//------------------------------//
// Victim of a Revolution 
// Story: Rebirth of Magic: Find your Voice 
// by JimmyHook19 
//------------------------------//

I quickly checked over my equipment as we were lowered in. I smiled at the cheering crowd, who were waving, clearly excited to see their idol.

"Hello, Zephyr Heights!" I called. "You ready for a party?"

The crowd cheered loudly, with many holding signs and looking very excited indeed.

My radio buzzed loudly. "Equipment is locked and good to go. Prepare for action. Good luck, Your Highness!"

As mom and Zipp were dropped into position below me and onto the thrones, it was time to get going with the show. Boy was I looking forward to this! The cables drew me forward as we had rehearsed, and as I had already prepped my lungs and vocal chords for action, I launched off into the vocals.

"We got the light, we're comin' in stronger, we're in it together!
If you want it, it's all inside your mind!
We got the light, won't wait any longer, we'll get it together!
If you want it, then you can paint the sky!" (hey!)

I flew over the crowd, watching their happy faces as they saw a pegasus soaring over them. True, it was wires and stuff, but don't bust me on a technicality, kay?

I stopped, and hovered in front of one colt, before moving into the verse.

"Used to care what they'd say, let 'em into my brain/
But I found a new way!" (ooh-ooh-ooh)

I then lifted off into the air, the fan looking utterly starstruck. I mean, his favourite popstar had just interacted with him!

I was now much higher up, and shifted into the next bit of the vocals through some acrobatic sections of the choreography.

"Every time I fall down, I pick it up like rebound/
Gotta get through somehow!"

I suddenly saw some running, but paid it no heed. It was probably somepony going to the bathroom after downing too much fruit punch. I know the hard way that's not fun.

I shifted to the next section of words.

"We don't fly like we used to, we take what we've been through/
And we can feel brand new! (ooh-ooh-ooh)
I know I am a fighter, I feel the fire/
I'm shining brighter!" (ooh-ooh-ooh)

And yes, the irony of those words was not lost on me as I tumbled and rolled through the skies. But who cared? It was all the same to them. The cheering suggested as much, and the cameras stayed trained on me as I kept moving.

As you probably know already, I was a complete nobody in the human world. Or nopony, I guess. The sort of being nopony noticed or properly acknowledged. In a way I was somewhat invisible on that front.

And yet here, it was different. I was flying and soaring through the skies, with legions of adoring fans cheering me on, surrounded by supportive folks, and a true family. That sorta makes me a real life Cinderella of sorts.

I'll explain who that is later, but it's a really old rags to riches story.

Things were rolling along as normal, but then I realised something odd. I hadn't seen Sunny or Izzy in the crowd. Or even Misty for that matter. I hadn't really seen them the whole day as I'd been busy getting ready for the performance and watching all the stuff for mom's jubilee, but apart from that I'd been on relatively good terms with them. Perhaps they were being kept away to avoid scaring any pegasi in the room?

Yeah, that made sense.

As I was flying along, I suddenly heard my radio cut in.

"-don't think he likes us very much."

"You think? It's OK, we're not going to hurt you."

Wait a second. Those were Sunny and Izzy's voices. But how was I hearing them through my headset? My headset was currently tuned to the control room, so unless they were in the control room-

Wait. They were in the control room?

There was some incoherent speech over the speakers as the line struggled to pick their voices up, and then I heard Izzy's voice again. "-re not gonna fry your brain or anything!"

"PLEASE SPARE ME! I HAVE A WIFE AND KIDS!"

That was the technician's voice! He was in some sort of trouble!

Before I could send a message the lights above me suddenly began to flicker, and the sound began to jump and distort. "Wait, what the?"

I was brought to a sudden stop, and glanced down to see the light beams had gone down to the floor, and were focused on... Hitch? What was he doing here?

Hitch, in case you don't know, is a friend of mine from Maretime Bay. But what was he doing here, and disguised as a pegasus of all things? The cameras were focused on him, and in the spotlight he looked very awkward.

And then he started to sing. Oh boy, was it bad.

"Throwin' up, find a glove/
Fly around, up above/
Doin' stuff that I love/
You're like, "Why?", I'm like, "What?"

Seriously, he needs to take some improv classes if he's going to try freestyling. OK, I'm not really into rap myself, but even I could do better than that! Equestria is THE land of characters bursting into song for no readily obvious reason!

He even kept going!

"Crisp and dry, eat some mud/
Glowing up, lovey-dove..."

I shook my head. "What is happening?"

It wouldn't be long until I found out, as I heard more voices over the radio. "NO! DON'T MOVE THAT LEVER!"

I knew exactly where this was going, and in doing so reached for the emergency harness release that would let me drop to the floor in the event of an accident.

Unfortunately, I was slightly too slow. The machinery went haywire! I was pulled backwards with such extreme force my lungs were nearly forced out of my mouth! I continued to scrabble around for the harness release, but I was being subjected to such extreme G Forces moving was difficult. I felt like I weighed at least ten times my normal weight! And no, Zipp, that doesn't give you the right to make lipophobic jokes.

OK, that's enough big words for one day. It was like being on a rollercoaster, only without the safety featured. I was hurled up, down, side to side, and flipped over repeatedly. All the time I kept pulling at the harness to try and release it, but it seemed to be stuck.

"I'M GONNA BE SICK!" I screamed, as the machinery continued to malfunction. It finally seemed to stop over the center of the chamber.

I was held there by a few wires, upside down, with my head dangerously close to the ground. And a crowd of ponies, all of whom looked cross. "Err, hi?" I said, trying to break the tension.

Then there was a loud bang. I looked up, and saw a cable had given way. "Oh no."

A succession of bangs revealed the cables holding me in place were breaking, and the last one went, depositing me onto the floor. Surrounded by soldiers.

"EXECUTE OMEGA PROTOCOL!"

Before I knew what was happening a furious flurry of blows began raining down on me. I tried to bring my wings up to cover me, but a group of guards held them down. I covered my face with my hooves as best as I could whilst they kept on beating me.

"REMEMBER! THE GENERAL WANTS HER ALIVE!"

I knew there was only one way out of this. I lacked the strength to get these monsters off me, so I called out as best I could. "MOM! HELP ME!"

The soldier next to my head laughed. "Nice try, but that lardbucket isn't going to save yo-"

He stopped mid sentence as mom leaped onto him and smashed him to the floor. She swung round and began slamming into each of them in turn. "Get your dirty hooves off my daughter!"

Once they were pushed back, I rolled out and retreated back with mom. No sooner had we started discussing an escape plan than a gunshot rang out, and mom was on the floor.

"Take her out!"

A horde of soldiers jumped on top of mom, using their implements to attack her. I was frozen in fright. Should I step in or should I save myself? I had no idea what to do!

Suddenly, mom's crown slid out from underneath the mass of bodies and stopped in front of me. I picked it up.

And then I heard her voice. "Pipp! Run! Save yourself!"

I turned and ran as quickly as I could, checking over my shoulder to see if I was being chased. Alarms and sirens were blaring loudly as I dashed down the corridors and tried to escape.

Soldiers were everywhere, so to escape I hid in a laundry cart and waited for some to pass. I then leaped out and got on my way again.

The same words were playing over the speakers. "DEATH TO THE FALSE FAMILY!"

I shook my head in fright, and kept on running. These were our subjects. They had loved us just moments ago?

What had I done to deserve this?