Those were her words, muttered in the middle of the dark night, muttered when she was still at home. A friend stood by her side, looking at her with worried eyes. But she didn’t mind.

Her mind was fresh and clean and simple, and she felt comfortable. She was not afraid, she felt brave and bold. Nothing could hurt her. She not only said the words, she meant them. She believed in them. She knew they were true. She was not afraid of the monsters.

“But everypony is,” said her friend.

A student, a know-it-all, the smartest mare she’d ever known. “That’s the reason why we don’t go in there at night.”

Her friend was worried about her, she was scared. Because even being the smartest mare she’d ever known, she was still just a normal pony.

“Everypony is afraid,” she replied proudly. “Everypony, but me. I’ll go there, and spend the night in the forest if you don’t believe me!”

Her friend tried to stop her, tried to scream it wasn’t necessary, but it was already too late. She wouldn’t hear the student’s words, she wouldn’t reason with her. No sense in running away from her own actions now. She was going there.

She would prove the world what she was made of.

She repeated the words, enjoying her own bravado. And then she flew away.

She flew to the forest.

She flew to the Everfree.

And the stars and the Moon stopped shining, and she could see nothing once she entered the Forest.

The Everfree.

Where monsters await.

She was not afraid of the monsters, those had been her words, those had been her thoughts. She could fight the monsters; she could run from the monsters. She had done so before. She had been there before and she had survived. She had never felt afraid of it. She had never had a reason to be truly afraid.

She was invincible.

But the night was dark and the air was cold, and she realized she was alone.

For entering the Forest was not a simple goal, and spending the night was not a mortal’s option. The trees were shaking, the wolves were howling, and she realized her mistake.

But she wouldn’t fly away. She didn’t feel the fear.

She only felt cold.

For the night was dark and the air was cold, and she was now alone. She walked into the forest, looking always ahead. She wasn’t scared of the monsters. She could fight, or she could run.

And the wolves were still howling, but she didn’t mind. And then she heard hoofsteps, right behind her, clear against the relative silence of the Everfree.

Clop

Clop

Clop

And then she heard it breathe, and then she heard its beating heart.

Thump

Thump

Thump

She couldn’t hear her own, but she could hear the thing’s heart. The beast’s heart. The monster’s heart.

And she ran.

And she ran and ran and flew away, and for a moment she thought she was safe.

She was not.

Right there, in front of her eyes. Darkness all around her, the only thing she could see was that thing, that beast, that monster. The footsteps had stopped. The breathing had stopped. The beating of the heart had stopped. Everything was silent. She still couldn’t hear the beat of her own heart.

There it was. Ridiculous, stupid, laughable.

Eerie.

She didn’t feel fear, she was not scared. She was too strong to be afraid of such a thing. It was just a head, a stupid head. Nothing she couldn’t fight.

She was not scared.

She only felt cold.

Looking at her, with those cold eyes. With that empty smile. Just a head, she could see no body. A floating stupidity, a levitating madness.

A monster.

And she was brave and she was young, and she was not afraid of the monsters. So she didn’t fight, she didn’t run. She stood there, looking at it defiantly. Confident.

And that was her mistake.

And the thing went by before she could move, and she felt her legs and wings freeze, and she knew that thing was not alive.

She didn’t feel fear.

She just felt cold.

And the monster made no sound, and just stared at her.

And she could see the black tears, and she tried to run away, but she couldn’t. She tried to scream, to call for help, but she couldn’t. She was frozen. And it was crying.

But those weren’t true tears, and she knew. She knew it was not a signal of weakness or pain or sadness. The black tears were just another symbol, another monster. Just like its eyes, just like its smile.

she thought.

And then

it moved.

And then she realized, she wasn’t feeling cold. She had never felt the cold. She had always been warm, but she had always been alone.

She was alone and scared.

She had always been scared.

Because her friends weren’t there, they weren’t by her side, and the monster was in her head, in her mind, in her soul.

The monster was her.

And she finally said, she finally admitted.

To the Everfree.

To the place where the monsters await.