This is the 26th chapter. I don't own the series of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
Hurricane Fluttershy
It was a glorious day out in Ponyville today as many Pegasi ponies were out in town today. Storm Hawk, Comet, and Daylight were hanging out in the streets of Ponyville, minding their own business until they heard a familiar female tomboyish voice up in the skies.
"Calling all Pegasus ponies!" Rainbow Dash said from above. "Meeting tonight!"
Rainbow Dash was passing out the flyers in the skies as she drops a bunch to bunch of Pegasi down in Ponyville. The flyers gently floated down to several Pegasi below, which included Fluttershy and Derpy Hooves. They began to examine the flyers. As a flyer landed on Fluttershy's head, she picked it up and read it, making her flinch and quickly ran away. Then, Flitter and Cloud Chaser looked at the flyer.
"'Mandatory meeting for all Ponyville, Pegasi'." Flutter read out loud as Fluttershy ducked herself behind a barrel.
Rainbow Dash then notices Storm Hawk, Comet, and Daylight down in among the ponies of Ponyville and smiles as she flies down to them.
"Hey, guys." Rainbow Dash said.
"Hey, Rainbow/Mom." Comet, Daylight, and Storm Hawk greets back.
"What's all this about?" Storm Hawk questions.
"There's something important that involves all Pegasi around from Ponyville and I'm passing out these flyers around since there will a meeting tonight at the library." Rainbow Dash explains.
"Huh. That does sound important." Comet said with a hum.
"You bet." Rainbow Dash agrees, turns to her son. "Hey, would it be okay if you and your friends come to the library tonight?"
"Sure, we'll be there." Storm Hawk replied. "If it's something that important, then we'll be at the library tonight."
"Now we're talking. I'll see you guys tonight." Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle, then kissed Storm Hawk in the forehead as she flies off. "Be cool or be mule."
Storm Hawk, Comet, and Daylight then noticed somepony behind her and they reluctantly points behind Rainbow Dash as she turns to indeed see a mule behind her.
"Oops, heh, no offense." Rainbow Dash quickly said.
"None taken." The mule replied casually.
"Well, see you tonight Mom." Storm Hawk called out.
"Likewise. See ya, guys." Rainbow Dash replied.
Rainbow Dash then flies off to go and pass out more flyers to someponies to who where Pegasi walks ahead, that is until Winter Breeze notice her mother hiding behind a barrel in fear. Winter Breeze was concerned why Fluttershy was acting very frightened, walks up to her.
"Hey, Mom." Winter Breeze called her gently.
When Fluttershy heard her daughters voice, she let out an 'eep' before dashing off behind a tree. Winter Breeze was very confused by this as she immediately walk towards the tree that her mother hid behind.
"Mom, you don't need to be scared." Wintr Breeze said gently. "It's just me, Winter."
Fluttershy peeks out from behind the tree shyly as she slowly reveals herself to her daughter, who tilts her head in confusion.
"Is something wrong?" Winter Breeze asks. "You seem to be very nervous about something."
Fluttershy doesn't answer as she just hides her face behind her mane and blushes with embarrassment.
"I...I..."
Winter Breeze could tell that something was probably bothering Fluttershy as she simply just sighs.
"Don't worry, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it." Winter Breeze told her. "I won't try and force it out of you."
Winter Breeze then turns to leave and give her mother some alone time, but not before she instead holds one of her front hooves.
"W-Wait..." Fluttershy said quietly, earned her attention. "W-Winter, i-if you don't mind...can you...stay right beside me tonight at the library."
"Why?" Winter Breeze asks, raising her eyebrow at that request. "Is it because that there's going to be too many ponies around?"
Fluttershy slowly shakes her head no at that which made Winter Breeze even more confused.
"Then what is it?" Winter Breeze asks again.
"Well...uh...can we talk another time? Please?" Fluttershy pleads.
Winter Breeze turns to her gives her mother a small smile.
"Don't worry, Mom." Winter Breeze assures her. "You can tell me anything when you're ready, but just know this."
Winter Breeze then gives Fluttershy a hug for comfort.
"I'll get you through whatever is bothering you." Winter Breeze said as Fluttershy hugs her daughter with a small smile. "I'll see you tonight."
Winter Breeze then breaks the hug, turns and walk away as Fluttershy watches her go with a meek smile, but it soon turns into a worried look.
Soon, night has fallen as the crowd of Pegasi were lined up at the Golden Oak Library and they each walk inside as Rainbow Dash greets them.
"All right, go on in, take a seat." Rainbow Dash said when Storm Hawk walks up as the last one. "Great! I knew you come, Storm Hawk!"
"You kidding? I wouldn't miss an important meeting like this." Storm Hawk said with a smile.
Rainbow Dash then looks inside the library and does a head count of all the Pegasi inside and groans when Winter Breeze arrived.
"What's wrong?" Winter Breeze inquires.
"We're missing one Pegasus." Rainbow Dash answered, turns to the two foals. "One familiar and SHY Pegasus."
Rainbow Dash took a sharp eye towards a tree behind them when she said the word 'shy' and both her, Storm Hawk, and Winter Breeze walk over to it.
"Come on, Fluttershy. All Pegasus means you too." Rainbow Dash points out.
Two slightly surprised eyes wink into existence on the trunk, which splits around its circumference at about a pony's shoulder height. Fluttershy stands up as she balances the top of the tree on her head and the stump clears her hooves into vision of them.
"Mom, I say I promised that I would be right beside you, didn't I?" Winter Breeze asks.
Fluttershy slowly nods from that. Rainbow Dash then removes the tree costume off of Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy, let's go." Rainbow Dash said sternly. "We don't have time to waste right now. You're a Pegasus, so get in there."
Fluttershy looks down from that as Rainbow Dash and Storm Hawk walks back inside of the library. Winter Breeze then grabs her mothers hoof, earned her attention.
"Don't worry, whatever frightens you, I'll be by your side." Winter Breeze told her with comforting smile.
Fluttershy nods as they both walk inside of the Golden Oak Library while holding hooves to join the rest of the Pegasi in the meeting.
My Little Pony, My Little Pony
Ahhhh
My Little Pony
I use to wonder what friendship could be
My Little Pony
Until you all share this magic with me
Big adventure,
Tons of fun,
A beautiful heart,
Faithful and strong,
Sharing kindness
It's an easy feat
And magic makes it all complete
You all have my little ponies
Do you know all you're my best friends?
While Spike was busy getting the projector set up, Mario, Comet, and Daylight were busy mangling with the other Pegasi as they served some freshly made cups of fruit punch and brownies to everypony. Mario, Comet, and Daylight were a little quiet at first, but soon got comfortable having short conversations with everypony.
"Do brownies have nuts?" One pony asked.
"None." Mario replied. "I was never a fan of nuts on brownies. But I did add chocolate chips if there's a problem with those."
His only reply was more cheers and hums. Winter Breeze then headed towards Fluttershy, who's looking rather uncomfortable around everypony.
"What's wrong?" Winter Breeze asks gently. "Is being in such a large crowd made you nervous?"
Fluttershy just looked at her quietly.
"Sort of..." Fluttershy answered.
"Want me to sit with you for the presentation?" Winter Breeze asked.
Fluttershy nods when Winter Breeze sat next to her mother with a smile. Mario smiled at the two, watching the whole event, as he continued serving the other brownies and fruit punch to the other Pegasi. It wasn't long before Derpy Hooves went to grab a brownie, but nearly tripped over herself. Mario caught her before she could knock into him.
"Whoa! Easy there, Derpy." Mario said, helped her back up to her hooves.
"My bad." Derpy Hooves said with a smile as she grabbed her brownie and some fruit punch.
"Why not just let her fall?" One pony taunted. "She's always tripping around like a klutz."
"She can't help it." Mario said sternly. "If anypony has looked at her eyes, they would know Derpy suffers from an eye condition that effects her motor and coordination skills. Nevertheless, she's still a pony who deserves respect. Despite a few slip-ups, she does work hard every day at the best pony she can be."
The pony said nothing as others gave them a glare while a few others nodded in agreement with Mario. Derpy Hooves gave Mario a hug as a few tears pricked her eyes.
"Thank you." Derpy Hooves said softly. "Nopony's ever stood up for me before."
"That's what friends do." Mario replied as the room went dark as the film presentation began to play on the projection screen.
A film projector starts to run as an old 50s type music starts to play and a little toon of black and white start to play that involved Pegasi.
"Every living thing depends on the life-giving nourishment of rainwater, and it is up to Cloudsdale to provide rain-filled clouds to every corner of Equestria. But how, one pony might ask, does Cloudsdale gather all this extra water? Tornado power! That's right, Pegasi-driven tornado power. A team of Pegasi combine their wing power to create a jumbo tornado, powerful enough to pull water out of the local reservoir and funnel it all the way up to Cloudsadale. Remember, Pegasi, your jumbo tornado much reach a minimum of 800 wing power to lift that water up to Cloudsdale. So, the next you're wondering, 'Where does all that extra rainwater came from?', just remem-"
The presentation comes to an abrupt end and when the film skips and burns away, leaving only a harsh square of white light from the projector. A bunch of confused voices are heard at the sudden malfunction and everypony glares at Spike in which coils of film stock have sprung loose from the reels, littering the floor and winding around every part of his body.
"Uh...intermission?" Spike replied sheepishly.
"Forget it, Spike, that film needed to be updated anyway." Comet told him with a shrug.
Mario agreed as he began to mentally make plans for recreating the film in his head. Rainbow Dash then flies to address all of the Pegasi in the room.
"So, here's the scoop." Rainbow Dash explains. "Cloudsdale has chosen our own highland reservoir as a source of the rainwater they need for all of Equestria. And you know what that means. It means it's up to Ponyville's Pegasi to bring that water up to Cloudsdale."
The crowd of Pegasi all started to let out some small chatter and Fluttershy gets a small uneasy look which Winter Breeze noticed that, so she pats her softly which got her to feel a little less uneasy.
"That's pretty cool." Mario said, impressed.
"You say that again." Storm Hawk agrees.
Rainbow Dash then pulls down several posters displaying several of the Wonderbolts and bar graphs over different cities.
"Not only that, but Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts, will be here to oversee the water transfer and record our top tornado windspeed." Rainbow Dash continued. "Now last year, Fillydelphia broke the windspeed record with top speed of 900 and 10 wing power. But I think we can do better. I think we can do better. I think we can get a top speed over 1000! If each and everypony trains, and trains hard to get their wing power numbers up."
"That's a lot of wing power!" Mario said with an impressed whistle.
"And now you'll get to see your old friend again." Derpy Hooves agrees with a nod.
By now everypony knew that Mario was friends with Spitfire, but he's grateful most Pegasi didn't bother him for stories of her past, autographs, etc.
"Mom is really doing a good job at rallying up everypony." Storm Hawk said with a smile, impressed.
A random Pegasus named Thunderlane then coughs which Rainbow Dash heard.
Thunderlane had a dark magentaish gray fur coat with light cyanish gray mane and tail with lighter streaks and light gold eyes. His cutie mark was a lightning bolt from a cloud.
"That coughing better be from a popcorn kernel, Thunderlane." Rainbow Dash said sternly, causing Thunderlane to smile sheepishly as the Pegasi glared at him. "Nopony's getting sick on my watch. So, are we gonna train hard?"
"Yeah!" The Pegasi said with a cheer.
Fluttershy huddles down to the floor in fear and covers her eyes which made Winter Breeze raise her eyebrow.
"Are we gonna be strong?!"
"Yeah!"
"Are we gonna be fast?!"
"Yeah!"
Rainbow Dash then flies up to a muscle bound pony name Bulk Biceps.
Bulk Biceps had a light gray fur coat with light amber mane and tail, light amber hooves, and vivid red eyes. His cutie mark was a dumb-bell.
"YEAH!" Bulk Biceps shouts.
"Who's with me?"
Every single Pegasus in the place sounds to be in, judging from the amounts of cheers. She grins at the effect of the pep talk, but lets it turn into a grimace upon noticing an empty patch of floor where both Fluttershy and Winter Breeze had been standing.
"Winter, please talk some sense into Fluttershy." Rainbow said with a sigh.
"She's been rather nervous the entire time she was here." Mario said, walked to her.
"What else is new?" Rainbow Dash asks in annoyance.
"Rainbow, if you ever want to help Fluttershy overcome her confident issues, you need to stop dismissing how she acts and take the time to find out why she feels this way." Mario warns her sternly. "And you wonder why she resented you so much."
Rainbow Dash sighed as she lands next to him.
"I know, Fluttershy and I had a long talk about that not too long ago." Rainbow Dash said. "I need to be there for her and help her find some courage instead of just leaving her to find it herself. This is something all Pegasi need to participate in, for the sake of Equestria's rainwater. Plus, I would really like to break that record and know she had a part of it. You know...share the glory and all that jazz."
"Well, me and Winter will be here to help Fluttershy too." Mario said with a smile. "Since I can relate the best to her self-esteem issues."
"Well, just remember, Mario, I think you're awesome." Rainbow Dash told him which Mario smiled in reply.
Speaking of the two, Winter Breeze and Fluttershy were seen walking together outside as the shy Pegasus had a guilty look and the Icelandic filly was just worried for her.
"Mom, there something bothering about the flying in this thing, is there?" Winter Breeze questions.
Fluttershy simply nods shyly at that.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Winter Breeze questions again.
"Um...well..."
Winter Breeze sighs once again as she embraces her mother which it got her attention.
"Mom, I want to help you with whatever is troubling you." Winter Breeze told her. "However, I can't help if I don't know what's bothering you."
Fluttershy bit her lip nervously about what her problem was until she started to quietly speak.
"I...I..." Fluttershy said, but sighs. "Winter, I honestly want to tell you my problem, but..."
"You're not ready to tell me yet, are you?" Winter Breeze cuts in with a question.
Fluttershy shakes her head at that as Winter Breez sighed.
"Well, alright then take your time as long as it's before you and the Pegasi make the tornado, okay?" Winter Breeze suggests.
Winter Breeze then walks off to head home and rest for the night as Fluttershy gives a small smile before it turns back into a guilty one.
"Yes...tomorrow..." Fluttershy quietly muttered, catches up to her daughter.
The next day, outside in the meadowlands of Ponyville, several ponies are engaged in various exercises, and Rainbow Dash was wearing a baseball cap and whistle while Mario was wearing a wrappings around his hooves, walking past few who are limbering up."
"Stretch those glutes, Flitter!" Rainbow Dash shouts. "Nice flexibility, Cloud Chaser. A...little too much flexibility, Blossomforth!"
"Does she need help untangling herself?" Mario asked with worry.
"Uh, somepony give Bloosomforth a hoof." Rainbow Dash said. "Let's see some faster trotting, Thunderlane! Good pace, Silverspeed!"
Thunderlane trotted by as the other Pegasi named Silverspeed flew by at a brisk pace. Rainbow Dash then noticed the four foals coming at their direction while some another Pegasi stretches and another Pegasi was lifting weights.
"Hey, nice of you guys to join us." Rainbow Dash said, then blew the whistle. "Keep it up! We're gonna need all the wing power we can get to break that record!"
"Let's put those feathers to the wind, everypony." Mario adds.
"YEAH!" Bulk Biceps grunted and gave a snort in a process.
Everypony looks at Bulk Biceps a little weird from that before focusing back on their training.
"Good work, everypony!" Rainbow Dash said.
However, among all of the Pegasi in the area, there's only one missing. A familiar shy, animal loving Pegasus.
"Everypony except Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash mutters when Comet, Daylight, Winter Breeze, Storm Hawk, and Mario walks up to her.
"Well, do you wanna go find out what the problem is?" Mario asks.
"We should probably go check up on her." Storm Hawk suggests. "Something tells me she's still extremely nervous about something."
Rainbow Dash nods at that as they decided to head towards Fluttershy's home for a quick visit.
They arrive at Fluttershy's cottage as Rainbow Dash knocks on the front door.
"Fluttershy? We know you're there!" Rainbow Dash said. "You're avoiding tornado duty and I want to know why!"
"Mom, we can tell you're very sensitive of what's bothering you, so we came to talk to you about what that is and get you through it." Winter Breeze said gently.
Fluttershy then cracks the open to see them and soon steps out, dressed in a bathrobe, with red spots all over her that anypony could probably tell it was fake. She then tries to give her best sick impression.
"Achoo. Hi, Rainbow Dash. Hi, Mario. Hi, kids." Fluttershy said with a fake cough.
"Fluttershy, what happened to you?" Rainbow Dash asked with concern.
"Oh, I..." Fluttershy said as she sniffled and coughed weakly again, leaned against the doorframe of her cottage. "I think I have...pony pox. I'm sorry. I really, really wanted to come to training day today...but this pony pox has really knocked me for a loop. Achoo!"
Fluttershy let out another cough which Winter Breeze can only rolled her eyes. Rainbow Dash, Comet, Daylight, Mario, and Storm Hawk exchanged looks, nodded discreetly.
"Oh, you poor thing." Rainbow Dash said with sympathy. "You know, there's only one cure for pony pox."
"I know, plenty of bed-"
A hard bolt of water from a bucket Rainbow Dash was holding comes down over her, eliciting a sputtering cry and her with a face full of red ink dribbles as the spots were painted on.
"Cold water!" Rainbow Dash said. "Those pony pox are clearing right up."
Comet and Daylight rolled their eyes from Rainbow Dash being so blunt and uses their magic to make her bathrobe and the floor dry up. Fluttershy pulls in a soft gasp at having been bowled out so easily and backs up slowly.
"Oh, y'know, all of a sudden, I'm, I'm starting to feel better." Fluttershy said with a nervous laugh. "I'll get out of these robes and-"
Fluttershy clumsily tumbles to the floor directly over her wing.
"Ow! Oh, my wing, oh, ow, it's hurt." Fluttershy said with a fake pain. "I guess I can't fly after all."
Apparently, she was doing an even worse job of faking the injury than she was with a pony pox. And Rainbow Dash proves her point by blowing her whistle, making Fluttershy yelp and jumped into the air. Daylight then use her magic to make the bathrobe on Fluttershy and it reappears on a clothes rack nearby.
"Messed up wing, huh?" Rainbow Dash said as Fluttershy just smiled sheepishly as she made a soft landing. "Stop horsing around, Fluttershy. We've got alot of training to do. Come on now, what's going on?"
"Fluttershy, I thought we promised to be honest with each other." Mario points out. "If you want Rainbow to care about your feelings, you need to speak up and say what's on your mind. Remember, you don't want to keep what's bothering you inside anymore."
Flutterhy knew that Mario was right and she did indeed made a promise, but the Icelandic filly walk towards to her mother.
"Mom, you don't need to fake any illness or injuries to tell us what's going on. I promise, we won't think that whatever it is that's bothering you is ridiculous or laughable." Winter Breeze assures when the foals nodded with an agreement. "Just tell us what's wrong and I'm sure we'll understand everything."
Fluttershy then sighed, decided to tell them the truth.
"Well, y'see, uh, well..." Fluttershy stuttered, before grabbing Rainbow Dash's hooves. "Oh, Mario, Rainbow Dash, kids, I just can't do it! I can't fly!"
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked, puzzled. "Just last week you went into that wicked nose dive to save that falling baby bird right before it hit the ground!"
"And I've seen you flying about when you're busy tending to the animals." Mario adds. "You're practically dancing in the sky! I've seen you do that!"
"But that was different, that was an emergency!" Fluttershy said. "Or I'm just by myself or with my daughter! This whole tornado thing, it's more like a performance, and you know how I hate performing in front of others."
"Hm, I think I have a good idea of what you mean." Winter Breeze said with a ponder. "You're afraid of being humiliated out there especially out there in front of hundreds of Pegasi, aren't you?"
Fluttershy nods, then turns to Rainbow Dash, who had a concerned look for her.
"Rainbow Dash, don't you remember flight camp?" Fluttershy asks. "I couldn't gallop hard or fly fast, not with everypony looking at me!"
"It wasn't that bad!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Is it?" Mario said with a raised eyebrow, reminding her of a heart to heart they had shared regarding how much being teased had hurt her during flight camp.
"Quiet!" Rainbow Dash growls with a threat, which Mario isn't even fazed.
"Do you think I don't know about you crying yourself to sleep at night for being called Crash?" Fluttershy said out loud, making Rainbow Dash very uncomfortable but she didn't wait for the reply. "But you're right, Rainbow Dash, it wasn't bad."
"What do you mean?" Comet asked, puzzled.
"It was horrible!" Fluttershy said.
Flashback
The two are seen as fillies, standing on a cloud along with a coach stallion in red shirt and cap, and whistle around his neck. Young Fluttershy stands nervously at the edge of the cloud.
With the wind picking up, Young Fluttershy con only manage a few stammering whimpers as she looks down to see a very big drop onto a large cloud surrounded by other fillies and colts. Her pupils contract to terror-stricken points before the coach forcefully boots her off the cloud. She flails crazily in midair, gravity being asleep at the switch for the moment, and comes out in a spreadeagle position with her wings locked tight to her flanks. Down she goes, slap into the center of the cloud and the other young ponies.
"The other foals used to tease me, a lot!"
A bunch of the foals then surrounded Fluttershy with cocky smiles as they point and chant a taunt at her that apparently traumatizes her to this day.
'Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!'
Young Fluttershy squeezes her eyes shut and mashes her front hooves into her ears to block out the repeating taunt.
Flashback Ended
Fluttershy then grabs Winter Breeze out of worry as she knelt down completely panicking about the event.
"I just can't risk that sort of humiliation again!" Fluttershy said.
"Suck it up, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash said sternly, but earns a smack by Mario when he gives her a warning glare. "I-I-I mean confidence or no confidence, I'm gonna need every Pegasus to break the record, including you. I need every ounce of wing power I can get."
"Oh, I-I don't think so, Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy said sadly.
Rainbow Dash was tempted to just push her out, but she could well remember what happened the last time she tried to force Fluttershy out of her cottage. Winter Breeze then walk towards to her mother, gently placing her hoof on her wing which it got her attention as she gives her a reassuring smile while looking at her.
"Mom, you don't have to be scared. This is your moment to shine to prove them wrong." Winter Breeze encourages her. "I know I wasn't there and before I was born, but it doesn't matter now. You can prove to them that even with little wing power, you can be better than you were back then."
"Uh, I'm not sure Winter..."
"Look, we'll be right beside you the whole time and make sure you won't be laughed or humiliated at all." Winter Breeze suggests.
Fluttershy looks at Winter Breeze as she still gives her a smile and then looks at Rainbow Dash, Mario, Comet, Daylight, and Storm Hawk, who had a grin and they nodded with an agreement with the Icelandic filly. Fluttershy looks down for a second and think about Winter Breeze's resolve before she sighs and gives a small smile.
"I'll do it." Fluttershy said.
Rainbow Dash zips to her, excited from that as it made Winter Breeze back up a bit.
"You will?" Rainbow Dash said.
"I will."
"You're game?" Rainbow Dash asked, getting more excited.
"I'm game."
"All right!" Rainbow Dash said joyfully.
Rainbow Dash got so elated from that, she grabs Fluttershy up and swoops her all around the cottage and Mario and the foals just chuckled at both of them. However, once the victory lap stops, Fluttershy lets out a forced grin that meant that she was still extremely nervous in participating.
Back at the running track in the meadowlands, several ponies are gathered at one end of the infield, Twilight and Spike who just arrived were near the middle, and another group watches at the outer edge. Twilight has what appears to be a four-bladed desk fan set up on the grass with a small gauge mounted at its base. She gives the blade a spin as Spike jots in a notepad and two Pegasi who were watching him, walk up to them.
"What exactly does this machine do?" Cloud Chaser asks.
"This is anemometer." Twilight explains. "It measures your accelerative velocity and translates it into wing power, thus gauging your cumulative H2O anti-gravitational potential. Any other questions?"
Twilight beams at her own brilliance and taps her front hooves together as the others had no idea what she just said. Both Comet and Daylight glanced each other with deadpan look, decided to give them a simple explanation.
"Basically, it tells you how fast you're flying and how strong your wings are." Daylight told them.
All of the Pegasi around them then all give an agreeing chatter that they understood the simple explanation which leaves Twilight fuming to herself while Comet and Daylight are irritated by this.
"Guess someponies just don't appreciate a brilliant mind." Mario said, gives her a kiss on the cheek.
"SQUEE-HEE-HEE!" Twilight blurted with glee before clasping a fore-hoof to her mouth and blushed heavily.
Mario, Comet, and Daylight had to cover their mouths to avoid laughing.
"That kiss really made your day, huh?" Mario asks as Twilight smiled at him shyly.
Twilight squeaked with a nod as Mario smiled and quickly walks off. Cloud Chaser and Flitter giggled to each other.
"Looks likes somepony's in love." Flitter teased.
"Totally lovesick." Cloud Chaser adds.
"Am not!" Twilight denies with a pout under her breath.
"Denial~!" Spike said in quiet singing tone as Twilight growled at him to stop talking.
That's when Daylight and Comet smacked him in the back of head with their hooves, making Spike yelped in pain. Twilight couldn't help but giggle with amusement.
Someone is then heard coughing again as Twilight looks among the crowd and a can of disinfectant spray floats up under her control and out toward the noise.
"Is that you again, Thunderlane?" Twilight asks sternly, then sprays Thunderlane. "Please, we need to have germ-free environment."
"It wasn't me, it was Blossomforth!" Thunderlane protests with an excuse, points his hoof at a mare named Blossomforth.
Blossomforth had a pinkish gray fur coat with brilliant cerise mane and tail with grayish emerald green stripes, and brilliant cornflower blue eyes. Her cutie mark was a two flowers, one pink, one light blue.
Rainbow Dash then flies up in front of Twilight.
"Don't worry, Twilight." Rainbow Dash said, crossed her hooves with a scowl. "Thunderlane's just cooking up an excuse to spend tornado day in bed. Why don't you get over here and be our first test flyer, Thunderlane?"
Thunderlane gasped as he shoots Blossomforth a dirty look, then flies off. A feather falls off one of his wings as Blossomforth coughs a bit, revealed to be the true culprit of the cough. Thunderland touches down at the starting line, drops into a crouch, and gets his wings cranked up before rocketing ahead and the anemometer spins wildly in his wake. Twilight, Daylight, and Comet leans down to check the gauge after it has stopped.
"We have 9.3 wing power." Twilight announced.
With that being said, he takes a bow for the appreciative crowd.
"YEAH!" Bulk Biceps yelled as Spike jots down the wing power.
"Not bad, not bad." Rainbow Dash said with a nod, impressed.
"Then, let's see what your wing power is." Mario said.
Rainbow Dash smirked, flies to the line and cracks every joint and feather in her body to loosen up and takes off, shedding the cap and whistle. The anemometer spins nearly fast enough to lift off on its own, Spike fights to hang on to his notepad, and everypony in the area can barely hold their position in the gale-force winds. The exception is Fluttershy, who's steadily pushed backward and eventually thrown clear of the ground. Once things calmed down, Twilight, Daylight, and Comet straighten up their manes in total disarray.
"16.5 wing power!" Twilight announced.
The Pegasi all start to cheer from that as Rainbow Dash got a smirk and looked towards her son.
"Hey, Storm Hawk!" Rainbow Dash called him. "Why don't you show these guys what you're made of?"
The Pegasi looked at Storm Hawk and cheered for him to do his own demonstration without using his Lightning Element as he smirked and went up to the starting line of the running track. Twilight then shoots Rainbow Dash a confused look.
"Uh, are you sure about this?" Twilight asks.
"Why not?" Rainbow Dash shrugs.
"Well...I don't know if you noticed, but his element, can be a little...much." Twilight points out.
At the starting line, Storm Hawk cracks his joints similar to how his mother did and crouch to the ground before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Storm Hawk opens his eyes and he blasts off at speed that apparently had a similar reaction than Rainbow Dash's as it made everypony in the area nearly fly off the ground and was flying backwards from his speed and when he passed the anemometer, it nearly lifts off on its own. Once things calmed down, Twilight, Daylight, and Comet looks at it and gasps.
"15.9 wing power!" Twilight announces.
The Pegasi were amazed from that as Storm Hawk takes a respective bow and Rainbow Dash flew next to him.
"That's my boy!" Rainbow Dash said, proud of her son as she then flies up in the air with her cap and whistle on. "You see that everypony? That's some clear signs that we'll definitely set a new record! If each of you can get your numbers up to at least 10.0 wing power by the end of the week, we'll no doubt set a new tornado speed record. We'll be number one!"
The cheering group flies off in all directions, exposing a huddled Fluttershy on the grass. Mario sees her and walks up to her, extends a hoof when Fluttershy shyly accepts.
"I know you're worried that you might have some weak wing power, Fluttershy, but don't let it go into your head too much, okay?" Mario said.
Fluttershy nods as she gives a couple of half-hearted flaps from her wings before looking back down to the ground. Mario and Winter Breeze were just so worried for Fluttershy that they couldn't bear to even know what would happen if she got humiliated.
As the trials move on, more and more Pegasi zip through their trials at trying to reach up to 10.0 wing power. Rainbow Dash watches with a critical eye as Twilight smiles at the gauge's reading. Some numbers that Spike jot down on the notepad increased from 8.7 to 9.9 wing power. Soon enough, Fluttershy who's last in line, runs into the stallion in front of her and topples backward. The one nearly maxes out the scale on his run, and Spike gives Rainbow Dash a smug look when he shows her the list which was 11.0.
"Impressive." Rainbow Dash said, then turns to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, your turn."
Rainbow Dash claps her hooves and blows her whistle as Fluttershy walks up to the starting line. She slouches up to the line, her face telegraphing reluctance all over Equestria, and immediately gets a bad case of shakes. As the others step a bit closer to the edge of the track and one filly eagerly gets her wings going. Fluttershy then look towards Mario and Winter Breeze, who gives her a nod to tell her that she's got this, so she takes a deep breath and lifts off. The fact she actually has some forward momentum comes as a happy surprise, but Cloud Chaser and Flitter ruin the moment by pointing and laughing at her.
Fluttershy hears this and all of a sudden gets the traumatizing memory in her head.
"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly..."
Mario sees the two mares laughing and gives them a hard glare. When the two mares sees this, they immediately stops laughing and backs up for the moment. Panic takes hold of Fluttershy and she slows to a glide just before reaching the anemometer. The blades turn only slowly for a few seconds. Twilight checks the gaug , but says nothing when Rainbow Dash leans expectantly toward her.
Fluttershy turns to them as they both were discussing her score in whispers. Mario and the 4 foals get a raise eyebrow from that as they walk up to them.
"It shouldn't count." Mario whispered. "She slowed down right as she flew by."
"We still have to tell her." Twilight whispered back, then turns to Rainbow Dash. "Tell her!"
"No, you tell her!" Rainbow Dash shot back in the same tone.
"No, you!" Twilight whispered back as Fluttershy turned to face them.
"Whoever tells her, at least let her know that it's that low cause she slowed down at the end and that she's faster than this!" Mario suggested as Rainbow Dash turned to face her.
"Um...great job, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash said sheepishly. "You measured, uh...uh, 0.5."
"0.5?" Spike repeats. "Isn't that like...less than one?"
Storm Hawk and Comet then whacks him upside of the head and glares at him, making Spike yelp in pain.
"Spike, you're not helping!" Comet berates him.
However, the damage has already been done as the rest of the bunch slowly disperses and Fluttershy's eyes shrink to points and the taunt plays in her mind again.
"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"
The chant in her mind kept repeating as the background goes to red and manifesting dozens of pair of staring eyes that gather to form a tunnel and she starts to hyperventilate. A sinister basso begins to laugh under the chant. When she can take no more of this horror, she gallops off sobbing at every step with her mane blowing back over her face. Mario and the foals were surprised by that as they rushes off after her.
"Mom, wait!" Winter Breeze said.
"Fluttershy, come back!" Mario adds.
Rainbow Dash sees them going after Fluttershy and follows them as they were chasing behind her.
"Oh, come on, Fluttershy, so some punks poked a little fun at you and you got stage fright, big deal." Rainbow Dash said, but earned a smack upside of the head from her son.
"Mom, that's not helping!" Storm Hawk shouts.
"W-What I meant to say was, you're really going to quit just cause of that?" Rainbow Dash asks.
Fluttershy then stops and turns to face them and she's so sad that she had tears pouring out of her eyes.
"Yes!" Fluttershy sobs.
When Winter Breeze sees her mothers crying face, she then goes wide-eyed and gets a quick flashback in her head from something that apparently happened to her in her past. She had the same sobbing face that Fluttershy had during her time at the orphanage as a human from Iceland. When Winter Breeze got back to reality, she shakes her head to get the thought out of her mind before getting worried look about Fluttershy. Then, Winter Breeze and Mario wasted no time hugging her for comfort and letting Fluttershy continue to cry.
"But we need you!" Rainbow Dash pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, I just don't have the courage right now." Fluttershy said.
Fluttershy gallops away in sadness and Winter Breeze reaches her hoof out to her in some vain to stop her, but no avail. Rainbow Dash slumps to the ground as she felt bad for how Fluttershy was feeling right now. She then bucked the air and walked away.
"What good is that gonna do?" Mario asks sternly. "If you're worried about her, get off your flank and go after her!"
"I'm not good at this, Mario!" Rainbow Dash retorted. "I'm not that good at helping ponies who are crying and blubbering like that!"
"You had no problem when it was me and Storm Hawk!" Mario said. "You've known Fluttershy longer than us! Yet it seems I understand her better than you these days!"
"Well, unlike you, I don't let the words of punks ruin my life!" Rainbow Dash snapped before bit her lips, earned a fierce glare from Mario. "I...I didn't mean that...I'm sorry!"
Mario softened for a few seconds. Rainbow Dash knew plenty of how badly bullying had affected him so there's no need to repeat it.
"Guys, I'm gonna go after her. Can you go back to check on the other Pegasi?" Winter Breeze said.
"Are you sure?" Mario asks.
"I'll be fine, I'll catch up." Winter Breeze answered.
Mario, Rainbow Dash, and the foals nods with an understanding as they head back to the practice track. When they're out of sight, Winter Breeze flies off to her mothers cottage.
But it was long when the Icelandic filly sees a couple of animals run by her which she follows them. Eventually, she hears some sobbing as she flies further towards where it was coming from and sees a figure laying down on the ground beside a tree and she hides behind another tree to then peek out from it to then see Fluttershy by the tree roots. She is face down in the grass, with the woodland creatures ranged around her and Angel combing out her mane. Winter Breeze was simply just getting sad, seeing her mother sad.
"Oh Mom." Winter Breeze mutters quietly.
A poke at one hind leg from a squirrel brings her head up, exposing a face straked tears and spotted with loose blades of grass, and the squirrel brings an acorn from its bulging cheeks and offers it up.
"Oh, thank you, but I'm afraid a couple of little acorns won't solve my big flying problem." Fluttershy sniffles with a sad smile, pats the squirrel on the head.
Angel who's on her head then points in another direction, from which a quack is heard, and Fluttershy looks over to some ducks.
"I tried, but you should've seen those ponies laughing at me..."
Two birds then chirps as they flutter down and each get a hank of her mane in their beaks to pull her up.
"I know it's important to have confidence in myself..."
A badger standing on a tree root lets her have a piece of its mind by doing gestures.
"Yes, yes, I do remember. The river was swelling..."
It chatters once more as it puts its paws on its hips.
"...Yes, I did tell you to never give up...and to believe in yourself." Fluttershy said.
Now it all falls together, as her eyes widen which soon turns to a look filled with determination.
"You're right, my friends. I shouldn't give up. I will get my confidence up and show everypony that I am a good flyer!" Fluttershy said as she then launches herself straight up and breaks through the tree's foliage to hover in the clear sky. "A great flyer!"
"That's the spirit, Mom!" Winter Breeze shouts with a cheer.
As soon as Winter Breeze's voice was heard, Fluttershy squealed and hid behind the tree that she was just above.
"W-w-who's there?! W-What's there?!" Fluttershy stuttered in fright. "Please, don't laugh at me!"
"Mom, it's just me." Winter Breeze answered with a chuckle.
Winter Breeze then comes out of hiding and walk towards to where Fluttershy was and when her animal friends see her, they get excited as they all surround the Icelandic filly which made her smile.
"Hey, guys, thanks for cheering Mom up." Winter Breeze said.
Fluttershy peeks out from behind the tree with a small smile on her face before revealing herself to her daughter and slowly walks up to her, a little bit guilty.
"I-I'm sorry that I made you worried, Winter." Fluttershy apologize.
"You don't need to apologize at all, Mom." Winter Breeze assures her. "Because I'm going to help you!"
"Really?" Fluttershy asks, surprised as Winter Breeze nods.
"You want to get the courage in order to get better at your flight speed, but in order to learn, you need a coach." Winter Breeze said. "And the animals would be willing to help. So will I."
Fluttershy smiles from that as Winter Breeze is going to help her out with her flight problem.
"Come on." Winter Breeze said as she and Fluttershy along with the woodland animals go to an area to where she can train herself.
Later somewhere in a more open in the forest, rock montage music begins to play as Fluttershy was now trotting in place with some additional attire on her with each foreleg now bearing a red/white striped sweatband, each hind one a white leg warmer with red trim at the lower edge. Winter Breeze was now wearing a black baseball cap and Angel was holding a whistle. Winter Breeze could tell Fluttershy was ready to begin her training as she gives a nod to Angel which signals him to blow the whistle that he had.
At the sound of the whistle, Fluttershy starts to lift herself off of the ground and fly off at a steady pace over Winter Breeze and her animal friends. The animals then put on some masks that were of other ponies which causes Fluttershy to panic and claps her hooves over her eyes. She then crashes into a tree which made Winter Breeze cringe a little. As soon as Fluttershy takes in the scope of her blunder, her eyes shrink to points and she covers them again, but not until Winter Breeze flies up to her with a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, you're just getting started." Winter Breeze said. "We'll definitely make some progress."
After that, a mouse is standing on Fluttershy's back as she does push-ups using her wings and the other animals and Winter Breeze watches. As soon as they clap on their masks, she loses her cool and hits the ground which made Winter Breeze sigh, but she knows that she can do this.
Next, a rope being stretched out with red pennant attached to it is being pulled by a butterfly at full strength as the rope extends over a mud puddle. Fluttershy tries to pull on the rope with all of her might, but when she sees the masked observers before her, she stops pulling and instantly gets yanked backwards into the mud. Winter Breeze then fly towards her, which Fluttershy popped out of the mud.
"Keep going!" Winter Breeze cheers with determination. "Don't let your fear get the better of you!"
Fluttershy gulps from that as the other animals around Winter Breeze nod in agreement.
At another section, she leans down next to Angel and Winter Breeze with a fiercely determined look. At Angel's whistle, she lifts off and zooms ahead past the crowd and a dandelion with a full head of seeds only one of which flutters loose from her passage.
She then does push-ups again with the mouse on her back, this time in a puddle of water and although she silently cries out, but she keeps her wings pumping and Winter Breeze slowly nods as she could definitely tell that she's trying her best.
At the tug-of-war again, set up in the grass rather than a mut pit. Now though, it takes three butterflies rather than one to drag her over the centerline, however Fluttershy wasn't giving up just yet.
Her next dandelion speed trial blows all the seeds loose, and when the push-ups resume, there are two mice and a squirrel on her back. Also, she's now using only one feather on each wing to support their weight and hers. A tear starts to run from one eye as one mouse unmasks and then it sucks itself right back up where it came from as she grimaces with pain and determination. When she notices that she's doing better, she looked towards Winter Breeze, who had an excited look as she nods vigorously and Fluttershy lets out a huge grin.
At the tug-of-war once again, she was able to swiftly yank the rope to her side, sending a small flock of butterflies winging away from the other. A few small thuds mark their impact at a tree which prompts her to fly up and look worriedly after them, only to find both the butterflies and several birds cheering her success. Winter Breeze flies up right beside Fluttershy with a smile as she hugs her.
"That was amazing, Mom!" Winter Breeze said proudly.
This caused her to beam proudly, hugs her daughter in return.
One more speed trial strips the seeds off an entire patch of dandelions, and a grinning Angel pops out to root her on. She does one lazy twirl amid the scatter of drifting seeds, smiles gratefully down at the unmasked animals who were cheering her on. Winter Breeze gives her mother a smile which makes Fluttershy smiles back before she silhouettes herself against the sun with one foreleg extended in a dramatic pose.
Back at the racetrack, many Pegasi were still gathered around for tryouts as Flitter zooms past them, Twilight, Mario, Rainbow Dash, Spike, and the foals for another speed run.
"That's wonderful, Flitter." Twilight said. "Much better than yesterday."
"This is crazy awesome!" Rainbow Dash said with a hoof pump. "We're gonna smash that record!"
A squirrel then chitters, points, and nudges at Twilight's leg.
"What did he say?" Spike asks, leaned over to the squirrel.
"Do I look like I speak squirrel?" Twilight asks sarcastically.
"I know Kronk and Winter can." Spike points out.
"But they're not here." Comet told him when Spike notices something in the distance.
"Hey, what's that?" Spike asks.
The two mares, the three foals, and Mario follow his gaze. 'That' was Fluttershy, who's flying in with the sun at her back and her training crew running/flying to keep pace. She removed her workout gear, Winter Breeze was flying right behind and both her and Angel have shed their cap and whistle. Fluttershy passes all the ponies and settles down behind the starting line. Winter Breeze lands right beside them as they all smiled that Fluttershy was finally going to try and fly for them.
"You got this, Fluttershy!" Mario said, trying to pump up her confidence. "You're got this."
Angel and a ferret massage her forelegs as she glares resolutely ahead. After they have backed off, she starts her engines and she barrels ahead, flapping as her life depended on it. The anemometer spins at a lively clip, but the gauge shows that the needle has topped out barely halfway to the first mark. When Fluttershy sees this, she was baffled.
"2.3?! 2.3?! That has to be some kind of mistake!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I worked so hard!"
"It has to be some kind of mistake!" Mario adds, clearly upset. "I was told that you were way faster than that during your practice runs! And you're wing strength is top class. How could you only be a 2.3?!"
"Fluttershy, that's a huge improvement!" Twilight said.
"And you did work hard." Winter Breeze agrees. "I was right there with you."
"You did awesome, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash adds.
Mario glared at first, but then saw that the three ponies were being genuine with their praise. However, Fluttershy wasn't satisfied.
"No, I didn't!" Fluttershy said. "I thought I'd gotten over my nerves, but they still got the best of me! There's no way I'll fly with 10.0 wing power tomorrow!"
"That's not the problem at all." Mario told her. "Every Pegasi has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to flying, Fluttershy. You're low wing power her nothing to do with not conquering your nerves, you just have a low top speed."
"And is that supposed to make me feel better?" Fluttershy asked. "Knowing I have only a 2.3 top speed?!"
"Fluttershy, I still say that anemometer is broken." Mario retorted. "Your top speed is much higher than that."
"Well, what do you say my wing power is?" Fluttershy questions as Mario paused for a moment.
"Around...4.0 at the minimum...Probably higher." Mario answered honestly, causing Fluttershy to sigh sadly as tears filled in her eyes which Rainbow Dash didn't care.
"So you won't fly with 10.0 wing power." Rainbow Dash said, wrapped a fore-hoof around Fluttershy. "Every bit counts!"
"How would you feel if everypony else was flying with 10.0 wing power and you were flying with 2.5?" Fluttershy challenged.
"Actually, it was only 2.3-ow!"
Spike was then cut off when Twilight smacked him upside the head once and she glares at him, motions him to zip it.
"Well, uh...I'd feel...um..." Rainbow Dash stuttered, sat down and fiddled with her hat in her fore-hooves.
"Exactly! Humiliated!" Fluttershy shot back sternly, making Rainbow Dash lean back as she sobs again and trots off with the animals following her. "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, I just can't do it!"
Rainbow Dash gets a concerned look from Fluttershy's uneasiness while Mario, and the foals were just worried for her.
"It's okay, Rainbow Dash, you've still got plenty of wing power for your tornado." Spike said. "You'll be able to lift tons of water up to Cloudsdale!"
Twilight, Comet, and Daylight look at each other with an agreeing glare and the two foals does a gesture that said 'get him out of here.' Twilight then hoists Spike up and they both walk off. Mario, Storm Hawk, and Winter Breeze then walks up to Rainbow Dash.
"If only there was a way to lift Fluttershy out of the dumps." Rainbow Dash said, sighed as she walked away.
"I don't think there's much we can do." Mario told her, took a seat to the ground. "Fluttershy did train really hard to try and build her wing power. Winter even pushed her hard too, and she met the challenge. It's gotta be disheartening to work so hard and get such a poor result."
"Mario?" Twilight said, who'd returned after giving Spike a good scolding and talking about his insensitively.
"Yeah, Twilight?" Mario inquires as Twilight tucked her head under his chin.
"You know I...care about you right?" Twilight asked which she wanted so badly to say 'Love' but cowered out a last second.
"Yes, I do." Mario answered as he held her.
"I know you and Fluttershy share the same issues and such, but I hope you know that I am here to help you when you feel that way." Twilight said. "I know I wasn't there for you in the since Bolobo was gone, but I want to be now. I don't want you thinking so little yourself. You're very special...especially to me."
"Thank you for telling me that, Twilight." Mario said with a smile, giving her a loving hug. "I'm glad I have your support."
Twilight smiled contently in his fore-legs. Winter Breeze decided to go and help Fluttershy, by getting her to convince her mother to help out with the tornado tomorrow.
Later in the evening, Winter Breeze flies over to where Fluttershy's cottage was and walks up to the front door. When she reaches it, she simply knocks on the door softly to see if there's any response, but there was nothing.
"Mom? It's me, Winter." Winter said, but no respond from Fluttershy. "Mom, please. I know you felt like you didn't make much of a difference, but I want to help you out."
There's still awkward silence from that as Winter Breeze sighs from that.
"Please, Mom...please?" Winter Breeze pleads.
The same silence came once again as Winter Breeze looks down before she's about to turn away leave her alone...but after a second, a voice was heard from inside of the cottage.
"...It's open." Fluttershy said.
Winter Breeze hears that as she slowly opens the door and walks of the cottage to see her sitting down by herself alone in the dark, facing away from her daughter. Winter Breeze was just feeling sad just looking at her mother's depression as she walks to her and sits right beside her.
"Are you doing alright?" Winter Breeze asks.
Fluttershy doesn't say anything at first from that as she still faces away from Winter Breeze, but after a couple of seconds she threw herself onto her daughter, hugs her, and rests her head while sobbing mildly. Winter Breeze was surprised by that at first before she hugs her back and lets her mother shed her tears as she needed someone to lean on to.
"Public humiliation?" Winter Breeze asks as Fluttershy nods. "I can understand what you're going through. Being the middle of a huge crowd, you do something that makes others laugh at, and it gets inside of your head for life. But you can't let that haunt you."
"I know, but it just comes back." Fluttershy sobs. "If I go there tomorrow and only go with only a few wing power, I'll be a laughing stock."
"But, Mom..."
"Winter, I can't!" Fluttershy snapped. "I just can't go back out there! I don't want it to happen again!"
As Fluttershy continues to cry, Winter Breeze couldn't help but just worry for her as she just looks at her just sobbing. She didn't want to see her friends, and not even her mother sad, but how does one tell them to get over a lifelong traumatization? Winter Breeze didn't have any words at first on how she can get Fluttershy out of her sadness. However, it took a minute, before Winter Breeze thought of something that she can say that can help her mother out.
"Is that really what you think?" Winter Breeze asks, earned her attention. "I know you think that everypony out there is going to think that you can hardly even fly fast, but what about Rainbow Dash? Twilight? Mario? Comet? Daylight? Storm Hawk? They don't look at you like that."
"But Winter, Rainbow Dash trained her entire life to get where she is now, Mario trained his entire life to become the Master of Nature, Twilight, Daylight, and Comet weren't even a Pegasus so they wouldn't know what it's like." Fluttershy protests. "Storm Hawk was trained by his mom and it got him to be the fastest Pegasus."
"I know that, but they don't care. And I don't care, either." Winter Breeze shot back. "But we don't want to see you wear yourself down like this."
"It's just not possible, Winter!" Fluttershy said, sobbing. "I can't get it out of my head! I CAN'T DO IT!"
Fluttershy was crying harder at that point, but not before Winter Breeze grabs both her cheeks to make her look at the Icelandic filly.
"No! Mom! Listen to me!" Winter Breeze said. "You got into their heads! You got into my heads!"
"W-What?" Fluttershy said.
"Those foals from back then think you're bad at flying! That you don't even belong here!" Winter Breeze told her. "But the truth is, is that they see something in you that you don't see in yourself!"
Fluttershy looks down at the ground for a second to think about what she just said before looking back at her.
"They keep laughing at you to prevent from seeing that!" Winter Breeze continued. "But you need to know I'm different, many ponies out there are different! I'm not laughing at you at all because I want to help you! I want to help you see that!"
Fluttershy goes wide-eyed from that as Winter Breeze continues to speak as she also had tiny amount of tears coming out of her eyes.
"When we trained together out in the forest earlier, I saw you make a lot of mistakes, but did I laugh at you? No!" Winter Breeze said. "I knew you had it in you this entire time and that's what allowed you to keep going and made a huge improvement from the first time you flew out of the practice track!"
Fluttershy just kept on listening as more tears came out of her eyes, but this time, they weren't about her humiliation, they were about Winter Breeze's resolve.
"Listen Fluttershy, if ponies want to laugh at you because you don't have the skills that they do, then they're the ones who need to be laughed at, not you!" Winter Breeze continued. "You have so much potential to even go above and beyond, I just know it! That's why I'm here now!"
Fluttershy's sad frown then turns into a small smile as tears still kept pouring out of her eyes.
"Our friends believe that you can do it! I believe you can do it!" Winter Breeze continued. "So please Mom, please stop thinking that you'll be humiliated in front of everypony! As long as I'm here, I won't let that happen! You are like a soaring butterfly to me!"
Fluttershy was so taken by that for a few seconds that she sniffles before she just burst out into complete tears, crying and she hugs Winter Breeze tightly which she returns. Winter Breeze hugs her back as Fluttershy smiled from hearing everything that her daughter just told her.
It went on for a few minutes, but Fluttershy eventually stops crying and she lets go of Winter Breeze to break the hug and wipes her leftover tears.
"Feeling better, Mom?" Winter Breeze asks with a smile.
"Yes. Thank you, Winter." Fluttershy said, sniffled. "I-It's just that...nopony has ever said that to me before."
"Well, I guess I'm the first." Winter Breeze states. "But Mom, I believe in you. I'll never leave your side."
Fluttershy then smiled at that as she then hugs her daughter.
The next day at the highland reservoir outside of Ponyville, it's now daybreak, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Mario, the foals, and Spike are gathered at the edge, along with a much larger version of the track anemometer. A long line of ponies stretches back toward the village. Above the reservoir is Cloudsdale as a Pegasus comes out and rockets down towards the crowd of ponies at the reservoir and it revealed to be Spitfire in her Wonderbolt attire as the crowd cheers for her.
"Good to see you, Spitfire." Mario said.
"Same here, Mario." Spitfire replied. "You here to watch the awesomeness of tornado power?"
"You better believe it." Mario answered as they shared a hoof bump and they laughed once more.
Twilight glared discreetly at them and Spitfire took notice.
"Is she the girl you've been saying you've gone goo-goo eyes for?" Spitfire asked quietly. "I think she's getting jealous."
Mario noticed Twilight's face discreetly and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, that's Twilight." Mario replied in the same tone as he looked at her and waved, making Twilight snap out of her glare and sheepishly wave back. "We're dating right now."
"Nice." Spitfire said as they shared a hoof-bump before she turns her attention to Storm Hawk. "Hey, squirt. Heard you're catching up to your moms speed."
"Thanks, but I'm nowhere near her level yet." Storm Hawk said, scratching his head with his hoof.
"But you're making progress." Spitfire said with a chuckle. "If you keep up, you'll be able to fly faster and who knows, maybe you'll become a Wonderbolt when you're older."
Storm Hawk smiled at that as Rainbow Dash looks at her son with a proud smile, before she puts her cap on and flies about the Pegasi.
"Are we ready to do this?" Rainbow Dash called out.
"Yeah!"
The Pegasi cheers and Twilight adds her voice to the multitude. Rainbow Dash lands as Spike comes running with his notepad to show her something important.
"Look!" Spike said.
Rainbow Dash looks at the notepad that Spike had which shows a lists of ponies heads, all of which are checked off except for one, Thunderlane who's marked with an 'X'.
"Lazy Thunderlane!" Rainbow Dash said angrily. "Where is he?! He's been trying to get out of tornado duty the whole time with his fake coughing and all. Rumble, where's your lazy brother?"
Rumble is a Pegasus with light bluish gray fur coat, two shades of dark grayish sapphire blue mane and tail, and grayish purple eyes.
"He's got the feather flu." Rumble told her. "He's down at Ponyville Hospital."
"But he's not the only one." Spike informed her, holds up his notepad as he flipped to a different page that shows everypony but one 'X' marks.
The news flash drops a very large monkey wrench into Rainbow Dash's brain as she blinks in shock.
"Didn't I tell you to have Thunderlane take the medical exam just to be safe?" Mario asks sternly, approached her. "The feather flu is a highly contagious illness to Pegasi ponies!"
"I forgot okay!" Rainbow Dash snapped. "I was too worried over Fluttershy to remember. Spike, how many Pegasi are out?"
"Exactly 8." Spike answered.
It got Rainbow Dash really worried. Soon Twilight was doing some calculations with an abacus while Mario was doing his own mathematics with his notepad.
"Let's see, with those eight Pegasi out with the feather flu." Twilight said, sliding some more beads in her abacus.
"And we take the average wing power and multiply it by the number of present Pegasi." Mario adds. "Give or take a margin of error of 2.0...oh no..."
"Don't tell me we won't be able to break the windspeed record?" Rainbow Dash asks with worry, rushes up beside them, having ditched her cap and whistle for a pair of goggles propped on her forehead.
"No/Not exactly." Twilight and Mario answered which Rainbow Dash sigh in relief.
"...You might not have enough wing power to create a tornado powerful enough to lift the water to Cloudsdale!" Twilight finished.
"Based on my enough, you don't even have 800 wing power with everypony reaching 10.0 wing power, even if you do 16.5 wing power." Mario adds.
"Well, should we pack up?" Spike asks.
Rainbow Dash and the foals glances toward the line, all of those Pegasi are at a loss and Spitfire checks her wristwatch on her foreleg with visible impatience. Rainbow Dash thought for a second.
"No, of course not." Rainbow Dash said with determination. "Forget the record! Cloudsdale needs water!"
Twilight, Spike, and Mario hurry to their posts as Rainbow Dash addresses the crew.
"Okay, everypony! Let's give it all we got!" Rainbow Dash said. "On the sound of the horn, we take off!"
The Pegasi then put their goggles on as Rainbow Dash glances down at twilight, who flips switches on the back of the anemometers base and then waves across the way. Spike sucks in a few bushels of air and lets them go through the horn, producing a bellowing blast that starts the ponies into the air. Rainbow Dash watches them fall into formation and fly in a tight circle to start a tornado forming. The wind kicks up and the measuring device squeaks to life.
"You think they're gonna make it to 800 WP?" Spike asks with worry.
"We're gonna find out!" Mario called out over the wind as he stayed close to the machine to avoid being pushed way.
"I sure hope so!" Twilight said as she then takes a look at the needle on the anemometer at it slowly rises. "150 WP...250 WP..."
Inside the whirlwind, the flyers keep up the pace at Rainbow Dash darts among them. The needle on the anemometer thengoes past 500.
"500 WP!" Twilight said.
The water surface is now lifting up, with droplets springing up from the surface due to the pressure differential. Now the wind is so strong that Twilight has to grab one end of the anemometer's base to keep being swept away and Spike digs his claws into the other, scoring the metal.
"750 WP!" Twilight called out.
"They's almost there!" Mario shouted.
Now the funnel cloud is really grooving and the water responds, a column slowly rising out the reservoir, but only slowly.
"This looks like the best that they can do!" Spike said.
Twilight takes a look at the anemometer to see that it's not going anywhere above 760.
"We need more wing power!" Twilight said. "If only there was some extra Pegasi with wings to help out!"
"That's where we come in!" The voice of Winter Breeze shouts.
Twilight, Mario, Spike, and the foals look to see both Winter Breeze and Fluttershy standing just outside of the tornado as they both had goggles on and they wave their friends who had smiles on their faces.
"Fluttershy! Winter! You made it!" Mario said.
"Yeah, and we'll make sure that the water gets up all the way to Cloudsdale!" Winter Breeze told him. "Right Mom?"
Fluttershy nods at that, but she looks at the tornado that's happening with a scared look. Winter Breeze however puts her hoof around her to calm her down.
"Remember, I'll be there to support you this whole time." Winter Breeze assures her.
Fluttershy's fear went away after that as it turns into a determined look. Winter Breeze gives a nod and Fluttershy swiftly fly up inside of the tornado to fly alongside the other Pegasi. Back inside of the tornado, Rainbow Dash looks back over her shoulder and smiles upon catching the sight of her friend. At the anemometer, Twilight notices the needle started to shift a lot more.
"It's moving! They're doing it!" Twilight called out. "795! 798! Fluttershy's surpassed her best wing power number!"
In the tornado, the Pegasi starts to pick up more speed which Fluttershy sees and begins to flag badly. Her ears perk up as the all-too familiar taunt plays in her mind and images of three heads float before.
"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"
Fluttershy got scared as the taunt plays in her mind, but not before she hears Winter Breeze's voice as well.
"Don't be scared. This is your moment to shine, to prove them wrong."
Fluttershy goes wide-eyed from that as she starts to hear more of Winter Breeze.
"Keep going! Don't let your fear get the better of you!"
"Winter!" Fluttershy said.
"As long as I'm here, I won't let it happen to you! You're like a soaring butterfly to me, Mom! I believe that you can do it!"
"I won't let you down, my little snow fairy!" Fluttershy said in determination.
With that being said, Fluttershy gets a fierce look and rockets ahead the entire crew and Winter Breeze sees this which made her smile.
"That's it! Keep going, Mom!" Winter Breeze shouts.
With all of her might, Fluttershy flies ahead and back outside the anemometer hits 800 to set off a beeper and flashing light set at this mark. The water from the reservoir has nearly reached the top of the tornado as outside, it bursts upward to form a long, graceful arc that touches down in a large hopper at the edge of Cloudsdale. Spitfire's jaw hangs open in unadulterated disbelief as she lowers her goggles and Twilight and Spike jump happily, holding on to each other.
"She did it! She did it! They all did it!" Twilight cheered happily.
The Pegasi keep flying fast until the last of the water has been sucked away. Spike then half-runs, half-jumps over to the horn and blows. The combination of his momentum and the wind causes the horn to roll away with him. In response, the tornado slowly dismantles itself, leaving a spiral of ponies fly up. They each come down, cheering and stomping, and Rainbow Dash joins them in short order. It got Rainbow Dash and Winter Breeze looked up with worry, noticing Fluttershy was still flying in circles and evidently so amped up that the 'stop' signal never registered with her. However, Winter Breeze and Rainbow Dash grabbed a nearby cloud to make Fluttershy stop.
"Whoa, girl, take it easy!" Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.
"Whuh, what?" Fluttershy said, recovered and sat up from the cloud. "Did we do it?"
"Yes! They did it!" Winter Breeze answered, hugs her mother. "You did it!"
Fluttershy smiled happily as she hugged Winter Breeze tightly in return. Rainbow Dash then flies next to her.
"That was awesome, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash said. "I knew you would be able to do it!"
They both trade a high five with their wings before they all lower down to the ground next to Cloud Chaser and Flitter.
"Great job, Fluttershy, that was awesome!" Flitter praises her.
"Yeah, we couldn't have done it without you." Cloud Chaser adds.
Fluttershy smiles shyly at that as Spitefire and Mario approaches Rainbow Dash.
"Nice job, Rainbow Dash." Spitfire said. "You may not have set a new record, but you showed a lot of guts!"
Mario nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, but if you wanna talk guts, then you've gotta give it to my number 1 flyer, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash said as she pointed a hoof at Fluttershy. "Let's hear it for Fluttershy!"
Fluttershy manages a timid-half smile, then cringes at Rainbow Dash addressing her like that. The crowd then picks up Fluttershy and tosses her in the air repeatedly to congratulate her and they also chant something that she never heard in her life.
"Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can really fly!"
Fluttershy couldn't help but smile at everypony cheering for her. Spike bounds merrily away, playing a small flute made from a forked tree branch. Twilight follows him, then Mario, Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, Storm Hawk, Comet, Daylight, Winter Breeze, and finally Fluttershy, smiling and waving as the cheering crowd carries her off. Winter Breeze looks back at her mother, then flies to her, and she and Fluttershy hugged. Fluttershy then thinks of a letter to write to Princess Celestia.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
Sometimes you can feel like what you have to offer is too little to make a difference, but today, I learned that everpony's contribution is important, no matter how small. If you just keep your head high, do your best, and believe in yourself, anything can happen."
That's it for the 26th chapter.