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 – 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

Credits:

TH3 BL1ND PR0PH3T, owner of Wing Noir;

Shadowflame, owner of OC Shadowflame;

BroniesB4Honies, for Snipit Heartstrings.

CarbonLegend, for Carbon Copy

I only own Civviq Writer and Water Word.

MLP belongs to Hasbro.