A Journey through Equestria

Nightmare

Dear reader,

This night was more than a nightmare.

It was real.

But I saved our lives, by a nightmare, too. Strange.

Now, before I begin, I need to tell you something about our hotel room.

The room is at the third floor. When you come in, you are standing in a narrow hall with at your left the door to the bathroom. Then comes a small living room, with just enough space for a couch, a tv and a table. There is a window right in front of you, big, and you’re able to open it wide.

There are two doors on your left, each leading to a bedroom. I sleep in the second bedroom, the one closest by the window.

The building itself is 5 stories high, made of wood and stone. The roof is made with stone tiles and hay on top.

With this in the back of our heads, we’ll return to the nightmare.

In my dream was it twilight this time. The fog, which were actually many low clouds, was colored purple and orange in the setting sun. the road was almost clearly visible through the fog. So I began to walk.

I couldn’t hear anything this time, except the muffled beat of my hooves against the sand. I could hear my heart beating and myself breathing. I tried to speak, because it was creeping me out a bit. But how hard I tried, there came no sound out of my throat.

The fog lifted, revealing a house. It was a single row house, just standing there in the middle of the grass field. It was eerily familiar. There was also something off with the house. The walls on the sides, where the other adjoined houses should be, were clean, and the garden was well-kept. There was nothing really out of the ordinary, it just seemed so out-of-place.

Even though the fog has lifted, it wasn’t gone. It was creeping up behind my back, and if I didn’t move, it would gobble me up. So I ran towards the house, opening the garden gate swiftly. Just as swiftly as if it were the thousandth time I did it. It didn’t surprise me at that time though.

I ran inside, just in time, before the fog could reach the door. It was whispering frantically now.

Inside the house it was quiet, just as quiet as at the beginning. The house was empty, not a single piece of furniture was there. I walked further into the house.

Laughter sounded from upstairs – the same laughter and chattering from last night, the laughter and chatter of my parents. I ran upstairs – but then, the screams began.

“Run!”

“Run!”

“Run!”

I staggered on top of the stairs. The fog has come into the house, into the room the screams came from.

“Run!”

The fog turned into smoke. The thick, black smoke made me cough like a madman. I tried to see, to see where my parents where, but it was no use.

The scream stopped, the maniacal laughter began. I tried to find the door out, but I couldn’t. The smoke was just to dig to see anything.

I managed to reach a window. Outside was filled with smoke.

Behind me I heard footsteps.

Footsteps?

Just as I thought I would collapse in the smoke, I heard a voice.

It was cold, and dark, and made me shiver in fear.

“Hello.”

I opened my mouth, and finally I could scream. I shot up in my bed, still screaming, thanking Luna the dream was over.

But the nightmare didn’t stop.

It was hot in my room, too hot. A faint smell of smoke reached my nose.

Wing Noir stormed into my room, finding me bathing in sweat, shaking like a leaf and wide-eyed out of fear. He looked at me, concerned.

“Civviq! Are you okay?”

I managed to nod, faintly. Shadow stepped into my room as well.

“Pack your things, quickly. The roof is on fire, and it doesn’t seem as if anypony has raised the alarm yet.”

Immediately, I jumped out of bed. I snatched my glasses off my nightstand, reached for my saddlebag and left the room.

A deafening coming from the roof made the three of us freeze in our steps.

“What was that?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“The roof… I think it has collapsed.” Shadow replied. “Run!”

When Shadow and Noir ran for the door, another explosion sounded.

And then, right above my head, a crack appeared in the ceiling. I yelped and tried to reach the door before the ceiling collapsed. But I wouldn’t have reached it in time, if it weren’t for Noir.

I just stood there, frozen, as the cracks went wider and wider with the millisecond. Everything went into slow motion. I could hear Shadow shout, very faint.

“Run!”

When he said that, I could hear other voices scream for me to run. The voices from my nightmare, the voices from the ones I loved most – but where taken from me by a fire. A fire that was set ablaze by the ones… the ones…

“Civviq!”

Right before the ceiling would fall on me, Noir dashed forward and pulled me out of the falling range. On the spot I was standing one second before, was now only rubble and heavy wooden planks. I would’ve been crushed.

“Are you okay?” he said. I just managed to nod.

He helped me on my feet.

“What was that?” he asked. I shook my head.

“Nothing.. nothing…” I tried to breath, but I coughed then, wildly.

“Noir! Civviq! Are you okay?” shouted Shadow.

“Yeah!” replied Noir. “But how are we going to get out?”

The burning rubble split the room in two: the part where Shadowflame was standing, and the part where I and Wing Noir was standing: with our backs to the window.

“Go through the window! I’ll see you in front of the inn! Now hurry!” Shadow left.

“You heard him,” he said to me, “grab my hoof.”

“What?” I blurted out.

“Do you trust me?”

I nodded, coughing.

“Then grab my hoof.” he said resolutely.

And I grabbed his hoof. He pulled me on his back and jumped out of the now burning building, into the late night sky.

He soared over the building for a moment, going out of the smoke. looking for a spot to land. The surroundings were now crowded with ponies. We could see the pegasi coming towards us with the rainclouds to kill the fire.

Then Noir began to look for  a good place to land in the crowd. He found one, and we landed safely on the ground. I was still coughing and panting from all the action, and he was too. Before I could stop myself, I hugged him tightly, a waterfall of silent tears streaming down my face.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you…” I said, over and over again. He just smiled and hugged me back, until I let go. And when my mind has caught up with me, I did. I blushed and looked towards the ground.

“Sorry…” I said, quietly. But when I looked up to his face, he shook his head.

“No. I should thank you,” he said, “because you trusted me.”

And with that, he pulled me up to my hooves and helped me walk, so we could find Shadowflame.

~

Dear reader,

I’m still catching my breath from tonight. We’re sitting in a diner now, enjoying pancakes with syrup. It’s great, but it would be better if my nightmare isn’t chasing me everywhere I go.

I’m sitting next to Wing Noir. I catch him stealing glances from time to time, and I catch myself doing so too. Shadowflame is sitting across the table, watching us, and smirking knowingly.

As a matter of fact, Shadowflame made me write this all down. If he didn’t, I wouldn’t have picked up the quill in a long, long time. I was shaking, I couldn’t concentrate so I had to do it with my mouth. I’m still shaking, actually.

How did he get away, anyway? I have no idea, so I asked him. I tried to lift my quill with magic – and I succeeded! Yes!

Anyway, he thought for a moment. “Well… After I went through the door, I ran for the nearest exit: the stairs. I ran down, but at the second floor I heard a loud thump and a crack behind me. I looked and saw that the stairs collapsed! I ran as fast as I could, but the stairs in front of me were blocked too.

I had to come up with something, fast.

The wall behind me was also the outer wall. It had a window in it, big enough for me to go through – but too high for me to reach for. It would be too high to jump anyway.

You know, last week, I wrote a new spell. There are many spells out there, but not so much spells on force fields. Most force fields are used as shields or barriers, protecting you with walls or domes. My spell, however, expands its usability from just shields to, well, anything you’d like.

So I decided to test a new spell about floating platforms.

I’m not going to endlessly talk about how I did it, but I succeeded in the nick of time, and safely floated out of the window between the second and the first floor. It did attract the attention of quite a few ponies, but when my hooves safely touched the ground, there was nothing more to see for them anymore.

So, then, I went to find you, and I did, and well, you know the rest.”

I nodded. Yes, we knew the rest, for sure.

I looked out of the window. The moon was now almost setting.

“Oh, I have an idea!” says Shadowflame. “How about we watch the sunrise at my favorite spot?”

Wing Noir clearly doubts this idea. “I don’t know,” he says, “I just want to get out of this place, before anything else bad happens.”

I nodded, shivering. Wing Noir touched my shoulder for a second, and I stopped shivering. Shadowflame sighs.

“It’ll be safe, I promise.”

Shadow paid for the pancakes, and we prepared to leave.

~

Dear reader,

I can tell you, sunrises in Equestria truly are beautiful. Especially if you’re with ponies you like. Maybe, just maybe, even like-like. Eheheh, don’t let Noir read this. Ever.

Wing Noir is interesting, I can give you that. Hard on the outside, kind on the inside. He is a mystery, and I like to solve one. But after the fire, he’s way more than a mystery now. I don’t even know what.

I mean, come on. I only know him for three days and I’m way too young to even think about that kind of things. And I only know him for three days. Three days. Three! Days!

But I trust him, and he trusts me. He is my friend, that’s for sure now.

It isn’t hard to think about these things when you’re watching the sunrise. The sunrise is truly beautiful; I already said that, but I’m going to repeat it. The sunrise is gorgeous.

Shadowflame brought us to the woods, not far from town. It was still very dark there, but you could see the grayish light of dawn approaching. Through the branches you could see the stars faint and the moon low.

We came on an open spot, in the middle of the woods. A hillside, full of green grass, gave a beautiful view of the city, and the mountains around the city, and most important: the sunrise.

Daisies and dandelions, buttercups and forget-me-nots added some color to the green grass, but all seemed gold in the early morning sun. The clouds and the sky were painted in many orange, yellow, purple and blue varieties. The mountains were colored gold as well, its snow yellow and the rocky mountainsides brown-gold.

Just like his eyes, I thought. I sighed. I saw him glancing at me. I wonder what he’s thinking right now. I also wonder if it would be so good if I’d be able to read his mind. I look at him, he’s looking at the mountains too, away from me.

I sighed again. What will this day bring?

~

Dear reader,

We’re on the road again. Shadowflame says he’s got some friends in Tall Tales, a bit to the south. So now we’re walking through a forest path. It wasn’t without hesitation, though.

“So, where are we going now?” Shadow said, after the sky has reached its natural blue colors of the day.

Noir huffed. “Are you kidding? ‘We’ aren’t going anywhere anymore.” He stood up and walked away.

“Noir, wait!” I shouted. “Where are you going?”

“Away.”

“But-“

“No.” He turned around, his eyes brimming with tears. “Everywhere I go, something bad happens. Shadow, Civviq, I’m sorry I had to put you all through this. I shouldn’t have agreed to travelling with you.” He stared into my eyes, and then at Shadow’s, and then turned around to go.

“You think this is your fault?” Shadow said, standing up. Wing Noir looked back. “Noir, if it is anypony’s fault, It’s mine. I chose the inn.”

Noir huffed, turning around to face him. “Yes, you did. You did choose the inn. But I am the bad luck. My mom didn’t want me because of my bad luck. Dad left because of my bad luck. And see where it got him?”

“Noir, don’t be so irrational,” Shadowflame said, stomping his hoof. “I’m sorry about your parents, but nopony can ever embody bad luck, unless you’re some or another spirit. And you aren’t a spirit, you’re just a pony that comes across bad things.”

“No. I am bad luck. And you have to go without me.”

Shadow raised his voice. “Noir. Stop thinking like that. The fire wasn’t your fault.”

Now Noir raised his voice too. “No, it wasn’t. Like you said, it was your fault, because you chose the inn.”

“Oh, so now you’re holding a grudge against me?”

“If you really want me to.”

“You aren’t old enough to travel alone.”

“I’ve been doing so for years, and I’m still here.”

“For now.”

“What are you saying?”

I thought it was time to say something, before it went out of hoof.

“Guys, stop,” I tried to say, “please? Stop?”

They didn’t hear me, so I raised my voice gradually with each shout.

“Guys? Guys, stop. Stop it!”

They looked at me. I took a deep breath.

“Please, it was neither of your fault. That fire had nothing to do with either of you.”

They both tried to say something, but I stopped them. “No. Please, stop arguing. There is nopony to blame. I mean, you can’t just leave? Just because something bad happened?” I stopped, to look both of them in their eyes.

“After all, bad things will happen if you’re alone as well, and you can face things better together then alone.”

I looked at them, pleading. “Please, you are the only ones I know best. Please don’t give up now.”

Silence.

“Well…” Shadow said to Wing Noir, “She does have a point…”

Wing Noir looked at me, uncertain of what to do. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

We looked at each other.

“Well then, where will we go?” I asked.

Shadowflame thought for a moment. “I think we need to rest, somewhere where it’s safe. I have a friend in Tall Tales. Maybe we should go there, see if he’s willing to take us in.”

Wing Noir looked to his hooves, mumbling something inaudible. I nodded.

“All right. This way, then.”

And Shadowflame lead the way.

~

Dear reader,

The cliff is steep, the edge is near, the fall is long. I get the chills every time I look over the edge, so I don’t do that very often. Maybe I shouldn’t be writing right now, but look where I put my hooves.

~

Dear reader,

Okay, we reached a safer path now. Luckily, I didn’t fell down. I almost did, however, because of a loose rock, when I was a bit close to the edge. If it weren’t for Noir, I would’ve been dead by now.

I didn’t get to thank him. When he pulled me off the edge, he just huffed and told me to look out. I don’t understand him for a bit sometimes.

Shadowflame is telling me to keep up. Being on the road for years makes it easy for him to keep on walking; but I’ve been walking for three days now and the nightmare doesn’t help very much. My hooves are killing me and my head hurts.

Maybe I should stop using magic. Hopefully that will help.

~

Dear reader,

I am so glad the walk is over. Tall Tales isn’t nearly as big as Vanhoover, but it is still a nice little town. The houses are welcoming, and the air is crisp and clean. It is also a bit warmer than Vanhoover. Not much, but enough to feel the difference.

I first saw Tall Tales from the mountain path, one of the entrances to the city. I was standing quite high, but you do have a pretty view from there. Tall Tales lies in a valley, surrounded by mountains. You can see patches of green on the mountains, where cattle grazes; or the darker green of evergreen woods. It is a beautiful sight.

Tall Tales seems so small in comparison to the mountains, its houses tiny against the great mountains, topped with snow. To make up for that, there are also very, and I mean very, tall buildings, being able to house hundreds of ponies. But that doesn’t make it less beautiful, no: the blue glassed buildings reflects the green and brown of the mountains and the clear, blue sky beautifully. You could almost say, that the buildings are almost grown out of the ground, ready to compete with the mountains.

But I’m getting off track now.

From high, the buildings may seem big, but when you’re standing below them; then they’re just grand.

Just like Vanhoover, I walk with my eyes wide open and bump into a lot of ponies. But here, they’re much nicer: they just glare at me, or look at me as to say ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there!’

Some even stare at me; I wonder why.

I asked this to Shadowflame. He smiled.

“Look at the resident ponies. What do you see?”

I looked. “I see… pegasus ponies… and earth ponies… and unicorn ponies?”

He shook his head. “Look at their mane and tails.”

I looked a bit better now. “They’re the same color.”

He nodded. “Odd colored mane and tails aren’t something that is common here.”

“Oh. I didn’t know.” I shrunk a little.

Wing Noir huffed and mumbled something inaudible.

“I’m sorry?” Shadow asked. Wing Noir glared at him and mumbled it again.

“What did you say?” Shadow said now, with a smirk.

“You heard me,” he said, annoyed, “and I’m not going to say it again.”

“Civviq didn’t hear you,” Shadow said, smirking, “and I’m sure she would want to hear it.”

Noir blushed and sighed. He stomped his hooves on the brick road, looking down.Wait – he blushed?

“I think the manes and tails of the others are less pretty, okay?” he blurted out.

You know what that meant? That he likes my mane and tail! I smiled and I felt my cheeks flush. “Thank you.”

Shadow laughed. “Now, come on; we’re almost there!”

We kept on walking, through the town center to the outskirts of town. There weren’t much high buildings here, but there were mansions or big, old-Equestrian-style cottages.

Shadow stopped in front of one house. It isn’t really big, but it certainly is spacious. It is a bit grayish-white colored; its front door is light blue and so are the window frames.

The front yard is covered with grass, with patches of violets of the same blue color.

Shadow walked over the garden path to the front door, and knocked.

A light blue unicorn stallion opened the door. His mane is dark blue – almost black, and short; his tail is short as well. I couldn’t see his eyes through the sunglasses. His cutie mark is a quill made out of water.

“Aahh, Water Word! Long time no see, my friend!” Shadowflame said.

Water Word laughed. “Hello, Shadow! Decided to drop by and rest for a spell?” Shadow laughed. I was a bit confused.

“And who are you?” asked Water Word.

“Oh, some friends I picked up on the way. We have been through quite a lot, so I was wondering if we could stay here for a while until we’re ready.” Shadow replied.

Water Word nodded. “Of course you can. Come in.”

I followed Shadowflame into the house. When I walked past Water Word, I could almost feel him staring at me. It sent shivers down my spine. Something was off, but I didn’t know what. I shook the feeling off, though. It’s probably nothing.

When we were all inside, Water Word shut the door and lead us into the house. He didn’t take uff his sunglasses. Through a hall, we went to the door on our right into the living room. Through windows at the back of the house we could see the back yard. It’s the same as the front yard,  but bigger.

Continuing to the right, we came in the kitchen, and the back door to the garden.

Going back to the hall, we went to the left. There was a guest room; it has a bedroom, a bathroom and even a small living room.

Upstairs are the master’s bedroom, and one level higher is the attic.

“Shadow, old friend,” Water said, “you can sleep in one of the bedrooms upstairs. Kids,” he turned to Noir and me, “You can share the guest bedroom.”

“But, there’s only one bed!” I said.

Water huffed. “Then one of you sleeps on the couch.’

It was getting late. The sun was starting to set and I began to feel hungry.

“Dinner will be ready soon.” Water said.

“What are we going to eat?” asked Noir. Water laughed.

“Why, pizza of course! It should be here soon…”

The doorbell rang. “Ah, there it is! Now, if you will excuse me.”

With big strides, he walked to the front door and get the pizza’s.

Dinner wasn’t bad. The pizza’s were good and the mood was good, so I relaxed a bit.

Now I’m sitting on the couch. I insisted on it; I think Noir hasn’t slept in a good bed in years, he said that himself. Writing, in the faint glow of my horn (I still need some practice), this down.

I feel my eyelids droop. My hooves still hurt from the long, long walking. I’m so happy we get to stay in a place for more than a night. Or at least, I hope we get to. Luck hasn’t been on our sides lately.

~

To my dear friend, Snipit Heartstrings,

I am in position. The subjects are safe, for now. I know that darker forces, the forces that pulled her here, are still out there. Who knows what will happen to her if they get a hold of her.

But she has made some friends. Especially the one with the hat – I believe his name is Wing Noir, or something – seems to trust here, and she trusts him.

I am happy to inform you that Shadowflame doesn’t suspect a thing. I have to keep him close, though, or else something will happen to him too. Even though I don’t know him as much as Water Word does, Celestia has given me strict orders to keep him safe due to his status in her school.

I still am not entirely sure why the girl is so important, however. Maybe you can inform me about that. All I know is that she is from another world, brutally kidnapped and then just left alone to die. Why would anypony do that?

Please respond soon,

Yours truly,

Carbon Copy