How We Met
A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfic
By The Rated Ponystar
Chapter 1: How We Met
Edited by: Fernin
Disclaimer: I do not own MLP. Never have and never will

This is just a side story I’m working on for fun while I’m working on Wings Of Sacrifice.
Don’t know if I’ll make this shipping or not. For now, just friendship.
Enjoy.

A disappointment.

That’s all Fluttershy was in the eyes of her teachers: nothing more than a disgrace to all pegasi. She was the oldest filly on campus and she still couldn’t fly. Fluttershy's parents had hoped that Summer Flight Camp would help, but no matter how many extra lessons she received or how many tutors she trained with, she could only stay in the air for a few seconds. Some of the teachers called Fluttershy a hopeless case. The other students weren’t nice to her either; calling her names and mocking her whenever she made a mistake.

The poor filly had no friends to defend her and she was too nervous even to talk to most of the other children. All she had were bullies who laughed and picked on her. She would cry for them much to their amusement. This earned her horrible nicknames like ‘Fluttercry’.

With nopony to comfort or support her, the dejected filly had only her lonesome self. Fluttershy could feel her eyes getting moist as she sat alone on her favorite cloud, the main camp building just a few miles away. It was the only place she could go without anypony bothering her.

Peeking over the cloud, Fluttershy saw the distant green world below her. Maybe she would have been happier had she been born an earth pony or a unicorn. Fluttershy had never seen one, but she often heard how they looked almost like pegasi… only without wings. Some were even said to have horns on their heads. They sounded scary, but maybe living on the ground would have been better than living on Cloudsdale. On the ground, she could be nice and safe without worrying about flying.

There was also one other thing Fluttershy loved about the ground. It held such strange yet wonderful creatures. During a trip to the library she came across a book on animals that lived on the surface. She’d taken it for some light reading, but once Fluttershy opened the book she couldn’t put it down. The birds, bees, squirrels, bunnies, deer, and more all fascinated her. They were so cute and looked so soft that Fluttershy just wanted to give them all a big hug. It made her want to visit the ground even more.

But how would she ever get to the ground? Unless her parents decided to move, Fluttershy was going to forever live on the clouds as a flightless pegasus. Just as she was about to start crying again, Fluttershy’s ears caught the sound of something coming towards her… no… falling towards her! Looking up, she gasped upon seeing a bright blue comet with a rainbow colored end coming towards her at top speed.

The blur screamed, “Look out!”

Fluttershy couldn’t move, her entire body was frozen with fear. The blue blur crashed right into her, sending her flying off the cloud. Fluttershy’s head spun as her little frail body plummeted, heading for the distant ground below. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t even breathe. All Fluttershy could think about was the up and coming bone-crushing landing. It was ironic that the vast green world Fluttershy had fantasized about visiting was to be the last thing she would feel.

Suddenly, something grabbed Fluttershy’s tail and slowed her descent, bringing her gently to a complete stop. Held up in the air, Fluttershy wondered what had happened. She squeaked in surprise as she felt herself get dragged back up into the sky. Confused and afraid, Fluttershy continued to keep still with her eyes shut. A few moments later, she felt herself come to a stop. Whatever had been gripping her tail let go, making her squeak again as she tumbled into the soft familiar vapor of a cloud.

“Phew! Good thing I was fast enough to catch ya. You alright?” called a feminine, yet cocky voice.

Fluttershy kept her eyes closed. “I… am I dead?”

She heard a snicker before a creepy voice shouted, “Yes! I am the reaper of ponies and I have come to take your soul!”

“Ah!” Fluttershy squealed as she scrunched up into a ball, waiting for the unseen horror to take her. Instead, she heard the sound of laughter in the air. Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes and saw a cyan coated filly with a rainbow-colored mane and tail laughing, her hooves kicking in the air.

The stranger, presumably the one who saved Fluttershy, finally climbed to her hooves and grinned. “You should have seen your reaction! It was hilarious!”

Fluttershy’s cheeks turned red from embarrassment as she hid her face with her pink mane. The cyan pegasus’ laughter waned as she realized that her joke might have gone too far. “Hey, hey. Sorry about that. I didn’t mean it.”

“Um… okay…” whispered Fluttershy, inching away from the stranger.

The two of them avoided each other gaze, an awkward silence between them. Fluttershy knew she had to thank the other pegasus for saving her. Just as she was about to speak, her savior held her hoof out and smiled. “I’m Rainbow Dash! Future fastest flier in all of Equestria! Who are you?”

Fluttershy stared at the offered hoof. “Um… I’m Flutter… shy…”

“Huh? I didn’t hear that? Can you say that again?” Rainbow Dash asked.

The yellow filly’s voice lowered incrementally and she ducked further behind her own mane, taking refuge in its protective concealment. “Flutter… shy…”

Rainbow Dash put a hoof in one of her ears, rubbing it on the inside and scraping out some wax. Fluttershy was disgusted as Rainbow Dash simply wiped the wax onto the cloud they were on. Heedless of her companion’s revulsion, Dash moved closer to the yellow filly until their muzzles nearly touched, their eyes focused on one another. Fluttershy’s felt like she was about to faint as the two magenta eyes glared into her own. “Come on! Louder!”

“Fluttershy! I’m Fluttershy!” she cried out.

Upon hearing her name, Rainbow Dash got out of Fluttershy's personal bubble and smiled. “There we go! That wasn’t so hard! Although considering your name, I guess it was.”

Fluttershy couldn’t tell if she was joking around or making fun of her again.

“Yeah, sorry about that crash landing. I was trying to imitate this Wonderbolts trick I saw with my Dad last month. Guess I still need some work on it, huh?” Rainbow Dash gave a small smile as she rubbed the back of her head.

“Who are the Wonderbolts?” Fluttershy questioned. She instantly regretted asking this as the other pegasus was, once again, in her face.

“You don’t know the Wonderbolts?!” screamed Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy quickly shook her head. “They’re only the coolest thing ever since… since… cool was invented! They’re the best fliers in the world! Nopony’s faster than them!”

Rainbow Dash began to tell Fluttershy everything she knew about the Wonderbolts. She told of all their adventures, their tricks and moves. Dash could name every single member of the Wonderbolts, both past and present. Even Fluttershy had to admit they sounded amazing by the way Rainbow Dash described them.

The two continued to sit on the cloud for a long time, Rainbow Dash talking while Fluttershy listened. Not that she minded. It was actually quite a unique experience. Nopony ever took the time to talk to her and she wanted it to last.

“… and that’s how Storm Front invented the Hurricane of Fire.” Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy and tilted her head. “So what about you? I mean I can talk about the Wonderbolts all day, but what do you like?”

“Me? Oh… umm….” mumbled Fluttershy. “Well… I guess I like… animals?”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Animals? Like birds and stuff?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yes. They’re so cute and adorable. I’ve always wanted to meet a kitty or a puppy! Um… but I guess that’s… not as exciting as the Wonderbolts, huh?”

“For what? You didn’t do anything wrong,” said Rainbow Dash, raising an eyebrow. “You like what you like. I like what I like. It’s as simple as that. You don’t have to apologize for anything.”

“Okay. Sorry,” Fluttershy apologized.

“I said… ugh. Whatever, it doesn’t matter.” Rainbow Dash shook her head and floated into the air. “So you want to fly for a while? I could use a flying partner.”

Fluttershy blushed and stared at the cloud, too ashamed to meet Rainbow’s gaze. “I… I can’t…”

“Why? Got other business?” asked Rainbow Dash, landing back on the cloud. Fluttershy shook her head causing Rainbow Dash to frown. “Then… you don’t like me?”

“No!” blurted Fluttershy much to her surprise. She had never raised her voice that loudly before. Why now? “I… I just can’t… well…”

“Yeah?” Rainbow Dash urged her to continue.

“… fly.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t reply at first, but then she started to snicker. Seconds later, the rainbow-maned filly was laughing. Fluttershy closed her eyes as she lowered her head further. Another pony was laughing at her. Just when it looked like she might have found somepony nice …

“You can’t fly?! Good one, Shy. Every pegasus knows how to fly!” Rainbow Dash chuckled. It wasn’t until she heard her crying that Dash realized that Fluttershy was being serious. Dash was quickly at Fluttershy’s side, her hoof around the sobbing filly’s back. “Hey… hey… I’m sorry. I thought you were joking.”

Fluttershy nodded as Rainbow's tiny wings wiped the tears from her eyes. The soft warm feathers tickled her cheeks and made Fluttershy giggle. “Thank you."

“No problem. So why can’t you fly? Something wrong with your wings?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“No, I just can’t seem to fly. I came to the camp so I could learn to fly better, but my teachers have all but given up on me. Maybe I’m just not cut out for flying," said Fluttershy.

“That’s not true!” shouted Rainbow Dash, causing Fluttershy to jump out of her seat. “All pegasi can fly! That’s why we’re pegasi! If you weren’t meant to fly you wouldn’t be having those wings on your back!”

Fluttershy bit her lip nervously. “But…”

Her hoof was then covered by Rainbow Dash's hoof who looked her straight in the eye with such vigor that it made Fluttershy's knees tremble.“No buts! If those chumps think you’re helpless then I’m going to help you prove them wrong! I’m going to help teach you how to fly!”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Y-y-you want to help me?”

“Of course! We’re friends aren’t we?” Dash grinned as she put a hoof around her new friend.

Fluttershy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This stranger, who she never met before, was calling her a friend and was promising to help her learn to fly. A surge of emotions Fluttershy never felt before stirred inside her. All Fluttershy could do was just smile. “Yay!”

Still more to go. Enjoy