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. They provide life and can be a home to several souls…

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, surprised. Without hesitation, he answered.

"Yes."

He smiled, but didn't say anything for a while. 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 outside 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.