From her spot on the couch, Rainbow Dash rolled over and sat up properly as Fluttershy moved to the door. When Fluttershy took a few seconds to take a deep breath, she took the time to smooth out her mane, all disheveled from flying the birds south. Fluttershy didn't mind her lack of a decent appearance, none of her friends did, well except for maybe Rarity. Fluttershy's parents on the other hand, wouldn't be impressed. Not that they cared for Dash's presence in the first place.
What she wouldn't give to be Angel, hiding away from the world inside Fluttershy's incredibly thick mane. Or Tank. He was much better at hiding. Tank could pull his head into his shell and simply ignore the world.
Well she could leave, but that would be abandoning Fluttershy. And her conscious, in the back of her head, screamed that the thought was wrong. It was wrong to do that to any pony. The thought of doing that to Fluttershy, it was almost painful. Quickly Rainbow Dash shook the thought out of her head.
Fluttershy opened the door. To no pony's surprise, Fluttershy's Dam and Sire stood in the doorway. Both took a moment to take in Fluttershy's parents. Neither had seen them since their days in flight school.
The golden color of her father combined with the gleaming pristine white coat of her mother is what gave Fluttershy the soft yellow she was. Both had different shades of red for their mane color. Fluttershy received her pink color from an ancestor.
"Do you plan on inviting us in, or has living with animals made you forget your manners entirely?" Her Sire asked. From the couch Rainbow Dash shot them a nasty glare. Already they were treating Fluttershy and her talent with the disrespect.
"Oh no, my manners are perfectly intact. It's just that I haven't seen you in a long time." Fluttershy responded flinching to the ground, already submissive. "Please come in." She said as she opened the door and moved out of the way. "Father, Mother, you remember Rainbow Dash?" She asked, nodding her head in the blue Pegasus's direction. Angel fell to the floor, as she did. Fluttershy flinched then quickly comforted the creature.
Her parents only looked at the rabbit on the floor, which fell from their filly's mane. Her mother only gave a small smile. Her father looked with disdain at the creature. But he responded to the question. "Ah yes, the filly who claims to join the Wonderbolts someday. Tell us, how that fantasy is working out for you."
"Well I won 'Best Young Flyer' last year, when I preformed a Sonic Rainboom, while saving the Wonderbolts lives. All in all, I think I did pretty awesome. They know my name now. Now all I have to do is wait for the next open tryouts."
"The Wonderbolts are a humble bunch of ponies. Who don't go off bragging about their fame."
Before Rainbow Dash could make a comeback Fluttershy barged her way into the conversation. "Uh, Dashie, don't you have to pick up Tank from Twilight's? I'm sure he misses you." She suggested. Rainbow caught the hidden meaning and reluctantly gave Fluttershy a reassuring hug before she left.
"You're always welcome to stop by, Fluttershy." She whispered in her ear.
"Thanks Dashie."
Fluttershy didn't want to be here. A small part of her really, really disliked school now more than ever. She wished she could have stayed home for the day, or even better, stayed home forever. Fillies and Colts gossiped behind her back as they passed down the halls.
She entered the door frame, and the room went quiet. Thankfully the teacher soon walked in. She thanked Celestia again, when the teacher announced that flight drills were postponed until tomorrow.
Lunch was proving itself to be pure torture. Fluttershy moved a section of cloud over into the open sky that sat nicely behind a cloud bank, far away from anypony and proceeded to eat her lunch by herself to avoid hearing the gossip. "Hey! Fluttershy, was it? Mind if I pull up a cloud?"
The light blue, rainbow manned Pegasus, from the other day asked her. "I-uh….sure." Fluttershy agreed. The filly set her lunch down and took off to find another cloud. Fluttershy sat in wonder. Was she supposed to talk? What about? She couldn't remember what the other filly's name even was.
"I'm back. So, umm nice indention last week, I'm a sucker for wicked wipe outs. Yours defiantly went on the list. Hey Fluttershy you ok? Hey I'm just trying to cheer you up. I really do like finding the worst wipe outs. I didn't mean to sound mean."
"No it's not that. It's just that, I can't even remember your name. You remembered mine so quickly."
The blue Pegasus looked at Fluttershy then burst out laughing. "That's what you're on the verge of crying about? "The names Rainbow Dash. I forget names all the time."
"Ok, thanks."
The conversation died down, and the two fillies sat and enjoyed their lunches. When the bell sounded for everypony to head back for class, Rainbow Dash got up from her place in the clouds and begun flying back to the building.
Fluttershy sat on the cloud, waiting for her new friend to get far enough away. "Uh, what are you doing Fluttershy?"
"Well, it's just you're the best flier, and…..I'm not. I don't want any other pony to make fun of you for being friends with such a horrible flyer….like me.
Rainbow gave her questioning look, and then pulled Fluttershy closer. "I don't care what the others think." She simply said, and pulled Fluttershy along the sky.
"I was so shocked to hear you both were interested in coming in Ponyville." Fluttershy said as she shut the door after Rainbow Dash had left. "Do you want anything to drink?"
Both elder ponies looked uncomfortable as they took in their surroundings around their daughters' cottage. Strange contraptions littered the walls, and large first aid kits were organized neatly throughout the room. Smells of antiseptic and medicinal herbs hung in the air.
Fluttershy stared at her Sire and Dam as they glanced around the main room. "What is that strange odor?"
Fluttershy sniffed the air. She smelt nothing out of the ordinary. Though she didn't question what her parents had asked. "I'll go open a window." She stated and fluttered quickly to the nearest window.
"What are these things hanging from your ceiling?" Her Dam asked.
Fluttershy looked up. "Oh those are bird cages. I use them to keep birds enclosed when their wings are healing." Apparently those drinks were being ignored.
"So what exactly do you do around here?" Her Sire asked.
"Well I normally work with healing the animals around here. But sometimes I work with a friend whenever she needs help in the fields."
"So Earth pony jobs? Unbefitting of a Pegasus of your stature. Now Fluttershy listen here. Your mother and I didn't come here on any casual visit. We want you to go back to school."
"But I'm too old." Fluttershy argued, shocked that her parents would even bring up such a subject.
"It's a special school. Designed to help those…less gifted flyers. We had to pull a few feathers, but we managed to get you in, despite your age."
Fluttershy stood speechless. She strongly disliked her time in school. Why would her parents think she wanted to go back? She continued to stare back in silence. She couldn't leave the girls, this is where she belonged.
She saved Equestria, twice. Why was she being punished?
Both parents saw her hesitation. "I can't leave, I'm needed here."
"This town has a vet. I'm more then certain that the pony in charge there can handle the animals."
"But she only deals with tame pets. I help the wild animals."
"Fluttershy, this is non-negotiable. You are coming home with us, and that's final."
Fluttershy flinched at her father's raised voice. She looked away avoiding any eye contact, and her mane flipped over her eyes again. She was stuck. In accordance to Equestrian law her parents had control of her until she turned eighteen. If they wanted she could be forced to go back to school. And that's what they wanted. "May I stay until the end of winter? They need me the most at the end of the season."
Her mother looked at her father, who was thinking about the proposition. "Until then." He said reluctantly. Now Fluttershy really disliked winter.
"Dear, where will we be staying?" Her mother asked. Fluttershy looked up from her drink in wonder. Surly they weren't planning to stay here. It was awkward now. Her parents putting pressure on her returning to this special flight school.
"Oh well I'm not sure you will like it here, but I'll let you have my room."
"Aww thank you dear." Her mother cooed. It almost sounded condescending. Fluttershy pretended to ignore the comment instead she grabbed the discarded cups and moved them into the kitchen. Outside her window she saw a unicorn mother hovering a wrapped present away from her foal. "Oh no, I forgot wrapping paper."
Outside, back in the living room, she grabbed her scarf. "I need to go out; I forgot to get something at the market today." She told her parents. Maybe. Just maybe, she could leave them here….
And of course her parents followed. Angel shut the door behind her, squeaking about how mad that he wasn't going with her. She apologized through the door and ignored the odd looks her parents gave her.
Fluttershy trotted along the ground, while her parents flew above her. Even in the earliest hours of the day, the Ponyville market would already be in full swing. As it was now noon, the place was almost packed. Avoiding the packed ground, Fluttershy trotted a few more paces and took off, joining her parents in the sky. Further up in the sky, assorted Pegasus were moving the darker clouds into Ponyville and destroyed the lovely white ones.
"Hey Fluttershy! Look, look, down here!" A voice called out. Fluttershy looked down and saw a pink earth pony waving her hooves in the air. Around her, the curly pink mane waved just a crazily in the air. Fluttershy sighed. Of all the ponies her parents to meet first, besides Rainbow Dash, it had to be Pinkie Pie. She loved the earth pony like a sister, but she was sometimes just so tiring and….out there.
But she dared not hurt Pinkie's feelings. Noticing the confused glances from her parents, Fluttershy swooped gently downwards towards the ground. Fluttershy smiled slightly. Pinkie wouldn't make the best impression, but it would easily be the most interesting.
As Fluttershy landed Pinkie ran up too her, closing the gap between them, it was only then that Pinkie let out a gasp in shock. Behind her, her parents had landed gracefully, shaking their windblown manes back into perfection. "HI I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm a friend of Fluttershy's. Ohhh this is so exciting. Your new here aren't you? Well obviously you know whether you are. But are you?"
Pinkie asked throwing an explosion of words at her parents. "Oh I can't wait. I need to start planning a welcome party. Ugh so much planning. Why don't we just wing it?" There was a pause as Pinkie stopped to catch her breath. Then suddenly she began laughing uncontrollably. "HA! 'wing it' get it? Cause your Pegasi? Oh Celestia, sometimes I just crack myself up. Well off I go more parties to plan. Gotta find Twilight, See ya Fluttershy. Nice meeting you, Fluttershy's parents." Fluttershy continued to smile as Pinkie trotted off looking for their Unicorn friend, humming her "Giggle at the Ghosties" song to anypony that would listen.
Fluttershy turned and looked at her Dam and Sire, who stood there, rooted to the spot with shocked expressions glued to their faces. Fluttershy giggled at their faces. The few other ponies around her, who had witnessed Pinkie's antics, laughed as well.
When the laughter reached their ears, the two straitened their appearances and coughed rather loudly to silence the others around them. Fluttershy squeaked when her father sent her a reprimanding gaze. "Your friend?" Her mother asked not believing the claim that Pinkie had made just a few moments earlier.
Fluttershy nodded her head yes. And silently giggled at her mother's shocked face again.