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.