A Game of Shadows

Nightlock's Journal, Entry #1

Date: September 21st (My birthday, the 13th one to be exact)

How convenient...there just so happened to be a fresh blank notebook, right here in the desk drawer. Looks like I won't need to buy one after all. Now, where to start...

Well, I finally did it. I ran away from that stupid foster home. I've wanted to get away for a while, but I've not been able to make a plan for what to do afterwards until recently. Lucky for me, Autumn doesn't mind me crashing with him at his place in the forest...although why exactly he chooses to live in the Everfree forest, I really have no idea. It's...kinda creepy, but hey, a home's a home. And at this point, to me, any home's better than that place up in Cloudsdale.

Hmm...maybe I should write out some more background here. My name's Nightlock, a blue pegasus colt, and I just turned 13 today. I've run away from Cloudsdale Foster Care to live with my bestie, a pegasus named Autumn Wind. The reason being, I've been sick of that place for quite a long time. Why that is, well...I never really got along with any of the other kids. At all. None of them really like me, and vice versa. Overall, I usually felt either ignored or disliked. But, back to the now. For some reason or another...I've decided I want to keep a journal for a while. Maybe it's because my life's changing, and I feel like I want the memories down on paper...I dunno. It'll give me something interesting to do, whatever the reason.

Now, as for how the day's gone...it's gone good. I didn't have much to unpack when I got here, so I got settled in quickly. Autumn's house here is...bigger than I expected. I've got a nice guest room to stay in, I suppose that's a plus. The bed's nice and comfy, perfect to comfortably lay on while writing. And with the house being in a more secluded area in the forest, there's finally nopony around to harass me or pick on me. Huuuuge plus right there. The only thing about this that I don't like, is that it's in the Everfree Forest. Not exactly the most secure-feeling place to walk around in...plus, when I got here, I had this weird feeling that there was something I couldn't see looking at me, but I guess that's just the normal effect the forest has on ponies. I'm sure I'll be fine anyways; Autumn says he'll teach me some fighting moves, and teach me about what to look out for in the forest, so that I'll be able to handle myself if I come across any trouble.

As for going to school...well, I passed my flying test years ago, so I can probably fly from here to school every day, no problem. School's really the only reason I'll be going back to Cloudsdale...I really don't want to miss out on school, and grow up stupid. As for finding a job or something, that'll have to wait until I'm old enough to legally work. Ponyville's probably a good place to find a job, it's really close by the forest. And with that, I think I've got my situation figured out and under control...I'll just have to hope that my old Foster home will leave me alone. Hopefully I won't have to hide from them whenever I go to Cloudsdale.

...

Wow, look at that. I've written a lot more than I was thinking for just the first entry. There's nothing else to really say here, and I'm pretty tired, so I guess I'll go for now and catch some sleep. I'll update...sometime.

-Nightlock