She didn't think she would ever know what defeat would feel like.
Long ago, she had lived in the Everfree Forest, ruling over no equines, but rather ruling over a myriad of forest animals both big and small. Life had been peaceful, conflicts had been small, and she had truly been in the zone. Her mystical magic had healed many and protected many, for years upon years.
But she had been blind to the cruelties of the life that still marched on outside.
A rude awakening had been brought to her one morning, in the form of a harsh buzzing noise. The sound that she knew all too well, the sound that had haunted her when she was only but a filly living in a small treehouse village. The animals she led had all gathered around her cozy cottage, awaiting her guidance and leadership once she had been fully aware of the situation.
Gathering up the army she had carefully crafted in the event such a terrible thing would happen, she had marched up to the ponies who had threatened her way of living and had engaged in battle. To her, it was long and arduous, even though in actuality it was only just a mere few hours. She could still remember the bloodshed, the corpses, the screams and cries of sheer agony that rattled in her throat and that of her subjects. Death was not a new concept to her by any means, but when it came to a COD that could easily be avoided, she wasn't hardened enough for it.
She had lost count of the casualties. After a while, she stopped trying.
Forced to relocate to the White Tail Woods when the ponies had threatened to raze her home if she did not back down, she, along with the others that had survived, built a new "kingdom". It was well away from equine civilization and well away from those who would tear down her home, their home, for the sake of immoral capitalism.
But history is doomed to repeat itself sometimes.
"I will give you one last chance to leave."
Those were the words she had uttered, to the same ponies who had disturbed her with that same cacophony of noise. Buzzing, yelling, screaming -- it all had no place in her paradise. And that was to say nothing of the litter. Oh, the litter. It had sickened her down to her core when she had seen a stallion so carelessly toss an empty bottle of water to the side right in plain view of her. It had given them an advantage, an insight into one of her weaknesses. Not that she was aware of that, because she was not a pony who knew much of the concept of war.
She had tried to reason with them. She really tried. Even though it had been a fruitless endeavor when her family had done it, she had tried.
"Lady, we got orders from the Chief here to build some housin'. Once he's got his mind set on somethin' it's hard to get him to change it. Besides, what's the harm in choppin' down a few trees, huh?"
"Animals live in those trees! You would be killing them all!"
"Eh, not all of 'em. They'll go somewhere else."
"They've made their home here! They thrive here! You can't just send them away!"
"Oh no? Watch us."
The Chief had taken out a chainsaw, which she had promptly blasted to bits with one quick burst of magic before he even had a chance to flip the switch.
The rage that had been written on his face was indescribable.
"Well then. If you and your pathetic pets won't vacate the premises, then perhaps we'll have to make you leave." The Chief turned to his crew. "You heard me, boys! Let's roll out!"
Whatever had happened after that was a complete blur to her.
Lying on the cold hard ground, her notched ears picked up on the sound of buzzing, rumbling, fierce hoofsteps, whoops, hollers, screams, yells, cries. It was absolute chaos. She didn't know how much time had passed. She couldn't turn her head to witness the damage. She had animals surrounding her on all sides, expressing their concern for her, urging her to stand up and fight.
Her most trusted confidante, a white bunny, poked her in her bruised cheek. The pain was only mild, but to her, it felt like someone had shoved a hammer straight into it. She opened her mouth, taking slow and steady breaths, uttering small vocalizations to warm up her vocal cords. Her horn lit up for only a few seconds before the light died down.
"A-Angel..." she murmured. "Angel, I...they..."
"They are going to destroy the woods if we don't stop them!"
"I don't...know if we can save the woods, Angel. They've already taken so much. They took my homes." She squeezed her eyes shut. "My family. My friends. They will stop at nothing."
"So you're just going to give up? Just like that?" Angel stomped his foot onto the ground. "You can save the woods, Fluttershy. You can save us."
"Angel, you were there. I tried to stop them when they destroyed the Treeborhood. Me and my family. And I failed!"
"Trying and failing is better than not trying at all!"
The conversation came to a lull. She had no rebuttal to what she knew was fact.
"Sometimes, Fluttershy, you have to take drastic measures. You will have to provide swift retribution."
"...Meaning...?"
"Do unto others as they have done unto us." Angel's gaze grew steely and cold. "Kill them."
"K-Kill them?! B-b-b-but I can't do that! I'm...it..."
"It's the only way to save our home." Angel turned to the rest of the animals. "What do we say? Shall we go and crush these greedy stallions under our paws?"
A chorus of elated cries met her ears.
"Wonderful." Angel made eye contact with her. "I believe we have enough consensus. So what do you say, Your Majesty?"
She fell silent. The sounds of cheers as the buzzing ceased was like a horn on a chalkboard. Flashbacks ran through her mind rapidly -- of her family being killed, of her friends being killed, of the Treeborhood falling to ruins and leaving nothing behind but wood chips. She remembered the sadness and rage she felt.
...The rage...
Yes, the rage. The rage she had kept locked inside of her for years in favor of treating others with kindness, phrases like "kill them with kindness" and "cruel to be kind" meaning nothing to her. Now that she thought about it, perhaps it was those stallions that urged her to turn to the creatures of the forest for help over those of her own species. But now wasn't the time to think about that, of course.
The deep breath she took, followed by those same emotions coursing through her body and fueling her adrenaline, enabled her to stand on shaky hooves, and eventually enabled her to spread her wings and take flight. She hovered in the air, high above her subjects, and fixed them with an angry glare pushed at the forefront of her cyan eyes.
"Fellow creatures!" came the bellow, as her pink mane and tail began to lift into the air and wave proudly like flags. "It is time we take back what belongs to us! Together, we will put an end to those that has so dangerously and recklessly ruined the lives of thousands!" A breathy exhale left her nose as she turned towards the woods, her hair growing more and more ethereal with every second. "Leave nopony behind! Stop them from destroying any more homes, any more of your fellow animals!"
She closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were filled with nothing but blinding-white light.
"CHAAAAAARGE!!"
The voice was almost demonic in nature, a side effect of the power she could feel coursing through every nerve, every blood vessel, every cell in her body. With mighty beats of her wings, she soared towards the woods, her subjects racing after her with fury written all over their faces.
The stallions found themselves quickly outnumbered. Even with their heavy machinery, they were no match for the swarm of animals that didn't bother to even consider the measure of an equine life outside of their leader's. Their bodies didn't even look equine whatsoever by the time bears and honey badgers alike were finished mauling them.
Leaving them to it, she chased after the Chief, wanting to take him for her own. He was a speedster, but with her increased power, she caught up to him in record time and tackled him, pinning him to the ground.
"P-please! You..." His eyes widened as he recognized the mare within his fear. "You?!"
Her lips curled back into an ugly snarl, showing tooth after tooth. "My name is Fluttershy. Do not forget it." She freed a hoof to point at him. "You are a murderer, plain and simple. Your despicable actions may have gone unnoticed by everypony, but don't think you'll get off scot-free this time."
"Look, all we wanted...all we wanted was to build housing! Housing is always good!"
"Not if you're taking the lives of others to do it." She snorted. "I am the protector of thousands of living creatures. Creatures just like you and me, who lead full enriching lives in all sorts of different biomes across Equestria." Pausing, she leaned in close to the Chief's face, being almost snout-to-snout with him. "You destroyed my home a long time ago. You killed my family and friends simply because they got in your way. You are selfish and narcissistic, and think that just because you have big machines and lots of power that you can intimidate others."
The Chief's eyes grew wide.
"Well not anymore." The ridges on her horn lit up one by one. "I will not, let me repeat, I will not let you harm any of my subjects any longer!"
As her horn lit up once more, she stepped off of the stallion and slowly raised him into the air. His soft whimpers turned into full-blown screams, leaving him no room to beg any longer. All the while, she watched with a tight-lipped frown and narrowed eyes.
"Your Majesty?" Angel said, hopping up besides her. "The group has been taken care of."
"You don't have to call me that, Angel." she responded, not taking her eyes off of the Chief for even a second. "But good job. Have you dismantled the machinery?"
"They're working on it."
"Good." When she was satisfied with her work, she slowly lowered the body down onto the ground. "Terry? Tania? Theo? It's mealtime!"
The Chief tried to get up, but to no avail as magical binds made themselves visibly known. In his peripheral vision from where his head had flopped down onto the ground, he saw three black shapes approach him. They were small, but their jaws were massive and threatening. The sight of the jaws were all he needed to begin thrashing.
The trio pounced, unfazed by the frantic movement of their prey. Blood spilled, bones snapped, and pieces of fur were torn from their follicles. Screams echoed into the air from the Chief, but no one was around to come to his aid. She listened as the screams died down to mere whimpers, and then to utter near-silence. The key word was "near", because the sound of bones snapping still persisted.
Once the trio were done feasting, she pointed to her right. "Good job! Can you take care of the rest of the bodies, please? Ah- but don't eat any of my animals, please. They are off-limits. We need to have proper burials for them."
As the animals went on their way, she heaved a sigh at what was left of the Chief. Nothing but a few mangled bones, some with the bone marrow easily visible. She couldn't deny that she felt a pang of regret for him, even in spite of what he had done. But there was no way to bring him back to life. She had tried that with a few animals back when her magic was still weak, and she had failed every single time.
She stared at what could pathetically be called a corpse for a few moments longer, then turned on her heel, spread her wings, and took flight towards what was left of the wreckage.
Many years had passed since then. She had lost count, in all honesty.
She and her subjects had taken careful measures to regrow what they could of the White Tail Woods. Only half of the Woods had been needlessly taken, which felt like a miracle to her. With her magic, she had helped to make the plants and animals that lived there grow big and strong, and had even begun to draft ideas for a whole new Treeborhood for her subjects. On Angel's suggestion, she had also decided to strengthen offense and defense within her "kingdom", in the event that another threat came rearing its ugly head.
As she was finishing up examination of a blueprint, Angel hopped up to her, tapping his foot impatiently. A quick glow of magic allowed her to hear his concerns.
"Your Ma- erm, I mean, Fluttershy?" he began. "About that war we fought. With the Chief and his stallions."
She put her pencil down and gazed at him. "Yes? What about it?"
Angel didn't answer right away, gazing at the ground and speed-studying the art of tact. "I think there might be more of them out there."
She simply stared, awaiting an elaboration.
"There are companies like that all over Equestria. Companies with ponies who destroy nature for their own self-gain. If nopony stops them, then the same thing that happened to us will happen to other creatures too." Angel's eyes began to gain shimmers of desperation. "We can't let that happen. I don't want that to happen. We need to stop them."
A sigh slipped from her lips. "I'm aware." she murmured. "But I'm just one pony, Angel. I can't stop every company who wants to ruin what I cherish. And I can't travel around Equestria helping out every creature. Some are just...beyond my hoofgrip."
"Then why not equip ambassadors? Those that can go around Equestria and help you?"
That made her stop to think. She tapped her chin for a minute or two, considering the prospect. "I suppose that could work. It would certainly be a load off of my back." Slowly, a smile began to creep along her face. "Let's do it!"
Within weeks, she had ambassadors of all different species ready to go. She made sure to pick only the healthiest ones, as some woods and forests in Equestria were far enough from the White Tail Woods that a creature who was nearing the end of their life would die on the journey to their destination. Setting up communication, however, was the hardest part -- she had refined her teleportation skills so she could easily go to most nearby areas, but she couldn't exactly practice her spell on those who weren't in her immediate vicinity. So, she resolved to make visits to one location once a month, in order to check up on things and work something out with her ambassadors.
Lying in bed in her newly-constructed home after coming back from a visit to the Lourtry Woods, she gazed up at the stars through her ceiling window and tried to clear her mind. One thought, however, remained persistent.
Angel is right. Maybe I can't stop ponies from destroying the environment, even with my ambassadors. Maybe more animals will have to suffer until more significant change can happen.
But I know one thing for sure.
Her eyes slowly closed.
It certainly won't be for a lack of trying.
