Nightmare

Light fades in the sky as the pegasus mare trots down the path, away from the gloom of her past. Away from the hurt. The torment.

The fear.

Right now, fear overcomes her as she crosses the forest, the trees casting gloom as far as the eye could see. She hates being out in the deep dark woods. She'd never have ventured this far normally, but this is an exception. The life she has led thus far has been fraught with pain and sorrow, and she longs for a more quiet and peaceful existence. "Maybe I'll make some friends," she thinks to herself, "And I won't have to stay inside all the time."

As she trots down the path, a hooded figure comes into view, sitting at the divergence of a fork in the path. She can't make out his face. Walking up to him, she notes that the cloak he is wearing is old, brown, worn out. The kind of thing an old unicorn wizard might wear in children's fairy tales. She walks up to him and looks under the hood. The stranger's face was striking, in that it was almost totally blank in expression. He didn't seem to take note of her presence. "Um, excuse me," she says timidly, "Sorry for disturbing you, but which way is the next town?"

The stranger's eyes flick up, and his head raises ever so slightly. He regards her for several moments. She gulps. Just as she starts to back away, he points toward the left fork. The mare smiles, saying a quiet, "Thank you," and departs.

As she walks, the gloom sets in more prominently. Briefly she wonders if other ponies in Ponyville are like that stallion.

A sign emerges from the wan light reading, "Ponyville, 10 miles." She decides to fly until she gets close to the town. In her mind, she justifies it with a desire to avoid attracting attention to herself, despite a flying pony generally being more interesting to look at than a trotting one. She tries to avoid blaming it on a desire to keep from meeting other ponies like that one. After a few miles of gliding, she floats gently to earth and then sticks to a quick trot. Other ponies on the path, mostly merchants hauling their wares on carts. Hopefully none of them make eye contact with her. Soon, she can make out a town in the distance, and stops, suddenly feeling nervous. She stepped, one hoof after the other, until she stood at the edge of town. What if Ponyville isn't as nice as everyone says? What if everypony makes a big deal about her? "No," she tells herself determinedly. She's come too far to quit now. She takes a deep breath, and carefully walks into town