https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vR6ewWguVMZ1xJ0jiBK7jifBZ27KlZYO5gy2qEBq08A/edit?hl=en Fluttering Heart The day had come at last, and now that it was here, she didn’t feel at all ready for it. She had been practicing for weeks now, but to little avail. All those late night training sessions, all the pep talks, all of it... the pegasus pony stopped short of the word “worthless”, but certainly not working to its intended effect. And Equestria’s Best Young Flier competition represented an opportunity she might never get again. Especially if she messed this up. She shook her head. There was still a bit of time, right? Time enough for one more go before it counted. Ok! This time for sure. Wings flexed. One deep breath. Two... Three... “Yay.” Fluttershy winced and looked around, waiting for the inevitable torrent of complaints about her being much too loud at this hour. The minutes ticked by in silence as Fluttershy continued to stand alone in an empty room. She sighed wistfully and dug at the clouds beneath her with one hoof. “I’m trying, Rainbow Dash. For you.” Another deep breath, and another squeaky, barely audible cheer. Maybe with the help of her friends it would be enough? But Fluttershy couldn’t help feeling conflicted about them being here in the first place. Memories of just the day before flooded her head as she walked to the Cloudosseum. Memories of Rainbow Dash, cracking and on the verge of a meltdown. Of Rarity ascending into the sky on gossamer wings. Of everyone walking on the clouds, and the huge smile it all brought to Rainbow Dash’s face. And how hard it had been at that moment not to look like someone had just kicked Angel in the face. It was supposed to be just us. Me. You said you needed me. She took her seat in the stands before almost anyone else had arrived, and dried the tears in her eyes. It was the wrong time to be acting so selfishly. After all, this wasn’t Fluttershy’s moment, it was Rainbow Dash’s. Brave, loyal, beautiful Rainbow Dash’s moment. Her thoughts wandered, her heart started skipping beats, and Fluttershy generally melted into a puddle with a stupid smile plastered on her face. “Fluttershy? There you are, we’ve been looking all over!” “Eep! Tw-Twilight?” Fluttershy shot straight up into the air, snapping out of her jelly-like state midway down and flopping face first onto the cloudy seats. Everypony chuckled. “Ah told y’all she’d be here!” The scene became one of idle conversation, but Fluttershy wasn’t really listening anymore, because Dash had just poked her head out of the curtains. There was time for the quickest of smiles and the briefest of waves, and then she was gone. Did she see? Fluttershy hoped so. The moment of truth was almost at hand; soon the sky would be filled with the Sonic Rainboom, soon Fluttershy would cheer harder than she ever had in her life, and soon, oh so very soon, Rainbow Dash would see the feelings Fluttershy had been keeping locked away in her heart. But “soon” began to drag on. One pony after another took the stage and performed, some with brash displays of athleticism, others with graceful dance routines. Even Ponyville’s best mailpony, Derpy Hooves had given a rather... unique performance. In fact they were still trying to peel her off the wall, which only made “soon” stretch on into forever. Hours passed, each one eating away at Fluttershy’s nerves. What if it wasn’t good enough after all? What if Rainbow Dash got hurt? What if... what if she didn’t hear? What if she got mad? The thumping of Fluttershy’s heart felt like a jackhammer trying to pound its way out of her chest. “And now, our final entrant, contestant number 15! And... apparently contestant number 4 as well.” Fluttershy’s jaw dropped. She hadn’t even noticed that Rarity’s impromptu performance hadn’t happened yet, but... had she been planning this all along!? To... to take the spotlight away from where it belonged? Her eyes darkened. How dare she! But... at the same time... oh, to have her courage! To be up there with her... mixed emotions played out on her face, and she had to fight to keep them all in check. This just made it that much more important to cheer. Phase 1 had started. The smile stole its way back onto Fluttershy’s lips as Rainbow Dash wove effortlessly in between the columns of clouds. She filled her lungs in preparation for the biggest “yay” of the day, only to sputter uselessly when Dash took the last turn too tightly and went careening into the wall. She shook with fright waiting for the blue pegasus to shake it off. Don’t give up, it’s just one mistake. Come on, Rainbow... I believe in you. The rainbow colored blur shot off into the air above the Cloudosseum and began to circle the clouds. “Look! Phase 2 is working!” Fluttershy eagerly pointed her friends’ attentions to where they should have been the entire time. Which was precisely the moment when one took off out of control and nearly destroyed (of all ponies!) Princess Celestia’s royal observatory. Even from this distance, Fluttershy could see the look of horror on Rainbow Dash’s face. It took all her courage to stare back and try to meet the athlete’s eyes, even though there was no way she could really be seen. She could feel it all crumbling away. Would Princess Celestia really banish Rainbow Dash to the Everfree Forest? Fluttershy’s resolve weakened just as Rainbow Dash’s must have been at that moment. Maybe she could get herself banished, too? That wouldn’t be so bad. It’d be a good way to apologize. And then, maybe a couple years later, they could... wait, was that a scream? Rarity was falling, flailing, knocking out her would-be Wonderbolt Rescuers. And there was Rainbow Dash, streaking full speed after all of them. But at that speed and distance... there was just no way. “I can’t look.” She felt a nudge from somebody, Twilight maybe, and heard the exceedingly familiar sound of the air pressure building as Rainbow Dash gathered speed. And then the impossible happened. It happened twice, in fact. There was the deep rumbling boom and the awe-inspiring flash of rainbow light as the Sonic Rainboom dazzled everyone, and then suddenly, only one pony could find her voice. “A SONIC RAINBOOM! SHE DID IT! SHE DID IT!! WOOOOOOOOO!!” Fluttershy leaped up in down in pure ecstasy, screaming as though there was an avalanche rumbling toward her, only... happily. Her heart sang in joy and admiration for the hero of the day, Equestria’s Best Young Flier, and she screamed until she was hoarse. ‘Best day ever!’ she heard Rainbow Dash exclaim. Fluttershy smiled broadly. Absolutely. It was close to a week later when Fluttershy had finally managed to get Rainbow Dash alone again, a far cry from the weeks leading up to the contest when they were practically inseparable. “What’s up, Fluttershy? You wanted to talk?” “Um... well, I was just wondering if... if you heard me.” “Heard you?” Rainbow’s head tilted in curiosity. “At, you know... at the contest. Cheering for you. So, um, did you hear?” Rainbow Dash brought one hoof to her chin and tapped it contemplatively. There had been a lot going on at that moment, and it was hard to remember. There was one pony who had been screaming her head off, and it would have been next to impossible to hear someone like Fluttershy over her. But when she went to respond, Dash noticed the pure hope shimmering in Fluttershy’s eyes. And she smiled. “I... sure did! It’s a good thing you had such a great trainer, huh? Thanks, Fluttershy.” There was only one way for Fluttershy to express her happiness. “Yay.”