Chapter 92: Hurricane Fluttershy
A few days went by after having returned form the dragon lands after helping Spike realize he defines who he is and not what he is and having brought home a couple of dragons to Ponyville, though the citizens were skeptical of having a couple of dragons living among them besides Spike and Spyro, they soon got use to their presence as the dragons made themselves useful, helping out with the construction crews and with some of the other businesses that required either Embers flames or icy's frosty breath. Spyro had some free time and decided to check on the two dragonesses to see how they were adjusting to living in a village and with a bunch of ponies, asking around where they were when he came across the two dragons having a friendly conversation while helping out with a current construction projects Ember making sure the rivets are kept hot enough to be used while Icy helps keep the construction workers cool and make sure they nothing else happened.
"Hey there you two." Spyro said, getting their attention.
"Oh, hi Spyro." Ember said.
"Hey there Spyro." Icy said, though she looked a bit shy after saying it.
"I see you two are adjusting to life here in Ponyville pretty well." Spyro said.
"As well as we can." Ember said. "Not a whole lot for dragons to do around here, so we mostly help construction crews until we can find something we can do to earn some gems and bits."
"Until then, we help out however we can." Icy said, using her tail to tap an overheated jackhammer, cooling it off instantly. "So what are you doing here anyway?"
"Well, I had some free time and came to check up on you girls to see if you needed anything." Spyro replied. "But it seems you're both handling yourselves pretty well."
"Aw, you're so sweet." Icy replied. "Hey, could I ask you if... we could hang out some time? Just... you and me?"
"Icy, you asking me on a date?" Spyro asked, seeing the blush on her face.
"Well, you see, I..." Icy said, trying to think of something, but her mind was having trouble thinking of something, causing Ember to giggle at her.
"Sure, I'd more than happy to go out with you." Spyro replied. "Might even add you to the herd if you want?'
"Wait, really?" Icy asked, completely confused.
"Sure, why not?" Spyro replied. "First time for everything. But you would need to think long and hard about this as it's a big decision and shouldn't be taken lightly. Told the same this to Zecora, our resident Zebra and she accepted."
Icy tried to wrap her head around what Spyro was saying, wondering if she really could join, but also knew he was right and it was a big decision and shouldn't be taken lightly. Before she could say anything, they all heard something rushing by and looked up to see a rainbow speeding by, know it was Rainbow Dash, they first assumed she was trying out a new trick for the Wonderbolts, but then fliers flew down from the sky and landed on the ground, picking it up to see what was on it.
"Calling all Pegasus ponies!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Meeting tonight!
"What does she mean by that?" Ember asked.
"According to this, there's a mandatory meeting tonight at the Golden Oak Library for all Pegasi ponies. Wonder if that includes me?"
"Especially you Spyro!" Rainbow Dash shouted, making him flinch and look up, wondering if she heard him. "Meet at the library tonight! Be cool or be mule!" She then dumped the satchel full of fliers to the ground, which they all covered the local mule by accident. "Uh, no offense."
"None taken." The mule replied, not even bothered as usual.
"That guys pops up as randomly as Pinkie Pie does." Spyro said.
"What's the meeting about?" Ember asked.
"Don't know." Spyro responded. "Doesn't say. Guess I got a meeting to attend tonight."
Later that night, Spyro went to the Golden Oak Library where every single Pegasi in Ponyville was there, some of them chatting with their friends and others as Rainbow Dash was watching them enter to make sure everyone got in and found a place to either stand or sit.
"Hey there Rainbow Dash." Spyro said. "What's hanging?"
"Oh, nothing much." Rainbow Dash replied. "Just need every Pegasi in town for this."
"Well what is it that's so important for every Pegasi in town to be here?" Spyro asked.
"You're gonna need to come in and see for yourself." Rainbow Dash replied. "Come on, the presentation is about to start." Rainbow Dash was about to enter with Spyro, but decided to count how many Pegasi were there, but then looked annoyed as she realized they were missing someone. "Ugh, again?"
"What's wrong?" Spyro asked.
"Give me a minute." Rainbow Dash replied. She flew over to some of the nearby trees, making him wonder what she was doing. "You too Fluttershy."
A pair of eyes appeared on the trees, surprising Spyro until the shy Pegasus mare popped p, revealing she was wearing a tree costume to hide from Rainbow Dash, the cyan Pegasus pushing the timid pony towards the library and got her out of the costume and into the library where everyone else was.
"This kinda feels like a reference back when we were transporting Bloomberg to Appaloosa." Spyro said.
"You still remember that?" Rainbow Dash asked after getting Fluttershy into the library.
"Oh, you have no idea the kind of things I can remember RD." Spyro replied.
The two of them walked into the library where a white screen had been set up along with a projector, ready to get started. Spyro looked around and saw Fluttershy was siting close to the back, so he sat down next to her, which she seemed happy about as she scooted closer to him, leaning into him, so he placed a kiss on her head, which made her smile, as he wrapped his wings around her. A minute later, the lights went out and the projector came on, working like an old motion picture projector as it started the program in the film reel.
On the film reel it showed them that everything that was alive right now depended on rainwater that comes from clouds in the sky and those clouds were made in Cloudsdale, but they need to have extra water and the only way they can get it was through Tornado power, which is created by a team of Pegasi who combine their wing power to create a massive Tornado above the local reservoir or pond, sucking up all the water and sending it to Cloudsdale to use for their storm clouds. But the combined wing power needed to reach all the way to Cloudsdale needed to reach at least 800, which surprised him and made it clear why Rainbow Dash wanted every Pegasi in Ponyville to be in the library as she wanted everyone there to help with the tornado. As the reel was ending, it stopped abruptly and made everyone complain and look to Spike, who was in charge of the whole thing as he smiled nervously and shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright everypony, here's the deal." Rainbow Dash said. "Cloudsdale has chosen our own highland reservoir as the source of water for all of Equestria. And you know what that means, right? It means it's up to all of Ponyville's Pegasi to bring that water up to Cloudsdale." The crowd then started talking to one another, all seemingly excited for the entire thing. "Not only that, but Spitfire, the captain of the Wonderbolts, will be overseeing the water transfer and will be there to record our tornado winds speed. Last year, Fillydelphia broke the wind speed record with a top speed of 910 wing power, but I'd like for us to break their record because I think we have what it takes to reach a wind speed of over a thousand. But only if each and every one of you trains and trains hard to get their wing power up." They then heard someone cough and looked over to see Thunderlane coughing, rainbow Dash leering at him. "That cough better be from a popcorn kernel Thunderlane. No ponies getting sick on my watch."
"That's another thing you need to be careful of." Spyro said, walking up and flying next to Rainbow Dash. "It is after all flu season, so everypony watch and monitor your health. If you feel the tiniest bit unwell, remain at home and avoid contact with anypony."
"So, are we gonna train hard?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yeah!" The crowd said.
"Are we gonna be strong?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yeah!" The crowd shouted.
"Are we gonna be fast!?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"YEAH!" Everyone, but Fluttershy shouted back, seeing her hunkered down
"Record smashing fast!?" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"YEAH!" Replied a Pegasus with stunted wings and more than enough muscle to bench press a house.
"Who's with me!?" Rainbow Dahs shouted.
The entire room then erupted into cheers and applause as everyone in the room were pumped and ready to break the record set by another city, everyone except for Fluttershy, who disappeared from the room and annoyed Rainbow Dash as she groaned and face smacked herself. The next morning, Rainbow Dash had every Pegasi in Ponyville at the track and had them doing some stretches and flying around to track to get them to stretch their wings and get their wing power up. Spyro walked over to the track right as Rainbow Dash was addressing everyone and letting them know what to do.
"Stretch those legs Flitter!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Nice flexibility there Cloud Chaser. A little too much flexibility there Blossomforth. Somepony give her a hoof please. Let's see some faster trotting Thunderlane. Nice speed there Silver Speed."
"Hey there Rainbow Dash." Spyro said, getting her attention.
"Oh, hey Spyro." Rainbow Dash replied. "Glad you could make it."
"Hey, wouldn't miss this for the world." Spyro replied. "Looks like you got everyone working hard or hardly working here."
"Oh, I'm not even close to working them hard." Rainbow Dash replied, blowing her whistle and getting their attention. "Keep it up everypony! We're going to need all the wing power we can get if we're going to break that record!"
"Yeah!" The muscle bound Pegasus shouted, showing off his muscles.
"That's it, keep it up everypony!" Rainbow Dash said, looking disappointed about something. "Everypony except Fluttershy that is."
"She's not here?" Spyro asked.
"No she's not." Rainbow Dash replied. "I'm going to check on her and see what she's doing."
"I'll come with you." Spyro said.
The two of them flew towards Fluttershy's cottage and when it was within sight, Spyro was surprised to see Icy and Ember in the fields next to her cottage, gliding down towards her home and landing a small distance away from her home. Rainbow Dash walked up to the shy ponies cottage, but Spyro was more interested in why the two dragonesses were near Fluttershy's cottage, walking over and seeing they were napping. He cleared his throat, which woke them up as they yawned and stretched, looking down and seeing he was there.
"Oh, morning Spyro." Icy said, a slight blush on her face. "W-what are you doing here?"
"Came to get Fluttershy." Spyro replied. "What are you two doing here? You know Fluttershy get's nervous around dragons, right?"
"We know." Ember replied. "But after she got to know us, she invited us to stay here for as long as we need. At least, until we are allowed to come home."
"You really want to return to the Dragon Lands?" Spyro asked.
"We aren't from the dragon lands." Ember replied. "I'm a Northern Fire dragon, so I live further north while Icy is an ice dragon, so that place would be murder for her."
"It's true, it would be." Ice replied. "Even though my brother is a green earth dragon, we live in colder climates, so we're use to the cold. But, after what we did, siding with ponies instead of our own kin, we wouldn't be welcomed back home any time soon."
"Seriously?" Spyro asked. "How long?"
"Depends on what we've done." Ember replied. "And even when the time has come for us to come home, we have dishonored our families. It's likely we won't be welcomed home with open arms."
"Well, you're more than welcome to stay in Ponyville for however long you need." Spyro said. "You're our friends and we don't abandon friends."
A moment later, Spyro looked over to see Rainbow Dash was having a conversation with Fluttershy, though she looked like she was ill, but Spyro could tell from where he was at she was faking it as the spots look like they were painted on with makeup.
"Better go see why she's trying to get out of tornado duty." Spyro said. "Would you two like to join in on training today? We're going to help get Cloudsdale some water to make rain clouds."
"That does sound interesting." Icy replied. "We'll think about it."
He then trotted to the door and stood next to Rainbow Dash as Fluttershy started to cough, trying to pretend she was ill.
"Oh, hi Spyro." Fluttershy said, pretending to cough.
"What's going on?" Spyro asked, already knowing she was faking it. "Are you ok?"
"Oh, I... I think I have the pony pox." Fluttershy replied, pretending to have the sniffles and coughing. "I'm really, really wanted to come to training today. But this pony pox has really made me weak and possibly contagious."
"Oh you poor thing." Rainbow Dash said, which Spyro could sense Rainbow Dash was up to something and smiled. "There's only one thing to cure Pony Pox."
"I know, plenty of rest." Fluttershy replied.
"Actually, I had something else in mind." Rainbow Dash replied. "Spyro, if you please." Knowing what she wanted him to do, he opened his muzzle and released a torrent of cold water, making her yelp in surprise as her spots washed off instantly. "Cold water! Those pony pox are clearing right up."
"Gotta get up earlier than that to fool us little butterfly." Spyro said. "Every little kid back in my world would try and fake an illness to get out of school, whether it's to have fun at home or to avoid a test."
"Well... guess I'm feeling better." Fluttershy said, backing up. "Guess i better get out of these robes and..." She then pretended to trip, screaming out and freaking Spyro out, but could sense it wasn't a big deal. "OW! My wing, i think I hurt it. Guess I can't-"
She didn't get to finish as Rainbow Dash blew her whistle, which scared her out of the robe and made her start flying, giving a nervous smile.
"Messed up wing huh?" Rainbow Dash asked, Fluttershy continuing to give a nervous smile and shrugging her shoulders. "Fluttershy, quit horsing around. We got a lot of training to do. Tell us, why are you trying to get out of training?"
"Yeah little butterfly, what's wrong?" Spyro asked, wrapping his wings around her.
"Well, you see... I... well..." She started to say, but tears started to well up in her eyes, which she then pressed her head into Spyro's chest, falling to her knees. "Oh Rainbow Dash, I can't do it! I can't fly!"
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked. "A little while ago you did a wicked nose dive to save that baby bird before it hit the ground."
"But that was an emergency." Fluttershy replied, looking up to her friend. "That was different than this whole tornado thing. It feels more like a performance and you know how I hate performing in front of others. You remember flight camp? I couldn't gallop hard or fly fast. Not with everypony looking at me."
"Come on Fluttershy, it wasn't that bad." Rainbow Dash said.
"Fluttershy, tell me, what happened at flight camp?" Spyro asked.
She took a deep breath and walked out from underneath Spyro's and to the wall opposite of them, turning to face them.
"It happened when Rainbow Dash and I were at flight camp." Fluttershy replied. "We were supposed to try and do a nose dive to the clouds below our launch area and pull up as soon as we were near the ground. But I froze, seeing all the ponies below me and... I couldn't do it. So the coach pushed me off and wanted to try, but I was scared, my wings wouldn't work and I fell to the cloud and I got teased, a lot."
Fluttershy then started to shiver, hearing their words as she told them, which Spyro could sense how scared she was, so he walked over and hugged her, understanding what she went through as he dealt with the same thing, though he didn't have wings back then, he knew what it was like to be teased and how hurtful words can be, especially coming from kids as kids can be the worst.
"It's ok little butterfly." Spyro said. "You're ok. I know what it's like to be teased as a kid, I understand how you feel.'
"I just can't go through that kind of humiliation again." Fluttershy said, pressing her head into his chest again. "I just can't."
"Suck it up Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, zipping over to her. "This is no time for..." She then saw Spyro was glaring at her, warning her about what she was going to say next. "I mean... confidence or no confidence, I need every Pegasus's help if we're going to break the record, including you." She then put her hoof on her friend's shoulder, which got her to look at the cyan pony. "I need every ounce of wing power I can get."
"Oh, I don't know Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy said.
"I think in this case Dashie, we can make an exception." Spyro said. "Confidence is key and I don't want to put Fluttershy through something she doesn't feel comfortable with."
"I guess you're right Spyro." Rainbow Dash said, flying using her the upper half of her wings as she looked disappointed, unhappy about this. "Thanks anyways Fluttershy."
Spyro walked towards the door as Rainbow Dash flew to it, making Fluttershy rethink everything as she didn't want to disappoint her friend.
"Wait." Fluttershy said, getting them both to stop. "I'll do it."
"You will!?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.
"You sure Fluttershy?" Spyro asked. "We don't want you to do something you aren't comfortable with."
"I know." She replied. "But... I want to do it, no matter my fears."
"ALRIGHT!" Rainbow Dash shouted, grabbing Fluttershy and hugging her.
Spyro could tell she her heart wasn't fully in it, but she didn't want to disappoint her friends, so he decided he'd keep a close eye on her to make sure nothing bad happened. Back at the field, Rainbow Dash, Spyro, and Fluttershy got to the field and to their surprise, they saw the two dragonesses there, lying on their stomachs as they watched the training going on, the Pegasi not fearful for them as they knew they were friends.
"Wow, Icy and Ember are here." Rainbow Dash said.
"Yeah, they are." Spyro said.
"They said they wanted to watch the training." Twilight said, walking up to them. :They wanted to learn more about pony culture and traditions, so they came to understand how the we get the extra water to Cloudsdale."
"Well, at least they're here to watch." Spyro said. "Plus, we could use Icy's help incase somepony sprains something."
They went to the track where Spike was setting up some kind of device with a fan on it, spinning it to see if it worked and nodding his head in approval.
"Um, what does this thing do exactly?" Flitter asked.
"It's an Anemometer." Twilight replied. "It measures you accelerating velocity and translates it into wing power, thus gauging your cumulative H2O anti-gravitational potential. Any other questions?"
The two Pegasus ponies looked completely lost, looking to Spike and to Spyro for an answer for their question.
"In the plainest terms, it measures how fast you are and how strong your wings are." Spyro replied.
The crowd then expressed how much simpler it sounded, annoying Twilight as everypony seemed more interested in what Spyro said, even if she said it first. However, both Spyro and Twilight heard someone cough and looked into the crowd, everyone immediately looking to Thunderlane.
"Is that you again Thunderlane?" Twilight asked, levitating a can of germ killing substance to him and spraying him with it. "Please refrain from coughing! We want a germ free environment."
"That's wasn't me." Thunderlane replied. "It was Blossomforth!"
"Don't worry about it you guys." Rainbow Dash said. "Thunderlane is trying to cook up an excuse to spend tornado day in bed. How about you get over here and be our first test flier Thunderlane?'
Thunderlane looked annoyed and grumbled to himself walking over as Blossomforth giggled to herself, but while no one was looking, she coughed as quietly as possible. As Thunderlane got to the start line, he flapped his wings as hard and fast as he and took off, flying in a straight path and over the device, making it spin pretty fast as it measured his wing power and Twilight looked to the results, jotting it down.
"Thunderlane with 9.3 wing power." Twilight said, the crowd cheering for Thunderlane with his impressive wing power.
"Not bad." Rainbow Dash said. "Not bad at all. But watch and learn."
She flew to the start line and cracked the jointed in her legs and wings, smirking to herself as she took off, flying as fast as she could, right past everyone as a gust of wind nearly took everyone out while blowing Fluttershy away, messing up everyone's manes.
"16.5 wing power!" Twilight shouted, everyone cheering for her.
"Not bad, not bad at all." Spyro said, walking up. "But let a master show you how it's done."
Spyro cracked his neck and his legs as well, removing his bracers and feeling the instant relief as he felt his body became lighter and felt more free than he ever did. He set his bracers to the side and cracked his wings, which made everyone wince as it was loud enough for everyone to hear. He got sown and extended his wings, taking of with speed and force strong enough to knock everyone down as he flew by, everyone literally having to either hold onto the ground or onto one another as he flew past.
"I don't believe it!" Twilight said. "24.9 wing power!"
"WHAT!?" Rainbow Dash shouted, beyond shocked. "Spyro, how much weight did you set those things to!?"
"About 200 times the planets normal gravity." Spyro replied, putting the bracers back on. "Let me just tell you, having to increase the weight on my bracers get's very old."
"Geez, you could easily get all the water Cloudsdale needs on your own!" Spike said.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Spike." Spyro replied. "We need about 800 wing power to get all the water needed."
"Spyro is right." Rainbow Dash replied. "Listen up everypony, if each of you can get your wing power to be at least ten or above at the end of the week, we are sure to break the record and set a new tornado speed record! We'll be number one!"
Everyone cheered and flew into the air, each and every one flying around applauding and cheering at the possibility to break the old record and setting a new one. When everyone calmed down, they all lined up to have their wing powered measured and recorded, which to Spyro's surprise, most of the ponies there had wing power between 8.0 and 10.0, mostly within the range of nine or higher, showing they everyone had a real chance to breaking the record. However, when it came down to Fluttershy, she looked very nervous, but started to fly towards them, though she was slow and did try to go faster, but some of the Pegasi watching started to laugh, either at her or at a joke, it didn't mean much as Spyro could sense her anxiety and fear get to her, hearing what she was hearing as her mind was now wide open. As soon as she flew past them, the three of them looked at her wing power and were all surprised to see what it was, looking to each other and then to Fluttershy, huddling together to whisper.
"Should we tell her?" Rainbow Dash asked, whispering as quietly as possible.
"I don't think we should." Spyro said. "It'll break her spirit."
"But we need to tell her." Twilight replied. "If we don't then-"
"Um, how did I do?" Fluttershy asked.
The three huddling ponies looked to her, Spyro not wanting to tell her as it would probably hurt her feelings, but they needed to, the three of them looking to Spike, who drew up some straws and each took one, Rainbow Dash getting the short straw, so she got to tell her.
"Um, great jobs Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash said, putting on a force smile. "You... measured 0.5."
"0.5?" Spike asked. "Is that like lesson one?"
In response, Spyro stepped on Spikes tail, forgetting to put his bracers on and making the baby dragon yell in pain, pulling his tail up to see a large hoof print on his tail and glared at Spyro.
"Sorry." Spyro said. he then felt Fluttershy's anxiety spike again, hearing the voices taunting her again as she looked like she was going to have a panic attack, so he rushed over and wrapped his wings around her, using the power of the Force to calm her down, drowning out the voices and helping her to calm down. "It's ok, you're ok."
"No, no I'm not ok!" She said, crying into his chest. "I... I really can't fly!"
"Don't say that, you can fly!" Rainbow Dash said. "So some punks poked fun at you because you got stage fright, big deal! You aren't gonna quit because of that, are you?"
"Rainbow Dash!" Spyro exclaimed, making her wince before looking to Fluttershy, seeing she was crying harder than ever, so he took her to the nearby tree and sat her down, letting her cry while rubbing her back, patting her head as well to calm her down. "It's ok Flutters, we all get nervous from time to time. Heck, even I got stage fright when I was younger."
"Y-you did?" She asked, looking up to him.
"Of course I did." Spyro replied, wiping her tears away. "Back in elementary school, the fifth grade I think, I was part of a school musical, which we sung Christmas carols and other kinds of songs. I was given the role of Christmas Past and let me tell you, being a kid with Asperger's, on a stage with a lot of people staring and watching me, I froze, going into what was called a shutdown where those with autism get so stressed, they can't control their reaction."
"So what happened?" Fluttershy asked, no longer crying.
"Well, when it came to my part, I wanted to run away and not have so many eyes on me." Spyro replied. "Because one of the normal responses for kids with autism who shutdown is to rock back and forth or pace around. But I just practiced the breathing exercises my parents taught me to calm myself down and managed to perform my part to perfection, gaining confidence in myself."
"But... but I'm not as confident as you or Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy replied, looking to the ground. "My wing power is too little, I'm no good."
"Fluttershy, we need you." Rainbow Dash said. "We need every Pegasus's help on this."
"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but you're going to have to do this without me." Fluttershy said, getting up and walking away. "I don't have the courage, or the confidence."
They both watched as Fluttershy ran away from the field, leaving the two of them alone under the tree as their friend ran farther and farther away.
"I know she's got more wing power than what the machine showed." Spyro said, getting up. "She froze when she heard Glitter and Cloud chaser laughing, reducing her speed."
"But how are we going to help her if she won't help herself?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I need all the help I can get on this."
"I'll think of something Rainbow Dash, don't worry." Spyro replied. "In the mean time, you focus on getting everyone trained up and ready for the end of the week."
Rainbow Dash nodded her head and went back to the field, Spyro about to fly after the timid mare when he heard what sounded like coughing, looking to his right to see Blossomforth sitting under another tree, hiding behind it as she kept on coughing. Spyro then walked over to her to see what was wrong when a gust of wind blew by and some of her wings feathers blew off her wings, confusing him as he knew it couldn't be time for Pegasi to preen and shed their feathers yet, so he approached her with caution.
"Blossom, you ok?" Spyro asked, getting her attention, which she looked miserable.
"Y-yeah, I'm good." She replied, getting up shakily. "Just... need to..."
She didn't finish as she plopped her flank back on the ground, coughing again and making him worry. Spyro walked over and put his hoof on her head and could feel it was a little warm, so he picked her wing up to examine it and more feathers fell off, making him wonder.
"Well Blossom, looks like you're sick." Spyro said, putting her wing down. "Until further notice, you focus on getting some rest."
"B-but I want to help." She replied.
"The only way you can help is letting yourself be sick and getting some rest." Spyro replied. "I'll let Rainbow Dash know you got some kind of bug and need some bed rest. Now go."
Blossom wanted to argue, but she coughed again and just gave in, flying off and heading back home to prevent anypony else from getting sick. He then flew to her cottage to see what he could do to comfort the timid Pegasi, but he only got half way when he felt her despair and sorrow through the Force, finding her under a tree in another tree, gliding down and landing just a few feet from it and saw she was on the ground, crying again with her animal friends there trying to comfort her, even Angel was trying to help as he used a comb to straighten her mane, but they looked over and saw him walking towards them, moving out of the way so he could sit down next to her. He then gently stroked her back, which seemed to get her to look up at him as tears flowed down her cheeks.
"Little butterfly, it's ok." Spyro said, making sure his voice was gentle. "You have nothing to worry about."
"B-but I do have a flying problem!" She said, laying her head back down. "I'm just too afraid to fly in front of other ponies. When around my animal friends I don't have a problem. But around other ponies..."
She was about to cry again, but Spyro just stroked her back again, lying next to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek, which seemed to cheer her up a bit, putting her head to his as their cheeks touched, smiling as she closed her eyes.
"Flutters, you don't have any reason to be scared." Spyro said. "You just need to ignore them."
"I tried, but you should have seen them laughing at me." Fluttershy replied, looking sad again, her birds chirping to her as she and Spyro sat up. "I know it's important to have confidence in myself."
"Well, what about the time you dove into the river and saved some of you animal friends from drowning?" Spyro asked, hoping to show her she was braver than she thought.
"I know." She replied, the badger there saying the same thing, though Spyro couldn't understand him. "And I know I should believe in myself and never give up." After hearing that, a look of confidence appeared on her face, determined to over come her fear. "You're right, you're all right! I shouldn't give up! I'll get my confidence up and show everypony I am a good flier!"
"That's the spirit Fluttershy!" Spyro said. "We'll show them that you're not just a good flier, but a great flier, together!"
With that, Spyro and Fluttershy's animal friends got to work helping her to build up her confidence in herself and getting her wing power up, having her run in place first before having her fly a bit, Spyro using his magic to conjure some random ponies to watch her while her animals got masks that look like ponies watch her, but caved immediately and crashed through a tree. They then moved onto having her do push-ups with a mouse on her back and go a round of tug-of-war with a butterfly, doing the same thing with the masks and the illusions, but she hide instantly, still very nervous to have ponies watch her. They kept this up for a few more days, Spyro prioritizing helping Fluttershy build up her confidence and repeating the same exercises, having her do push-ups, go rounds of tug-of-war with more and more butterflies and even having her fly by some dandelions to show how to fast she was going. When the end of the week was coming up, Fluttershy was now about to do push-ups without feeling any kind of fear, managed to beat the butterfly's at tug-of-war and when she flew by the dandelions, she managed to blow some of the dandelions seeds off and looked mighty happy about it, SPyro smiling and cheering for her as she flew down to him, landing in front of him.
"Well done little butterfly!" Spyro said, making her blush. "you've come a long way from being the timid little pony you were a few days ago."
"T-thanks Spyro." Fluttershy replied. "I-I think I'm ready to try again."
"I know you're ready to try again." Spyro replied, hugging her. "Just remember little butterfly, have confidence in yourself. True strength comes from within. From the heart, and from having confidence in yourself and only when you have confidence can you truly bloom."
They then went to the field where everyone else was measuring their wing power, Flitter flying by and pleasing Twilight and Rainbow Dash with how strong her wing power was.
"This is awesome!" Rainbow Dash said. "We're going to crush that record tomorrow!"
A second later, a squirrel came running up and got their attention, trying o let them know Fluttershy was on her way, but they didn't understand what he was saying.
"What'd he say?" Spike asked.
"Does it look like I speak squirrel?" Twilight asked.
they then looked to see where the squirrel was pointing to and were surprised to see Fluttershy flying to them and past them, which seemed to make Rainbow Dash happy as she looked ready to do a flip as the timid mare got to the starting line.
"I don't believe it!" Rainbow Dash said. "How'd you get her to come back?!"
"All I did was help her build up her confidence." Spyro replied.
Fluttershy looked to Spyro, who nodded his head, flapping her wings as fast as she could and took off, flying by fast and getting them all excited, but when they looked at the results, they were surprised to see what she got, shocking Fluttershy.
"2.3!?" Fluttershy asked. "2.3!? There has to be some kind of mistake! I worked so hard."
"And I'm proud of you for it Flutters." Spyro said, wrapping his wings around her. "You overcame your fears and worked hard to get here."
"Yeah Fluttershy, that's a huge improvement!" Twilight said.
"Yeah Fluttershy, you did awesome." Rainbow Dahs said.
"No I didn't!" She responded, tears forming in her eyes. "I thought I had gotten over my nerves, but they still got the best of me! there's no way I'll fly with 10.0 wing power by tomorrow!"
"So what?" Rainbow Dash asked, setting down next to her. "Every bit counts, no matter how small. Plus, we still have Spyro's 24.9 wing power, so we can we're sure to break the record."
"Well how would you feel if everypony else was able to fly with 10.0 Wing power and you were flying with 2.5?" Fluttershy asked, upset with herself and with Rainbow Dash.
"Actually, 2.3 wing power." Spike said, Twilight hitting him in the head to keep him quiet.
"Well... I'd feel... uh..." Rainbow Dash said, trying to come up with an answer.
"Exactly!" Fluttershy shouted. "Humiliated! I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, I just can't do it!"
She then ran away and her animal friends ran after her to comfort the sad Pegasi, leaving everyone there in a stunned stupor and feeling bad for her.
"It's ok Rainbow Dash, you still got plenty of wing power from the other Pegasi." Spike said. "You'll be able to lift tons of water, minus Blossomforth. Don't understand why she hasn't been coming to practice."
"I don't care about why Blossomforth didn't come to practice or her reasons for why." Rainbow Dash replied. "I just wish there was a way to lift Fluttershy out of the dumps."
"She'll come through in the end." Spyro said, looking to the running mare. "She came through for us when that dragon threatened to plunge Equestria into a hundred years of smog, she'll come through tomorrow."
They then returned to the practice field to finish up practice for the day while Rainbow Dash and Spyro were focused on Fluttershy and how unhappy she was for the weak wing power. The next morning, every single flier in Ponyville was at the local reservoir where a massive Anemometer and where Spitfire and the dragonesses were waiting for them, though the leader of the Wonderbolts was very nervous around the dragons, after being told what happened and they were living in Ponyville for the time being, she eased up a bit.
"You ready for this Dashie?" Spyro asked.
"More than ready." She replied with confidence, flying into the air to address everyone. "Are we all ready to do this!?" The entire crowd shouted and cheered as they were ready and very excited to break the record, but as she scanned the crowd, but noticed someone was missing, groaning as she landed. "Thunderlane!"
"What's wrong?" Spyro asked.
"Thunderlane's not here!" Rainbow Dash replied. "He's probably being lazy again and on a very important day. He's been trying to get out of tornado duty with his fake coughing."
"I don't think that's why he's not here." Spyro said, looking through the crowd. "We're missing a few other Pegasi as well besides Thunderlane." Spyro then saw Thunderlanes little brother, landing on the ground. "Rumble, where's Thunderlane?"
"He's got the Feather Flu." Rumble replied. "He's down at Ponyville hospital."
"I was afraid of that." Spyro said. "Blossom also had it as she lost some feathers day one of training."
"Wait, seriously!?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"And he isn't the only one." Spike said, lifting up a list of all the ponies that failed to show up.
A minute later, Twilight started to calculate how much wing power they were missing out on and didn't look too happy, looking very concerned as she turned to face them.
"Well?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Well, with the eight Pegasi sick with the Feather Flu..." Twilight said, jotting down the numbers.
"Will we be able to break the wind speed record?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"No, you won't be able to break the record." Twilight replied. "And worse, you won't have enough wing power to lift the water all the way to Cloudsdale."
"But, what about Spyro's wing power?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Will it be enough to help out?"
"Even with Spyro's wing power, it might not be enough." Twilight replied.
"So, what do we do now?" Spike asked. "Do we pack up and leave?"
Rainbow Dash looked back to the crowd of Pegasi, who were all talking to one another to figure out what to do with some of their friends in the hospital and to Spitfire, who was waiting for everything to get started. Looking to Spyro, she knew what they were going to do was a long shot, but they needed to do it.
"No, forget the record!" Rainbow Dash replied, putting the goggles on and flew to the crowd. "Alright everypony, let's give it all we got! On the sound of the horn, we take off! Go as fast as you can!"
Everyone, including Spyro, put on the goggles they were given for this event and waited for the sound of the horn, which came a moment later after Twilight checked to make sure the machine was working, motion for Spike to blow the horn and after it went off, all the Pegasi who were there flew upward and into the sky, circling around in a mass of feathers and flying ponies, all flying around and making one massive tornado that spun after and faster as they went. Spyro could tell they were reaching the needed amount and tried to push himself further than everyone else, feeling the strength of his wings growing as he flew, but he could feel everyone else was loosing strength right as the water was about to fly into the air and towards Cloudsdale, but one Pegasi lost focus and his strength gave out, spinning with the tornado as others followed suit and were thrown out of the tornado, everyone failing as Spyro skidded across the ground, groaning. When he got up, he noticed that Rainbow Dash had face smacked into a tree,her eyes popping out of it as pieces from the tree fell.
"Are you guys ok?" Twilight asked, rushing to them.
"I'm fine." Rainbow Dash replied, trying to free herself from the tree as she was stuck.
"No worse for ware." Spyro replied, noticing Fluttershy. "Flutters, you came."
"Yeah, well, figured that since I couldn't help with making the tornado, I'd help with moral support." Fluttershy replied.
"Doesn't matter now." Spike said. "You tried, but you didn't succeed."
"He's right." Twilight said. "You guys were so close to the 800 wing power minimum. I'm so sorry Rianbow Dash. It was a good try though."
"No... no." Spyro said, getting back up. "Do or do not, there is no try."
"What does that mean?" Spike asked.
"It means that if you try, you aren't giving yourself the option to succeed." Spyro replied. "We need to succeed."
"But you guys pushed your crew to their limit." Twilight said, pointing to the exhausted and wet ponies. "If you push them any further, they're going to get hurt. you should quit, it's not safe."
"No, one more time." Rainbow Dash pleaded. "I want to know we gave it our all! If I'm going down, I'm going down flying!"
As she pleaded, Spyro looked over to the machine and took note of its previous reading, noticing that the total wing power between all of them was 795.8 wing power, realizing they were very close and looked to Fluttershy, who saw him looking at her and instantly knew what he wanted her to do, but shook her head.
"Fluttershy, please, we need your help." Spyro said.
"But... but I can't." Fluttershy replied. "My wing power is still too little. I won't be much help."
"You doubt yourself because of what happened in the past little butterfly." Spyro replied, tipping her head to stair her in the eye. "You hold yourself back with these thoughts and feelings. You must let go."
"But... but if I try, I'll fail." Fluttershy said, beginning to shake.
"Fluttershy, remember what I said earlier." Spyro replied, touching his forehead to hers. "Do or do not, there is no try. If you try, you don't leave yourself room to succeed. Push yourself to do better and think about doing rather than trying."
He then turned and flew to the sky right as everyone else flew back into the air to give it another go, creating the tornado again and going as fast as they could, pushing beyond their limits to help get the needed water Cloudsdale required.
"Flap those wings!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Keep it up! Keep going and stay in position! Come on everypony, I can see the water trying to funnel through!"
Spyro flew as hard as he could, trying to increase his speed, but he too was at his limit and was about to crumble when he noticed a yellow Pegasus flying next to him, smiling as he knew who it was.
"Fluttershy, you're here!" Spyro shouted. "You're actually here!"
"I-I couldn't sit by and do nothing!" Fluttershy replied. "Even if my wing power is 2.3, I need to help however I can!"
Pleased that Fluttershy was actually there to help, he pushed himself further than he did before, feeling the strain on his body, but pushed through it so as to get them the needed power so they can get the water to them. Fluttershy however looked to the other Pegasi, and started to hear the taugnting voices from in her past, saying how she could hardly fly and was about to loose focus and about to break the tornado as she started to slow down.
"Do or do not, there is no try." Spyro's voice said, Fluttershy hearing his words. "You doubt yourself because of what happened in the past little butterfly. You hold yourself back with these thoughts and feelings. You must let go. If you try, you don't leave yourself room to succeed. Push yourself to do better and think about doing rather than trying."
"NO!" Fluttershy shouted. "I know how to fly, and I am done trying! I... will... DO!"
She then flew faster than she ever did, pushing past her own limits and overcoming her own fears as she flew faster and faster, feeling her fears go away as she flew past the other Pegasi, surprising them with how fast she was going. As she pushed herself to her limit, the water in the reservoir shot out from the tornado and all the way to Cloudsdale, giving the city in the sky the water they needed as the entire reservoir emptied and the tornado broke apart, everyone exhausted , but cheered and applauded while Fluttershy kept flying in circles, not realizing it was over but stopping when Spyro caught her in his chest, hugging her as he gently flew down, looking at Fluttershy with admiration and pure happiness.
"Fluttershy, you did it." Spyro said. "You overcame your fears and succeeded."
"I-I did?" She asked, a blush on her face.
Without answering or giving her a chance, he kissed her, taking her by surprise, which she closed her eyes as they set down, ending the kiss as they landed, which the young prince hugged her again, enjoying the moment before Flitter and Cloud Cahser walked out them.
"Way to go Fluttershy." Cloud Chaser said. "That was awesome!"
"Yeah, we couldn't have done it without you." Flitter said.
"Nice going Rainbow Dash." Spitfire said, walking up to them. "You may not have set a new record, but you showed a lot of guts."
"Thanks." Rainbow Dash replied. "But if you want to talk about guts, you gotta give it to our number one flier, Fluttershy. Let's hear it for Fluttershy!"
As she said it, a whole crowd rushed over and picked her up, throwing her into the air as they cheered and chanted for her, complimenting the young mare for her deed, carrying her into town as they kept on cheering for her. As the day went on, Spyro spent the whole day witht he crowd celebrating Fluttershy's success and having fun as pinkie threw a party, having fun for the whole day until night came and he went straight to bed, feeling the aftermath of making that tornado and falling asleep instantly, but failed to notice the sudden change in his coats color and a couple of his scales falling off his body as he slept.