Once upon a time, in a land you may have heard of before called Flutter Valley, a Flutter Pony named Crystal was going for a flight. Crystal's turquoise mane and tail flowed out from behind her, and her blue moth-like wings flapped gently against the wind. After flying for a little while, Crystal landed with a soft thump at the cafe, smelled all the delicious scents from within, and stepped inside. Heads turned as she walked, and Crystal felt the gaze of many flutter ponies, male and female alike, boring into her skin. She walked up to the counter and scanned the menu. By the time she'd decided on a chamomile tea, the staff member at the desk had her head slumped on the table, her gentle snoring causing the puddle of a spilled cup of coffee on the counter to ripple slightly. Crystal cleared her throat.
The waitress sat up immediately, and forced a weak smile at Crystal. "Yes?"
"I'd like chamomile tea, please." Crystal smiled a genuine smile. She studied the face of the waitress, whose smile betrayed her real thoughts about Crystal. Crystal felt her eyes, large and blue, staring into her skin. Her dead-black skin.
Crystal was born that way, even though the doctors had assured her parents, Violet Drops and Candle Flame, that their little daughter would most surely be magenta. She'd lived a different life from the other flutter ponies, whose skin was all bright colors. She lived with always having to endure bullies, mean looks, and photographers, because no one wanted to be around a black flutter pony. Because of this, Crystal had become very good friends with her parents. They loved their daughter Crystal, unlike every other pony in Flutter Valley.
Crystal took the tea from the waitress and left the cafe, much to the owner's delight. She took flight, and, after locating her house, circled toward it like a flock of crows over a carcass. After landing on her balcony, she flung open the door.
"I'm home!" Crystal called, walking down the spiral staircase with a gentle thump-thump. Violet Drops, a flutter pony with a violet mane, light pink skin, and deep turquoise eyes, looked up and smiled.
"Would you like to play a card game with me?" Her mother pulled out a chair from under the kitchen table and tapped it with a hoof, motioning for her to sit down.
Crystal fell into the cushioned seat, pushing a loose strand of hair from her face. "I don't feel like it."
"Oh, okay." Violet Drops put away the playing cards. "Is there something on your mind?"
"Everypony ignores me because of my coloring.. I've had it. I don't want them to bully me anymore.." Crystal took a deep breath and looked pleadingly into her mother's eyes. "Can we move away? Please?"
Now it was her mother's turn to take a deep breath. "Honey, I know you're having a hard time living here, but we have a good life here," She stood up, and stretched out her hoof to her daughter. "Come on, let's go for a fly."
Crystal and Violet Drops rose into the air, high enough to where no one could see Crystal, but low enough so they could see the city. Violet Drops pointed a hoof at a tall, yellow-gold building near the center of the city.
"Your father has a great job at the bank, where he is well respected, you know. We don't have that in other cities."
Violet Drops pointed a hoof toward a small, colorful building near the edge of town. "Since my daycare is the only one in town, everypony goes there. It helps us pay for extra things, like toys and clothes." She sighed, admiringly, at her daycare, then flew away again. Crystal held on to her hoof, as she had no idea where her mother was going.
Violet Drops hovered over a square brick building, with a pyramid roof and a little gold bell-tower at the top. "Your school, where you get better grades then all the other little flutter ponies." It was true. For lack of something better to do, Crystal had poured herself into her studies and risen to the top of her class.
"I know, Mom, but all of my classmates think i'm weird. There was nothing else for me to do except study." Crystal let her gaze drop on the schoolyard, with two swings hanging from a sycamore tree near the edge of the yard. The only thing that brightened up the otherwise bland yard was a patch of blue wildflowers, though the fillies weren't allowed to take any.
Violet Drops gazed sadly at her daughter. She had lied, not everyone went to her daycare, but it was mostly because they hated her because of her daughter. Her husband's co-workers at the bank were the same way. They had maintained a goo reputation by keeping their head held high and moving on, but there was still many a gossiper about their family, claiming things like their daughter was a witch, she was evil, and even, her and her husband had performed dark magic to make their daughter black. It was absurd, and she denied the untrue rumors, but there would always be another gossiper.
The two flew home, mother and daughter, just as the bright sun was beginning to sink below the horizon into the glassy lake.
"Your father should be home soon from work, " Crystal's mother tried to console her daughter's sadness. "Then we can play cards, if you want. I'll even go easy on you." Crystal smiled weakly and shook her head. Even though cards was her favorite game, she just wasn't in the mood.
"Oh.. okay." Both mother and daughter looked up toward their red front door, as it opened. A tired-looking yellow flutter pony with a fiery red and orange mane and tail stepped in, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.
"Papa!" Crystal ran to him and tackled him.The weak pony, whose name was Candle Flame, smiled and shook her off.
"Crystal, my little moon flower, come here." He pulled her into a tight hug. His wife stood up and smiled at him.
"How's your day been, honey?" She asked, giving her husband a peck on the cheek.
"Fine, just the usual. How about yours?" Crystal ran to the kitchen to get her family some ice cream.
"Fine, just Crystal wanting to move, again." Violet Drops sat herself down daintily at the kitchen table and ate her ice cream. Candle Flame joined her, and they ate, as a family, laughing and talking the night away.
That night, Crystal had a nightmare that her parents didn't love her anymore, and she was forced to run away, and live on her own. She woke up, shaking. After realizing it was just a dream, she fell back into an uneasy sleep for the rest of the night.
