Butterflies.

That's what she saw around her... countless, infinite little butterfly wings, clouding her entire vision in their radiance. From somewhere, a brilliant circular illumination filtered through the petals of trees, a light too beautiful to be that of a mortal sun. Surely, it was some angelic orb cast forth from a dream, gracing the beautiful lands around with its visible song and chasing shadows into white oblivion.

She saw, also, sweet patches of sky intermixed with the peaceful glare. The sky glowed fuchsia in some spots, and in other spots, peach orange. It was like stained glass, she noticed, how the colors above checkered so harmoniously together. Even the clouds fit perfectly with the sky's color scheme, their wispy violet hue only adding to the atmosphere. If she looked closely, through the fluff, the butterflies, and the light, she swore she could see little diamond stars, twinkling kindly down at her from billions of miles away.

She calmly kneaded her pale golden hooves into the soft earth before settling herself down into it, flexing her wings out and over the ground. The shining grasses upon which she lay were mostly of a silken texture, but others were slightly more prickly, tickling her wing-tips. The sensation was strange but not unpleasant, though she barely reacted to it. Her rosy hair fell in long, ghostly strands over her back and the left side of her face, obscuring one of her reflective, river-colored eyes. The other sapphiric iris continued to glimmer brightly in the orb's fire, and it did so for a long time, as she refused to ignore the blaze for even a blink.

Unlike the euphoric world around her, the filly remained still and silent, even her face bore not a smile. Was the happiness there, somewhere, buried deep in the yellow form? Did she remain apathetic on the outside to mask a growing love in her heart? Alas, there was no sign of either. The filly's face was almost completely shadowed in coldness, with only her wide, watching eyes to contradict the darkness that slowly enveloped her. How could any child be so impervious to such a fantastic dream?

Ah, but that was what plagued her. That cursed word was what chilled her heart and left an unwavering mark in her soul. A dream was all that glory would ever be, a collection of thoughts so stuffed with lies that all existing truth would recoil in disgust. Soon all it would take would be a whisper from the outside, and the tricks would shatter into millions of tiny shards. The spell would be broken, and all life's ails would once again return to haunt her. Her unmoving eyes flickered with sadness, though they remained at their post.

Inevitably, it did pass by in a whisper, and the orb's loving warmth was no more.

"That's a black eye, all right..."

The butterflies around her dissipated, their wings either disappearing or blurring into a growing gray. The light above turned artificial in less than a second, automatically more harsh and potent than what lay in her imagination. The sky was nothing more than what looked like bathroom tile, made to look so harmonious before by the wool she herself had pulled over her eyes. The ground was merely the thin, scratchy bedsheets of a hospital bed, the fabric hardened by countless washings and not soft like the grass in her dream. The air felt stagnant on her tongue, the scents sharp in her nostrils.

"Sweet Celestia, how could a fall alone cause that kind of harm? Those bruises are shaped like hooves!"

Yes, that's right... there was a fall. Her blurry mind began to collect its memories like pieces of broken glass, as it slowly but surely healed itself enough to recall what exactly had happened. There wasn't just a fall, but a race, too. A challenge. The small blue pegasus- her thoughts were still foggy, and precise names were caught in the mist- had challenged them. That sweet filly alone had challenged the foals who'd been mean to her...

...who'd hurt her...

The filly felt an unknown energy take a swing at her heart, a bone-jerking pang resounding from it like a physical echo. No no no, don't think about them...

"Of course, to fall from such a height is by no means an undamaging experience, but those injuries are hoof-inflicted. Furthermore, our x-rays prove that this isn't the first time she's suffered said injuries."

No, please. Don't think. Don't you dare even think about them. Please... She felt her body shudder at the memories that threatened to rear their ugly heads, so she balanced fearfully at the border of vivid mental imagery and the ignorance to which she clung. Another nasty blow to her heart, and she began to loose her hold on the sliver of reality she possessed. Oh, Celestia, no.

"That's for being such a whiny little foal, you crybaby!"

Then came a smack to the muzzle, a hard one. The sound of bruised bone resonated through the early morning air, the delicate body of the pegasus going limp as she slumped to the ground.

"No... please stop..." She whimpered as a scorching, salty substance filled up the inside of her muzzle before trailing down her lip. Her vision went scarlet as her pleas were ignored, feeling yet another hit find its mark on one of her cheeks and encouraging even more blood from her mouth.

"Stop? STOP! We've only just begun, looser!" Her attacker laughed heartlessly, a laugh that was soon joined by countless other laughs just like it. In cadence with their assault, they all vocalized their enjoyment, slamming their hooves mercilessly all over her body until not one place remained untainted by their pain. Endless mocking and pain... more vermillion liquid falling like tears onto stained clouds, more screams of agony in blackened skies.

At last, when they grew bored of her torment, they left her, a bleeding mass huddled helplessly in the cloud.

Broken.

"Well, whatever the case, she's safe now, and undoubtedly the bravest little pegasus I've seen in a long time."

The filly winced as she was catapulted back from the terrible remembrance, the foreign stallion's words only serving to further her torture. Though the vivid flashback had ceased, the effects of it remained, and she could feel the agonizing pangs in each and every bruise she'd suffered from those colts she'd left in Cloudsdale.

It was like a song, almost, with each note being played at exactly the right time, one after the other in unending melody. Or if not a song, perhaps a poem, rhythmic sentences full of grief and regret.

With a gasp, the filly closed her eyes once again and focused on all the hurt building up in her chest, focused on the stallion's strange and untruthful claims, focused on all the confusion she'd garnered in only a few short minutes. Betwyxt the relentless attack of complex emotions and the bubbling fire of her internal wounds, the filly composed the verses to reflect, like a mirror, the hope she had lost, in such passionate language even she couldn't fully comprehend it.

Brave, am I?

'Tis bravery to cower 'neath the smite of hoof and monstrous gale?

'Tis bravery to face a city branded with their prints of ichor, stained?

I bear no mark of bravery, if so, I am to fail

When keratin met soft and supple flesh, and blood sept into clouds then scarlet rained...

Author's Note

Well, there's your protagonist, folks.

This is going to be a new take on Fluttershy's story. To me she's never really been that much of an interesting character by herself, but little thoughts came to me, and I began to wonder if what she's allowed others to know about her past is merely a romanticization of what actually happened. Bullying... it's not a joke. I've seen first hand what it can drive someone to do to themselves. What if she hadn't fallen off of that cloud accidentally...?

Also, the whole "poetess" theme of this actually was inspired by Miss Bianca from the original Rescuers series by Margery Sharp. Trust me, the movie is nothing compared to Margery's impeccable writing. But I digress; in the original book, Miss Bianca is a compulsive poet who constantly writes verses about her adventures. I feel that this will be similar to such, albeit the tiniest bit more morbid.

Yes, I've been told how cruel I am to characters. Don't worry, things just have to get worse before they get better, sadness has to let up sometime.

• Hiraeth