[private] courage can be an emotion too.

[Picard]

It's his first time to venture away from his mother. In silence they had lived among the flowers of the Brilliant Pampas, never the ones to make themselves known. For far too long he had wished to be among the others while watching from afar. Two long years had proven to pass by slow when the only company he had was the butterfly mare he called "mother". 

With an overly eager flutter of his white and gold butterfly wings, the young colt made his way towards the common lands. When the trees began to thicken and solid ground became harder to find the boy fluttered towards to the ground with a sort of grace, his long spotted legs reaching for the earth as he came to a soft landing. With delicate steps the colts hooves dug gently into the earth as he made his way through the trees. It was cold here, colder then back home and his thin coat provided less than ample warmth in these winter months.

A shiver runs through him and in response the shadows around him seemed to pulse. The movement draws his attention and for a moment his heart pounds in his chest. He's never understood how the shadows around him always seemed to have a life of their own for he has yet to discover the power that lay mostly dormant within. With uneven breaths his nostrils flare and his ears prick as he stares into the darkness that surrounded him. For a moment he is still and the only sound that surrounds him is the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he waits.

PICARD

"the road from legitimate suspicion to rampant
paranoia is very much shorter than we think."

@Nereza