll be easy," Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "I'll be a master at Sonic Rainbooms by next week. Ace'll learn how to do one in ten seconds flat as long as he's learning from me."
"She's so determined, isn't she?" Firefly said to Lightning, "Maybe she could show Fluttershy a thing or two."
"Oh, well, she just gets it from her dad," Lightning said with a laugh.
"No, Lightning, are you kidding?" Thunder Dash laughed, "She gets it from you."
"No Thunder, I think she gets it from you," Lightning Dash said, still laughing.
"Well, where ever she gets it from, you can't help but be proud of her," Firefly said, "Right, honey?" She turned to her husband.
Dragonfly chuckled. "Of course, Firefly." Just then, the flight coach blew his whistle, signaling that flight practice was about to start and the parents should leave. Thunder and Lightning each kissed Rainbow Dash on the cheek and flew away.
Fluttershy had been sitting on an isolated cloud quietly. Her parents came over to say good-bye to her. Firefly approached her first. She kissed her cheek and said, "Have fun, Fluttery! And remember, do a good job. If you don't do well and they find out you're my daughter, I'll never be able to show my face in Cloudsdale again, understand?" By this point her nose was pressed up against her daughter's and her voice had gotten a bit aggressive. Fluttershy tried to squirm away from her mother, then she made a squeaky reply of "Yes mom."
"Good," Firefly said. She then used her front right hoof to mess up Fluttershy's mane from the center of her head. "Welp, see ya later, kiddo!" Then she flew off.
Dragonfly fluttered over to his daughter and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't worry about your mother, Fluttershy. She sometimes gets a little too excited over these things."
"I know," Fluttershy squeaked.
Dragonfly laughed. "Just remember to have fun," he said as he smoothed out his daughter's mane that his wife had messed up earlier. He then kissed her cheek once more.
"Thanks, Daddy," Fluttershy said, and she rose her head up a little higher and went over to the hurdles to join her dear friend Rainbow Dash.