A Journey through Equestria

by Civviq Writer

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Dark
Length: 37348

My name is Civviq Writer. I'm being chased, hunted down... I just want to know what is going on.

Dear reader,
It has been more than a week since I first got here, but it felt like months, or even years. A terrible, dark force is chasing me and I'm not sure who I can trust - and who I can't. I hope it will become clearer over time.

Civviq Writer

Awesome cover art by Zap97

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-14 16:43:41 UTC

The First Entries

Dear reader,

This is the first page written in my journal. I have just bought this journal in a little quillshop just outside of Canterlot, along with a map. Right now, I’m sitting on a bench, with my journal next to me. It's absolutely amazing here. I don't want to forget a thing, so I will write it all down!

I’m going to travel all around Equestria and explore everything a young filly like me can do!

Oh, wait, I haven't introduced myself, have I? How rude of me. My name is Civviq Writer. Or rather, the name I chose for myself.

I used to be a human girl. I have forgotten my human name and my human life. It just seems all like a blurry dream to me, but I'm sure I once was human. The only thing I remember, are some memories about my parents. They're smiling and laughing… but that isn't going to help me in here.

I do know about myself that I love to write. That's why I want to record everything: so I can read it again when I need to. I'll try to do it as close to the truth as possible.

How I came here? That’s something not even I know.

Anyway. I am now a unicorn, apparently. Since I hav just begun to learn magic, I'm writing this down with my quill in my mouth until I get a bit better at magic. I can't write with hands, or rather, my hoofs anymore. Also, I haven't really had much good practice with writing, so I believe that over time you will see that my writing will improve.

Let me begin with the story of this book. I bought this book from the bits I had with me when I woke up again, in the fields nearby, under an old oak tree. Next to me was a saddlebag with some bits.

Far above me I could see a city in the mountain. The lone mountain was in the east, and as far as I could see, there were several sorts of crops. Corn, rye, grain, and lush, and green grass as well. They are neatly divided in squares, separated with ditches or wire. Here and there were the occasional dark shapes of small bushes and trees. I looked on my map. It seems like I was in the Unicorn Range.

I already said I bought this journal a little outside of Canterlot. It was really not much more than a village. It was small, but it had a quill shop and a market.

I trotted into the village.

I had far too few eyes to see everything, really.

-Oh, sorry, but somepony's coming towards me! Gotta lay my pen down for now. I'll catch you later!

~

Dear reader,

I’m sorry I let you hanging in there. I’m still on the same bench like before. The pony that was coming towards me, wasn’t coming towards me at all. He dashed past me, towards the village, in a great hurry. I wonder where he was going, and why he was in such a hurry.

He’s a pegasus, and I think he was quite young. I couldn’t see his cutie mark, I think he hasn’t gotten his yet.

About that: my age. I knew my age when I was a human, but here, I think I am really young. You see, I haven’t got my cutie mark yet. I wonder what my cutie mark will look like. I think that, in time, it’ll appear. But I still can’t help but wonder.

The wind is beginning to blow harder and harder. What was a breeze, is now getting colder and colder. The sky is darkening. I need a place to stay for the night, and I think the town I just came from had an inn.

So, I need to say goodbye again. Catch you later!

~

Dear reader,

I’m back again. And right now, I’m at a place I really hadn’t expected to be!

It is dark outside, and the wind is howling through the branches outside of the wagon. A wagon? Yes, with Wing Noir. But, how did we come here? Well, let me explain.

Remember the running pegasus? Well, he wasn’t running for fun.

When I went into town to find a place for the night, I saw something lying on the streets. I walked towards it. It turned out to be a hat, a fedora to be precisely. The breeze began to play with it, but before It could go away again, I caught it with the little levitation magic I had, preventing it from getting away. Quickly, I grabbed it with my mouth. It was a nice hat, and I thought by myself, if nopony came looking for it, I’ll keep it.

However, before I could put it on, the pegasus I saw before came running towards me. This time for real. He stopped in front of me, panting. “My... *wheeze* Hat…. *wheeze* That’s mine…”

I looked at him. He has a ash-grey coat, a bit dirty, His unkempt mane and tail were brown. His eyes were a brown with many gold specks in them. He also wears a worn-out beige trenchcoat, with two holes for his wings. His feathers were ruffled in the wind.

It might be strange, but at that moment I realized I had no idea what I looked like.

Anyhow, I opened my mouth to say something, but that made the hat escape. It danced away with the wind again, before I could grab it. I tried to catch it with a levitation spell – but before I could fail, he had already grabbed it with his mouth. And then, with one swift move, he had put it on his head.

“Oh, I… I’m sorry.” I said, ashamed. He glared at me, and turned around to walk away, leaving me behind. That’s not very nice, I thought by myself.

“Wait!” I yelled. He stopped and turned around.

“What?” He stomped his hoof on the ground - he wanted to go.

“I told you, I’m sorry that I dropped your hat.” I said, panting.

“Apology accepted.”, he said, sarcastic, and turned away to leave.

“Hey! Where are you going?” I said, and ran until I walked next to him.

“Away from here.” He flicked with his tail out of annoyance.

“That’s not an answer.”

“Yes, it is.” He kept on walking.

To be honest, I was taken aback from  his coldness. In this world full of happy ponies, why was he so gruff?

“Wait! Can I know your name? Please? My name is Civviq! What's yours?”

He huffed and looked up out of despair. “Why are you so stubborn?” He sighed. “My name is Wing Noir. If you really want to know where I’m going, I’m off to find… something. Now, go back home, and leave me be.”

That comment stung a bit. Home…

“I don’t have a home.”

He stopped and stared at me, surprised. “You don’t?”

I shook my head. “No. I… I’m lost… and I don’t know where to go.”

Tears. There were tears in my eyes. I swear, I didn’t mean for them to appear, but when I thouth about home... A place to live, to come back to...

Nevertheless, it was humiliating to be crying in front of everypony, so I began to study the ground.That didn't prevent any tears to fall to the ground under my hooves, hooves, however.

I heard him sigh. I looked up and saw that he sat down next to me.

“I’m sorry. I… I’m lost too. I’m looking for my home, but I can’t find it.”

I looked up. I saw that he was looking at the ground too, his ears low.

“I’ll help you.” I offered. He looked at me, surprised.

“Really? You want to help?”

I smiled through my tears. “Yes. Really.”

He smiled back, a bit unsure. “Then, let’s go.”

And so, we walked out of the town, together.

Well, dear reader, now there rests only one more explanation before I can go to bed: how I came in the strange place. That strange place was….

Well, shortly after we left town, we took a wrong turn and ended up in a forest.

The forest was dark, and we already had traveled to deep in there to turn back. I couldn’t look at the map, because the sun was already gone and the moon couldn’t shine through the thick layers of leaves.

I felt as if many eyes were looking at us, and I think he felt so too. We had to find a place to spend the night, stat.

It was Wing Noir who caught sight of it. “Hey, look there!”

I tried to see through the bushes, but I couldn’t. Or, wait…

“Is that… a wagon?”

I tried to do illumination with my horn, and I could send a little spark, just enough to see the wagon. It was old, and seemingly abandoned. The dust and the moss had covered the wagon’s true colors, but I think it was used by travelling circus-ponies. It was beautifully decorated, or well, it used to be.

“Let’s take a look.”, Noir said. I was a little afraid of what we would find, but I followed him.

Noir brushed some of the moss off, and revealed a door. The slot was rusty, and broke easily. The door slowly opened, creaking heavily. I gulped, and I could tell he did so too.

The wagon wasn’t big, but it used to be a home to somepony. The interior smelled muff, but there was a bed/couch, a chair and some cupboards. Nopony was there.

We looked everywhere, but except some cups, plates and spare blankets we didn’t find anything. We decided to sleep on the floor on the blankets, since the bed/couch didn’t seem strong enough. There were some oil lamps and damp matches, but we found one that still worked, and created some light. In that light I am writing this now. Wing Noir is already sleeping.

Just one more thing: I found out how I look like. In one side of the wagon, there’s a small kitchen. Inside one of the cupboard doors, there’s a mirror.

Believe it or not, the first thing I noticed were my glasses. I was surprised, because I didn’t feel it. The glasses were round, and orange. I noticed that I had soft, orange-yellow eyes.

My coat is purple, but my muzzle was yellow. My mane is a bit wavy, with orange and yellow. My tail was wavy as well, but it had other colors: it was a bit darker purple then my coat and had bright, dark blue strikes. I also had freckles on my cheeks.

I liked how I looked. I smiled to my reflection; she smiled back at me.

I feel I have to yawn – yes, I just yawned. It’s time to sleep.

It’s still raining outside, so I couldn’t see the moon.

I’m going to walk to my blankets and curl up in them, pony-style, for the first time in my life.

Yes, it has been a long, long day, so now I’m going to lay my pen down and give my muzzle a little rest. It’s a bit stiff from the writing.

Good night, dear reader. Good night.

The Second Day

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.

The Third Day

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

Water Word's house

Dear reader,

My dreams were, once again, filled with fear. And smoke, fire and weird, dark faces. They keep giving me the chills. I had shot up, screaming, from that one terrible dream that always seemed to return.

I whimpered in fear, just thinking back to the dream. I cried softly in the blankets.

A soft voice called. “Civviq? Are you okay?”

I looked up. It was Wing Noir. In the faint, silver light of the moon I could see concern in his eyes.

I closed my eyes in thought. I opened them and softly, I replied. “Yes… I’m okay… I’m sorry I woke you up.”

He walked a bit closer. “It’s okay… I used to have nightmares too, you know. My parents…” He hesitated. I saw him staring at the floor, arguing with himself whether he would tell or not.

“You don’t have to tell me. It’s okay if you don’t. You can tell when the time is right.” I said to him.

He smiled and sat down next to the couch. “And when do you think the time is right?” he said, curious. I shrugged.

“That is up to you.”

His smile got even bigger. His eyes softly glowed, an almost pure gold, in the silver moonlight. They reflected pain and suffering in the past, to kindness and compassion, and hope. So much hope.

“You know… not much ponies trust me so much.”

I tilted my head. “Do you have something to hide, then?”

“No!” he said, a little too fast. Frustrated, he shook his head. “I mean, no, it’s just… well… I’m a street child. They steal, they’re dirty, they have no manners... they’re only fit for the orphanage.” He shuddered in fear for that word.

I shifted to take a better look in his eyes. “Do you steal? And, you don’t seem so ill-mannered to me.”

He lifted his hoof to his mouth to cover his snicker. “No, I don’t steal. But don’t you see the grumpy expression I seem to wear all the time?”

I nodded. “I do, but that’s not you. Why do you always seem so grumpy anyway?”

He turned away. “That’s complicated.”

This time, I couldn’t hold back a giggle. “I see.”

He glared at me, and rolled his eyes. “You don’t know anything about me. Why do you even trust me?”

I pondered about this for a moment. “Well… You’re the first pony I’ve met… And you’re my friend the longest, I guess. You’ve saved me. I wouldn’t have survived a day on the streets without you. That’s a fact.”

He looked into my eyes. He was really surprised by my answer – In a good way, I think. He confirmed it with a hug. “Thank you… Nopony has trusted me like that, since I left…”

He pulled back and smiled. I smiled back. I yawned, suddenly feeling really tired. He held his hoof before his muzzle to try to hide a snicker, but he didn’t succeed. I glared at him.

“It’s not funny. I don’t want to go to sleep.” I shuddered, thinking about the nightmare.

He was a bit taken aback from my sudden grumpiness. “I thought I was the angry one here?”

My ears drooped. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I understand if you don’t want to sleep anymore, but you have to.”

It was silent for a minute, before he shifted his sitting position in to a more comfortable one and spoke again.

“Go to sleep, Civ. I’ll be right here, if it helps.”

I couldn’t help but smile. He spoke again, in a soft, caring tone I never heard of him before.

“Close your eyes, Civ. It’ll all be alright in the morning.”

I closed my eyes, and I was quite surprised that the nightmare didn’t haunt me. No, this time I dreamt more happy things. Weird things, but a good weird. A weird you come across in every dream. I woke up from the morning sun, shining in my eyes. I squinted. Looking around, I saw that Noir had gone back to bed.

I smiled at tonight’s memory, grabbed my quill and notebook and jotted this down.

~

Dear reader,

I’m sitting in the shade in the garden of the great trees in the back of the garden. It’s a very relaxing day.

I read a book or two from Water Word’s collection. (I absolutely love Daring Do.)

I learned another spell or two from Shadowflame. (Force fields are cool!)

I ate a bite or two. (Breakfast and lunch were delicious.)

I tried to write a letter or two. (And so I’m sitting here.)

But there is still something off with Water Word. The whole time he has been here, he hasn’t taken off his glasses once, whether he’s inside or not.

When I asked him about it, he just laughed.

“Kid, these glasses are the coolest things ever. I’m not going to take them off. Yeah!”

This still wouldn’t ease my mind, but who knew?

Anyhow, I’m a bit worried about Wing Noir, though. He’s been sitting around and staring into nothing all day. Well, I can see why. He still needs to process everything concerning his parents – but I still don’t really understand.

Maybe I should go talk to him. Maybe sharing will make the burden a bit lighter, you know.

But would that be such a good idea? Maybe he wouldn’t want to share, or maybe it’ll make everything even worse. I mean, when he wants to tell it, he’ll tell. All in good time.

But he won’t be happy as long as he keeps it inside! He’ll explode!

Well, there’s only one way to find out.

~

I did it, dear reader. I talked to him!

So, I walked to him and sat down.

“Uhm… hey, Noir.”

He said nothing, and kept staring at the trees.

“What’s wrong?”

He flattened his ears, but straightened them again. He sighed. “Not now, okay?”

I nodded and remained silent. Instead, I kept studying the tree.

Trees are quite interesting, you know, when you take a closer look.

Anyway,  we sat there for a while. I shifted position a couple of times, but I knew I had to have patience. Very much patience.

Then, he sighed. “Do you really want to know why I’m sitting here?”

I was silent for a moment. “Do you trust me?”

“What?”

I looked in his eyes. “Do you trust me?”

He looked back, thinking. Without hesitation, he answered.

“Yes.”

He smiled, but didn’t say anything. He seemed lost in thought for a moment.

“You know,” he said, slowly, “when I was really little, my family was still together. My earliest memory… is just us three, laughing and playing in our backyard.

It wasn’t a big backyard, but big enough for us to throw a ball or play tag with my friends. I don’t know how old I was then, but it’s something to hold on to.”

“But then, not shortly after, my mother got really sick. It was a very rare disease. I think she got it from the bite of the rat from the forest.

Cures were few and far between in our home town. Not even the best doctors could cure her.”

He shivered for a moment at the memory. I put my hoof on his shoulder.

“And so, my father left to look for a cure. I was home alone with my mother and my half-blind and half-deaf grandmother.”

He took a deep breath.

“Like I said, the sickness my mother had caught isn’t something like the ordinary flu. It doesn’t make you sick physically – it makes you sick in the head.

She wouldn’t laugh, she wouldn’t play. She turned cold and hating the whole world. She wouldn’t let me play in the backyard, she wouldn’t do anything. She just didn’t care anymore.

But that wasn’t the end of it. A year after father had left, even she began to lose all hope of his return and she began to blame me for it. Why? That still remains a mystery to me. But her screams and shouts and… and…”

He shakily breathed and sighed. The wind blew softly and the birds continued to whistle quietly and happily. The breeze was enough to make the leaves rustle in the trees, making soft, calming sounds.

“I’m sorry.” I said. I wrapped my hoof around his. He looked up to me.

“What do you mean?” he said.

“I mean, I’m sorry about what happened to you.” I looked in his eyes. “I’m not sorry that you told me. You trust me and I will not break that trust.”

“Really?”

“Really. We’re friends.”

He returned staring in nothing. “Friends…”

A smile formed on his lips. It was only half a smile – but it was a smile.

“Friends. Heh. You know, one of the things my mother shouted at me was, that I would never have any friends. That nopony would ever really trust me again.”

He looked at me. “Guess she was wrong then.”

I frowned. “Why would she ever say that to you?”

Noir’s expression turned into a hurt one.

“That… You remember my friends from long ago? Their parents had all forbidden to play with me after my mother turned into, well… you know. I was bullied at school. I had to take care of myself from then on – and I found that you could only survive when you were hard.”

He sighed.

“But that just isn’t me.”

The breeze had turned into a stronger wind, that swept the branches and took the leaves away. The birds hadn’t stopped singing, even though the wind blew stronger every minute. The wind brought the colder evening air, the sun was setting in vibrant colors. My pen was moving as fast as lighning. Noir only glared at it once.

Water Word and Shadowflame had gone inside when it was getting colder.

“Hey kiddo’s! Come inside, the pegasi have planned a storm later this evening and you don’t want to be inside when it happens!” shouted Water Word.

Noir and I looked at each other and stood up to go inside.

Dinner was ready; we’re going to eat pizza. Again.

~

Dear reader,

Today, we are going into town! We need food; Water Word wasn’t quite prepared for visitors…

So yeah, we are going to leave. I wonder if I should bring my quill and notebook with me; it is good practice if I keep on writing, after all. So I made up my mind and kept my quill scribbling over the paper, while we stepped outside to go shopping.

Well, what to say? The weather is nice. Water Word said it was a 10-minute walk to the market. He’s walking in front of us, leading the way. As we moved on, we saw the houses change from big and spacious, with big, green gardens, to terraced houses with smaller gardens. In the inner city, there were a lot of flats.

After 10 minutes of going left, right, and straight on, we came to a big public square. The square was flanked with big apartment buildings, stretching high up to the air. The roads around the square were very busy, with cabs and carriages spreading their noises – and their immediate smell

In the middle of the square was a great, bronze statue of two Alicorns. I recognized the smaller one, Luna. I guess the other one must be Celestia.

Only now I see that Wing Noir was smirking to me. I shot him a glare.

“What?”

He smirked again and chuckled. “You might want to close your mouth, before you catch a fly.”

Blushing, I snapped my mouth shot. I realized I had to be staring with my mouth open, when I was describing the square.

Water Word chuckled. “Okay, kids! Listen up.”

He waited until we were all gathered around.

“I’m giving you a choice. Either you go with us, shopping for groceries…”

He pointed at a playground nearby. It had a slide, swings, and several more stands. Several other fillies and colts are playing there.

“…Or you can go play, make some friends, until we come and get you. So, what will it be?”

Well, the playground sure does sound tempting…

Wing Noir shrugged. “I don’t care. What do you think, Civ?” he said, casually. But I can see, that deep down, he want to play as much as I do.

So I pointed at the playground. “I want to play!”

Shadow smiled. “All right! Remember, don’t go away until we go looking for you!”

We nodded, and ran off. I’ll put my quill and notebook back in my saddlebags – they’ll only slow me down!

~

Yes, playing sure was fun! Water Word and Shadow came looking for us way too soon.

There was a little harsh moment, however, when two older colts entered the playground. They told us all to ‘get lost’ and some other foul things, because it was ‘their playground’.

And, to make matters worse, they walked up to me and began calling me names because of how I look. And if there’s anything I can’t bear, it’s bullying. Their words were still ringing in my ear.

“Ugly!”

“Blank flank!”

“Nerd!”

“Freckled freak!”

“Crybaby!”

I was on the verge of crying, when Wing Noir stood up.

“Leave her alone!”

This took the bullies off guard. The biggest one laughed mockingly and stepped forward.

“So you dare to step up to us, blank flank?” He pushed him away, but he stood up swiftly.

“Yes. I do.”

This made the other colt laugh. “Trying to be brave, blank flank?” He snatched Noir’s hat of his hat. “Trying to be cool, wearing fancy clothes?”

He put on his hat. With a fake voice, he said:  “Oh, look at me, I’m soooo cool!”

This made Wing Noir even angrier. “Give it back to me!”

But he only laughed. “Catch it If you can!” He threw it to his comrade, who threw it back at the other again. Noir tried to catch it, but he failed every time.

This made me really, really angry. Picking on me, okay. But picking on my friends?

“Stop it!” I yelled, but that made the bullies laugh even harder. It was the only thing I could hear – their mocking laughter.

“Stop!”

A sudden surge of magic shot through my horn, into the air. It hit the two colts and the hat, leaving them immobilized in mid-air. Wing Noir flew up to get his hat.

By the time he got it, I realized what I had done. Panting, I lost my concentration and the two colts fell on the sand. They both struggled up and fled. The other colts and fillies, who seemed to have hold their breath the whole time, cheered.

After a moment of rest, we continued playing.

~

On the way back, Noir walked up to me. I smiled to him.

“Thank you.”

He looked at me. “For what?”

“For standing up for me.”

He shrugged. “You did the same for me.” He smirked. “It was pretty cool what you did there.”

I blushed. “To be honest… it was an accident. I don’t regret it, however.” I said, with a confident smirk. He chuckled, and sighed.

“I’m glad to have you as a friend.”

I blushed. “I’m glad to have you as a friend as well.”

He chuckled, and we both burst out laughing.

After five more minutes, we finally arrived at Water Word’s house.

~

Dear reader,

This night, the nightmare was different.

I found myself in a field. The field stretched as far as the eye could see.

The only thing growing was pointy, yellow, dead grass and some burned trees and bushes. It gave the landscape a desolate look.

The sun was burning in my back. I turned around to find some shelter, some shadow, but I found none. My throat felt dry like sandpaper.

I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I saw the burned remains of a house. Shocked, I staggered backwards, and I tried to run. But I wouldn´t get a centimeter away of the house, how hard I tried. Panting, I sat down, and I looked back to the house. It was the only thing around here with a shadow big enough to be a bit cool.

I walked to the house in a slow pace, but I quickened it when I felt the sun on my back again, burning harder than ever. It almost hurt.

When I was in the shade, I couldn´t stop. I was pulled through that half-burned door. With a bang, the door closed behind me. It was cold in the house, mercifully cold – but then, too cold. It was also too dark.

“Hello.”

I jumped and turned around, to see nothing in the shadows. I just couldn’t see.

“I’m over here.”

I turned to my left. In the shadow of the walls I couldn’t see a thing.

“Here, you brat.”

I turned around again, to see in the only place with sunshine a huge shadow of a pony. And not only a shadow – a pony, that consisted only of black. His coat was black, his eyes were almost not distinguishable from his coat. His mane and tail weren’t like normal ponies; they were made of pure black energy and waved softly like a fire.

“Surprised?” he said, in an amused tone. “We haven’t met, have we. You can call me Mörk for lack of other names you’re good enough to call me.” He smirked evilly. I grew angry.

“Oh, now you’re angry, are you?” He laughed, outright mocking me. “Oh, I’m sooo afraid now! Please don’t hurt me, ohahahaha!”

“Before you ask me, oh yes, your parents, (hold it for the dramatic effect), are dead.” He spat out.

I whinced. “Why?” I managed to whisper.

He pointed at me. “Because of you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. And it was in vain, because you’re not her.”

“Her?”

He grunted. “Oh, you’re such an  stupid, ignorant, naïve, filly.”

He regained  a bit of his former composure. “Naïve, yes. That’s the word. A filly, who is stupid enough to trust the first pony she sees.”

He laughed a bit more before turning back to me.

“Oh well. My time is up; I’ll best be going. See you later.” With a wave of his hoof, he was gone.

The house was gone, the shade was gone. The sun burned not only on my back, but now on my muzzle, my legs, my head – all over my body, the sun was burning. It was excruciating pain. I was screaming, begging it to stop.

I shot up in my bed, panting. I cried in my cushion – again. It was the fifth day in a row that I had similar nightmares. Why couldn’t it leave me alone?

~

Dear reader,

Today was just another boring day – but I didn’t mind. I finished the Daring Do – series, I did some chores around the house, learned some more magic, ate lunch, drank some milk – the usual.

All the while, Water Word kept on his sunglasses. I also noticed the suspicious glances Shadow shot at him, and the glares Water shot at Shadow when he wasn’t looking. Something was off here, but I don’t know what it is.

Wing Noir is much less grumpy then I first met him. He actually laughed out loud more than a few times today! He can be so funny if he wants to. He doesn’t like books, sadly – but I’m sure I can bring some change to that! I have an idea to get him reading, and I’m sure he’s going to like it!

Anyway, the sun is setting again. Dinner is ready – we’re eating something healthy for a change. Let’s see how I like it!

~

To my dear friend, Carbon Copy,

I have received your letter. I am glad that she is safe, even though she might not be so for long.

First, I want to warn you. Closer examination of the Vanhoover fire – the inn she stayed with her friends – reveal that it wasn’t an accident, like the papers claim. These darker forces we are speaking about must have lit it in the hope she wouldn’t survive.

But she has survived, and I am happy about that.

To answer your question as to her importance: the rest of our force has attended a briefing after you have left.

By the way, there has been some changes to the team. Our close-combat expert has been removed from our team, and replaced by a rookie called Swift Spry. He’s good, but he’s young and a bit lazy.

Our swordscolt has retired, as foreseen. He was replaced by a dragon called Enerjak Vocalis. He´s a good swordscolt (well, swordsdragon,) and also very skilled in the air, but he has some problems with teamwork. And he is young, even for a dragon.

I need to say, though, that Warpath wasn´t glad with the changes. He is going really tough on them, but we need them. Especially Enerjak, because he comes from the Other World.

But that old half-dragon should know better than to question his bosses.

Well, that was before the briefing, that is.

So we got some information about her. Her name’s Civviq Writer, she’s about eleven years old, and she’s from the Other World. But you know this already.

What you don’t know, is who those dark forces are.

You see, that is all about an old prophecy. An alicorn, called Illuminae, will come to restore the balance in a world off-balance. She has come, before Equestria was created, once or twice every thousand years. She does so by reincarnation.

Every reincarnation starts off with her being a small, grey earth pony. Every time she learns something new, she’ll gain a bit more color.  Then a horn and a pair of wings. This will take years and years.

We don’t know for certain yet, but there is a dark cult rising in Equestria. They call themselves the ‘Mörklings.’ Their leader is rumored to be a pony, all black like a shadow. But you know how rumors can be: exaggerated to dust. But I believe there is a hint of truth.

We believe that they have found a lead to who this ‘Illuminae’ will be. This time it will be a human from the Other World. Civviq has been the first one to be transported here – and they have failed, thank Celestia. What they have done to do so, is unknown. Our source, a cultmember who has been arrested, doesn’t want to tell us – or simply can’t because he doesn’t know. We are still looking for his friends, but there is progress.

Anyway, we believe that they still are watching her. They want to know for one hundred percent sure it isn’t her. I believe for one hundred percent she isn’t – she doesn’t look like a small, helpless filly at all. Besides, judging her colors, we can be pretty sure she isn’t this ‘Illuminae’.

We have also tried to find some background information on her friend. His name is Wing Noir, by the way. I believe he is not to be trusted for what he has done in the past. Of course, that is for her to decide. We don’t know how much he has told her yet, but I believe it will not be much. I recommend to keep her safely out of distance of  Wing Noir.

What he has done in the past, will not be stated in this letter. His past, and to an extent, his parent’s past, is heavily intertwined with the cult. This is another reason for you not to trust him.

One more thing. The new members of the group has decided to get themselves a name. I just rolled my eyes and Warpath practically face-hoofed (or clawed), but they wanted to know your opinion too. Their options are ‘the Revengers’, ‘Team Alpha’, ‘Team Illuminae’,  ‘Operation Without A Cool Name, ‘The Z-force’, or ‘The Epic Assembling Mightyness,’ or TEAM. They aren’t good, but if you know any better, please send it in. I’m voting for ‘TEAM’, by the way.

I await your reply,

Your friend,

Snipit Heartstrings

Questions

Dear reader,

I’m afraid I can’t sleep.

The moonlight is shining in my eyes. Pulling the blankets over my eyes and turning away doesn’t help – then I’m facing Wing Noirs door. The dream from last night kept haunting me. He was the first pony I really met, but that doesn’t matter. I trust him; we’re friends. Our friendship means something to him – I’m absolutely sure about that.

But where would I be if he weren’t friendly? Am I really so naïve? Yesterday, and all the other days I’ve been here, he turned out to be a true friend. I felt safe around him… I don’t know what that feeling means…

My thoughts are going in spirals, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. Then again… he’s hiding something. But if he would do something to me, he would’ve done it ages ago! So, yes, I can trust him, even though he doesn’t tell the whole story. I mean, who set me up to think he wouldn’t be trusted? Mörk! A bad guy! A shadow, claiming I had murdered my parents! And I should believe him!?

Then again… I do trust the first one to be nice to me, and what if they weren’t?

Oh, come on! I need my sleep!

I noticed the moonlight had moved. Even though my vision was blurred without my glasses, I still could see that the moon was full.

Oh, Luna, help me, I prayed to the moon, in the hope that she would come just like the first time. Finally, after a while, my eyelids grew heavier and at last I fell asleep.

~

The dream began in the dead field, the sun burning on my back. The grass was yellow and the lone tree that stood there was dead, its trunk almost black from the heat. The sun grew hotter and hotter, until it hurt. I tried to run, to scream – but I couldn’t. It was as if my legs were glued to the ground.

Then, I could just make out the voice of… somepony. I couldn’t hear who it was or what it said, but the moment I heard it, I felt my surroundings change. It was as I went back in time. The grass became green and soft, the tree that stood there grew back into its former glory and grew lots of leaves. Its shade stretched so far that it covered me, protecting me from the hot sun.

I recognized the tree. It was the tree where I woke up. The big, old oak tree, stretching up so high, it made me feel so small. It wasn´t bad, however. It made me think of my first day… of Wing Noir. He was my best friend. I smiled, thinking of him.

A vile laugh echoed through the fields. I tensed up when I recognized his voice.

Mörk.

Several trees shot up from the ground, blocking all the sunlight, making it really dark. Not just night-dark, but really-scary-dark. I shivered, because by blocking out the sun, you block out the warmth too. And that made it at least a few degrees cooler and counting. But what really worried me, was that I couldn’t see the old oak anymore. I don’t know why – but I felt a lot less secure.

There was that voice again. I couldn’t hear what he said, but it was vaguely familiar. A faint shimmer caught my attention the moment I heard it. I tried to lift my hoof, but I couldn’t. I squinted my eyes to look better.

It was… a cart? No – a wagon! It was the same wagon I spend the first night in! I lifted my hoof again, and this time I succeeded! I walked to the door, but there I stopped. The laughing entered my head again and in the doorway stood… Mörk.

I tried to back away, but I couldn’t. Something stopped me, and I believe it is him. His eyes were so black – not just his irises, but what was supposed to be white was black as well – or at least a very, very dark grey. His manes were like black fire, burning at his head.

At that moment, the other voice could be heard. This time I could hear whose it was.

Wing Noir.

He was calling me to wake up.

I saw Mörk putting a sour face, but immediately it was vile again. It truly scared me. I heard a loud bang high above me and a yell.. I couldn’t see what it was, but Mörk was grinning even wider now.

I saw something coming down. It floated, slowly, like a feather in the wind. But it wasn’t a feather. It was a hat. I recognized it as Wing Noir’s hat. It landed right in front of my hooves. I could smell his scent all over it… and something else I couldn’t place It was too dark to see it well, however.

As if on cue, Mörks grin got wider and wider while some branches high above me gave way to let the sun in. I looked back at the hat.

It was covered in blood. Noir’s blood.

I screamed now, really, really hard. I staggered backwards, shaking my head, shutting my eyes tight, hoping it wasn’t true. Mörk was laughing, and abruptly stopped to point at me and hiss, “This is all your fault.”

I cried, hoping for it to stop. And finally, finally, I woke up. Above me hovered Wing Noir, his eyes big with concern.

“Civ! Are you okay? You were screaming really loud.”

I shot up, panting. He landed next to me.

“Ci- oof!”

I whimpered, and before I could stop myself, I hugged him while crying my eyes out – but he hugged me back. I pulled away when I was a little calmer. I blushed, wildly.

“Sorry…”

He blushed too. “I – it’s okay, Civ. I know how bad those nightmares can get…”

I looked away, my cheeks burning.

“Are those nightmares… Are they always the same?” he asked, curious.

I shook my head. “No. This one was really different. It was good and bad at the same time. I know it sounds weird, but..” I sighed. “It’s so hard to explain… But there is this Mörk, who, I think is, causing all this.”

Noir frowned. “Who is Mörk?”

I shrugged and shook my head. “I don’t know! That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

I breathed in, shakily, and sighed. “I don’t know if I can take any more of these sleepless nights.”

Noir nodded. “Maybe Shadow can help. I mean, he is a teacher after all. He read a lot of books, I’m sure he’s got something about dreams.”

I sighed. “I hope so.”

I sat up on the couch, and Noir landed next to me. He put a reassuring hoof on my shoulder and smiled.

“You can always tell me anything, if you want to.”

I smiled. “Thanks. I… I really appreciate it.”

Outside, the early morning rays made the stars fade away. The moon was gone and the sky was beginning to show beautiful morning colors.

Wing Noir yawned. “I think it’s too late to go to bed now…”

I sighed. “But it’s still too early to get up.”

Noir thought for a moment. “How about… we go watch the sunrise?”

I frowned. “How?”

He smiled confidently. “Well…”

He opened the window and flew through it. He landed on the window-sill and reached his hoof to grab mine.

I hesitated; Noir smiled.

“Come on, Civ. It’ll be fun.”

I still wasn’t really sure about this…

“Do you trust me?”

I looked into his golden-brown eyes. I breathed in, nodded and grabbed his hoof.

He flew me up to the roof. He smiled when we landed.

I looked around. From here, you had a clear view from the sunrise – and what view it is…

“Well? What do you think?” Noir asked.

The view was breathtaking. The buildings, to the east, were colored beautifully in several kinds of pinks, purples, oranges and yellows. The snow on the mountains that surrounded the valley were like gold. The valley that stretched to the west, was beautifully lit by the sun that just reached the point where we could see it without anything standing in the way.

“It’s… It’s amazing!” I exclaimed.

He snickered. “When I had a bad dream early in the morning, my mother would take me up to the roof too, and show me the sunrise. She said, that it was the best way to make you forget a bad dream.”

I smiled. “Yes. It is the best way.”

And so, we sat there side by side, until the morning colors had faded away and the delicious smells of breakfast reached our noses.

~

About breakfast.

Well, breakfast itself was… a bit tense.

There was a loaded silence hanging above the kitchen table. Shadow wasn´t really enjoying breakfast, or so it seemed. From time to time I saw him glaring at Water Word. I wonder what that´s all about. There wasn’t any meaningful conversation either, only some statements like what we are going to do today or what we would like to do or what we should do.

There was some need for groceries, however. Apparently, we were low on apples (even though I could swear I saw a whole bunch of apples in the fridge). Water Word suggested Shadowflame to get them.

And so, at eight he set off to go to the nearest store that sells good apples. That would be a fifteen-minute walk to the shop, and fifteen minutes back – or even more, if the traffic lights were against you.

Now, this all happened about two hours ago. It is now five minutes to ten, and, well, we are getting a bit worried.

I mean, sure, it can take a lot of time to walk there. It could be busy in the shop… But even then, he would be back within the hour. But two whole hours…? Even Noir became a bit uneasy. We’re just sitting in the living room, the three of us, reading or doing nothing.

The clock on the mantelpiece stroke ten times. Ten o’clock; two full hours have passed. When the last strike has faded away, Water Word chuckled. “It seems Snipit did his job right.”

Snipit? I frowned. “Who is Snipit?”

Water Word stood up, facing us. “Children…”

He took a deep breath. “And in particularly you, Civviq Writer…”

Wing Noir tensed up.

“I’m sorry.”

He put off his sunglasses, which revealed neon blue eyes. His horn glowed neon blue as well, wrapping his body in a blue glow. His coat began to change from blue to black, and his mane and tail became neon blue. Even his cutie mark changed, into two katana swords: one made of silver, and one made of… carbon, I think. Something grey.

He stood up, towereing over me.

"I, Carbon Copy, have been ordered by Princess Celestia, to bring you to safety from the dark forces that have been following you."

Wait. What?

His horn lit up, charging up a spell.

"Civviq, no!"

A blinding fla

~

Okay.

My head hurts.

But still… Wait, I’m writing?

Okay. Okay.

I can’t see a thing… Where are my glasses? Oh, there they are.

Okay. Now I can see something.

Apparently, I’m in a room… It’s a round room. I’m lying on… a rug… It’s soft, it tickles… it’s grey, like the stones. The room is empty, well, except for the rug, of course. There wasn’t a single piece of furniture.

The color of my saddlebags stand out against the dull colors. Yellow, with orange. Not exactly a fashion statement – but it’s a great saddlebag.

The orange lid was open, but nothing was taken. It still had a map, my spare quill and a sack with a few bits in it I set apart. There were also a few apples… I wonder where they came from. I strapped my saddlebag back on my back.

The room is lit by torches. There aren’t any windows. There… There is no door?

Great, I’m trapped. I’m at the mercy of the one who teleported me here.

Also… Where’s Wing Noir? Did something bad happen to him? Why isn’t he here with me, I mean, that Carbon Copy has teleported him somewhere as well, right? But why not here?

Oh… Why? Where is everypony? Why did they take me here?

I bit my lip to stop the tears from falling. I knew there was no means of escape – but that didn’t stop me from panicking and crying and oh what am I doing…

Take a deep breath.

And breath out…

I close my ey

~

-es.

My eyes.

And now I’m somewhere else entirely.

But all my belongings have travelled with me, so that’s a great reli

…And I almost dropped the quill when I realized exactly where I was.

In a hall.

With lots of …creatures… staring at me.

The only thing that breaks the silence is the scribbling of my quill so I think I’m stopping now…

~

To the Faithfullest Follower of our Dark Lord Mörk, and our current leader, Black Heart,

We are truly regretful to report that we have failed in capturing our First Attempt, Civviq Writer.

However, in the moment that she was teleported away, we have succeeded in capturing her friend, Wing Noir, and one of her allies, Carbon Copy.

I believe the friend will be useful to us, serving as bait. And maybe we will be able to turn him to our side, like his father before him. I believe his father, Aile Noir, is trying to persuade him now.

Until further notice, we will continue informing you of our findings.

Your faithful servant,

Leader of the Second Division

Head Mare of Alpha 1

Supervisor of Actions

Betelgeuse

~

The Strikers

Well, dear reader, I’ve got to say: it all turned out to be pretty good.

Except for one thing.

Wing Noir and Carbon Copy got captured by Mörk.

My quill is still unsteady when I write this. Who knows what they’ll do to them? And you know, it is all my fault! Because of me, they got captured.

But I swear, that I’m going to find Noir. I need to, I have to.

He saved me so many times, and now it’s my turn to save him.

He’s my first friend, my best friend. And I’m not going to lose him.

Oh, by the way, I still owe you an explanation, do I? Well, here goes:

So, when I was standing in that hall, the… half-unicorn-half-dragon-stallion, who teleported me here, walked up to me. His name’s Warpath. His body was covered in jet-black scales, except for his head and body. His hind legs have claws, his forelegs hoofs. His mane and tail is blue, and his all-yellow eyes looked old. His horn was black at the tip but turned blue going upward.

He nodded his head to me and then looked at the audience, consisting from a full-blood dragon, a young pegasus and a shaggy-looking unicorn with wings, too small to be able to fly with.

Anyway. He turned back to the audience, and they took a good look at me – without saying a word. Then, turning back to me, Warpath spoke.

“Do you know why you are here?”

Shakily, I shook my head.

“Do you know what is following you?”

This took me off guard. Does he mean..?

“Mörk?” I said, with a small voice. Warpath nodded and turned back to face the other dragon, clearly thinking of what to say next.

“Let me introduce you to the rest of the crew.”

He pointed with his hoof at the green pegasus.

“This is Swift Spry. He’s our close combat expert.”

Swift Spry nodded. His aquamarine spikes wobbled with the motion of his head. His tail was aquamarine too, and so are his eyes. His coat is green. His cutie mark is a blue star with inside a yellow lightning bolt. There was something around his waist… I think it’s a belt with a katana sword in it.

Then, he moved on to the dragon. His scales are blue, with white scales on his stomach. He has orange eyes, and some weird inscriptions on his neck. Three rings of strange tokens cover the scales on his neck; I can’t see them entirely though, his cloak hides the most of the inscriptions. He also wears pants.

“This is Enerjack Vocalis. He is our swords expert, and a great flyer.”

His cloak was open. I could see two smaller swords – I think it’s called a tanto – and bigger swords around his cloak. He has also several different knifes and blades over his body in shafts or belts.

He was definitely not somebody you wanted to fight.

Then, he pointed to the alicorn, but before he could continue (and before I could stop myself), I blurted out what I wanted to know the most.

“Where is Wing Noir?”

Warpath looked up, slightly annoyed, but he didn’t mention it.

And then came the blow.

“Wing Noir and Carbon Copy, the one who brought you here, were captured by Mörk’s followers.”

I flinched and staggered backwards. “No…”

Swift Spry raised an eyebrow. “Why do you care so much for that colt?”

My cheeks flushed. Enerjack to him face-palmed.

The alicorn rolled with his eyes. “Give that filly a break, Swift Spry.”

He glanced at me. “She doesn’t know the first thing ´bout ´im.”

Swift Spry huffed. “You don’t either.”

“Shut up.” Warpath said. Not angry, but at a demanding tone, so you had to obey him. He sighed and muttered under his breath.

“Filly, I need you to forget about him. He cannot be trusted, and even if we wanted to, we couldn’t save him. We don’t know where he is. Carbon Copy…”

He trailed off, thinking.

“Well, we haven’t had the scheduled letter from him last night.”

Last night? How long have I been out?

“When we came to look for him in the house, we found this.”

He levitated a black feather. I picked it up with my magic myself, wrapping it in a dark-bluish-purple-hue. Warpath continued.

“The living room was destroyed. There were clear signs of struggle and fight. We aren’t sure whether they have been able to flee – but then, we found the feather. We don’t know where it is from. We believe it is from bird, not a pegasus. Nevertheless… I think it is a sign from the cult: we have both, come and get them.”

I recognized the feather immediately. When I was reading in the sun in Water Word’s back yard, Wing Noir was just sitting about. Then, an owl flew on a branch in the trees nearby him. It was a brown owl, but with black wings. He hooted once, and flew away, leaving one of his feathers behind. It landed in front of Noir. Curiously, he picked it up, and after playing with it for a while, he put it on his hat.

“But… Why?”

And then he explained everything. The cult, Illuminae… their purpose… Wing Noir.

“But, wait a minute,” the alicorn interrupted, “Why aren’t we trying to find ‘em? Carbon is our friend. Besides, he still owes me a drink.”

Warpath sighed. “It is too dangerous.”

“Ugh. The ‘Too Dangerous’ cliché? Come on, we can do better than that.” Swift Spry said. Enerjack nodded.

Swift pointed at him. “See? Enerjack agrees. And Snipit does too.”

My ears perked when I heard the name. “Snipit?”

The alicorn looked up. “Aye?”

I stood up. “What happened to Shadow?”

“What, that teacher? He was send back to Canterlot. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”

I narrowed my eys. “Really?”

“Uhm…”

Enerjack stomped him.

“Snipit? What did you do?”

He grimaced. “Well, I might’ve… sort of… kinda…”

“Get on with it, man.” Swift Spry said. Cries from various sides urged him even further.

“Yeah, get on with it!”

“Okay, okay, okay!” Snipit facehoofed. “Look, I had to get rid of him… No, not that way! Look, I told him to scram when Carbon left. But he didn’t want to leave you two, so I told him to go to Celestia for further information. He didn’t trust me…”

“Obviously,” Swift muttered under his breath; Snipit glared at him,

“He didn’t trust me, so he decided to test some of his new spells and pinned me on the wall.”

Warpath cocked his eyebrow. Snipit grunted again.

“Look, it wasn’t my fault! He was too fast. Anyway, he told me he wouldn’t release me until he told me what’s going on. So I told him the filly was in danger and we’re here to protect them, but he didn’t believe me, so I flung a smokebomb at him to distract him so I could get away.”

He massaged his temples with his hooves.

“So I caught ‘im, an’ put ‘im unconscious, jus’ like I had to. I put ‘im into… a safe place, so to say… Not like I was ordered, but I ran away anyway. I guess he went to Celestia after he found Water Word’s house in a mess…”

Enerjack grunted. “This whole thing is a mess. Now we have that dude on our tail.”

But Warpath just nodded, closed his eyes and thought for a moment. The rest was silent.

“We still have the matter of Carbon Copy,” Reminded Swift Spry, to change topics. “What are we going to do?”

Meanwhile, I was still processing all the information I had gotten. I had absolutely no idea how to react, that was for sure. I mean, a cult, trying to kill you? A team, there to protect you? Wing Noir, not knowing who he was anymore? Shadowflame, not knowing if he was all right?

At that moment, I was beginning to feel really tired. All I wanted was to go to sleep… even though I had to face those nightmares. I mean, why does this have to be so complicated?

Then, Warpath opened his eyes and began to speak.

“Our team has been put together, so that in the right situations, she had a team she could rely on.”

Everypony (or everydragon) was silent.

“Our team has been through a change, recently. But we are a team, nevertheless, and we have to stay together, at all times.”

Agreeing nods from the rest.

“Our prime target, at the moment, is to keep Civviq safe. And we need all the help we can get to do so. Carbon Copy… We can’t just run out without any clue as to where he is. But if there is a way that we can save him, I’m sure we will embrace it.”

More noises.

“If what Snipit says is true, that the teacher cares enough for them to go after them… I believe he might be of some help.”

The noises died down a bit. Unsure looks were exchanged.

“I need to consult the princesses about this matter.”

He looked at me again. “Miss Writer, you will be staying here, in this building, until further notice. Spry, bring her to the guest rooms on the second floor.

“One last thing, before I forget. About our team name; do we all agree it should be “The Strikers”?

Nods.

“All right then. Dismissed.”

The other three stood up and prepared to go. Swift Spry gestured me to follow him, and so I did.

The building wasn´t big, but I still couldn´t see any windows. We went up the stairs, through another corridor and we stopped in front of a wooden door.

“Here ya go. This is your room for now.”

He opened the door.  The room was almost exactly the same as I woke up in – except that there now was furnishing; a bed and a closet. Nothing more. Not even a window.

Swift Spry was gone before I could ask him about it. And so I’m here now. Even though I have still no idea what to think about it. It all happened so fast…

~

To Betelgeuse,

Leader of the Second Division,

Head Mare of Alpha 1,

Supervisor of Actions,

Let me first tell you that we, Our High Lord Mörk and I, are not pleased with your mistake. We have put our trust in you and you have disappointed us.

But since you have a plan, we shall give you another chance. Do not fail, or else punishment will await you.

Kind regards,

Black Heart

Current Leader

Loyal Servant of our Dark Lord Mörk

~

Hey Civ, this is Noir.

I found this empty notebook in my tent. I took a quill as well, obviously. I don’t know why they were there, but they were there, and they aren’t there for nothing.

I have seen you done this before, and maybe you’ll read this, one day. I don’t know what’s going to happen, I don’t even know what’s going on! But I can always tell you everything, and you wouldn’t judge me – or so you say – so I’ll just pretend I’m writing this to you. Makes it far easier, too.

Anyway, you told me it was good to write it down, so it won’t stay inside and curl up to a big ball and explode… maybe it’s a bit exaggerated, but it does feel good to write it down. So I’m doing it.

NO, this is NOT a diary. These are LETTERS. Big difference.

So, anyway. Right after this ‘Carbon Copy’ flashed you away and turned to me, some other ponies came in and started to attack Carbon and me. He stood up for me, but we were outnumbered. It’s black after that.

Then, I woke up in a tent. Next to my matrass stood a pegasus stallion, I vaguely recognized. He had a grey coat, just like me, and dark-blue hair, as black as the night. His eyes were dark blue as well – but instead of the regular white, the eye-white was black like a shadow.

“Hello, son.”

I tried to sit up, but he pushed me down. His hoof felt cold on my forehead.

“Dad?”

His expression was serious, almost gruff – but it had a hint of sadness. I kept staring at him.

“You’ve got your mother’s eyes.”

I had gotten really, really angry at that remark. Where had he been? Why didn’t he come back?

Many of these questions (among some colorful language) did I flung at him, but he remained stoic. When I was out of breath from cursing and out of tears from crying, he sighed and shook his head.

“Wing Noir. My son. I missed you, you know.”

He sighed again and stood up.

“I’m sorry I had to abandon you. But I had to serve a greater cause.”

“Greater than mom?” I retorted. He frowned.

“Greater then all of us.” And he left the tent.

I hated him, you know. I hated him really much when he left, and I still do. I mean, how could he abandon us when we needed him the most?

Anyway, I tried to follow him to wherever he’s going, but he pushed me back.

“No, son. Stay here and wait for me.”

So, I found this little book and wrote in it. And I’m going to keep on writing in it until we can talk again.

I really don’t know what to write anymore… So, yeah, this was my first letter to you.

I hope I’ll see you soon.

Your friend,

Wing Noir.

~

Log 37, Entry 1

Authorities have loaded me with the task of reforming a prisoner. If I fail to let him adapt to our ways, I have gotten permission to bring them to the Cave. But they trust me, and I will not fail them. I will not fail the Ways of the Shadows.

Log 37, entry 2

Authorities have presented me the prisoner. He… It’s my son.

Log 37, entry 3

I haven’t thought about my family for a long time. One must not dwell in the past – but now she is dead, and he… he hates me. I don’t understand… I found I cannot remember…

Log 37, entry 4

I must guard my son. I cannot tell you how painful and heartbreaking that is, and wonderful and amazing at the same time. Ever since I laid eyes on my son – sleeping – I couldn’t shake these… thoughts… off me. I found I missed her, but I do not know why. I cannot remember clearly, only muddy images from the past.

But I must stay loyal to my true leader. And I will make sure he will be loyal too.

~

Dear Civviq,

My father had come to get me soon after I have finished my first letter. He pulled me up, and with a gruff voice, he said:

“Follow me.”

So, without a word, I followed him. Like I said, we were in a camp somewhere in the middle of the forest. It was a big camp; many of those black-colored tents were positioned around multiple fireplaces. My father led me to the biggest fireplace, in the middle of the camp. There was also the biggest tent. He pulled up the flap to let me in.

There, behind a wooden desk, sat a dark-blue mare with black manes and tail. Her eyes are snow white, but just like my father, the outer white is black. All the other ponies that were busy in the camp seemed to have these kind of eyes as well, by the way. As if they were under some sort of spell…

The mare looked at my father. She nodded.

“Thank you, mister Noir. You can return to your duties.”

He nodded as well, and after one last look at me, he left the tent. The mare stood up and walked over to me.

“Hello, Wing Noir. My name is Betelgeuse. And I’m in charge here.”

I could barely suppress a scowl. Who does she think she is?

She noticed my withhold snarl and laughed. “Oh, you cheeky little thing. Just like your father.”

What!? “I’m nothing like my father!” I spat out. She was unfazed by my outburst; she merely rolled her eyes and returned to her desk. I was still fuming when she sat down.

“Oh, you little colt. Soon, you will understand. Mister Noir?” she called out. Father came in the tent again.

“Take your son back to the tent. Make sure he understands our ways, but if he doesn’t want to accept us voluntarily, we will have to  go to the Cave.”

Father nodded and gestured me to come with him.

It was then that I saw Carbon Copy. He was somewhere at the edge of the camp, chained to a tree. I couldn’t see him well, but those black-eyes certainly haven’t been treating him nicely. They have given him some food and water, however – so they aren’t completely barbaric.

I tried to yell, to get his attention – but I failed to do so. Father shushed me before I could say something. Once in our tent, he left me alone with the promise of some food and water. He hasn’t returned yet.

Civviq, I don’t trust this a bit. I don’t know where you are, and I don’t know how I got here, but please, be okay. Stay away from here. I’ll be okay, I promise. I need to get out of here before they turn me ‘black’ as well..

I think that’s what happened to Father. Maybe he got captured, maybe this isn’t him… But I’m not sure.

Civviq, if I keep struggling, they will bring me to that cave-thing. If I have to go there, I might not see you ever again – and I don’t want that. But I don’t want to be enemies; I want to get out.

If this whole thing really changes me, I’m so sorry if I hurt you in any way. I don’t mean to hurt you, I never want to hurt you.

You’re my best friend, and you always will be.

Wing Noir

~

Sparring Session

The nightmare has disturbed my sleep once more. And this time, no one would come to comfort me. That fact alone had made this one the worst nightmare until now.

It began with darkness.

Not just shadow-dark, not even night-dark, but dark as if it were a fluid, or a matter, that could envelop you like snow or water. It was soft but also sharp, like wool. It was warm, I couldn’t breathe. It was like drowning, but I was drowning in my own fear.

Then, the laughter came. Mörk.

“Mwahaha! You think you’re safe, don’t you?” he sneered. I felt a sudden rush of air past me. I tried to turn, but I couldn’t.

“Heheheh. Oh, you stupid, naïve, little filly.” He continued to snicker.

“But you know, I’ve got a surprise for you. And I know how you love surprises.”

A part of the darkness rose, like mist. I saw a barren space, with here and there a dead tree or bush. The dead grass was grey. There was no other growth.

Instead, I saw an army.

An army of ponies, young and old, staring straight forward. All clad in pitch-black armor, they were standing on the wasteland. They were all armed, either with spears or with gleaming swords. All had a pitch-black shield, some carried it with a wing, others held it floating in their magic. The earth ponies had the shield secured to their armor. But the one thing that stood out most, was that their eye-white was black, staring in nothing. And on the front row…

On the front row stood Wing Noir.

His eyes were black too. His normal clothes were gone. Instead, he was clad in the smaller version of the armor, all black, but he had streaks of red on the edges of the armor. He had no helmet, so you could see his eyes even better. He was holding a spear in his hooves, decorated with blood-red figures. He had no shield.

He was looking straight at me with his black eyes. I staggered backwards and closed my eyes, but that didn’t get the image off my mind’s eye. Mörk was cackling evilly.

“Oh, you little filly! Don’t you see? He cannot be saved! He is one of us now! He will lead us to you, and when we have found you…”

He left the sentence unfinished. Instead, he showed me what he would do.

Wing Noir began to run. He ran straight at me, his black gaze locked at his target. I tried to run, but I couldn’t. It was as if I were paralyzed; all I could do was stare into his golden-black eyes.

While running, he lowered his spear and without hesitation… he lunged it forward.

Right into my heart.

I shot up, panting and sweating. My chest hurt, right where the spear would’ve hit. I lifted a hoof to stroke over the sour spot. I thought of Noir, his laughter, his soothing words. But it only made my chest hurt even more. I reached with my magic for my quill to write it down.

When I was finished, I turned around and buried my head in my pillow, crying. The once white sheets were now stained with the salty tears. But after a while, I found myself slowly drifting off to sleep, hopefully a bit more peaceful…

Mörk’s laughter was still present.

“Oh, you stupid little filly. You know I’m right. You know you shouldn’t have trusted him in the first place.”

I was still sobbing, sitting on the cold, dark floor. My sobs were echoing through the non-existent room; it was all black, only black. A rectangle somewhere high up lit me up with silver light, like a spotlight. It casts a small shadow behind me.

I looked back, trying to locate the laughter. “Where are you? Why are you doing this to me?”

Somewhere, he groaned out of annoyance. “You are even thicker than I thought. Do you want me to let Wing kill you again?”

I flinched. He laughed again. I felt a sudden breeze going through my hair, a shiver ran up my spine. The silver light flickered and a colt stepped in. At first, I couldn’t see him, but I realized it was Noir. My throat ran dry, I tried to swallow but I couldn’t. My knees wobbled. He just stood, rigid, only flicking his tail once. His eyes pierced through me. The darkness that surrounded the gold was still overwhelming.

“Look at him. He is under my control. One word, just one word, and he’ll kill you again and again. I will let you suffer in the dream world…” he paused, “and in the real world too.”

Wing Noir stepped forward. A second beam of silver light shone upon him, illuminating his black armor. He pointed the spear with me and stood ready to charge.

I closed my eyes, unwilling to go through all again. Then, I heard a groan. I could feel it vibrating under my feet, but nothing happened. I don’t know how long I had stood there, but when I opened my eyes, everything was silent. It was an empty silence, as if nopony was there anymore.

Wing Noir was still standing there, like a statue. But Mörk… I think Mörk was gone… But why?

I noticed the silver light had changed. I looked up to the rectangle – and saw the moon and the stars, blinking at me. I smiled. Luna is back, I thought. But she has left the dream to me… I sensed the dream wasn’t over yet. I looked back at Noir, who hasn’t moved at all. But his eyes were still black and his spear was still pointed at me.

Carefully, I took a step forward. He didn’t move a muscle. I stepped out of the circle of light, into the dark. The gound was still steady, so I took another step.

“…Noir?” I called out, softly. He still didn’t move.

“Noir… Come back.” I said, a bit harder this time. “Noir… Let go of the spear…”

I put my hoof down and looked at him, my head tilted a bit. I saw the black flicker a bit to grey and back to black. But he’s still down there, somewhere.

“Noir… can you hear me? Please, wake up…”

Then, out of nowhere, the rumbling started again.

”You will NEVER GET HIM BACK!”

My surroundings began to shake under my hooves, and I fell. But the silver moon only seemed to get bigger and bigger, as if I was floating there. When the light was beginning to get blinding, it went all black – and I woke up, staring at the ceiling.

I took a deep breath. What does this mean? I sit up and shake my head to make it a bit clearer. What is going on… I know that. Mörk is real, he’s trying to get me. He’s using… Noir!... as bait! I know it’s a trap. That is obvious! But I can’t just leave him there? We have to find him! He’s my friend… my best friend… and it’s what friends do!

I sigh. I turn around to hug my pillow.

Noir… I miss him. After being in his company for so long, it just feels… empty without him. I closed my eyes, thinking of him. I smiled.

I started to drift off to sleep again, when somepony knocked on my door. I opened my eye, then the other. I sighed, got out of bed and fashioned my mane so I was a bit presentable.

“Come in.” I said, groggily.

The door opened. Swift Spry came in, smiling.

“Good morning! Want some breakfast?”

I nodded.

“Do you want to eat here, or downstairs with us?”

I thought for a moment, looking at the ground.

“Downstairs.”

His smile brightened. “Good! Are you ready?”

He lifted his hoof to take a step, but he froze in mid-air.

“Oh, and, by the way,” he turns around, “your mane looks a bit…” He pointed his hoof at his mane, making stroking movements. I blushed and tried to entangle my manes a bit.

Swift chuckled. “You should talk to Warpath about toiletries. He’s in charge of everything.”

He turned around and left.

It was then, that I noticed I was still writing… oh? Interesting. Next question: Should I leave my quill and notebook here? Yes. Yes, I should… I’ll grab them later.

So. I followed him downstairs, to the kitchen.

The kitchen wasn’t big. On one wall, there was a kitchen counter with a sink. Above and below were cupboards, a dishwasher and an oven; on the right was a large fridge and a smaller microwave. On the left was a stove.

In the middle of the kitchen was a big table, where the others were enjoying their meal: Enerjack, Snipit. Swift sat down and gestured I should do the same.

“Snipit, where’s Warpath?” Swift asked. Snipit shrugged. “How should I know? Judging by his empty plate,” he nodded to the plate on the counter, “he already ate.”

Enerjack rolled with his eyes. “Official stuff, I guess.” Swift nodded and began to eat.

I looked down on my plate. It had toast with a fried egg on it. I was hungry, so I began to eat.

Around me, conversation was going on as if I wasn’t there. I didn’t mind, though, I was too focused on my breakfast to worry. Swift asked me if I wanted to watch a sparring session between him and Warpath. And maybe, just maybe, Snipit could teach me a few tricks with my magic.

After breakfast, Swift brought me back to my room. I fetched my saddlebags and my notebook and quill. I’m writing this down on my way to the sparring room. I’m curious how that would go.

We went through a heavy, wooden door. Inside, there was a big, round hall, almost like an arena. There was a small pathway to the middle of the  where there was a wide circle with nothing in it, only dirt and rocks. It was uneven ground, as the ground hat shifted times and times again. Alongside of that, there were long, sharp, iron stakes pointing up. They had also several sharp ends pointing sideways. They were long, you had to move very swiftly to navigate through.

Alongside the main hall were several smaller rooms: each with other grounds to train on: one to throw knives, one with a puppet to practice sword fighting and your spells, and others had more puppets to practice close combat.

The ceiling was high, and almost on top of the ceiling, far above the iron spikes, there was an iron ‘cage’ where you could safely sit and watch. You could access via the main hall, with a lot of stairs.

I climbed the stairs alone, Swift was getting ready far down. He was wearing his armor. It was light blue, with golden decorations. He told me it was very strong armor, that he had gotten from his father. It could even withstand dragon fire! I think he’s going to need it. He was cleaning his sword, Shinigami.

On the other side of the circle, Enerjack was meditating. The runes on his neck and back were glowing. His eyes were shut. He hadn’t put off his saddlebags – he appeared to have them on permanently. I wondered what was in it.

Snipit was somewhere in the forest of iron. He was invisible for Enerjack and Snipit, but I could see him clearly. It appeared he was muttering spells, to control the stakes. His horn was glowing. The stakes were bending at his will.

Then, Enerjack was ready. He stood up and pulled out his two swords, Hellraiser and Judgement.  Swift Spry readied and nodded.

This was going to be fun.

Enerjack charged. His wings propelled him forward, right at Swift. Swift dodged, flying upward, making a somersault and landing again, facing Enerjack, who turned when he didn’t hit his target. This time, Swift Spry charged and Enerjack blocked it with his sword, Judgement, who he held in his left hand. His other sword, Hellraiser, came just a millisecond later. He swung the sword at Swift’s, who almost lost his grip. But he still stood and flew up before Enerjack  could give him another blow.

Enerjack took a deep breath. The runes on his head and back lit once again, and with an incredible speed, he flew after Swift. In mid-air, Swift turned and clashed his sword, Shinigami, against Judgement. Enerjack then lifted Hellraiser but Swift dodged it.

I realized that Enerjack was left-handed. That isn’t a weakness per se, but if Swift played it smart, he could use it in his advantage. And I think he has realized that too.

Swift began to attack Enerjack from the left. Enerjack managed to dodge some of the blows, but he couldn’t dodge all. Though his thick scales were still intact, I think it must’ve hurt. Any normal pony wouldn’t have been able to survive.

Enerjack flew up, out of the rain of blows, until he was hovering right above Swift. He began to force him down. Swift was fighting to get away from there. And yes – right above the ground, he managed to bring a precise blow on Enerjack that he could go away. He landed next to Enerjack, panting.

“So, is it going to be this way, huh?”

Enerjack grinned, panting as well. “It’s always going to be this way.”

Swift positioned himself, pointing Shinigami at him.

“Well then, LET'S DANCE!”

And with a yell, he charged Enerjack, who swiftly dodged the blow. Swift ran past him, into the maze of stakes.  Enerjack tried to follow him, but he was too big to fit between the stakes without being pierced. He roared out of anger and flew into the air. The runes on his back and his neck flamed once again and a mighty beam of fire came out of his mouth, heating the iron stakes red-hot.

Of course, Swift had foreseen this. His armor was good enough to withstand fire, so a few warm pins that scratched his armor wasn’t going to hurt him. But I did imagine that it was getting awfully hot in there, if he hasn’t got any coolers in it.

Meanwhile, Snipit was done preparing himself with the stakes and the other two were getting closer and closer. When they were close enough, Snipit closed his eyes and the pins cut loose from its stakes. They were pointed at the pegasus and the dragon. He opened his eyes, waiting for the right moment.

There. Swift Spry had almost reached him, when he threw the pins. For Swift, they came out of nowhere, but he dodged them all. He was a fast thinker, that was for sure. But Enerjack wasn’t so lucky;  a few spikes ricocheted off his scales – one even penetrated it. But it didn’t do him any apparent harm, so he continued his hunt on Swift.

And the fight went on. But below, I saw something else. Warpath has returned, with another stallion… Shadowflame!? I gasped out of delight and wanted to get down immediately… but I don’t think that would be such a good idea; Enerjack was breathing fire again.

Warpath nodded to Shadowflame, who looked up. He smiled to me; I smiled back and waved. He nodded back to Warpath and closed his eyes, concentrating on a spell. He soon was wrapped in a hardly visible dome of magic, to protect him from any harm while crossing the battlefield.

While Shadow was climbing the stairs, Warpath was looking at the fight, no doubt waiting for the right moment to strike. He positioned himself, and sprang in the air when he saw fit. He first began to attack Snipit in a magical fight.

Before Snipit could react, Warpath had a whirlwind coming out of his horn. It knocked Snipit to the side and the spikes he had wielded fell down when he lost concentration. With a huff, he regained his concentration, picked the spikes up and aimed at Warpath. He dodged them and tried to aim another spell at him, but at that moment Swift hit Snipit – accidently, but it knocked Snipit out of Warpath’s range. Warpath growled and began to attack Swift with more wind spells.

Enerjack saw this, and decided to help Swift. He charged at Warpath, but he lashed wind at him, trying to knock him off his flying path. Enerjack almost fell, but he grunted and the runes lit up once again. With a mighty flap of his wings, he managed to stay in the air. With a loud yell, he charged Warpath, who then summoned rock out of the middle of the circle. With a gigantic boulder he created a shield where Enerjack almost crashed. He managed to pull up just in time – he had to position his mighty claws so, that he ricocheted off the rock.

Meanwhile, Swift had managed to get out of Warpath’s grip, speeding up in the air where he had more ground to attack. He stayed in one position to think of what to do next.

In the meantime, Shadowflame had climbed the stairs and sat down next to me. He smiled, I smiled back. He eyed my busy quill.

“Hm. I see you’ve improved.”

I looked at him, my head tilted a bit. “What do you mean?”

He chuckled. “Well, you’re writing while we’re talking.”

I looked at the quill, that was still writing. I chuckled as well.

“Yes… You could say that.”

A loud yell from the ‘battlefield’ gained my attention.

Swift, Snipit, Enerjack and Warpath had positioned themselves each in their respective quarter of the circle, facing eachother.

It was Snipit, that had started firing huge beams of light at Warpath opposite of him. Warpath blocked it, sending the beam in several different directions. In Swift’s and Warpath’s as well. They flew up, trying to dodge it, but they were blown away from the impact.

When Warparth had steadied himself from the first blow (the beam was still in the air) his horn sparked even more and shook the ground beneath Snipit. Snipit lost his concentration and the beam stopped. Warpath quickly send a blast of wind to knock him down, but Snipit made a barrier that kept away the wind. But Snipit was already weakened from earlier attacks, and he wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long. He was panting, struggling to keep the spell working. Warpath grinned; he was still fit because he had joined the fight later on.

But in the meantime, Swift and Enerjack had recovered from the impact. They looked at each other, nodded and began to attack Warpath from different sides. Swift came down from the right, Shinigami ready to attack. At the same time, Enerjack came from the left, the runes on his neck glowing: he was preparing to fire away.

Warpath saw them both coming in the corner of his eyes. He quickly raised a barrier of stone on his left just when Enerjack fired, but he had to break the wind spell on Snipit to dodge Swift’s sword. To do so, he picked up some sharp rocks and threw them at Swift, who quickly raised Shinigami to dodge them. But one of the rocks hit his wing, dislocating some of his feathers. He yelled and fell on the ground, clutching his wing. When he was sure it wasn’t that bad, he stood up and picked up his sword.

When Warpath had broken the spell, Snipit fell down out of exhaustion. He grunted, but he couldn’t stand up. He was too tired. He shook his head and retreated into the field of iron stakes, into one of the rooms that exited on the field. I couldn’t see him after that; I wonder where he went.

The only two that were still actively fighting, were Warpath and Enerjack.

But Enerjack was panting as well, but just like Swift, he was determined to stay on his feet. He kept on the ground. The runes on his back were now glowing red, signaling that he should let them rest. He had only limited shots in an amount of time, and he didn’t want to overheat them.

Warpath still stood steadily on the ground, prepared for the last fight.

Swift was the first to charge. Shinigami was pointed forward, aimed at Warpath. Warpath lifted with his magic the stones from the ground and began to throw them at Swift. Swift swiftly dodged them. Only a second after Swift, Enerjack ran to Warpath and started to attack him with Judgement and Hellraiser from the left. But Warpath simply put up a stone shield that stopped them both.

They crashed head-first into the wall. Swift held his head and fell down, moaning. Snipit emerged from the stakes to drag him from the field into safety.  I hope they’ll be all right.

Enerjack and Warpath are circling around each other, the air very tense. Then, without warning, Warpath jumped and opened his muzzle.  He spat a huge bolt of flame in the direction of Enerjack! You could feel the heat from where I sat!

Enerjack hadn’t got much time, but the runes on his back lit once more and white-hot fire exited his beak. The flames met eachother exactly in the middle of the circle! The momentum lasted only a few seconds, where a huge ball of fire floated in the middle of the circle. Then, it exploded! Both Enerjack and Warpath were blown backwards by the impact.

Panting, they both stood up. The fight was over.

“Phew. That was… something.” Shadow said. I nodded.

That indeed was something.

Dear Civviq,

I need to make this quick, because they´ll soon fetch me for dinner.

Today I was allowed to take a look around in the camp. Everypony was working; either gathering wood in the forest, or fetching water. I could catch a glimpse of Carbon again, and he still didn’t look good. He had his eyes closed shut and was growling, while some other ponies were holding him, forcing something on his neck. He grunted and struggled. I couldn’t see what it was.

Father walked to me and sat down next to me, his face stern as always.

“That is what happens if you disobey the rules.”

I frowned and looked up to him. “He’s my friend.’

Well, that’s not exactly true. But he tried to help me and protected you, so I respected him. Here, where everypony is my enemy, he could be called my friend.

Father glanced sideways to me. “the Dark Lord has given you another chance. Don’t waste it.”

My face fell and my ears pointed down. “I want to get out of here.”

Father now looked me in the eye. The black of his eye flickered to grey for a moment, but the next moment it was gone.

“Son, don’t say that. I don’t want you to get hurt, but if you escape, I will be forced to.”

I looked away and nodded. Father sighed.

Carbon had stopped struggling. He was panting now; the ponies had released him. His eye-white was flickering from white, to grey, to black, to grey again. He shook his head wildly.

“He’s trying to fight it.” Father said. “But nopony can fight it.”

I heard a twinge of sadness in his voice. I looked up, but was only met with his stoic gaze.

I buried my head in my hooves. I think it’s your fault, you know. If it weren’t for you, I would never be here. If that stupid wind hadn’t picked my hat, I would still be… Yes, where would I be? On the road, alone? No company, no friends?

I closed my eyes. No, I if I could, I wouldn´t have changed what I did.

I´m sorry, Civ. I´m scared. What if they turn me black too? What if they force me to hurt you? I’d never hurt you. But you know that, don’t you? I mean, I might seem a bit harsh sometimes, but I really don’t mean any harm.

I’m writing this down, because… I just don’t know what to do next. This helps me think, clear my mind. If I see you again, I’m going to thank you because you introduced me to writing. If I see you again…

Dinner will soon be served. I have to go.

I miss you. I hope I will see you soon.

Your friend,

Wing Noir

Saving Wing

“So… Shadowflame, was it?”

Warpath’s gruff voice sounded a bit muffled through the door. Heh, I know eavesdropping isn’t allowed, but I was just too curious. So I stationed myself before the lock of Warpath’s office and tried to catch up as much as they said.

I looked around, nopony was around in the hall. You could hear hoofsteps echo from around the corner, so that gave me enough warning to get out of here. The scratching of the quill, though, was a bit loud… I hope they  can’t hear it…

“…No, I don’t know where Carbon or Wing is… I hope they’re all right, though.” The lighter voice of Shadowflame came a bit softer through the door, but it was still understandable. “ I do have an idea, though; does Civviq have a personal item of Wing’s? Maybe I can track him down with a tracking spell.”

“I don’t know… You’ll have to ask her.”

Do I have a personal item of Wing? I don’t know…  He hasn’t given me anything, so I guess not.

“…Isn’t there any other way, Shadowflame?”

“Well… Maybe, if their friendship is strong enough, they have a bond…”

“That kind of bond? I don’t believe that. You can’t track down somepony with that.”

“No, wait. At the time I’ve been with them, I could almost… feel something around them. He’s very

protective about her. He’ll be there when she needs it, and she will also be there for him. Almost as if…”

“They’re too young for that.”

I don’t understand. What are they talking about? Where am I too young for?

“No, they’re just too young to realize. But it is there. Somepony really sensitive can feel it, and with the right spell, you can see it. The direction of the part that’s visible – the part that’s in the spell’s range, so the part with her - will guide us in the right direction.”

“Hmm… You will have to explain it all to Civviq, however.”

“Well…” His voice became uncertain. “Like you said... She’s too young… She won’t understand…”

Hm. He’s right about that.

“Hm. Are there any… side effects?”

“I… I don’t know…” Shadow’s voice trailed off. “I haven’t really… tested it on anypony…”

Warpath groaned.  I snickered; I could almost see him face-palm.

“You should tell her, nonetheless. She hasn’t got any parents nor legal guardians, so she’ll have to decide for herself.”

“Yes… I’ll do it right away.”

“-wait…” I heard Warpath get up from his chair, and before I could move he had opened the door.

I tried to get away, but he captured me in his magic. He raised an eyebrow.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here.”

I gulped.

Warpath carried me in his magic inside and closed the door. He put me down on the chair opposite of Shadowflame, behind Warpath’s desk. He walked over to Shadowflame’s side and stood there.

“How much have you heard?” Shadow asked. Suddenly, my hooves were very interesting.

“Hm?”

I bit my lip.

“Not much… just…”

“You’re a terrible liar, Civviq.” Shadow chuckled. “But it doesn’t matter. Now we don’t have to explain it to you again.”

I looked up, curious. They’re not mad?

Warpath rolled his eyes. “But you shouldn’t do it. It’s not nice to eavesdrop.” Warpath said, his face turning stern again. I shrunk under his gaze. He huffed.

“All right, now.” Shadowflame said, “Civviq. What do you say? Do you want me to try the new spell out on you?”

I shifted on my seat, still looking down to my hooves. I glanced up to Shadow, and back.

“Will… Will we find Wing… and… and Carbon?” I said, hopeful, looking up to Shadowflame.

“Well…” Shadow said, his face full of doubt, “There is a good chance we’ll find him…”

I nodded, resolutely. “At least try.”

Shadowflame smiled.

“Then, try we will.”

~

We were all teleported outside by Warpath. Enerjack, Swift, Snipit, Shadowflame, Warpath and I were standing on a grassy field, on top of a hill. There weren’t any trees, so you could look really far in every direction. The wind was a bit chilly on my coat, but my saddlebags kept my back warm.

“All right, Shadow,” Warpath said, “Begin.”

Everypony took a step back, except for Shadowflame. He was concentrating, his head low, his horn charging for the spell. Aimed at me.

I gulped, and for all safety, put my quill and book away, so I could concentrate fully on what was going to happen.

~

“I am sooo booored. Are we there yet?” Swift Spry was flying above us, upside down, out of sheer boredom. I was getting tired as well, we had been walking for hours now. The energy of the hope was fading, so I took out my quill to keep me from sagging.

Shadow´s spell worked. It was amazing! When he cast the spell at me, it hurt a bit. But that was just the impact. After that pain had ebbed away, a warm glow took its place. Nothing happened, but then my mind started to wander to Wing. Where would he be? Is he all right? And I remembered.

His outstretched hoof, ready to pick me up when I felt sad. His warm hooves around me, saying that everything will be okay when I had a nightmare. I remembered when we first met, he was so grumpy back then! Well, he still is. But I know better.

While the memories flashed before my mind’s eye, some sort of rope appeared out of nowhere! It emerged from the red glow that surrounded me, Shadowflame’s magical aura. It was made of gold and glowing the same reddish color. It pointed north, and stretched only a few meters before it disappeared. The rope itself only lasted a few seconds, but enough to give us a heading.

And so, we started walking.

Warpath sighed. “No, Swift. We’re not there yet.” He looked at Shadowflame. “Does the spell also indicate how far it is?”

Shadowflame thought for a moment. “I don’t know.” He looked at me. “Wanna try again?”

I hesitated. Though it didn’t really hurt, it had really tired me out. I really did want to try again, though, so I put  my stuff away. Again.

~

You know, this time it was a bit different. Now I know what to do, it was a lot easier and a lot less tiring. Besides, the impact hurt a lot less. The rope itself was a lot bigger this time. But it wasn’t round, it was flat and wide. It also moved a bit, like the aurora, the northern light. But it was still gold.

So, it does indicate distance. But why was it pointing west?

Warpath sighed. “Now, let’s get a move on.”

~

Log 39, entry 1

Morning routines. Salutations to our leaders, and with that our dark lord Mörk.

No pony shall doubt his ways.

No pony shall doubt his reign.

No pony shall betray him.

All ponies should be honored to serve him.

All ponies should be honored to live with him.

All ponies should be honored to die for him.

Log 39, entry 2

My son was still sleeping when I arrived at his tent. Even though the Lord does not approve of sentimentality… I could not help to feel a certain warmth when I saw him, lying there, peaceful.

It only lasted a moment. But it was still worth thinking of.

Log 39, entry 3

Also, last night I caught my son writing. It was a letter to his friend, Civviq. Though at first I frowned upon it, I couldn’t help but read it through and wonder if she really was as vile as we all thought her to be…

But one should not question or doubt the way of the leaders and the Lord. I should confiscate his writing gear and talk to him about it.

For now, I shall lay it to rest.

Log 39, entry 4

New assignment: gather rain- and storm clouds. Wing shall help me gathering them.

Log 39, entry 5

Though work was finished in silence, his actions spoke clearly. He was anxious for what to come, just like in his letter to his friend. I did not know what to say to him to hush his worries. They will come true if he doesn’t behave, but for now he’s safe.

It does make me think, though.

Every time I look in his eyes, I see her. I see his mother, Chêne. Her beautiful golden eyes, her beautiful soul. Every time I look in Wing’s eyes, I remember her. It hurts every time and every time I have to look away. Bit by bit, my memory returns. Happy memories, but they are all overshadowed by the fact that she is gone and Wing… he hates me for whatever I’ve done.

One should be honored to serve under the Lord. But if his fears come true… If he will be set against his friend, like a mindless robot…

Did I do something like that? Have I killed innocent, killed friends?

I… I hate to admit it, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this all… Maybe I should talk to him.

Log 39, entry 6

Noon meals were eaten in silence. We did not speak. When he was finished, he retreated to his tent.

Log 39, entry 7

Afternoon rounds and chores. Wing went with me once again, and again we did not speak.

Log 39, entry 8

Dinner. Eaten in silence. Not a sound.

Log 39, entry 9

Evening rounds and chores. Our route went through the forest, where no pony could hear us. There is a severe punishment for ones who do not obey the Lord’s commands, but I am willing to take a risk. I want to know what happened.

~

I am lying in my cot again, with a sheet of paper on my cushion. I have to write this down as good as I can, because something had happened of which I thought never would happen.

After dinner, me and father were scheduled to do rounds. Those rounds went through the forest. It was already after dark, and even darker because the leaves blocked out all the moonlight. My father was carrying a lamp with his wings, so I stayed close. There were… strange noises, but I kept my cool! I didn´t jump at every noise that sounded really suspicious! And I certainly didn´t run to my father every time! That´s just ridiculous!

Anyway. In the lamplight, I did see something strange with my father, but I didn´t know what it was –until he looked at me. Maybe it was just a trick with the light, but I could swear that the blackness in his eyes were getting lighter, almost to grey…

He wanted to talk, but he just opened his mouth, hesitated, closed it, and looked forward again, every time more frustrated than the next. I wondered why he did this, until he finally began to  speak.

“What happened?”

He looked away after he said it. I was surprised, honestly surprised. I thought he didn’t care. I told him that, too. But he looked at me again, and this time he was the one who looked surprised. Almost… afraid. I saw more grey in his eyes, almost white. I looked away and started telling, about my mother. How she was sick. How he left to get a cure… and how he never came back.

It was a long time before he spoke again.

“Maybe… the Lord’s ways aren’t as good as I thought to be…”

He closed his eyes.

“I’m not supposed to tell you this, but… tomorrow you will join the Lord’s ranks.”

“What!?”

“You need to escape before they do so.”

“But… What about Carbon? What… What about you?”

He smiled and shook his head.

“Don’t mind me. I’ll be fine.” His smile faltered. “Carbon… He hasn’t been… changed yet. There’s still hope he can escape, if we can get to him.”

I nodded, but I still wasn’t really sure. “What if anything goes wrong?”

Father looked me in the eye, and I saw his stoic gaze break into sadness and determination. “I promise that you will be far, far away by then. Maybe they will find me, but…” He took a deep breath and turned his head away. “but at least, you’ll be safe.”

As you can see, Civ, I was wrong about him. He isn’t the mindless robot I thought he was. I see his regret, and I see… I see that he still cares about  me...

I looked at him, he was facing forward again, but I could see him worrying. And for some reason, I wanted to take back everything I said to him. The black in his eye was getting lighter and lighter with the second, and at that moment I understood.

He wasn’t himself. Ever since he left… he must’ve been forced by the black. He didn’t do it on purpose. And now he was helping me get out! And before I could stop myself, I hugged him.

“Thanks, dad.” I whispered.

He stopped, stiffened out of shock, but after a few moments he hugged me back.

“I’m sorry, son.” Dad said, his voice choking. “I really am. I’m so, so sorry about leaving you and your mother. I’m so sorry that I hurt you. Can you… can you forgive me?”

I nodded in his fur, and he hugged me tighter.

“Thank you…” he said, and I could hear it was from the bottom of his heart.

He then leaned back to face me and smiled.

“Now, it’s time to get you out.”

At midnight, he’ll help me sneak out! This might be the last letter I’m writing to you, Civ. Because, soon, I’ll be with you again! Then, I can tell you all about my dad!

Goodbye! I’ll see you soon!

~

Pffft. Westward, it said. It’s the right direction, it said. Now, after a long, long time, we came to the edge of a dark forest. Even though it was an hour before sunset by now, it was totally dark in the forest.

“Are you absolutely sure we have to go through there?” Enerjack said, unsure.

“Ha! Are you a chicken?” Swift said. Enerjack scowled at him. I couldn’t help but smile.

“I’m not a chicken, chicken!” he spat, “I just don’t want to go through a dark forest if you don’t have to.”

Warpath sighed and rolled his eyes. I chuckled. Snipit just stared up to the tree tops, looking around if there is any way through. He walked up and down the edge until he found a good spot.

“Guys, over here.” Snipit said. He waved at us to come closer. He lit his horn and disappeared in the forest.

“Hey, wait up!” Swift flew in, above the spot Snipit went in. Enerjack followed, and so did Warpath after lighting his horn. Shadow looked at me and smiled.

“You best light up your horn to. You can do that?”

I nodded and he smiled. I lit up my horn and entered the forest. I heard him walking behind me.

We walked for another hour or so and it had gotten completely dark. I couldn´t see a thing behind the circle of my horn´s light. Swift was walking in front of me, completely silent. Then came Warpath, Enerjack and Snipit in front.

Whoa! What- Why have we stopped? Where are the other lights?

“-shut the light! Turn the light off! Now!” Swift whispered frantically, wildly flailing his arms in the air. I quickly turned off the light and so did Shadow behind me.

“What? What’s the matter?” Shadow said, worried.

“There´s somepony else out there!” Swift whispered back.

And yes. When my eyes have adjusted a bit to the darkness, a faint light shone through the trees. It came closer and closer.

“…That is how we’re going to do it, remember?… Now shush, there’s a guard close… If anypony hears us talking about it, we’re dead – I mean, in deep trouble. Understood?”

“Uhm.. Yes.”

My ears perked up by hearing that voice. Was it… no way…

“…Dad? What about Carbon? How will we let him escape?”

”Wing Noir! ”

… Before I could stop myself, I jumped up and ran at him, stumbling over the uneven forest floor.

”Civviq!”

He jumped as well and ran towards me, tripping a few times. When he reached me, he pulled me into a hug.

“Civ… I missed you so much…”

“I missed you too…”

”Shush you two!” Warpath said, half-whispering. “Somepony might hear us.”

Another stallion came walking towards us, cautious.

“Who’re you?” he said in his deep voice. He looked a bit like Wing.

“This is Civviq, my best friend!” Wing said enthusiastic. I couldn’t help but smile. He had weird eyes; what was supposed to be white, it was grey. At that moment I realized I was staring at him. I looked away, blushing.

Warpath stepped forward.

“And who’re you?”

The stallion looked up.

“My name is Aile Noir. I’m Wing’s father.”

Warpath looked at him skeptical.

“Aren’t you a follower of Mörk?”

He shrugged.

“Not anymore, I guess... I mean, I’m helping him to get out of here. Now, let’s get a move on, another guard will come soon… I’m surprised nopony had come at this ruckus we’re causing right now.”

Warpath huffed. “Can’t agree more. Come on.”

“But wait!” Swift said. “What about Carbon?”

Warpath sat down, sighing.

“Mister Noir.”

“Call me Aile.”

“Aile. Where is Carbon?”

“He’s in the middle of the camp. Extremely hard to come by, under everypony’s sight. They’re preparing the ritual now to turn him to Mörk’s side…” He explained quickly what that meant, “…and I believe that they’ll start even before dawn. But we’ve got the time.”

Warpath thought, stroking his claw under his chin. He nodded.

“Hm. Yes. Aile, is it okay if Wing and Civviq stay here with Enerjack and Swift? They’ll go back to the edge of the forest where they meet up with us.”

Aile nodded, hesitantly. “Yes… Once you’re outside of the forest, you’ll be safe.”

He looked at Wing. “I… guess this is a goodbye.”

Wing flew at him and hugged him. “Bye Dad. See you soon.”

“Yeah. Have fun.” He smiled half a smile. Wing smiled back.

He returned to me, Enerjack and Swift. The rest joined Warpath and Aile to make up a plan.

Swift pouted. “Why can’t I have some action?”

Warpath huffed. “You’ll have enough on your claws by keeping them out of trouble. Keep a close eye on ‘em, will you? Kids these days.” Muttering, he turned around.

Wing poked in my side. “Hey, Civ! Look!”

He pointed at a little white flower, a bit off the place they were sitting. It glowed softly in the shade of Aile’s lamp. We stepped closer.

“Wow…” I stared at the little flower. “It’s beautiful!” I looked around a bit and spotted a lot more. “Hey, look! There are more of those over there!”

He grinned and we both ran to the open place, rolling in the little flowers.

When I came to a stop, I noticed another pony coming at us.

And it wasn’t Swift.

Captured

To the Faithfullest Follower of our Dark Lord Mörk, and our current leader, Black Heart,

We are glad to announce that we have succeeded in capturing our First Attempt, Civviq Writer, along with a unicorn, an alicorn, a dragon, a unidragon and surprisingly, a changeling.

We have also captured Wing Noir and his father, Aile Noir. He has betrayed our ways. We need proper punishment.

We are requesting your presence when we bring all of them to the Cave. We shall turn Civviq over last.

Your faithful servant,

Leader of the Second Division

Head Mare of Alpha 1

Supervisor of Actions

Betelgeuse

~

It was dark. But I felt the quill, I felt my book. So I wrote.

I wrote, and wrote. They were silly little things you don't need to know.

The day was nice, the night was cool.

The wind blew softly trough the meadows, shaking the colorful flowers awake and bathing them in morning dew.

Where are my friends.

Was Wing all right.

Is there a way out of here.

It was still so dark. I couldn't even see the glow of my horn on my quill. I could hear somepony whispering. More ponies.

"...is the next…"

"…why are you…"

"Aile, the traitor, and his son…"

"…good team…"

What are they going to do? I don't understand…

"…hey, the quill is moving… Why is it moving?

"That filly is awake. Put her back to sleep."

I smell… something strange… oh…

~

To Betelgeuse,

Leader of the Second Division,

Head Mare of Alpha 1,

Supervisor of Actions,

We are pleased with your findings. You will be rewarded.

I will arrive as soon as possible to prepare the ritual.

Kind regards,

Black Heart

Current Leader

Loyal Servant of our Dark Lord Mörk

~

Ah! I'm awake, I'm awake. I have no idea where the hay my quill is, so maybe I'm making some mistakes, because I have no idea what I'm writing down, but I try to make it as clear as possible so there you have it.

Anyway. I'm in some sort of dark cave. The only light came from the middle of the cave. Some sort of low, white statue stood there that emitted the light. At eye-height, there was a gem. It was black, pitch-black, and seemed to swallow the little light there was.

There was a slight rustle around me. I saw several silhouettes of ponies – but I didn't recognize any of them. Some of them looked kinda weird, but I couldn't see their faces. They were whispering things I couldn't understand, but it was low and rhythmic and they were all the same. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw that their heads were hung low and their eyes were closed. They were concentrating on something, I think… but what?

What is happening? Why are they standing like that? Why… why… I just want to get out of here. Yes! I have to get out of here! But how?

I tried to move, but I couldn't. My hooves were bound and I was tied to a stalagmite. I tried to undo the knot. It was a really complicated knot and I couldn't really see it, but I could do it. I know I can. I – I have to get out of here and save the others!

A rustle in the back of the cave made the chanting ponies hold their breath. They were looking to the back of the cave in an almost childish expectation.

I held my breath in fear.

A big, night-blue stallion emerged from the back. His eyes were almost totally black and he was grinning devilishly. He strode right to me.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here."

He held his head up high as he examined me. I whimpered and shrunk, turning my head away from his piercing gaze. He chuckled.

"Poor, little filly. So… alone." He said, mocking, and chuckled again. The others followed.

He raised a hoof and everyone was quiet.

"Alone… and afraid… Afraid of the dark…" he hissed. "But you don't have to be afraid of the dark. The dark is your friend. It keeps things hidden, things that cannot see daylight."

He looked up, smiling devilishly. He nodded to one of the ponies, who disappeared to the back.

"Now… We will let you see that darkness isn't something to be afraid of…" He smirked.

"No… It's something much more… beautiful… more terrible… than you can imagine."

A loud cheering erupted from the ponies around me. They stomped their hooves and threw their heads back in delight.

And from the shadows… He emerged.

His coat was so black, it seemed to drain all the light away. His mane and tail almost seemed alive, like flames, but they were black as well.

But the worst was, that he had no face.

It was him, it was the one from my nightmares! He was the one who had caused all this, all of this!

And… And he was standing right in front of me!

I was terrified - I screamed and started to cry. He didn't open his mouth, but I could hear him laugh as if he were standing next to me. His dark voice shook my body, so much that it hurt. I tried to get out, I tried with my magic to untie the knot, I tried to cut the ropes, but in my panic I just pulled the knots tighter.

I looked back at him, even though every smidge of me screamed not to. His eyes seemed to get more intense – and a surge of magic rushed through my veins, scattering the ropes. He laughed even harder as I fell on the cold ground, too shocked to move. I couldn't tear my gaze away, I just laid there, unable to move.

You can run, but there's no way you get away from me.

I screamed again and tried to back away. Nopony stopped me as I slowly backed away from the group, into the dark. Finally, I looked away, turned around and ran.

I ran, and ran, and ran, but the dark of the cave never seemed to end. The light of my horn gave just enough light that I could see where I was going. Soon, I was lost. All the while Mörk's laughter rang in my ears, never going away.

Pain roared through my hooves and flamed through my body. I fell down, numb with fear to get up.

I shut my eyes and grit my teeth; I had to keep going, I had to find my friends. I got up and continued, ignoring the pain of Mörks laughter in my ears. I ran again, but this time I saw a faint light in the end of the tunnel. With my hopes renewed I ran faster, and faster, expecting to see daylight, but no.

I was back in the cave with Mörk. Or rather, I never left it.

I cautiously stepped back, my knees buckling in fear, my eyes wide as saucers. His laughter ran through my veins once more.

You cannot escape me, you foal. Nopony can.

"No! My friends will come to save me!" I screamed at him. He only laughed once more.

Your friends will not come.

"Liar!" I yelled.

Oh, I'm not lying. See for yourself.

At once, the light of the statue became brighter, bright enough to see the faces of the ones standing alongside the cave.

Warpath, Enerjack, Swift Spry. Carbon and Snipit. Shadowflame and Aile Noir, even Wing.

And all of their eyes were black.

~

His laughter rang in my ears as my knees finally gave way and I crashed to the floor. My vision blurred and went black.

I was devastated, exhausted, and seeing my friends that way really was the final straw.

Looking back I was surprised I even made it that far - but luckily, in the end, it all turned out all right.

Somewhere in those caves, I lost my quill and notebook. I wouldn’t go back there, ever again, and it wasn’t until now that I had enough magical knowledge to summon it back. I was afraid that it would be lost, forever, destroyed. But luckily it was still intact - maybe a little bit damaged, but it had been lying in a cave for years, so I was surprised it was still readable.

These adventures will stay with me forever, but I haven’t gotten over it yet. Maybe, by filling in the blank pages of this journal, will help me with that. So, here you go. The last bits of my first adventure.

~

I opened my eyes again. I was a little disorientated; I wasn’t in the cave anymore. I was transported to some sort of great hall, a dome, with no visible exits. On the walls were torches, which gave a soft, flickering light, just enough to be able to make out my surroundings. The ceiling, however, was so high that I couldn’t see it.

The ground was a little uneven, but reasonably flat. I felt the stones under my belly. I was lying in the middle of the dome, I saw now. Looking around, I saw all my… friends standing around the edge. They were all wearing some sort of dark armor, with black flames emblazoned on the edges. They wore helmets, just as black, which make their mane appear like smoke. They were also all carrying spears.

A loud laugh echoed through the dome. Afraid, I crouched away from the middle to the walls - and just in time, because cold, black flames roared up where I was lying. And there appeared Mörk with Black Heart.

Hello again. Had good dreams?

My ears fell flat against my neck.

Thought so. Black Heart?

The pony next to him saluted.

Why don’t you… demonstrate what my powers can do.

Dark Heart grinned maliciously. “Yes, sir.”

Mörk disappeared in the black flames again, but I could still feel his presence. Dark Heart walked over to the edge of the dome.

“Do you see them?” He waved to the ones around us. “They are mindless soldiers who do anything to the Dark Lord’s bidding… including killing.”

He pointed his hoof towards Swift Spry. With his wing, he unsheathed Shinigami from a black belt that went under his armor.

“...His friends…”

He pointed towards Enerjack, who stood opposite of him. Swiftly, he flew over to Enerjack and prepared to attack him. But just before the blade hit Enerjack’s neck, he stopped. Enerjack didn’t even flinch.

“...And even you, if I wanted him to…”

Swift flew up again, but didn’t charge.

“...No. I’ve got something else entirely in store. Your very worst fear.”

Dark Heart took a few steps back. Swift Spry landed behind Wing Noir, who had taken a few steps forward towards me.

“But first… I will give you a choice.”

He slowly walked towards me again.

“Join me, and you will get your friends back. You will be stronger than ever under our Lord Mörks rule.”

He paused for a minute to point to Wing, who was now to the left of me.

“If you don’t…”

He motioned towards Swift, who put his blade over Wing Noir’s neck.

“Your friends are going to kill eachother… one by one… and after they’re done, I’m going to finish you.”

Dark Heart laughed devilish, and I had no idea what I should do. I know they aren’t themselves, but they’re my friends! And I can’t let them die!

But if I say yes, they’re going to kill us anyway for everything I’ve done, for sure...

I bit my lip. Oh, what to do?

“Indecisive, are you?” Dark Heart continued.

“Well, let me make it a bit… simpler for you.”

In one swift move, Wing drew his spear and charged me. Swift flew up to the ceiling and circled above us.

Right before Wing could reach me, he stopped, with his spear pointed at me.

“Join us.. or he will kill you.”

I looked in Wing’s eyes. They were black, but his golden irises were flaming with rage.

“W-Wing…” I started, quietly. “Wing, it’s me…”

He didn’t move, but I saw something shift.

“Wing… Please…” I begged him. But still, the black in his eyes didn’t waver.

Quiet chuckling behind me.

“I’m getting a bit impatient now.” Dark Heart said. Wing took a step closer, the point of his spear was now almost at my throat.

“What will it be…. Yes, or no.”

Wing’s eyes started to waver, determination in his golden irises.

“No answer? I’m going to take that as a no.” Dark Heart said, chuckling.

“Such a pity. We could’ve used you, and your friends.”

Wing’s eyes turned from determination into fear. Slowly, he took a step forward, his spear ready to hit me. I scooted backwards, away from him. I could see in his eyes that he wanted to stop, but he couldn’t. They still were in control.

Somewhere, from very far away, I could hear Dark Heart’s voice commanding.

“Kill her.”

Wing’s pupils shrank as he plunged towards me. I didn’t try to dodge - I kept looking into his eyes. If I was dying now, then at least I was with friends. Because they are the ones that love you - even if they don’t always show it. My friends love me. And I love them.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. In front of me, Wing Noir was charging with his spear at me, screaming. Above us, Swift suddenly plunged down, immobile. And I sat there, petrified, as Swift knocked Wing out of harm’s way.

Wing gasped, shaking Wing off of him. In the flickering light of the torches, I could see the black in his eyes waver. Swift didn’t move at all.

“Wing!” I screamed. He had dropped the spear and was struggling to get up.

“Wing, are you alright…”

I galloped at him and hugged him.

“Civviq… I’m so, so sorry…” he whispered, his eyes clenched shut, still trying to get the last bits of black out of his mind.

I smiled. “It’s okay, Wing… It’s okay.”

~

Behind us, Dark Heart was taken aback by the sudden change.

“No! you useless... “

He grunted, scowling. He turned and pointed at Enerjack.

“You! Kill them!”

Enerjack roared and charged, but before he could reach us, Swift flew up and threw himself at Enerjack, stopping him. He roared again and opened his mouth to fire at Swift, but he dodged the bolt of fire. In the bright lights of his blasts, I saw Swift… flicker, I don’t know how to describe it - he changed into something, but before  I could determine what it was, he was normal again. I wondered what was wrong with him.

Enerjack roared again, angry either at that he couldn’t hit Swift, or the mere fact that he had to hurt Swift. But Swift kept dodging, not once drawing Shinigami to attack him. Even though he was still half under control, he had part of his mind back and commanded it not to hurt his friend.

Swift flew over Enerjack’s head, tumbling in the air. He crashed against the wall of the dome and fell down. Enerjack charged and fired, but Swift dodged at the last second. The beam hit the wall and it collapsed.

Enerjack tried to dodge the big boulders coming down, but some were too big and landed on one of his wings. Enerjack roared in pain; I flinched at the echoes that went through the dome.

“NO!” Black Heart yelled. “YOU! KILL THEM!”

He pointed at Warpath. The unidragon started to move towards us.

“Yes!” Black Heart said. “Kill Civviq! And kill Wing too!”

Warpath positioned his spear. Under the torch behind Wing, however, somepony stirred. I squinted to see who it was. Warpath slowly stepped forward us, his spear ready for battle; but his teeth were clenched. He didn’t want to do it and he was fighting as hard as he could. But he had to.

He plunged his spear at Wing.

“NO!” Aile yelled. “NOPONY HURTS MY SON!”

With a loud yell, he came into motion and blocked Warpath’s spear with his own. He then tried to pull the spear out of Warpath’s grip, but that didn’t go so easily. Warpath plunged forward with his spear, with a clear, malicious intent fueled by Mörk.

Aile stepped backwards, dodging Warpath’s spear, and pinned the spear to the ground so Warpath couldn’t pull back. He then tried to push Warpath down, forcing him to release the spear, but Warpath’s horn lit up and he cast a powerful shield spell to get Aile off of his side, releasing him.

~

In the meantime, Dark Heart was getting more and more nervous. He knew that strong emotional feelings and enough pain could get somepony out of the trance, but he was stunned by the amount of ponies that freed themselves at once. But this battle wasn’t over yet.

“Mörk, give me strength,” he whispered, and motioned to Carbon and Snipit.

“You two, take ‘em all out. Now.”

They nodded and took off. He then motioned towards Shadowflame.

“You, you stay with me. Cast those platforms so I can see it all from up.”

Shadow’s horn lit up and they slowly started to rise on a red platform. They rose until they were almost at the top, not visible anymore.

~

From below, Swift looked up and saw them rising. He narrowed his eyes and tried to get up, but the fight with Enerjack and Mörk within him had drained a lot of energy. But he had to get up and help the others - and take out Black Heart. If he could take out Black Heart, then maybe it would be easier for the rest to be freed.

He took a deep breath and tried to get up. The small stones under his hooves hurt, but he had to push through it. He gritted his teeth and shook his head to clear it a bit more. Then, he realized that he was ‘flickering’: too much energy was drained from him to maintain his current form.

But he couldn’t betray them. Not now.

He summoned the last of his energy and spread his wings.

~

Snipit and Carbon had started to free Enerjack from his stony prison, levitating the rocks from his wings. Snipit cast a spell on one of them, to get the pain away. Enerjack roared again and try to fly - but he couldn’t. As quickly as they came, Carbon and Snipit ran away to help Warpath.

Enerjack looked up to see Swift struggling to reach Dark Heart. He narrowed his eyes and started to pursue him.

~

Aile Noir was completely outnumbered. With the unidragon not even beginning to get tired, and a unicorn and alicorn to help him - he was struggling to get by.

He wanted to fly up, but he couldn’t just leave Wing Noir and Civviq behind. That would be stupid of him; they would be killed immediately. He had to make a plan.

“Wing!” he bellowed, trying to dodge Warpath’s spear. “You have to try to find an exit! There has to be one!”

Wing had dropped his spear and was trying to fly away from Snipit. I got chased by Carbon - I was getting really tired. Thank goodness that they can only use their magic if they’re told to.

“Dad, look out!” Wing ducked to dodge Snipit, who flew right over him - straight at Aile. But he got out of the way and Snipit collided with Warpath.

Behind me, Carbon was still running. My lungs were burning.

Aile positioned his spear towards Carbon.

“Civviq, come over here!”

I started runing towards Aile, Carbon following me very closely. I ducked under Aile who knocked Carbon off his hooves. I fell down.

“Are you two still all right?” Aile asked us. I nodded, and so did Wing.

“Good. I need you to go past the walls to find a way out of here. Anything will do. I’ll cover you. Now, go.”

“But, Dad…” Wing started, but Aile cut him off.

“No, kid. You heard me. Go.”

Wing bit his lip and threw his hooves around his father’s neck. Aile smiled and returned the hug.

“Now, go.” Aile said when he released Wing. Aile sighed and returned his attention to the three who were now trying to get up.

And with that, Wing and I went to go search for an exit.

The Fight

Aile had now the full attention of Warpath, Carbon and Snipit . Whether that was a good thing, remained to be seen.

It was three against one - but three followers against one free stallion made a whole lot of difference. He just hoped that his tactic worked.

He lowered his spear to the one who was standing in the middle - Snipit. He spread his wings to intimidate him and took a step forward, snarling. Because of his armor, he couldn’t  hit him without injuring him badly. So he had to knock him off guard… but how?

From the corner of his eye, he saw Carbon back away towards Wing and Civviq.

“Oh, no you don’t.”

He lashed his spear towards Carbon, who blocked the assault with his own spear. Behind him, he heard Warpath’s claws scrape over the stone to attack him.

Quickly, he turned around to face Warpath and block his attack, but Snipit knocked him aside, right in Carbon’s range. Seeing the spear coming at him, he quickly ducked. Behind him, he heard the clang of spear against armor.

He rolled over to face Snipit again, but Carbon and Warpath were quicker and pinned him to the ground. Snipit lifted his hoof to give him a blow, but he dodged the hoof and threw Snipit off him. Carbon was still holding his shoulder down, but he gave him a blow with his other arm, forcing him to let go. Warpath, who was still on top of him, lifted his claw. Behind him, Snipit and Carbon had aimed their spears at him.

He gulped. He couldn’t move anymore; the unidragon was too heavy to throw off. But from the corner of his eye, he saw Wing and Civviq furiously digging away in the spot where Enerjack got the avalanche on top of him. Luckily, nopony noticed them. Then, Civviq and Wing disappeared.

At least he had kept them safe.

~

Swift was furiously beating his wings. He had to get up, to Dark Heart, to defeat him. Below, he heard the scraping of claws against rock. Enerjack was climbing on the dome, using his healthy wing for extra boost. At the same time, he was charging up a blast - Swift saw the runes on his back light up.

He looked back up, but then hovered for a moment. Where were Wing and Civviq? There! He spotted them at the cave-in. Nopony had noticed them.

He shook his head to clear it a bit up. He had to focus. He gritted his teeth and beat his wings to get higher.

But below him he heard a gigantic roar that made the entire dome shake. A beam of light caught his eye. He just managed to avoid the beam, but his wings were badly burned from the heat. He yelled out of pain and fell down.

As he fell, he saw the beam hit part of Dark Heart. He screamed, and the platform gave way. Shadowflame and Dark Heart fell. But Shadowflame’s platform quickly formed again, saving him. But Dark Heart fell, his hide smoking.

Swift fell for what felt like forever. In mid-air, he turned, in the hope to land on his four hooves, but then he saw Aile, pinned down, Warpath’s claw up. He had to help him! But how? One thing was for sure: he couldn’t keep his current form.

He had to change.

~

Aile gritted his teeth, preparing himself for the final blow. But then, something else caught his eye. A form fell down right at Warpath, who didn’t seem to notice it. Aile squinted his eyes -  it was Swift! But… What was wrong with his coat? It was… it had holes in them…

He’s a changeling, a voice hissed in his head. he is not your friend anymore. He betrayed you.

“That’s not true.” Aile said through gritted teeth, “You’re lying, Mörk.”

How would you know? You don’t know him.

“He saved Wing and Civviq.” Aile retorted. “He wouldn’t betray them.”

At that moment, the changeling above him pulled his katana.

~

Me and Wing ran away from all the commotion towards the walls of the dome. Wing looked back to his father, who was still fighting furiously.

“Wing, look!” I pointed to the cave-in. There was a big chunk out of the wall, which revealed a passageway. But it was still half-concealed behind a lot of stones.

“I found something. Come and help me dig!”

After one last look, Wing started to help me dig.

I saw on his face that he wasn’t okay with just leaving his father.

“Wing…”

He kept digging.

“Wing, he will be okay. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.”

He closed his eyes.

“You can say that easily. You don’t have any parents.” He spat.

I winced. “I…”

He stomped on another rock.

“Neither did I, until recently…”

I frowned.

Without looking up, he continued.

“I just don’t want to lose him… not again.”

I sighed, and smiled at him.

“And he doesn’t want to lose you, either. He wants to keep you safe.”

He thought about that, and nodded. “Yeah… I guess.”

We kept digging in silence, until the hole was big enough for us to go through. It was really dark, so I grabbed one of the torches and motioned Wing to do the same.

~

Swift had changed back to his real form. He took a deep breath: it felt so… freeing. But he was afraid of Aile’s reaction - or any of their reaction, really. But what matters most, now, is that he has to save him.

“Well, then,” he hissed. “Let’s dance.”

He pulled Shinigami out and raised it above his head, ready to fight. With a loud yell, he caught Warpath’s attention, who turned around to see what was going on. He could just lift a claw to defend himself from Shinigami.

Aile bucked him off him and stood up, lifting his spear once again and threw it at Carbon. He caught it in his magical field and lifted it together with his own spear.

Snipit lifted his own spear and aimed at Aile, but he bucked Snipit’s spear out of his magical grip and caught it with his teeth. Carbon managed to throw a spear at Snipit for him to catch, so they all had spears again.

Warpath ducked from Shinigami and tried to tackle Swift, but he jumped up and let Shinigami clash with Warpath´s armor. Warpath roared and turned around to see where Swift is, but he had  jumped up again and gave Warpath a blow on his shoulder. He toppled over and Swift gave him a hard buck in his side so he fell down.

Warpath roared again. With his magic, he formed a barrier between him and Swift to protect him from Shinigami. But Swift came down on his shield, hard, crushing it. He lifted his hoof to knock him out, but Warpath grabbed his hoof with his claw and flipped the changeling on his back. He then lifted his claw to give the killing blow - but Aile knocked him away.

Aile looked in the changelings eyes. Swift saw that there was mistrust, doubt and disappointment in Aile’s eyes - but also appreciation and thankfulness. Aile nodded, and swift smiled weakly..

Aile saw Carbon’s and Snipit’s spears coming at them - and pushed Swift out of the way. The spears hit Warpath, who was standing behind them, right in the shooting range. He roared in pain and fell down, spears sticking out of his front paw… and one out of his neck.

Swift’s eyes went wide. “Warpath!” he yelled. Aile saw that Carbon and Snipit fell down, screaming as well. Enerjack gave a gigantic roar.

“NO!” Dark Heart screamed, his voice amplified by the echoes in their minds.

“NO, YOU IDIOTIC PAWNS! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO CRUSH THEM! NEVERMIND SOMEPONY DIES, IF THE ENEMY IS DEFEATED!”

Another loud roar from Warpath and a whimper. Warpath’s eyes quickly changed from black to his normal eye color.

Swift and Aile ran over to Warpath’s side.

“W-Warpath!” Swift said. “Hold on, we’ll get these out…!”

Warpath drew another raspy breath and shook his head.

“Don’t… You have to get Dark Heart…”

He wheezed again.

“Before… Before he escapes.”

Aile shook his head.

“But what about you? We can’t just leave you here.”

Warpath laughed, half-coughing.

“This ole’ unidragon... has gone through worse… much worse. Now go.”

Aile nudged Swift. “Go. I’ll stay here with him.”

Swift looked at him, hesitating. After one last look at Warpath, he nodded and took off.

Aile sighed. “Now, why don’t we get these wounds healed, huh?”

~

Me and Wing have been walking for what seemed like ages.

“Wing? Are we ever going to get out of here?”

He looked at me.

“Only if we defeat him… or, at least, until he weakens.”

“But, how are we going to defeat him?”

“I have no idea.” Wing walked on, and then stopped abruptly.

“Wing? What’s wrong?”

Wing gasped clutched his head. “Ow…”

And then, I felt it. I yelped in pain, dropping the torch. Immediately, it was dark. I couldn’t see a hoof in front of my face - but I was too distracted by the sudden splitting headache to care.

You try to run from me? Mörks voice echoed through my head.

You foals! You can never run from me - NOOO!

“AAARGH!” Wing screamed.

YOU FOAL! YOU INCOMPETENT IDIOT! YOU M-

And just like that, it was over.

We looked at each other, a bit dazed.

“What just happened?” I asked. Wing only shrugged.

~

Swift saw red before his eyes. Dark Heart has to pay for what he did to his friends! He galloped as fast as he could towards the stallion, who was lying on the ground, struggling to get up.

“Mörk, give me strength…” he chanted. “Mörk, give me strength… give me strength… give me..”

He yelped as Swift tackled him.

“You hurt my friends!”

He gave Dark Heart a swift kick in the face. Dark Heart yelped.

“And for that…” He unsheathed Shinigami again, “You will pay!”

He looked his enemy in his eyes… but all he saw was fear.

He was afraid.

Swift Spry hesitated. The red mist in front of his eyes dissipated. He wasn’t himself, whoever he was. He was being controlled. Mörk is the real enemy here.

But that didn’t take away the fact that he wanted to punch him in the face.

That hesitation, however, was all Dark Heart needed. He bucked Swift off of him and rolled away, out of Swift’s range. He got up and started to laugh, mocking.

“You are weak, Changeling.” he said. “You weren’t worthy of being in Mörks army anyway.”

His words echoed in the back of his head, powered by the hatred of Mörk. Dark Heart walked over to Swift and pinned him down.

“You have no friends. They trusted you, but you betrayed their trust. You are not who, or what, they think you are.”

He punched Swift in the face.

“You are a freak of nature, you are a monster - an abomination, only capable of draining love from others until they are an empty shell of who they used to be.”

He punched Swift again.

“And you will never, ever, have friends.” He spit the last word out, as if it were venom. Drabs of saliva sprayed over Swifts face.

He didn’t flinch, but on the inside he was furious. How could he say that? Of course he had friends! They will accept him the way he is!

He tried to buck Dark Heart off of him, but Dark Heart didn’t budge.

“Hah! You think you can defeat me so easily? Mörk only gives me strength! He will wipe out all the weakness in this world! Starting with you.” He lifted a spear and brought it towards Swift’s neck.

“Now, where are your friends now, Changeling?” he sneered.

“They’re right here.”

Dark Heart turned around to see Warpath walking up to them, his swords in his claws. Behind him appeared Carbon, Snipit and Shadow, all scowling, and all their eyes were white.

“Now back off.” Warpath said. But Dark Heart only laughed and put the spear closer to Swift’s neck.

“Why should I? I’m doing you a favor by finishing this Changeling.”

Enerjack looked at Swift.

“Maybe he’s not who he seems, but he still is our friend. And I trust him. Though,” he added, after some thought, “you could’ve told us that a bit earlier. But I’ll save that for later, when we aren’t in danger.”

“So.” Enerjack continued, flashing his sword, “Let him go.”

Dark Heart stepped off Swift. “Very well.” he said, “But it’s not so fair, don’t you think? Five against one?”

Enerjack snorted. He grabbed a spear and tossed it to Dark Heart.

“There. Now you’re armed. Swift?”

The changeling looked up to him.

“You ready to kick some ass?”

He smiled back and unsheathed Shinigami once more.

“Let’s dance.”

Enerjack nodded and the rest backed away to give them some room. Dark Heart confidently looked at the Changeling. Swift stared back, just as determined.

They circled around each other, like predators stalking their pray, waiting for the other to make the first move. At last, Dark Heart rushed towards him, his spear out for blood. Swift dodged and, using the momentum, let Shinigami come down at him.

Dark Heart saw it coming and caught Shinigami in his magical aura. He flung the katana away and it stuck in the stone walls. Swift gasped as he saw the spear pointed too close to his neck for his taste, and ducked away, kicking the spear out of his grasp in the process.

Swift grabbed the spear tightly with his wing and charged at Dark Heart. Dark Heart was just not fast enough and scraped at his side. He grunted in pain, but managed to turn and tackle Swift, knocking him over. That gave Dark Heart time to charge for a magical blast.

A pitch-black bolt of magic emitted from his horn. Swift bucked to dodge it, but it hit his hoof, injuring it. Swift yelped. He clung his injured hoof to his chest and scowled at Dark Heart.

Dark Heart only laughed and fired blast after blast, Swift struggling to dodge. He tried to fly again, but his wings were still too badly injured for him to hover for a long time. All he could do was glide and jump a bit higher. The balls of magic flew past him, some searing his skin and his hair. He hissed in pain.

Swift leaned against the cave wall. Looking up, he could see Shinigami sticking out of the wall a few meters above him. He looked at Dark Heart, who was charging another dearth’s shot, panting. His mane was sticking in all directions and sweaty. He looked like a madstallion like this.

He looked up again and took a deep breath. He leapt up, clinging to the walls, using his wings to propel him upwards. Dark Heart roared in anger and shot again. Swift could just avoid it by jumping to the left and to the right, but they still were very painful. If he didn’t get to Shinigami in time, he could die.

Realizing this, he took a short glance at his friends. Warpath was still lying a bit farther off, Aile sitting beside him, tending to him the best he could. He could feel Aile looking at him expectantly. Carbon and Shadowflame were standing in a fight stance, ready to fire bolts of magic at Dark Heart. Snipit hovered above them, a spear in his hooves. Enerjack had drawn his swords, ready to jump in.

His friends wouldn’t let him die. Even though the revelation of him being a changeling was at the wrong time in the wrong place, they were still his friends. And they would fight with him, and for him. No matter what.

Swift smiled, but he was quickly drawn out of his thoughts by another blast of black magic - which was too close to his comfort zone. He only had a few meters to go before he could reach his katana. He jumped up again - he ducked for a magical blast - he reached - yes!

With Shinigami in his hooves, he propelled himself up and glided down towards Dark Heart as fast as he could. But Dark Heart wouldn’t give up so quick - and fired another blast of magic, hitting his left wing, almost blowing it completely off. Swift roared in pain and tumbled in the sky. But he wouldn’t let that keep him from defeating Dark Heart.

With a scream, he knocked Dark Heart down.

Dark Heart yelled out in pain. His collision with Swift had caused him to land wrong and now he was bruised and battered all over. He fell down, knocked out cold.

Swift was lying a few meters from him, panting.

~

The cave started to shake. A deafening scream sounded through the dome  and echoed through their heads..

“NO! YOU INCOMPETENT IDIOT! YOU M-”

Abruptly, the voice was cut off. A black flame appeared in the middle of the dome, which grew bigger and bigger..

“Uh, guys?” Warpath said. “I think we’ve gotta go now.”

Snipit nodded. “Agreed.”

Shadowflame galloped over to Warpath. He’s unconscious, but still breathing, thankfully,  thanks to Aile.

“I’ve had some practice,” he said, sheepish. Shadow rolled his eyes.

“Let’s see.. “ Shadow said. He kneeled down before Warpath. The spears had been taken out of him. The wounds were bound with the banners that were hanging under the torches. Shadow called on his magic and scanned him for other wounds. Luckily, there were only a few bruises, nothing was broken.

“We’ve gotta carry him.” he said. Enerjack walked forward and carefully lifted their leader.

Swift limped towards the group, Carbon supported him. Swift smiled weakly.

“Heh. I, uh…”

Warpath cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”

“Yes,” Swift answered. “Yes, I do.”

Then, the dome shook heavily again.

“But I think we should save that for later.” Snipit said. Enerjack and Swift nodded.

“But don’t think you’ll get out of this that easily, Swift.” Enerjack pointed at him accusingly. Swift only lowered his head.

Aile sighed. “All right. Putting that aside, I think Wing and Civviq had found a way out of here.”

Enerjack nodded. “Let’s get out of this-”

“-Wait…” Swift cut him off. “Look!” He pointed at the unconscious form of Dark Heart.

A faint moan of pain could be heard. Dark Heart then gasped and shot up, now yelling.

The others approached him carefully, not really knowing what was going to happen next.

Dark Heart was rolling over the ground, screaming, yelling in pain. A dark shadow emerged from his mouth, nose and eyes. He thrashed around, stomped, ran blindly against the wall - until he fell down, panting, crying. The dark shadow had collected itself in a cloud above them. It was swirling around, as if it were alive.

Dark Heart looked up at the group,, his eyes red from pain. But all the darkness was gone.

“Help me…” he whispered, silently, still sounding sore from screaming. “Please… help…” He coughed and winced. He looked up to the cloud, his pupils shrinking in fear at what he saw.

A face had emerged from the smoke. It opened his mouth and roared.

~

Me and Wing stayed silent after Mörks voice had ebbed away out of their minds.

“Okay, what is happening?” Wing said. “And why is it so dark?”

“We dropped our torches.” I answered. I concentrated, and my horn lit up with my magical aura.

“Phew. That darkness was a bit unnerving, don’t you think?” Wing said. I nodded, casting weird shadows on the walls. Wing sighed.

“How far is it, you think?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know… I hope not very far. My legs are getting tired.”

“Mine too.” Wing sighed. “I hope dad’s okay.”

I smiled reassuringly. “I’m sure he is okay.”

We stopped again as the ground shook.

“Woah!” I exclaimed. Wing dodged some of the rocks that came falling down. “What was that?”

“A cave-in is the last thing we need right now.” I said, slightly worried. I just wanted to get out of here, stat.

Another shake, harder this time. We could barely stay on our hooves.

“W-Wing?”

“It’s okay, Civviq. Like you said, we’re not going to get a cave-in.”

“That’s not what I said… hold on - Look!”

I pointed forward and dimmed my horn. A faint glow emerged from the other side of the corridor.

Wing gasped. “A way out! Come on!”

I lit my horn again and started to run towards the light.

We were standing in the dome again.

And there was a gigantic black cloud hanging above our heads.

Escape

I gasped when I saw the black cloud. My eyes went wide and I took a step back. I was overwhelmed with a strange mixture of curiosity, wonder and fear.

“No... “ I squeaked. The black cloud turned to me.

It was Mörk. It was Mörk. It… It was Mörk!

My mouth went dry. The face in the cloud opened its maul and roared. My ears started to buzz.

“Wing! Civviq!” somepony shouted from afar - I think it was Aile. “Run!”

But I was too afraid to run, too afraid to even turn. All I could think of was that gigantic, big cloud that was now headed directly for me.

“You pitiful being!” it yelled at me, both through my head and echoing through the dome. “You ignorant foal! You might have defeated that useless pawn, you still haven’t defeated me!”

He turned to look at the others.

“You are all ignorant for thinking you have even weakened me!”

“Lies!” A voice came, from the back. “You’re bluffing!”

I turned around to see Dark Heart standing up, weakly. At first, I scowled, but then I saw his eyes. They were white. He was freed. I was surprised when I realized that; I wondered how they did it.

“You cannot hold us here!” Dark Heart’s voice cracked. He sounded like a mad-stallion.

“And I will prove it!”

Dark Heart threw himself at the wall opposite of us. Right before he would hit the wall, however, he cast a spell and… he just disappeared! He had phased through the wall!

Mörk screamed furiously, a terrifying noise. The cloud floated upwards to the roof of the dome, and hid in the darkness.

After one look at the cloud, Aile ran towards us.

“Wing! Civviq! Are you okay?” he asked us, worried. I nodded.

“Dad!” Wing jumped into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re back…”

Aile returned the hug and smiled. “I’m just glad that you’re okay. The both of you.” he added, smiling at me. I smiled back.

Aile released Wing from the hug and the three of us walked back to the others. They were discussing the spell Dark Heart used.

“I think I know which spell that is.” Shadowflame announced. “It’s a pretty difficult spell. I think I could rewrite the spell and cast it on the wall, so we can all go through it easily.”

Snipit nodded. “I can help you. I have enough magical power left.”

“What can I do?” Carbon asked. “I mean, I can do magic, but I don’t think I can do that kind of magic…”

Swift nodded. “I don’t want to sit here and do nothing.”

“Actually,” Warpath wheezed, “I think that is exactly what you should do at the moment. You are all wounded, if not badly.”

“Meh, I don’t feel anything.” Swift waved nonchalantly with a hoof, but then winced in pain. He hissed and clutched the hoof to his chest. Warpath raised his eyebrow.

“You haven’t collapsed yet because of all the adrenaline coursing through your veins.” Shadowflame said. “I think it’s starting to wear off now. Prepare yourself, because you’re going to feel every scratch you’ve gotten during the battle.”

Swift sighed, letting his burnt wing rest against his side, wincing.

Enerjack’s hurt wing dragged over the ground.

“Still,” Enerjack said, “I don’t think we should let our guard down.”

He eyed the ever-swirling, black cloud in the roof of the dome. It was steadily growing, a low rumble echoed through the cave; but luckily, it wasn’t in our heads anymore.

~

Aile limped slightly as he approached the group with me and Wing. Wing couldn’t help but eye it worriedly.

Something caught my eye - there was something… off.

I searched, and then I saw him - Swift, a changeling? I couldn’t help but blink out of confusion. I had never seen a changeling before.

“Uhm…”

Aile looked at us, then at Swift, and then back at us again.

“Oh, right, you don’t know it yet.” Aile said.

Swift met my eyes, and then averted them. He had changed, but has the Swift I knew changed with it?

“He’s a changeling!?” Wing said, surprised, his eyes wide. “But.. But…”

Aile shrugged. “We had agreed to sort it all out when we’ve gotten out of here.”

He lowered his voice. “I know it might be a little strange, and, frankly, I would’ve fought him if he turned out to be against us. But he isn’t, or at least, for now. He saved my life. The least thing I could do while we’re in here is to trust him.”

“He… He saved you?” Wing said. Aile nodded. Wing looked down at his hooves, thinking.

“But, if he had saved you, he can’t be evil, can he?” he asked. Aile chuckled.

“Indeed, he can’t.”

~

Above our heads, the black cloud grew bigger and bigger, almost reaching the edge of the light that was cast by the torches that were still left.

“Is that spell ready yet?” Enerjack said, growing impatient. Shadowflame frowned.

“Almost. I think it’s ready to cast,” Shadowflame said. “Where was the exact location that Dark Heart jumped through?”

Carbon trotted to the wall. He walked around, slowly, until he stopped.

“I think it’s here.”

Shadowflame nodded. “Excellent.” He trotted over with Snipit. They lit their horns and cast the spell.

Slowly, bit by bit, the rocks seemed to melt away. Under the spell’s magic, the stones turned from pitch black to snow white and fell apart. A tunnel appeared.

“This is how they must’ve gotten in.” Shadowflame said. “And this is how we’ll get out.”

Behind them, the cloud of Mörk started to approach them. One by one, the torches were blown out, until only the two that were the closest by them were lit. The dark cloud slowly engulfed the rest of the dome, until there was only a small patch of light left - where they were standing.

When the opening was finally big enough for all of them to get through, Shadowflame and Snipit stopped casting the spell. As soon as the glow left the stones, the edges started to grow white again.

Shadowflame cast a look at the cloud.

“We’ve gotta hurry,” Shadowflame said. “Enerjack, Warpath, you first.”

Enerjack nodded and stepped into the hall. The rest came shortly after that, and we were all safe right in time before the opening closed again. It was dark in the tunnel. Behind us, we could hear Mörk’s loud roar of anger slowly draining away. Luckily, Mörk couldn’t follow us throught the walls.

“We’ve gotta go, before he gets us.” Aile said, with a worried glance to the wall.

Enerjack huffed. “I don’t doubt he will. Hopefully, we’re very, very far away from here by the time he gets out of there.”

Warpath coughed. “Of course, we won’t…”

Shadow lit his horn and walked to the head of the group to light the way. “Let’s go.”

~

The tunnel never seemed to end. It went up, down, made several turns - enough to make your head spinning. Our hooves became tired and started to hurt even more. But, unlike the one I went through, this one did have an end. At last, after what seemed like an eternity, we finally reached the exit.

It was somewhere around noon, and behind us was a great mountain. Below us was a dense forest, the smoke of campfires circled up. Delicious smells of lunch blew in our noses.

“Mmm… I haven’t had a bite in ages…” Enerjack said.

Swift nodded hungrily. “Neither have I.”

Warpath shot him a funny look. “I thought changelings ate love and stuff?”

Swift shook his head. “No, we can eat normal food too. Or, at least, I can.”

Enerjack nodded, hesitantly.

“Anyway, let’s get going.” Shadow said. “I think I see a pathway down to the camp. See if we can get to that camp. Hopefully, it’s not a Mörklingcamp.”

“And if it is?” Aile asked.

“Then we go fight the pony’s!” A cracked voice rang over the hill. Dark Heart was lying on the rocks below them. “It took you ages to get out of there! What have you been doing? Tag?” He barked a laugh. Me and Wing exchanged confused glances.

“I think all that darkness has made him bonkers.” Enerjack said. We all nodded.

“What?” His voice cracked again. “I’m NOT mad! I’m NOT! I’m going to prove that to you!”

He jumped up and ran off over an non-existent path, almost tripping over the rocks.

“I’m going to defeat Mörk! If nopony follows him, he has no darkness to live with! And then he weakens so much that he HAS to let us go! And YOU are going t- WAAH!”

He fell head-first into a rock. His body fell limp.

“I-I’m okaay…”

Shadow nodded slowly. “Yes.. It does make sense… If we can defeat all Mörks followers, than maybe we can close him into the mountain and leave him there. He might come back, but at least we know what can stop him.”

“What?” Aile asked. “But how are we going to turn ‘em all ‘white’?

“Theee stooone~..” Dark Heart’s feeble voice came from below.

“Uuse that bloody stoone.”

“That is heavily guarded, you know.” Aile warned. “Not just everypony can waltz in and get it.”

“Can’ we jes’ get that blooody stone to do what we wan- with the riiight magic. DARK magic-c-c!” Dark Heart said, with a drunken drawl in his voice.

“And who is gonna cast that?” Shadowflame asked. “Oh, wait - “

“I am!” Dark Hear said. “I will saaave the day!” He lifted his hoof to get up, but that only resulted him to fall down flat on his nose.

“Ye-OW!”

“You know,” Carbon Copy said, “I think I can actually get the stone so we can destroy it.” He started to walk the path towards Dark Heart. “I’m just going to impersonate as him…” he touched his shoulder with his hoof, “and bring it back here.”

“What if things go wrong?” Snipit asked, narrowing his eyes.

“That’s why I want you to come with me, Snipit. I need you to stay somewhere out of the way so I can get that stone safely. If there is some ruckus, you’ll know what to do.”

Snipit nodded. “Okay.”

After thinking, Aile stood up.

“I’ll go with you.”

Wing’s eyes grew big and he sprung up.

“No, dad-”

“Wing, no.” Aile said and turned to Carbon. “I know where the stone is. I can lead you there.”

Carbon nodded.

“But, dad…” Wing said. “Why can’t you stay here, with us? You’re hurt too.”

“Son…” He sat down. “We need to take down Mörk and this is the best way to do it.”

Wing’s ears drooped. Aile smiled sadly and hugged him.

“Promise me you’ll come back.” Wing said, leaning back. Aile nodded.

“I promise.”

Shadowflame sighed at the scene before him. He stood up. “I’ll stay here and make sure they’re okay, Aile.”

Aile nodded back. “Thanks.”

Shadow turned to Enerjack.

“Enerjack, I want you to look after Dark Heart.”

Enerjack huffed. “Don’t worry. He’s acting like a drunk. He can’t go far before we get to him.”

He glanced sideways at Dark Heart, who was still trying to get up. He fell down again with a yelp.

“Or even stay unharmed.” he added. Shadow chuckled.

“All right. That sounds like a plan.” he said. “Warpath? What do you think of it?”

Warpath coughed, and nodded. “Yes… I think it is a good plan. Now go, before Mörk gets here.”

After one last look to the mountain, Snipit, Aile and Carbon started to go down the mountain.

Wing stood up to follow Aile, but Shadow stopped him. He smiled reassuringly to Wing.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “It will all be okay.”

~

As Aile, Carbon and Snipit made their way down the mountain, they discussed the details of their plan.

“First, Aile,” Carbon said, “You’ve gotta tell me where exactly they keep the Stone.”

Aile nodded. “Well… They keep it in a cave, near the base of the mountain. They’ve build the camp around the entrance, so you’ll have to go through the camp to reach it.”

“Are there guards around the entrance?”

“Many. But Dark Heart has full authorization to go there. Let’s hope they do not know about his current state yet.”

Snipit huffed. “And what if they do?”

“Then you take them down.” Carbon said.

“But don’t kill,” Aile added, “they have no idea what they’re doing. Remember that.”

Snipit nodded. “Where can I stay?”

“Up high,” Aile said. “There are plenty of trees where we can stay around the entrance. You’ll have a clear view.”

Snipit grunted when he almost tripped over a stone. “And how do we get there without being seen?”

“We fly. They never look up.”

Carbon lifted his eyebrow. “That’s pretty stupid.”

“I know. But they never expect air attacks, so, yeah.”

They had almost reached the camp. They entered the forest.

“By the way, Carbon,” Aile said, “enter the camp from the entrance. Their leader won’t go stumbling down the mountain.”

Carbon nodded. “Where is that entrance?”

“Follow me - hold on,” Aile stopped and started to walk towards the edge of the forest. They could hear the bustling of the camp. Once they all had a clear view of the camp, Aile looked up. “Snipit?”

“Yeah?”

“You see that tree over there?”

He pointed towards one of the trees in the middle of the camp. It was an old oak, perfect to hide in.

“Yes.”

“Good. You can hide there.”

Carbon shifted to have a better view.

“Where is the cave entrance?”

“Over there.”

A few meters away from the tree, in a steep slope in the foot of the mountain, there was a tunnel. It was guarded by three guards: two on both sides and one in front of it.

“All right. I’ll see you soon.” Snipit said. Carbon and Aile nodded and Snipit flew away.

“Carbon, follow me.” Aile said. He led him towards the entrance of the camp.

With a flash of magic, Carbon changed into Dark Heart. He took a deep breath and stood up straight, his facial expression turned sour and stoic.

“We meet up with the rest up the mountain.” Aile said. “Good luck.”

Dark Heart nodded and strode into the camp. Aile flew up to the tree where Snipit sat.

~

Meanwhile, up at the mountain, the other members of the Strikers were lying down to rest. Warpath had his eyes half closed, but his breathing was getting better. Shadow made sure that his wounds were healing well.

Enerjack is washing his wing in a nearby creek. The water was cold, but he heated it up with a small fire so it was the right temperature. Swift had washed his cuticle wing with the water as well and now rested his hoof in it. It wasn’t ideal, but for now, it was the best they could get.

Wing’s still watching over the camp, in the direction Aile had gone. I walked over to him and sat down. Should I say something? I don’t know. He lowered his head and sighed.

“He’ll come back.” I said. “I’m sure of it.”

“I hope so…”

An awkward silence filled the air. He kept staring towards the smoke that circled up from the trees. Behind me, I heard Swift approach us.

“Uhm. Hi.” he said. He shuffled with his forehoof over the ground, the other still clung to his chest, too painful to walk on.

“I know that, well… Me being a changeling and all, I…”

Before he could continue, however, he got cut off by Wing.

“Did you really save my dad?”

Swift looked up, surprised.

“Yes… Yes I did.”

Wing looked at him, searching for a lie, but he didn’t find it.

“I… Thank you.”

Swift smiled, exposing his fangs. “I always protect my friends.”

Wing smiled back, and I couldn’t help but smile too.

“Then I don’t care if you’re a changeling or not. You’re still Swift, right? The same Swift we know as a pony.” Wing said. I nodded.

Swift laughed. “Absolutely! Come ‘ere you two.”

Before we could react, he had pulled us in a hug. All three of us were laughing when he released us.

“Heh. I think this is the most I had laughed in a really long time…” I said. Wing nodded.

“Yeah… Me too. All these adventures… I just wanna sit somewhere warm and have some hot cocoa.”

I nodded. “And tell stories! Heh, this will be quite a story to tell once we get out of here, huh?”

Swift snorted. “As if anyone will believe us.”

“Guys! Look!” Enerjack shouted and pointed down. We all rushed to the best viewing point to see what was going on below.

The entire camp was in chaos, but Aile, Snipit and Carbon were nowhere to be found.

“I just hope they’re okay…” Wings said, worriedly.

I sighed. I really hoped so too.

~

Carbon Copy, disguised as Dark Heart, had managed to stride through the camp. With his head up high, he ignored everyone around him. But inside of him, his heart was pounding. Anypony could turn around and notice him any minute now. They would sense that  he wasn´t the pony they thought he was, and, and…

Shut up, he told himself, they won´t.

He sighed inwardly. In the distance, he saw the entrance to the cave.

Let´s get this over with.

He strode towards the entrance. The guard in front of the entrance saluted Carbon nodded back. With that, the guard stepped aside.

That was easier than I thought… almost too easy.

He strode inside. It was dark, but he could clearly see the gem in the middle of the cave, in the white stone.

He approached the stone carefully. He lifted it with his magic - very carefully - and put it in his pocket.

He turned around to walk out.

And once he stood in the daylight - he found that all eyes were fixed on him.

He didn’t move. The silence was deafening.

“RUN!” Snipit shouted - and all hell broke loose.

Carbon leapt into action. The guards pointed their spears at him, but Carbon dodged them all the best he could. He tried to run, but the crowd started to close in on him.

With a great battle cry, Snipit slammed down next to him, beating away the crowd. Aile landed next to him, a spear in his hooves.

“Come on! Let’s go!” Snipit yelled. All three of them started to make their way through the sea of ponies.

Ponies from all sides bumped into him, kicked him, bucked him, but he bucked back just as hard. Soon, however, he found that with every pony he bucked away, three more took his place. Despite this, he kept bucking and stomping.

All at once, they got separated. Carbon got punched into the ground. With a loud yell, he fell - and the gem fell on the ground with him.

All the ponies that were around him, did not see the stone under them.. Several felt it crush under their hooves. But all of them felt the pain that came with it. Black smoke rose from the stone, forming a thick cloud over their heads.

“Not again…” Aile said. Snipit grunted.

“Let’s go! Go! Go!”

With the Mörklings distracted, they all made their way for the edge of the forest. From there, they made their way up to the mountain, where their friends were waiting.

~

Wing saw them the first.

“Dad!”

He ran towards him as fast as his legs could carry him. The others stood up and walked towards the trio.

“And? How did it go?” Shadow said. “Do you have the stone?”

“Well… yes, and no.” Carbon said. He had changed back to his normal form now.

“You see… we had the stone, but it was trampled.”

“Trampled?” Warpath asked.

“It broke in lots of little pieces. Black smoke came out of it; everypony started to scream.” Carbon answered.

“Smithereens!?” A broken voice piped up. “SmitherEENS? The stone is in smithereens!” Dark Heart started to cackle - and then abruptly stopped and sat down, quietly murmuring, rocking back and forth. “That’s no good - that’s no good - that’s no good - not good at all…”

Warpath frowned. “Then, what will happen?”

“He’ll return!” he said, with wide eyes. “You have freed his followers, you have freed the evil that is inside the stone - but look!” He pointed with his hoof at the top of the mountain. A dark cloud was seeping out of the rocks, and gathering above the camp.

“He is weak now, he has no body, no form. You have slowed him down for years, decades if you’re lucky.. He will have to find a new Dark Gem, he will have to find new followers, but he will return.”

He turned to face Warpath.

“You will have to destroy the Stone the right way, the only way. I know the only way, but I cannot do the only way now, because the right pony isn’t present!”

Warpath frowned. “Then - wait… Illuminae.”

Dark Heart had continued to rock back and forth. “Pony isn’t present… pony isn’t present… pony isn’t present… Illuminae, she’s not here… not here… not here…”

“Sooo…” Swift said, slowly, “In order to truly defeat Mörk, we will need to find Illuminae?”

Dark Heart didn’t respond.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Guess we’ll have to keep searching then…”

Warpath nodded. “Yes... “

“And what about those ponies down there?” Shadow said.

“They’re innocent.” Aile said. “They don’t know what they were doing. The crimes they’ve committed should not be held against them.”

Warpath nodded.

“We should inform Princess Celestia about all this. She can round up all the former followers and punish them correctly, if at all.”

He turned to Shadowflame.

“Shadowflame. Can you transport a message to the Princess with your magic?”

Shadow frowned, thinking about it.

“I think I can teleport something to her. But I cannot guarantee it’ll end up there as well.”

Warpath nodded. “It’s good enough.”

He got a stone and scratched something in it with a claw.

“Here. Teleport this.”

Shadow’s magic engulfed the stone and send it away.

“And now we wait.”

“Wait for what?” Aile asked.

“For the guards to show up and bring us to headquarters.”

Swift shuffled with his hoof in the ground.

“Including you, Swift.”

Swift looked up, surprised.

“But..”

“Swift Spry. You’re a valued member of the Strikers. You have proven yourself worthy of being in this team, Changeling or not.” Warpath said with a small smile.

“Besides,” Warpath added, half-jokingly, “You owe me a fight.”

“And an explanation.” Snipit said.

Swift was too flabbergasted to say anything.

“I… I… Thanks…”

The beating of wings indicated that the guards have arrived.

“Hm. That was quick.” Snipit said.

“Well.. I guess this is goodbye, then.” Aile said.

“I wonder what will come next.”

~The End~

Epilogue

This was my story.

It was a long journey, and maybe even a journey worth telling. But the journey isn’t over yet.

Let me first tell you what became of my friends shortly after we got picked up by the guards.

Warpath, Swift and Enerjack, who had gotten the worst blows, were treated by the best doctors Celestia could offer. The others received a checkup and were treated as well for their wounds.

After that, Warpath awarded Shadowflame and Aile honorary membership for the Strikers. They were really happy and flattered for that. Aile most of them, because well, he’d been one of the Mörklings at first. But Warpath said that he had proved worthy of membership because of his deeds for the team.

Since Aile and Wing’s old home was closed down, and they had nowhere to go, they were assigned a new home in a small place called Leading Trot, where they could live happily.

Shadowflame had returned to his home and family in Canterlot, where he continues to teach on the school.

And me? Since I had nowhere to go, I would be send somewhere far, far away, for sure. But, luckily, that didn’t happen. A young couple in Leading Trot, who were also taking care of the library, and were well-known by Warpath, had offered to take me in. I was really happy; not only did I have parents again, I also got to stay close by Wing!

And, for then, everything was fine.

I know Mörk will return one day. But by then, I will have my friends again. And we will defeat him, together with Illuminae. As soon as we find her, that is. We still haven’t.

But that hasn’t happened yet. And how can you tell a story that hasn’t happened yet?