The trees surrounded me, darkness filling my eyes as the moon above vanished from sight. I was in the darkest section of the Everfree Forest, completely alone and miles away from Ponyville. Cast away as a freak of nature, I no longer had a place to call home. To think that this was nothing more than a minor misunderstanding. They feared me, not because I was a force of evil, or enjoyed hurting others. No, they cast me away because of my appearance. You see, I have a very slender body, and a single colour coat and mane darker than night itself. My eyes are a dark shade of red, with purple and green to add a unique reflection whenever they are hit by the light of day, whereas they glow a deathly red by the light of the moon.

It has been said that my eyes are, at least during the day, the most beautiful eyes in Ponyville. Even Rarity commented on their beauty... That is, before she realized just how much of a demon I truly am. While she was generous enough to overlook my deformed body, the instant she glanced upon my devilish red eyes at night, she let out an ungodly shriek, and ran away without looking back. If you saw me with your own two eyes, you wouldn't hesitate to run in the other direction, either.

I'd rather not describe the way I look in full detail, but try to imagine a snake, griffon and pony hybrid. A creature with the body of a pegasus, tail of a snake and hooves with talons protruding from them. "I'm a monster, and nothing more..."

Just then, my thought was interrupted by an unnerving gust of wind blowing throughout the Everfree Forest, causing the leaves on all of the nearby trees to rustle against themselves, creating a rather eerie sound in the process. However, unlike the typical rustling of leaves back at Ponyville, and elsewhere in Equestria, the sound of the leaves within the darkness of the forest seemed to be demonic in nature. I could even hear a faint whispering in the darkness around me, as if the trees were attempting to communicate with the lost souls of the forest. "This place is truly haunted" I spoke to no one in particular, not quite realizing that I was indeed talking to the forest itself.

I've managed to subconsciously walk along this seemingly unending path for seven hours, with little to no rest. I was absolutely exhausted, and emotionally strained. Yet I knew that if I were to rest along the side of this path, my fate would be sealed away by the forest for the rest of eternity. The dangers lurking through the darkness would surely envelop me, devouring my tainted soul. I suppose that is what an abomination like myself deserves; to die a cold and sour death by the hoof or horn of the monsters just outside of my visions reach. "It's actually a rather poetic way to die" I thought to myself, only for a booming voice to enter into my mind, startling me out of my depressive trance.

"HOW CAN YOU SERIOUSLY BELIEVE YOU ARE WORTHLESS?" said the mysterious voice in my head. While it was loud, it did not seem to be violent or otherwise angry. If anything, the voice was calm and sincere, with a hint of worry on the side. "DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND HOW... HUH?... OH, Uh, my apologies, I wasn't aware of how loud I was projecting myself. I do hope you can forgive me." the voice spoke more softly, stuttering with a hint of embarrassment filling its' tone.

I, being nothing more than an insignificant black coated abomination, did not know how to react to this new inner voice. I felt scared, yet oddly calm, as if somewhere deep within my mind, I knew that this was not a voice to fear, but a voice to trust. Still, I couldn't entirely shake away the feeling that there was something sinister to this entire scene. As if the entity behind the voice was attempting to deceive me into trusting it, like it was performing an act, while I was the mare among the audience. "Please, do not think that way" the entity began to speak, as if capable of reading my thoughts. "You are not a mere stage, nor am I performing an act. My name is Luna, sister and co-ruler of Equestria. I do believe we have met once before, back when you were in Ponyville. Do you remember? You and I met at the library, along with Twilight and her closest friends."

Yes, that's right. We did happen to stumble across each others path, having met both of the princesses, Celestia and Luna, back at Twilight Sparkle's library. Though honestly, that feels like another lifetime ago, almost as if it had all just been a nightmare of which I dreamt up.

"It was no nightmare, nor was it a dream. Now tell me, why did you leave your friends behind, and enter into the Everfree Forest?" the same voice spoke, which I now recognized to be that of Princess Luna herself.

"I was kicked out of town. They thought I was a monster, or a demon. They just kept screaming at me, telling me to leave and never come back!" I screamed at the forest while tears began to form in my eyes. "They kept calling me names! They just... they didn't accept me for who I was under my hideous appearance, and judged me based on that alone!"

By this point, the tears that were slowly forming in my eyes had begun to flow rapidly down my darkened face, causing my eyes to burn mildly. Before I was able to formulate another thought, Luna began to speak.

"You are not hideous, nor are you a monster. You are simply something new, and it may take other ponies a while to get used to your appearance. I of all know just how painful being feared by others can feel, especially when they fear you for the way you look, rather than-" she paused as a sadness took over her voice, the memories of Nightmare Moon resurfacing. "As you can imagine, I myself have had my difficulties. Ponies everywhere feared me, and it took them a while to accept me as Princess Luna, rather than Nightmare Moon." Luna spoke with a sense of pride in her voice at having been forgiven by her subjects. "You shall be accepted within Ponyville, just as I was accepted to my throne."

After finishing her final sentence, a white light with brilliant purple hues formed a sphere around where I stood. This light was blindingly beautiful, but also proved to be quite painful to my naked eyes, forcing me to shut them.

Upon opening my eyes, I instantly noticed that the darkness of the forest had been replaced by the brightness of day. Before me stood a large tree, which I quickly recognized as Twilight's home and library. I was once again in Ponyville, and while I was quite thankful to be back, I also feared for my life, not knowing how others were going to react to my sudden presence. To my relief, nopony appeared to be around, allowing me to silently and carefully enter into the library without being detected.

Once inside, I noticed Twilight sitting at her usual desk, deeply distracted by the book placed before her. She didn't appear to notice my entry, but soon called out for Spike.

"Spike, could you please come here for a moment? I require your help with something important!"

"Yeah yeah, Twilight. I'm com-" before Spike was able to fully reply, he noticed me standing in the doorway. "Huh? What the HAY are you?!"

Spike's reaction seemed to shock Twilight, but before she could turn around to properly lecture her little assistant on his unexpected outburst, she noticed me standing silently by the doorway.

I didn't know what to say or do, so I just stood there, frozen in place. I expected to be attacked, or perhaps yelled at. However, neither one of us did anything but stare blankly at the other. No words were spoken, no actions were taken. We both just stood there, looking into each others eyes. It honestly felt like a staring contest, though this was no game.

Thankfully, Spike decided to speak up, breaking our trance. "Uh, Twilight? What are you two doing?" He asked with his right claw over his mouth, trying to hold back laughter at the rather unusual scene before him.

Twilight hesitated to reply, while keeping her eyes pinned against my own. Whether this was out of fear or curiosity, I wouldn't know, though she did reflect both emotions deep within her eyes.

"Spike. Would you mind getting the others?" She finally spoke, still locked within our gaze.

Spike, unknowing if I was a friend or foe, moved cautiously around the library so he could do what he was told. "Sure thing, Twilight! Though, Rainbow might be a little harder to find..." His voice trailed off as he made his way out of the library and into the streets of Ponyville.

After ten minutes of looking at each other, myself out of fear, and Twilight out of caution, Spike finally returned with five other ponies by his side. Twilight continued to stare me down, even after the arrival of her friends.

"So Twi, what's the big emergency?" Rainbow asked, only to stop dead in her tracks after glimpsing upon the figure that stood before her, otherwise known as me. The next thing I knew, I was being pinned to the hardwood floor by the fast flying Pegasus. She looked down at me with an unusually playful smirk, causing my body heat to rise and my mind to buzz at the possible thoughts going through the blue blurs head. You see, while most ponies were afraid of me, and did everything in their power to avoid me, Rainbow Dash was different. She actually thought I was, in her words, "Really. Freaking. Awesome." She was the closest thing to a friend I have ever had, possibly even going beyond the friendship line and into something... No, she would never think of me in that way, as I was still a monster. "I need to snap out of it" I thought to myself while loosely shaking my head to try and clear my mind.

"Oh darling, I can't believe how very rude I was to you." Rarity spoke with a strong sadness in her voice, clearly remembering the way she acted after seeing my glowing red eyes for the first time. "Will you ever forgive me?"

As if on queue, all six of the ponies present began to sob loudly, while practically chanting "forgive us" into the otherwise silent library, and just like that, the heaviness in the air evaporated away, and was replaced by unending happiness and joy. The library was full of party decorations, and confetti was falling from the ceiling. I was accepted into their circle of friendship, and was no longer an outcast. I was no longer a monster in their eyes. I was no longer alone...

I lived happily ever after in Ponyville!


Except, none of that actually happened. I was still in the Everfree Forest, having fallen asleep by the side of the unending path of which I walked.