Fluttershy dreamed. She dreamed of fuzzy bunnies that ate tiny carrots and brightly colored birds that sang to her in the morning. She dreamed of woodland critters coming out of hibernation to see a gorgeous spring day with thawed lakes and green leaves on all the trees. She dreamed of her chickens frolicking in the warm grass during the summer and the active pegasi flying high overhead her humble cottage, working hard to clear the sky so all could enjoy it. She dreamed of animals loving her and beautiful landscapes and flying in a deep blue sky. But tonight, she didn't dream of critters or birds or pegasi.
She dreamed of herself.
She remembered back to when she was a young filly in Flight School and Pinkamina just came out of diapers. She was resting on a cloud after a long practice when a burly orange pegasus came up to her and kicked the living daylights our of her poor cloud. She dropped like a stone onto thr ground below, which fortunately wasn't that far down. All she had to show for it was quite a big scare and a bruise on her bottom. Scared of who might find her, whether it be her instructor or another Ponyville citizen, the filly galloped out of the open and ran towards Town Square. She saw many ponies there that were very unfamiliar- some with sticks coming out of their heads and some that looked just like her but without wings. She saw no other pegasi in the crowded mass of ponies that huddled together like one huge, mountain-sized pony.
When she tried to back away from an unfamiliar face she always hit another. And another, and another. The more she hit others' legs, the more they noticed her and began to yell at her. "Get outta here, ya pegasus scum!" A skinny stallion with a light gray mane that curled around his face shouted as she bumped into his also light gray tail. "I- I didn't m-m-me-" She began, her long, limber legs shaking.
"Be quiet and get ya winged bum outta here! There's a reason ya got wings, ya know!" Was all he said.
Fluttershy whimpered and backed up from the scary old stallion. But once she put her hind leg out she caught the leg of a unicorn mother carrying a foal in her mouth and three others without even holding them. She fell on her face, squashing the light purple unicorn foal she was carrying along with dropping the other three multicolored ones. She quickly regained her balance and franticly managed to catched each one with her strange powers before they hit the floor. "Wow, miss." Fluttershy managed to say, not noticing the evil stare the mother plastered on her face. "How did you do that? And why do you have a stick on your head?"
The mother, with a coat of very light purple (almost white) and a much darker mane sneered at the pegasus filly in disgust. "Do you mean this?" She tapped the stick, which was the same color as her body.
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, miss."
She smiled and somehow levitated her foals and set them on her back in a line with the other one hanging in her mouth by her/his tail. "Oh, I just do this." Her stick glowed the same color as her eyes, a dark and iridescent blue. The same blue glow appeared around Fluttershy's body, and somepony gripped her shoulders quite hard. She whipped around, but nopony was grabbing her. The unicorn mother laughed and her stick glowed a little stronger. Fluttershy was flung into the air by somepony's hoof, but once again nopony was there. The same blue glow encircled her body and crept across her legs, immobilizing them. "Help me!" She cried out.
The mother laughed again. "I thought you wanted me to showq you how my 'stick' worked!" She grunted slightly and the glow dispersed, as did Fluttershy's glow. The filly was flying through the air towards a brick wall when she remembered Coach Cumulonimbus saying that if you ever are in the air and you don't have the slightest clue why, flap like the wind. So she did, but to no avail.
Just as the tip of her nose touched the tough brick, a light orange glow swallowed her in one gulp and moved her away. She hesitantly looked below her, and everpony in the crowd was watching her every move. "H-h-h-i." She whispered. Directly below her was another pony with a strange stick on its head- but this one was a cherry-ish color with a light pink mane and an orange glowing stick. His eyes were narrowed and the same peach-ish color of his horn. "Enough, Magia. I know she is a pegasus, but that doesn't mean that you can treat her like pony crap. She's a pony, just like you are." His voice was smooth and hard.
Magia sniffed and put her head in the air. Suddenly she whipped it back around her shoulders like a scarf and glared at the opposing unicorn. "I treat her the way her kind treats us!" She snarled.
Other voices joined in, chanting threats against the pegasi.
"To them we are nothing but little spots on a map!"
"Why do we still provide food for them?"
"What shall we do with the accursed filly?"
"ENOUGH!"
The male unicorn roared at the arguing ponies and instantly all stopped. He huffed and puffed and snorted before he had everypony's attention.
"We aren't doing anything to her." He kept Fluttershy suspended in the air. "And we arn't doing anything to the pegasi people."
"Since when did I die and make you mayor?"
Out of the shadows another unicorn, this one with a light cyan body and a ragged, multi-colored mane, came out and stood on a hickory stage with her magenta eyes narrowed. She snickered. "I asked you a question, Cheerilee."
Cheerilee growled and the grip around Fluttershy hardened. "I said," he began warily, "we aren't touching a feather on her body. And we aren't doing anything to the pegasi."
There was only silence to greet him. "Does my answer satisy you, Rainbow Blitz?" He mocked.
Rainbow Blitz's nose twitched and her stick glowed a dark magenta. Cheerilee was pushed backwards by a wave of energy, and Fluttershy's orange cage shuddered. A hint of pink crept into the orange and Fluttershy was being dragged towards the stage. "Cheerilee!" She squeaked.
Rainbow Blitz kept a straight face while her strange magic fought hard against Cheerilee's. His face was contorted in pain and his stick was faltering.
"Oh, my dear, dear Cheerilee." She cooed, pulling strongly against the stallion. "We'll do more than just pluck her precious feathers." She looked devilish and serious, but there seemed to be a mask of regret semi-hidden behind her eyes. She froze for a moment, and Cheerilee grunted loudly and yanked Fluttershy away. "You-won't-t-t-t-touch-her." He stuttered. Rainbow Bliz recovered from her pause and her stick flashed red and magenta. She pulled so hard and cast a wave of telekinectic force so fast that Cheerilee shrieked and flew across the Square, letting go of Fluttershy. The young filly screamed and began to fall, but a magenta field surrounded her and she was instantly by Rainbow Blitz's side. The mare smiled and lifted Fluttershy above her head and moved her into a position that revealed her vulnerable stomach. Fluttershy instinctively unfolded her wings, but they were grabbed by Rainbow's grip and pulled almost out of their sockets. "Look down here, you self-absorbed pegasi!" Rainbow Blitz screeched towards the sky. She sounded dreadfully mad, but there was a twinge of... Perhaps sadness in her voice.
"Look down here, because this one is the first casualty of the war!"