A Journey through Equestria

Dear Reader,

Well, first I would like to say good morning. I yawned, I stretched, grabbed the quill and began to write.

Excuse me, I just yawned again.

But that wasn’t what I really want to tell you. No, I want to tell you about the dream I had. It was a really special dream, so I really want to tell you.

I fell asleep. It was dark at first, but then it became lighter. And the lighter it became, the foggier it got, so all I could see where those thick, white clouds.

Looking down, I couldn’t even see my body. But it felt… really weird. As if I was human again. But that was impossible – I didn’t even know how I became a pony in the first place. But I think that doesn’t matter in a dream, though.

I could hear voices emerge from the thick fog. They were laughing and talking, but I couldn’t hear what they said. I tried to walk towards them, but as soon as I was in seeing and hearing distance, the fogs would become thicker and I couldn’t hear them anymore.

That made me really, really, really nervous. Not nervicited, more like scared – nervous. You could say panic.

I began to run around. Now I’ve come to think of it, I was running on two legs – and the next moment at all fours – and then on two legs again. I didn’t think of it back then, because I was so scared.

There were the voices again. I instantly recognized them – they were my parents.

But they weren’t laughing anymore. They were screaming for me to run.

Their voices echoed all over the fog.

Run!

And I ran.

Run!

I ran the other direction, but I couldn’t escape the maniacal laughter that seemed to come from everywhere.

Run!

The laughter slowly came closer, and closer…

Run!

But just at that moment when I was sure to see the face of the one who was laughing, the fog disappeared. It just went away, as if it was never there.

I fell on the grass. It was a huge field, green as far as the eye could see. The ground sloped down slowly from where I was lying, so it seemed like I was on top of a hill.

It was night, yet it wasn’t dark. The moon and the stars gave so much light, that the grass bathed in a silver glow. I lifted up my arm – it was a purple hoof. I sighed, but I couldn’t tell what kind of sigh it was: a longing sigh, homesick – or a sigh of relief.

Then, a voice spoke, a voice as smooth as the night itself.

“Fear not, my little pony.”

I looked up to see a dark blue Alicorn mare, flying towards me. Her mane was absolutely beautiful: they were as dark blue as the night sky, with all the stars in them.

“You are safe now.”

I looked around. “Where am I? Is this a dream?”

She nodded. “Yes. This is a dream.”

I looked at her again.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“I am Princess Luna,” she answered.

I gasped, surprised, and wanted to bow, but she stopped me.

“Don’t worry, my little pony. May I inquire your name?”

My voice shook as I answered. “M-my name i-is Civviq W-writer.”

She nodded. “Where are you from?”

When she finished asking that, the fog suddenly returned, heavier than ever. We were both surprised. Quickly, she flapped her wings to get rid of the fog. She succeeded, but there were still a few strands left and they were multiplying by the second.

Luna saw this, and spoke again.

“I don’t have much time anymore. Take care, little filly, and keep your friends close. Don’t worry about your past, for it will reveal itself in time.”

She flew away, towards the moon. I still could see a glimpse of it, before It became too foggy to see.

But through the fog, I could see a road appear out of nowhere. It was a sandy road that went straight through the fields.

I could hear Luna’s voice. “Follow the road to your future, and let it reveal your past.”

I tried to run over the path, but quickly it became too foggy to even be able to see the road. I tripped, and when I stood on all fours again, faces appeared in the fog. Luna, Wing Noir, the salesponies in the village, the other ponies in the village, other faces of darker colored ponies I didn’t recognize…

And blurry, human faces...

The laughing had returned, but it all became dark. It was then, when woke up with a start.

I looked outside. It was still night, and I was too tired to reach for my notebook, so I fell asleep again. I didn’t dream anything more I could remember or were worth remembering that night.

When I woke up, the sun was shining through the dusty windows of the card. Wing Noir was already awake and preparing himself to leave.

And so, I grabbed my quill, inkpot and notebook and jotted this down.

So, this was my dream. I don’t know what to think of it, so maybe you do? I hope so. If it keeps returning, well… But what am I worrying about. It probably won’t.

~

Dear reader,

I have seen a day, a night and a morning here in Equestria, and I have to say, the mornings are quite beautiful here.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the grass is still wet from the morning dew…

Oh, yes, we were lost. But as soon as we found the sun shining through the trees, we followed the road and came at the edge of the forest where there was a fork in the road: one continued back to Unicorn Range, one continued to Vanhoover, one to Tall Tale, one to the Smokey Mountains and one to Galloping Gorge.

We are resting in the grass beside the fork now. We ate some wild apples and berries Wing Noir found. I continued practicing my magic by lifting branches. When they were well into the air, I could slowly lower them, point towards the dirt, and write big letters in them. That went pretty well, but when I lose concentration, I let them drop. That is normally after a minute.

Lifting several branches is just like that, but then even shorter.

Funny enough, writing with my horn is easier than with sticks. I am writing with magic now, and it goes surprisingly easy. I just picture the movements in my head, and then the quill follows them. Wing Noir says that isn’t normal writing at my age already with my horn. So considering the fact that I am here for just two days, I guess my special talent could be very well this.

However, when I try to lift my notebook and then write in it, it doesn’t work very well. I just can’t focus so long on two different things, I always let them drop. It is annoying me beyond my wits. But I guess I have to have patience, or find out what I’m doing wrong.

But we have to move now. We have made up our mind, or rather, Noir did. Yesterday, he said that he had some relatives living in Vanhoover, so I hope he knows what he’s doing.

~

Dear reader,

We have stopped again now, this time for lunch. We didn’t talk much, again. I still tried to make some friendly conversation, but he only answered  with single-syllable words or gruff answers. So I just tagged along behind him. I guess he regrets having asked me to go with him now.

I just hope I soon discover how I can make him a bit happier.

Oh, and, before I forget: ‘we’ means ‘three ponies’ now.

This is how it went:

Just before we stopped for lunch, we met a stranger. He was walking faster than we were, coming right at us. I got scared and walked up to Noir. I whispered: “Noir, there’s somepony coming towards us.”

He nodded, and when I was behind Noir again, he glanced casually over his shoulder.

It was a dark grey unicorn stallion, with crimson manes and tail. I wondered why he was running so fast.

Wing Noir slowed down to walk next to me, on my left.

“Don’t worry, he’s probably just passing by,” he whispered.

But he should realize. Kids, at our age, alone on the road… We could get robbed, or something!

Oh, speaking of age, I think my body is ten years old. Noir is a bit older than me – I think thirteen.

You know, it might be a bit stupid, but it was only afterwards that I realized why he was walking on my left. I think it was to protect me. He was older, and on the road much more. Letting me walk on the right side of the road, so that nopony could walk on my other side, and putting himself between me and the stranger, was pretty smart. Maybe we are friends after all, and not just travelling colleagues.

Wing Noir glared at me, as if he had read my thoughts. Okay, never mind.

The stranger was coming closer now. He would be with us at any moment. We could hear his hoofs stomping against the dirt road very clearly now. I swallowed.

“Hey, kids! What are you doing here, alone, in the middle of nowhere?”

Oh boy.

Noir glared at him. “We aren’t alone.”

He smiled back, despite Noir’s glare. “Well, then, where are your parents?”

Noir kept looking straight forward. I did the same.

The stranger nodded, knowingly.

“You know, it could get quite dangerous after dark.”

“Thank you for your concern.” Noir retorted, gruff.

Okay, that was just plain rude. The stranger was just trying to be nice. I had a feeling he was genuinely concerned.

The stranger laughed a bit. “I bet your parents taught you a thing or two about talking to strangers, am I right?”

We both flinched, visibly, at the same time. He saw that, and realized his mistake.

“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Shadowflame, but you can call me Shadow, if you like. I’m a professor at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

I didn’t know what that was, but Noir certainly did. He relaxed visibly when he heard that, and took a look at Shadow’s flank. It was a flaming quill; it did support his claim of being a teacher.

“I guess you are telling the truth, after all,” he said. I knew that was the same as an apology.

He smiled at us. “Good that you think so of me.”

He then looked at me, curious. “Can I ask you something?”

I nodded.

“Have you dyed your mane, or your tail, or both?”

That question took me off guard. I couldn’t help but blush and laugh a bit. Even Noir smiled; no doubt he had asked the same question to himself.

“No! I haven’t. They are my natural colors.”

He laughed too, now. “How interesting!”

Now I felt it was my turn to question him.

“But, if you work for Celestia’s school, why aren’t you there?”

“Well, that is because I am more like a field teacher; I travel a lot, write some spells and then return to teach them there, at school. Sometimes, I even bring a student with me on my travels! But, as you can see, today is not the case,” he answered.

Noir was listening quietly, up until now.

“Where do you live? Do you have any family somewhere?”

“Well… I do have some family in Canterlot, I guess, but I haven’t seen them in quite a while.”

Shadow looked at him. “I think I haven’t caught your names yet.”

“My name is Wing Noir,” he said. “And this is Civviq Writer.”

He nodded. I was a bit offended, though; I could tell him my name myself just as well.

“Hey, can you teach me some magic?” I asked. “I can do some levitation, but I still can’t do it really good.”

He nodded again. “I will do that! Besides, I’m hungry. Why don’t we stop for lunch? I have enough food for all of us!”

And so, we stopped for food and practiced a bit of magic, teaching me how to levitate two things at once, and how to improve my writing.

“Of course,” Shadow said, “You must keep practicing, if you want to go further.”

I agreed with this. “I promise I will practice as much as I can.”

Now, I will lay my pen down and continue travelling to Vanhoover.

~

Dear reader,

Now, I’m writing while I’m walking! It Is so amazing! I can just totally walk and talk and write at the same time! Yes! All thanks to Shadowflame.

Speaking of which, he is talking to Wing Noir right now. I can’t hear what they’re saying right now, because I fell too far behind, but I guess it isn’t for my ears – or pen, for that matter. I am surprised that they haven’t asked for my notebook yet, but they’re probably really curious for what exactly is in there.

But I won’t tell them. No, I won’t show them yet what I wrote.

Now I can write while I walk, I can describe my surroundings better. Right now, for example, we are walking on a sandy road, as always.

At both sides of the road, there was first a verge made of grass, and then a ditch. At my left, there was a small patch of forest. The trees were close to each other, and I could hear plenty of birds tweeting and twinkering and singing for the afternoon sun. On my other side there was a big field full of crop: mainly golden rye, and occasionally the green sprouts of carrots or potatoes and wide, green fields of grass with cows grazing on them.

It had gotten colder over time. You can see that in the surroundings: the forests are more pine than loaf trees, and there were less crops and more fields with cows. There is also just more forest.

We are nearing Vanhoover quickly, that’s for sure. The sun is already beginning to set. We are climbing up a hill now. There! There’s Vanhoover! We stay on the top to admire the view.

Shadow calls. “So, kids, have you already thought about where you’re going to stay for the night?” he asks. We shake our heads. We haven’t thought about that since we left the old, abandoned wagon. Shadowflame uneasily shifts his weight from two legs to another.

“I know we haven’t had a good start, but do you trust me enough when I say I know a good inn in town, where we each can have separate rooms for not so much bits and still be clean enough to sleep in?”

Me and Noir look at each other, doubting.

“But we don’t have any bits.” Noir said.

“I’ll pay,” Shadowflame offered.

We look at each other again. “Well…” I say.

“I have some family in Vanhoover. We can sleep there,” says Noir.

Shadow nods. “And what if they’re not home, or they don’t want you to stay with them, or you don’t know where they are?”

It’s clear, Noir doesn’t know what to say, so I decide to help him a bit.

“Why don’t we do it like this: you go ahead to the inn and show us where it is. Then, we go find Noir’s family and ask them if we can stay with him, and if we can’t find them or if we can’t stay, we’ll sleep at the inn.”

Noir nods. Oh?

“I agree. If we aren’t back in an hour since we parted, you can say we’re safely at the home of my family.”

But Shadowflame still seems a bit unsure.

“Well, if you say so… But do have in mind, I probably know the city better then you do, so please, let me come with you, because I really don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone.”

Noir lowered his head and nodded. “You’ve got a point there,” he said.

And so we went to Vanhoover.

~

Dear reader,

It didn’t exactly go as planned, sadly enough. I hadn’t gotten the time to write while walking, because I was a bit tired of writing that whole conversation down.

But I’m safe now, under the covers of my bed in a shared two-bedroom apartment. Because I was the only girl, I didn’t have to share a bedroom. That’s a relief.

It also seemed that Shadow and Noir had become friends. Noir is still gruff to him, but just as gruff as he is to me, and less gruff then before. But still, trust isn’t something that is easily to gain. I think Noir trusts me; I certainly trust him. Shadow trusts us and I trust him, and I think Noir trusts him too. There’s still much to learn about them.

I still have to laugh at the silly things we talked about during the last mile of our trip, nearing Vanhoover. It just felt so right. He also taught me some more tricks, like lighting up my horn faster and better, and he even learned me to let a ray of light point north!

Yes, being in the presence of a teacher certainly is a great experience.

Anyhow.

We trotted into town.

To be honest, I’ve never been in a town this big. I was overwhelmed by everything: the noises, the smell, the feeling to be in a city that big. All those tall buildings, the hurries of the cabs; I’ve never seen so many ponies at one place before. It is astounding.

And so I bumped into quite a few ponies.

“Watch it!” “Look out!” “Stop dreaming and look ahead!”

And Noir would get them back with a snarl and a look at me I couldn’t place. I think it is concern, but I’m not sure.

Shadow didn’t seem to be impressed at all of the city. He just walked on, straight ahead. It was getting a bit dark.

“So, where are those family members of yours?” Shadow asked. Noir shrugged.

“This way.”

He lead the road. Left, right, right again, left. Through a maze of alleys he lead us to an old, abandoned building.

He knocked.

Nopony came.

“Wing Noir, are you sure…”

A scream suddenly pierced the evening sky.

“Wing Noir! How dare you come back here!”

An old, male, drunken voice shouted from one of the open windows.

“After all these years! After all these years that your father died! You didn’t even once visited us! Not even once!” the stallion babbled, with a double tongue. He shouted at the end.

“What? Uncle?”

“No! No Uncle! I’m not your uncle anymore! Now shoo!”  The window, two stories high, third on the left, closed with a loud bang. It made Noir flinch, something I have never seen him doing since I have met him.

Okay, that isn’t long, but I’m sure he’s not the pony to flinch.

“I think we’d better be going.” Shadowflame said. I nodded, too. I don’t want to be here when the sun has set completely.

But Noir just stood there, completely still. Ears flat, eyes big and brimming with tears.

The main disadvantage of being me, is that I can’t penetrate other minds to see what they’re thinking. That would be mighty interesting. However, I don’t think you need to be a psychic to know what he’s going through. He just lost part of his family, he has to rely on somepony he met just that day for food and shelter. I don’t think he’s very happy with it.

Scratch that, I think he’s more than sad, I mean, he just lost hope of finding some family. Plus, apparently his father had died and I don’t think he actually knew that.

Right now, he needs a shoulder to cry on – even though he won’t exactly cry so much, but nevertheless, he needs somepony, a friend. And I knew that that friend has to be me.

The thing is: I have absolutely no idea how to be a friend.

So I just sat there, until I couldn’t bear it anymore and sat down next to him.

There, in the middle of the rubble and puddles in the cracked pebbles, I sat down to try and give him some comfort. And before I knew I was trying to talk to him.

“Hey.”

I nudged him.

“I… I’m sorry about your father.”

He didn’t respond.

“Noir?”

Still nothing.

“Come, Noir. It’s getting a bit late.”

Nope.

So we sat there for a while, until he stood up to leave.

And without a word from any of us, Shadow lead us to the inn where he could rent a room. They were full, except a two-bedroom apartment, so he took that. Was a lot more cheaper anyway.

And without a word we ate our supper quickly and without a word we went to bed, them in one room and I in the other.

And so I am lying here, writing down the rest of the day until now.

Anyhow,  now I’m lying my pen down to go to sleep, wondering what the next day will bring.