A Game of Shadows

Entry #3

Date: September 26th

Hello again.

Today was Friday. That means the weekend follows, so no school for me tomorrow. Yay. Today was a typical day, so there's not really much to write about it. Except, I do think training's getting a bit easier...I'm not as sore as I was last time, at least.

So...I guess with this entry I can tell a bit about some things. I think I should write about my friend I'm staying with, Autumn Wind. Not sure why I want to...I mean it's not like anyone else is gonna read this, right? Either way, I just want to write for some reason. So, here goes.

Autumn Wind's pretty much my best friend. A pegasus, like me. He's a slightly darker shade of blue than I am, with a purple mane. He's strong and really knows how to fight, for his age. He's as old as I am, 13. Actually, that's the peculiar (but awesome) thing: We share the same birthday, September 21st, and in the same year. Exactly the same age. We both took that as a sign that we were meant to be friends, I guess. As shown in the last entry, he can be a real mystery at times. Sometimes I don't fully understand him or his odd behavior, but that's okay. Mostly he's predictably let go and cool, though...he's been through a lot of bad things that you couldn't just tell right away by talking to him. I'm not going to get into all that though, as even I don't understand all he's been through.

Another interesting thing is, I didn't meet him in Cloudsdale, or at school. I met him down here, somewhere in the Everfree forest of all places.

It was about two years ago. I had a really, really bad day at school (bully problems) and didn't want to go home (Cloudsdale foster care at the time). I was really upset, and I decided to leave Cloudsdale and fly off. I guess you could call it running away, but I went back later when I realized I really had nowhere else to go. Anyway, I sort of glided down to the surface, not particularly caring about where I went exactly. I wasn't paying any attention, and so I clumsily crashed in the Everfree forest. And in the process, injured my right wing and forehoof. My day was just not getting any better.

Since I couldn't fly and could hardly walk, I looked around to find a safe place as quickly as I could. I had heard all the bad things about the forest, so safety was the first thing I looked for. Luckily, there was a clearing nearby where I could see more clearly and have more space. Scared as I was, I limped my way over there as quickly as I could, and decided to wait and see if my wing would recover soon. Unfortunately for me, it didn't heal fast enough.

After getting in a comfortable spot against a large rock and resting my wing and forehoof for about 30 minutes, I heard a growl from outside the clearing. I instantly tensed with fear. When I looked for the source of the sound, I saw a pair of glowing eyes looking at me from the trees. Soon, the eyes grew larger as their owner approached out of the trees.

A timberwolf.

I was completely frozen with fear. Thoughts of being ripped apart and eaten up came over me, along with the fearful realization that there was likely no escape. I couldn't fly away, and I couldn't run away. Not with my hoof like it was. I thought of screaming out for help, but I knew that would just attract mroe dangerous attention. My fear only intensified as the beast drew near, growling ravenously at me.

I cowered back in fear, and soon shielded my eyes, awaiting my now-accepted doom.

Pathetic...

Then, just as I considered praying to Celestia or something, the growling turned to whimpering. I looked up, and the timberwolf was on its side, whimpering as though it was struck. A few pieces of its wooden body were on the ground. Something attacked it, and it wasn't long before I saw what, or rather, who it was.

It barely had time to get up before it got struck in the face by the attacker. My rescuer, had some kind of outfit on...a hooded outfit that covered his eyes with the hood up. He had some kind of knife out in a hostile defensive position. He made a movement threatening to strike it again, and the timberwolf fled.

While my heart was pounding from fear, he soon knelt down and turned to face me. I still couldn't see his eyes. He spoke. "Lucky for you I was around. Are you okay?"

After what just happened, it took me a moment to recollect myself and answer him. "Y...y-yeah...I...I'm fine..." I barely responded. I took deep breaths to calm myself. "Th-thanks...if you hadn't come along I'd have been...been..."

He smiled a little and simply responded, "No need to thank me. I couldn't just stand by and let you get eaten. But I'm questioning whether you're all okay upstairs." he said as he gestured to my head with a chuckle. "Why in Equestria are you out here by yourself?"

Now, as shy as I was (like, shy as that one mare I remember from flight school...Fluttershy-shy), I barely spoke loud enough. I was instinctually hiding behind my long mane, looking back at him shyly. "...I...fell...accidentally..." I also cringed at a pain at my extended wing, clearly showing myself in pain. He picked up on this.

"Well I don't think you'd have fallen in here on purpose!" he chuckled again. His tone was rather easy-going, despite how serious I'd have expected him to sound. Before he spoke again, he took the hood off, revealing a purple mane and blue eyes. "It's not safe here...and you look like you need some help." He lowered himself down. "Here, climb on and I'll take you to my place. It's not too far from here."

"O-okay..." I managed to get myself up and climb onto the blue colt's back, and he carried me through the forest towards what he said was his home.

"My name's Autumn, by the way...Autumn Wind. What's your name?" He certainly didn't lack for friendliness.

"N...Nightlock..." I said quietly.

He grinned a little. "Named after the poison, huh? That's pretty cool! Nice to meet ya." As generally no one's this nice or kind to me, I was a bit taken aback. I also noticed now he seemed to be about my age, and a pegasus, yet I was sure I'd never seen him at school before, or anywhere in Cloudsdale. Odd. Maybe he wasn't from Cloudsdale. Then again, I'm not from there either, I'm from Manehatten. Also, I had no idea what poison he was talking about.

I responded, "You too...and again, thanks..." in response, he smiled and just said "it's nothing, really".

Soon we came to a clearing towards the edge of the forest, where a good-sized house stood. I was a bit surprised to see something like that out in here. I managed to speak. "You....live out here?"

"Yep!" he responded. As if that's not weird at all. I decided to not ask where he was actually from. No need, he told me anyways. "I wasn't born here though...I'm actually not from Equestria at all. I've lived here a while, but I'm actually from this place called Geomania, a country just beyond the Frozen North. I had a hometown called Hoofterwitz." Something told me to not ask why he said "had" instead of "have". He went to his door, opened it and carried me inside.

It's a simple, decently spacious, yet cozy house, as I noticed when I looked around. He took me to the couch in his living room and let me sit. "I'll get something to help you heal that right up...you hungry at all?"

After all that, I was sure that anything I ate I'd just toss back up. "N-no, thank you", I declined with a weak smile.

"Alright then. Just stay here for a sec." He headed off to get something from another room. While he was away, I simply stared at the floor. Some thoughts were rolling around in my head.

What in Equestria was I thinking? I mean I know I was upset, but...did I really have to let myself fall and get injured in the Everfree forest? Not the brightest thing to do, Nightlock. Idiot. And someone else had to put their life on the line to save little, scared me. Such a liability I am. As he came back I looked back up. He had a glass bottle of something in his hoof.

"This is what's gonna do the magic and heal you right up." He came up to me. "Let me show you. Hold out the hoof that hurts."

Really confused as to how some measly ointment would help what's likely broken bones, I complied anyway and held out my right forehoof. He dabbed his own right forehoof in the gel and applied it to my mine, spreading it. To my amazement, within a minute I could feel the pain dissipating. And soon, my hoof felt good as new. "Good stuff, huh?" he said in response in what likely was a stunned expression on my face. "Here, now for your wing".

I held my wing open, cringing a little as he handled it. He applied the gel to my wing, and soon, my wing too felt good as new.

"W-wow...what is that stuff?" I asked, intrigued.

"Not sure. All I know is it works amazingly with just a little bit. I'd say it's magically enhanced or something". He indicated the lack of label on the bottle. "Either way, you should be good to go." He sat the bottle aside. "And next time, be a bit more careful, yeah?"

I nodded quickly. "S-sorry...I wasn't paying attention..." I sounded way too apologetic, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Why's that?"

"Dunno...I guess today's just been a bad day..."

He frowned a bit as he shrugged. "Well at least t's all good now?"

"Yeah..."

We then made some small talk for a bit. I told him where I was from and some little things about me (from whatever little there was to tell). When he asked why I was above the forest and not at home, I said I guess I needed to just get away for a while. It was then I looked up at a clock and realized that it was getting late. As much as I didn't want to, I knew I should go back. I stood up.

"Well...again, thanks. I owe you my life."

"Nah. You don't owe me. Don't worry about it. I wouldn't have just let you get eaten. " He smiled friendily at me. "Looks like you need to get back though...see you around?"

It was at that point I realized, that maybe...I was actually making a friend.

I looked back at him, and soon gave a slow nod. "Yeah...sure." I tried to give a decent smile before I opened the door and left. To my left was the forest exit that led towards Ponyville. I quietly left the forest before taking off, flying back towards Cloudsdale. On the way, I went over the day's events in my head.

First I considered the fact that I about got brutally killed and eaten. Then I considered that I think I made a friend. While most of the day sucked, and was extremely dangerous...I actually felt good, despite it all. Hell of a backwards and twisty day. Not even the scolding of coming home late got me down. I didn't even bother with telling my ridiculous-sounding story, I just went to my room as soon as I could and went promptly to sleep.

Next chance I got, I decided to go down and see him again. We hung out, usually somewhere in Ponyville (he never wanted to go to Coudsdale, which was fine by me). And we did it again next opportunity. And the next. And soon, me and him had become good friends. With all this, I felt better. Things got better.

I made a friend.

There it is...the story of how I met my best friend. Ridiculous-sounding, yeah, but there it is. Man, this journal's starting to feel like a re-telling of huge past events, not a consistent journal.

Sleep time. I think tomorrow, since I have it to myself, I'm gonna go into Ponyville and take a look around. Explore. Maybe I'll find something new of interest.

-Nightlock