Painful Origins

“GET OUT!! Just get out you weak, pathetic excuse for a pegasus! You worthless, waste of pony hide – you FREAK!! GET OUT!!”

I was so scared. I was more terrified than I'd ever been in my life with him yelling at me that way. I just knew I was going to get another whipping after he calmed down, if he calmed down that is. He'd already kicked me in my ribs several times and then got a few good shots at my head before I could get away. I knew they'd be mad, but this was worse than anything I'd ever expected.

“Didn't you hear me the first time!? I said get out right now! You aren't welcome in our home anymore!! I mean it, 'Fluttershy'!! GET OUT!!”

There was more anger in his voice than I'd ever heard before. He hated me. He hated everything about me: I couldn't fly, I had no friends, and I'd been dropped off on him and his family. I wasn't welcome there from the start, but he wanted me out now, and nothing I could say or do would change it. I knew I couldn't stay there anymore, so I hobbled over to my little bed to pack up my saddle bags: a blanket, a brush, my favorite plush toy Ms. Cottontail, a picture, just the few small comforts that I had because I didn't have anything else. While I was packing I could hear all the voices outside my door.

“Momma, why is daddy yelling? He woke me up...” Came the voice of a little filly even younger than me.

“He's yelling at your cousin. Apparently your brother saw – “

“IF YOU AREN'T OUT OF THIS HOUSE IN THE NEXT 10 SECONDS I'M COMING IN, AND YOU'LL WISH YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN!!”

“Woops, sorry 'Fluttershy.' I guess I accidentally let your little secret slip!”

I was frantically packing my bags while I thought of some way to get out. I couldn't go out of the bedroom door, he'd get me in the back and even if he missed he'd get my tail and pull me back in. I only had one means of escape: through the window, and my room was all the way up in the attic. I was terrified of heights and I still couldn't fly. If I jumped I may not live through it, and that thought made it all the worse. I was stuck, petrified at the thought of falling, but almost twice as scared of the beating I'd get when he got a hold of me.

“THAT'S IT! YOUR 10 SECONDS ARE UP AND I'M COMING IN!!”

He started beating down the door. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! It was louder than any thunder I'd ever heard. The thought of what he'd do when he got inside terrified me to the point of tears. BOOM! BOOM! One more kick, and he'd be inside. I had to act right then and there. Disregarding my fear of heights and my inability to fly, I got a running start and I jumped, breaking the window completely. Time slowed down as I made impact. I felt the breaking of bones and the piercing pain of glass, and then came the fall. I tumbled through the air from three stories high, fumbling with my wings trying to slow the impending impact, and then I looked down. I was headed straight for the edge of the cloud. I was screaming, crying, and desperately trying to make it so that I wouldn't fall over the edge, but it was no use. I hit it hard, breaking a leg with an audible snap as I fell off into the darkness. I fell for what seemed like an eternity in just a few short seconds and landed somewhere on the outskirts of Cloudsdale. I landed in the fluff of a large cloud, but it was still painful. I could feel all the bones that I'd broken, and all the glass digging into me as I watched part of the cloud turn red. I started to fade off into darkness. I was so scared what was happening, but at least I was away from them, away from the nightmare I was living. I drifted off slowly, and I didn't care whether I woke up or not.

Everything was dark and I could feel all the pain. The cuts, bruises, and broken bones all seemed like they were intensified a hundred times over. As I laid there in agony at the intense pain I heard the faintest voice come to me.

“Fluttershy...” I heard the voice coo me softly. “It's alright sweetheart, you're going to be just fine...” Then I felt myself being brought into a gentle and loving embrace that was so faintly familiar. At that moment all the pain went away. No broken bones or cuts, not even a single bruise. “When you wake up tomorrow, tonight will be nothing but a memory. You'll find your way, and you'll find friends and love like you've never known.” I began to recognize the voice as it continued to console me. “Just don't ever, ever give up.” Then it became clear who the voice belonged to as it began to sing a familiar tune. A lullaby from when I was a little foal that she used to sing.

Hush now, quiet now it's time to lay your sleepy head.

Hush now quiet now it's time to go to bed.

Drifting off to sleep leave saddened days behind you.

Drifting off to sleep let the joy of dreamland find you.

“M... Momma..?” I said trying to turn and see her as my eyelids fell slowly. I couldn't keep my eyes open. I never saw her, but I felt her hoof around me as her voice gently lulled me to a deep and peaceful sleep.

Hush now, quiet now it's time to lay your sleepy head.

Hush now quiet now it's time to go to bed...

When I woke up I was laying in the fluffy cloud, curled up in a tiny heap with my blanket over me snuggling Ms. Cottontail. I got up and stretched my wings and my legs, but then I noticed it. My bones weren't broken anymore, and I wasn't covered in cuts and glass; I wasn't even sore at all. I was perfectly fine. Then I took a moment to absorb my surroundings, and I realized where I was. I had landed in the pegasus graveyard... on top of my mother's grave.

“Momma...” I said out loud as I felt the hot tears streaming down my face. “Thank you...”