A War for Friendship

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1 - Painting a new Future
Chapter 2 - A Light in the Dark
Chapter 3 - The Shadow of Hate
Chapter 4 - The Ultimatum
Chapter 5 - The Reunion
Chapter 7 - The Lonely
Epilogue
Final Words
Chapter 6 - The Darkness, Light, and Friendship

Prologue

A War for Friendship

The night has fallen. A dark sky, with thousands of little lights decorating it, tells the end of the day that was before it, and will return after. The sounds from nature are as calm as can be, with only the serene wind blowing over the grassy land of Equestria. Many little creatures of the night make sounds of movement and life, telling everypony with ears that their day is not day. And in the middle of the grassy land is a small town where all the equine citizens live and rest. A place known as Ponyville.

But this particular time is different that the others. Slowly but surely, an increasing amount of falling lights decorate the sky, glowing brighter than the brightest star. A radiance shimmers over the roofs of the homes, unnoticed by the citizens that sleep inside. The moon glows birght white, just as bright as the crimson rock with the red shining tail of dust that flies over. It's an asteroid, known to some as the Crimson Asteroid, which passes Equestria once in the 300 years.

Alas, even the most beautiful nights in history can be missed from the sight of the ponies that need their sleep to continue their activities during the day.

But there is one pony still awake, experiencing the showdown in the sky. Watching through a telescope from her window, she remains completely focused on the passing spectacle.

'Beautiful…,' she whispers as the lights fly past her sight. At random moments, she looks away into an open astronomy book, which floats next to her with a purple light around it.

An exhausted voice is sound behind her. 'Eh, not to complain or something, Twilight. But was it really necessary to check all these books for one meteor this night?' somebody small asks, completely hidden behind the pile of books that he carries around to the bookcases.

'Sorry Spike, but this is a special occasion!' the mare says, while remaining focused on her telescope.

The large pile of books is put on the ground, with a large sigh of relief followed. 'Really now. Why the hassle over this rock? We’ve seen a meteor shower before. But this is just one big stone that doesn’t even go near Equestria!” he grunts tired, 'You didn’t seem so fascinated the time I sneezed a rock on fire...'

The little dragon that appears from behind the books didn’t seem like he is expecting a reaction, considering he carries on with putting books back in the shelves.

'It’s because I didn’t know about this asteroid, Spike! I recently read this book that contained something vague about the Crimson Asteroid, which passes Equistria once in the three centuries! I was very lucky to find out about it only a few days before he arrives, or I would've missed it! The rocks that come loose from the asteroid move to Equestria and burn in the atmosphere with a red color, and may even remain salvagable if they're big enough!' the pony answers with excitement. 'Why won’t you come over and see for yourself? You’re really missing out on something!'

He yawns for response.

'Nah, thanks, Twilight. I bet not much was written about it, because it’s not as spectacular as a common meteor shower... And besides, these books won’t order themselves into the shelves. I wish they could though…,” he wishes.

The pony sighs from his uninterested answer; knowing that he misses out on something big. Though she can understand that he’s just too sleepy to be excited.

The dragon shrugs. 'So much enthusiasm over a bunch of stones. I never expected that your interest could possibly lie into something so… common? Now if it would’ve been about gems, that would’ve been a different story,' he dreams on, growing hungry the more he thinks about it.

The purple unicorn turns away from the telescope for a moment. 'You can’t think of something else but food, hm?' she jokes. 'You just don’t understand the idea that lies behind the fact that it’s a falling rock. Just think where these boulders have been and go to!'

In a swift moment during her pause of attention, a huge light rages over the town, along with an alarming loud sound. The pony quickly looks behind her through the window, and witnesses a huge red rock flying over the town. With a dropped jaw, she looks as the huge meteor passes through her sight, feeling like everything goes in slow-motion.

She pokes her head out of the window and looks how the meteor flies outside the town’s perimeter and crashes with a large flash in the east.

Even after the noise of the impact starts to fade and the same silence of one minute ago returns, she still looks frozen towards the direction where the comet crashed. The purple dragon leaps to her and pokes his head out the window as well.

'Well… I must admit that I didn’t expect that the rocks are so eager to come down and tell you their stories personally, Twilight…,' he whispers with wide eyes.

***

The moon has vanished behind the horizon, just as the burning sun rises up. Day has begun in Equestria, waking every single pony that is touched by it's warm rays. All the life in Ponyville picks up where it left the day before, whether they woke up from the noise of the asteroid or not.

Meanwhile, two ponies are talking in front of a building, which has been abandoned for years.

'Huh? A new pony has moved into the old gallery?' a mare asks.

The other nods. 'Seems he moved in without notice. I heard that he's been just about everywhere in Equestria before coming here, along that he's an artist. Maybe he’s looking for new inspiration here. But I have no idea why he would be THIS quiet about his entrance.'

The one shrugs. 'Why not ask him yourself?'

'He seems to be out at the moment. I suppose he’s looking around the town,' the other says.

'Hm,' the one pony shrugs again. 'Well, who knows. Maybe he doesn’t like company and didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.'

Chapter 1 - Painting a new Future

Chapter 1 - Painting a new future

Another sunny day, even outside Ponyville, in a large part of land that goes by the name of Sweet Apple Acres. The healthy red apples, hanging in the trees, shine in the sun's bright light. They are ready to be plucked and eaten, known to be the most popular meal in Ponyville. Yet, the tranquility and silence of the orchard gets disturbed by somepony that makes a racket beneath the tree leaves.

'-Kgh- cursed easel! More stubborn than a donkey... Keep standing already!' a male voice grunts angry from near the ground, where somepony is wrestling with his equipment.

'This’ll keep you standing…,' he mumbles, as a loud slam against a tree is followed. The paintingstandard leans against the tree, with a painting on it, featuring several apple trees. Other than a few leaves, that came loose from the violent move, the painting remains undisturbed.

'I really got to get that leg fixed…,' the stallion sighs. A red unicorn with a black mane smiles at his work, as he uses magic to put his chestnut-brown beret back on his head. He shakes some dust from his flank that blew loose from the ground during his little struggle, revealing a Cutie Mark shaped like a painter’s palette with a brush on it.

'Now, back to the paint,' he speaks to himself, as he grabs a brush with his mouth and a second with unicorn magic.

He forgets any chance of distractions from his surroundings and becomes entirely focused on his work, painting with two brushes at the same time. While he uses his mouth to paint the details, he uses his magic to paint the rough colors. But just as he is close to finish the sun reflection on a painted apple, he is disturbed by a loud slam on a tree nearby, causing a sudden lash of red paint on his brush to wreck his work. Completely torn out of his concentration, he looks confused past the tree that his painting leans on. Another strike is followed then.

'Hey!' he yells aggitated.

Nopony answers to his voice, followed by another hit on the trees instead.

'Hellooo!' he yells again.

Finally, the face of an orange pony with a blond mane pops up from behind the trees. He knows her, considering he asked permission to her about if he could make a painting of the orchard an hour ago.

'Hm? You said somethin’?' She asks impatient. The red stallion lowers his voice, now that she listens to him.

'I’m grateful that I was allowed to paint on the Acres, but could I ask you kindly to kick someplace else?' he asks polite.

The blond pony looks unconvinced out of her eyes. 'Excuse me? Sorry, stranger. You can’t expect ME of changing mah way of work, just ‘cause some newcomer wants to have a hobby here. You’re free to go someplace else though,' she lines out as fast as she’s back to work.

She hits the next tree, which happened to be the appletree with the stallion's easel leaning on it. While a lot of apples fall in large barrels beaneath the tree, a pile also falls on the painter, burying him and his equipment under a pile of red fruit. The blond pony doesn’t notice, and focuses back on the apples in the next tree, forgetting about him again. The painter crawls out of the apples and grabs his hat again.

'-Ugh-… Alright, alright. There are plenty of places to work anyway… Might as well leave this for another time,' he tells himself. He puts his brushes back into his side-pack, and carries the easel away with his levitation magic. Leaving the orchard, the pony's intuition tell him to head to the forest nearby.

***

Despite his failed attempt to make a painting of the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres, the artistic stallion continues to seek for a new subject to paint onto a blank sheet. After a little stroll between the trees of the forest nearby Ponyville, his attention is absorbed by the peaceful surroundings. There are large old trees, little critters, and no other ponies around. But as he looks around him, he takes notice of a pegasus in the distance, near a tree. The mare seems busy, looking for something. Not wanting to be rude by ignoring her, the stallion moves towards her to greet her.

'Hello there,' he greets with a smile. The pegasus yelps by the surprise and jumps behind the nearest tree, surprising the painter almost as much by her reaction. 'S-sorry, I had no intentions of alarming you,' he explains surprised.

The mare sticks her head from behind the tree, realizing that she was greeted by a unicorn stallion. A little embarrassed and spooked, the pink haired pegasus slowly moves to him. 'Oh... n-no that’s alright. I’m sorry,' she stutters an apology.

'No need to be,' he replies politely. 'I was just looking around this place for something important. I didn't mean to spook you like I did.' He doubts whether he should ask this shy pony, but considers that it doesn't hurt to try. 'Say, you wouldn’t happen to know anything unique to the eye, would you?'

'Huh?' the yellow mare wonders, not entirely sure what the stranger could mean with "unique to the eye". When she notices the paint equipment levitating behind him, she understands what he means. 'Oh! Ehm… well… I think there’s one place I find special,' she whispers shyly as she scratches her hoof over the ground. 'But...-'

'Hm? But what?' he asks.

'But no...,' she says and shakes her head. 'You probably want something more impressive…'

He notices her uncertainty, and proceeds asking. 'Try me. Maybe it will be exactly what I’m looking for,' he tries to convince her.

The pegasus feels comforted by his kind words, understanding that it's a kind stallion. 'Well… There is a place nearby where many of my flying friends live... I-I always like colors when they sit in the trees,' she explains with a bashful red hue on her cheeks.

The unicorn raises an eyebrow in disbelieve about what she's saying. 'Your pegasus friends live in trees here?' he asks doubtful.

The pegasus notices the misunderstanding and shakes her head. 'Oh, no-no-no. It’s not like that. I meant my bird friends that live there.'

'Oh, hehe,' he chuckles, understanding now what the mare means. 'Well, it sounds colorful indeed. I don’t know if you would mind a stranger to go there, but if you don’t; would you care to lead me to that location?'

The yellow pony looks happy of feeling helpful, showing a little smile on her face. 'Yes, ofcourse. I was on my way there, to be honest.'

***

While following the yellow pony through the forest, the painter continues to look around interested in the forest.

It feels very comforting: the tranquility and sounds of nature. 'A harmony of some sort', he thinks in his head. He looks at his guide once, and figures if he should say anything. Either a “thanks” for guiding him, or something like starting an idle conversation.

But he can’t come up with the courage, quietly stuttering as he tries to come up with the right words for a talk. Before the pegasus would catch notice of his foolish rabble, he stops trying immediately. It makes him a little sad, sighing depressed over how he fails to start something simple as a mere conversation. Soon enough, they arrive at a steep grassy hill.

'It’s right behind this hill,' she tells him, looking over her shoulder at the stallion.

The painter gets his focus back by the words addressed to him, looking back up at her and hide his mixed feelings.

'I… do have to ask you a favor before we go down,' she tells him as they start to move up the hill.

'By all means,' he politely replies.

'My friends are a little sensitive to loud sounds or quick movement… It can disturb them,' she explains. 'I never did much effort to show others about this place, because I was always afraid that they may scare them off...'

They reach the top of the hill, ready to move down to the meadow.

'Oh don’t worry about that. I like peace and quiet myself,' he answers, almost like he’s proud of it.

What he doesn’t notice; is that the broken front leg of his easel got busted further after this “fruity” visit at Sweet Apple Acres. During the stroll with the mare, the leg has gotten looser by the movement, ready to fall off.

'That’s good news,' The pegasus says with a smile of relief.

'No worries. They won’t even notice I’m down there. I’m almost as invincible as a shado-'

Before he could finish his sentence, the leg of his standard breaks off and drops between the painter’s legs, causing him to trip. Falling onto the steep path, he starts to roll with all his equipment flying in different directions. Surprised to say the least, the stallion rolls down the hill with a lot of sounds of pain and dust, straight to the meadow.

'Oh nonono!' the girl yelps afraid and hurries after him.

The painter’s painful trip ends with a loud drop on the ground, in the middle of the meadow. Follow by a large cloud of dust that blows into the trees and bushes. As he opens his eyes, he frightfully acknowledges that his loud entrance awakened all the life in the surroundings. Making sounds of fear and surprise, the birds take off, and fly in confused circles. The yellow mare arrives down the hill as well, with wide eyes by the sight of chaos.

Quickly she runs after all the critters, trying to sooth them. 'Please calm down, my friends! It’s ok!' she cries out to them.

Meanwhile, the painter is recovering from the fall and looks at the trouble he caused. He can hardly believe what he caused, after the promises he made to the innocent mare. He is willing, but unable to help her. Afraid that he may make things worse.

'I-I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…,' he stutters.

But the pegasus is completely focused on calming the critters, that she doesn’t even notice the painter. Quickly he picks up his supplies and grabs his hat. 'I…I think it’s best if I go away.' He finishes, before running away from the noisy meadow.

***

Dazzled by his mistake, the painter tries to come back to himself and forget the troubles he caused. As he walks back to Ponyville, still disappointed, he looks behind him. His mind is completely taken over by the sight of the rising sun, shining on the rainclouds that move from the distant mountains towards Ponyville, helping him forget the little error of before.

'This.. looks pretty nice actually!' he tells himself, figuring that he rediscovered a very common, yet beautifully natural sight.

He turns around, opens the bag on his side to get his two brushes, and quickly places the the floating painting equipment before him. He jammed the broken leg back onto the easel, using a little duct tape for emergencies such as these. Looking closely at the clouds, he starts to gather the right colors, dipping his brushes in the paint on his Palette. He starts with some rough lines, as guidelines for impression and the paint. When he looks back at the clouds, to set his artistic sight back on the subject ahead, he drops the brush in his mouth on the ground from the surprise. The clouds are suddenly gone.

Puzzled, he just ignores it, and moves his attention to the raincloud that floats a little further away. 'Two is my lucky number,' he chuckles.

He starts over with his sketch, placing some rough colors of the clouds and the sunlight. He is surprised by a sudden breeze, feeling somewhat unnatural due to the speed it blows over his skin. When he looks up, the clouds are also gone.

'…What in the hay?' he wonders irritated. His gaze turns to the only rainclouds that are left. 'Three time’s a charm…'

Before his brush even touches the paint, he looks back to the cloud quickly. This time he notices that a blue pegasus is moving to it, ready to buck it away.

'HOLD IT! FREEZE!' he yells at her.

The blue mare with a rainbow colored mane looks at him, surprised by the sudden outburst towards her. 'What?!' she responds, just as loud.

'I need that cloud! Stay off of it!' he commands, clearly having run out of patience.

The blue pony starts to simply laugh at him. 'Who do you think you are? Not everyone loves rainclouds as much as you do, chump.'

The stallion starts to show a nervous twitch, believing that she’s pestering him on purpose. He takes a deep breath before he continues. 'I’ve already had a bad day! I finally find a subject, and I don’t want it RUINED by a “flapperback” that doesn’t know when to FLY OFF!'

The blue pony is simply staggered by his behavior. Nopony has ever dared to insult her like this, containing so much anger and seriousness. A sign of anger suddenly takes form in a glare and bare teeth on her face.

'Then why didn’t you say so…?' she asks. 'BY ALL MEANS: HAVE IT!' she yells and bucks with her all her strength the cloud all the way above the red unicorn. The cloud starts to rumble, right above the surprised stallion. Before he could even react to the mare's action, water pours over the very spot where the red pony stands. The blue pony bursts out in laughter at the sight of his soaked face.

'Enjoying the cool shower, “hothead?" she laughs.

The red unicorn is completely silenced, staring at the ground in defeat. When the pegasus is done with her extensive laughter, she flies off with a large grin on her face. The painter simply continues to get soaked further from the rain, till the point that it doesn't matter to step out of the rain. Turning his head to his work, he sees how the paint has started to drip off.

'Keep it together…, Keep it together…. You’ve experienced much worse in Massachestnut…,' he tells himself to calm his temper.

***

'So much for a first day in Ponyville...,' the stallion sighs as he walks back into the town. He's still soaked by the rain, leaving a trail of water behind him, causing unsuspecting ponies slip over it in surprise. 'Maybe this day is cursed,' he mumbles, lowering his head in disappointment.

'Oh my. What happened to you?' he suddenly hears a gentle female voice in front of him. He looks up, and sees a white unicorn with a curly purple mane staring at him. In order to not look like a total fool, he quickly covers his negative mood behind a faint smile and moves his dripping mane behind his ears.

'Oh, Good afternoon, miss.' He answers politely. 'I just had a… freak storm. Yea… that’s all'

'Indeed you seem to have,' she agrees, looking at his soaked appearance. 'You’ve just come to Ponyville, haven’t you?' she asks him.

The red pony looks a little surprised about that he is recognized as a newcomer. 'Eh, that’s right. I just moved here.'

'Oh, by all means: allow me to welcome you to Ponyville!' she answers kindly with joy.

'Thanks, miss,' the red unicorn appreciates her welcome in thanks. 'But so far it hasn’t seemed to be my kind of paradise yet,' he admits, joking.

'How come?' the mare asks him, unaware of the stallion's chaotic day.

'I’ve been looking around for inspiration for my work, but I can’t seem to find it.' He says with a smile, which tempts to curl back to disappointment.

The white unicorn is surprised by his words, considering the recognizable supplies that he carries along and the fancy beret he wears on his head. 'You are a painter? How artistic,' she compliments intrigued.

'Yes, I’ve been painting for a pretty long time. But all my efforts to find the right subjects in Ponyville haven’t been exactly… falling out of the sky,' he jokes.

'Hm... Well, maybe I can help you,' she tells him, coming up with an idea that may benefit both of them. 'I am the designer and creator of my own shop in town, Carousel Boutique. It would be wonderful if you could gain inspiration from my work,' she offers.

Gratefully, without considering the detail first, he accepts with a nod. 'I would be honored to exchange experiences. What do you design?'

'You clearly have not been around here before,' the mare chuckles. 'My dresses all known over almost all of Equestria! Every fiber and thought that is part of them is a piece of my expertise!' she tells him in glory.

The painter definitly didn't expect this turnout, looking a little puzzled out of his eyes. 'Dresses? ...What did I got myself into now…,' he thinks in his head.

'Dresses are… not really my way of art,' he tries to put it gently to the friendly unicorn.

Afraid that he sounds ungrateful and insulting to the pony, who has been kind to him as a newcomer, he quickly corrects himself. 'But maybe that’s why I couldn’t find the right inspiration! I would be most grateful if I could have a glimpse at your repertoire.'

For a second, the mare exclaims a soft cheer of happiness, being given curiosity for her work. 'A pony with affection for art is always welcome to bear witness to my creations,' she respectfully replies. 'But... maybe you would rather like a towel first?'

'Eh, yes. That sounds like a good idea...' He sighs out of embarrassment.

***

Having arrived at a big Carousel shaped building, the painter has convinced himself about the idea to observe creative styles from dresses without doubts, convincing himself that this could be a good opportunity after all. He knows next to nothing about fashion, making it a possible useful experience. After he dried himself up, before entering and placing his equipment at the door, he follows the lady to her workspace. Entering the room, he looks at how many different kinds of colors and styles of dresses surround him. Unable to count the amount of work that stands on display here, it's clear that this mare knows what she's doing.

'Wow,' he whispers impressed, understanding that dresses are more than cloth and colors. Like paintings; It can be a piece of art, when created in the right hooves.

'Ta-dah!' the purple-maned mare proudly waves a hoof around her. 'What is your first opinion?' the unicorn asks him curiously.

He may not have a lot of experience with clothing designs, but even he could tell that these dresses spell “greatness” with a capital G. 'I’d say that these creations are genius actually,' he says praising, yet calm.

But maybe his positive reaction still sounded too impressed or the unicorn has high expectations from his artistic vision, because she pulls the stallion futher into the room and starts explaining every tiny detail on every dress they pass.

He understand; Every artist needs recognition once in a while to know where all the work is for, and the opinion from another artist counts a lot for that matter as well. He shows perfect enthusiasm out of unknown curiosity and kindness, nodding sometimes when the mare looks at him during her extensive descriptions.

But after descriptions of 10 dresses, he started to get a little tired of the subject. His eyes start to close, making a really sleepy look on his face when the unicorn is looking at her work while describing the effort she put in it. But when she looks back at him sometimes, he quickly recovers a smile and forces his eyes open. 'Can't fall asleep now...,' he thinks to himself, afraid to sound very rude if he would either ask to stop the tour or suddenly pass out from boredom.

But after they pass the 16th dress, he starts to lose it. 'I can’t take this much longer,' he mumbles to himself exhausted. Covering his yawns behind his hoof, in order to mute them from the ears of the female unicorn, he sometimes looks over his shoulder at the door. But because he doesn’t feel able to say thanks and goodbye, he feels like he has no choice but to stay until she’s done.

The next dress she arrives at makes her give the most extensive speech that a pony could possibly give about a piece of fashion. The girl gets so hooked up in her own story about a great Gala she went to with her friends, that she doesn't look back at the red stallion for a while. The painter can't think completely straight, only longing for an escape from the endless lines of text. Believing this is a good moment to escape, he looks behind him and notices the door. Slowly sneaking away from the mare, he picks up his tools quietly and opens the door. Having left the building, he sighs in relief. He can still hear her talking inside the house, which makes him feel a little bad for sneaking out like this. But if he would stay; he would probably go mad.

***

All the stallion can think of now is finding a good place to get a breather from his troublesome day. Ending up at the town square, an open place which is used at a meeting point and a way to pass through, he witnesses the busy citizens of Ponyville in their daily activities.

The unicorn shrugs. '-Mhm- well… I suppose a meeting spot like this has charms,' he mumbles in himself, convincing himself that painting a large groups of ponies may be a good subject for art, though it's not his personal favorite. Despite that, he still stations himself near the fountain in the middle of the square and prepares himself for the fifth attempt to paint. Pressing a smile on his face, boosting his optimism, he bites onto a brush and prepares himself for speedpainting the moving life in front of him.

'Alright, let’s give it a shot,' he tells himself and forgets all his failures today, raising his brush to press on the paper, sparkling in the sunlight that shines onto him. He focuses back on the white sheet after taking a look at the busy public, memorizing every color and shape, and readies his brushes for his next moves.

But just as he is about to touch the sheet, his concentration is broken by a loud “HI!” behind him, making him jump of surprise. With a pounding heart, he looks behind him. Straight in the eyes of a pink pony with a large smile on her face.

'Wha-Who-Where?' he rabbles confused.

'How are you? I’ve never seen you before. Are you a tourist? Or have you moved here?' the curious mare asks him, with a speed that nopony would be able to understand.

Before the painter could fathom what is happening, the girl already notices the empty sheet behind the red stallion. 'Oh, nice sheet. You made that? You know, it would look even BETTER with that paint you got there!' she hints.

The red pony has calmed back down from the scare, but still looks confused at her. 'Ehm, well, actually I was just about to-“ he tries to explain, but is cut off as the pink pony jumps to his side.

'So what are you making?' she asks with her cheerful voice.

'Well… I WAS planning to paint the ponies that pass by…,' he tells slowly.

But she giggles. 'Aw. That is neat!' She tells and pushes his face away with her own in order to take a closer look at the sheet. 'Hm… I can’t make out any ponies from this…,' she sighs disappointed, not understanding that the stallion hasn't even started yet.

The painter presses her face away from his. 'Ugh, yes! ...Thank you… I’m sorry, but I do have to say that I need all of my concentration if I’m to paint something that moves,' he grunts disturbed.

The pink pony presses her mouth shut with her hooves, realizing that the stallion needs some silence. 'Sorry,' she whispers, muffled by her own hoofs.

The red pony looks back in front of him and presses his brushes back in the puddles of paint on his palet, ready to start over. Just when he's about to start, he looks over his shoulder at the mare again, checking if she truly can stay calm.

The mare nods with a wide smile, hinting him that she won't disturb him.

'Mhm...,' he shrugs. And turns back to his painting.

He starts to make quick lines with the brush that he levitates with his unicorn magic, making a vague mix of colors that represent several ponies. When he looks up again at the crowd, he is surprised at how to pink pony has left her spot and now moves through his view. Although she tries her best to move discreetly, it turns out completely non-discreet. The stallion grunts annoyed tries to ignore her and continues.

When he looks up again, he sees how the pink mare jumps by from the other direction this time. He stares at her with a confused face that says basically asks 'What do you think you are doing?.' Still, she continues to jump through the scene, acting like she didn’t notice the glare directed at her. The painter starts to dip his brushes in the right paints again, ignoring the odd mare and looks back for at the scene for a final observation.

'WOW!' he gasps of surprise as the giggling girl hangs over his sheet with her hoofs, staring right at him as he falls on the ground from surprise.

'…Done yet?' she snickers.

'Now look for a moment, eh…,' he stops when he realizes that he doesn't know her name.

'Pinkie! My friends call me Pinkie! but Pinkie Pie is my full name. Aaand Pinkamena Diana Pie is my full-full name, but nopony uses that.' she introduces herself with a grin.

'Gosh, what a surprise…,' he mumbles. 'Look; I appreciate your enthusiasm, Pinkie Pie, but I can’t paint this well with your irrita-… energic presence…,” he corrects. He wouldn't like to sound like a jerk, considering that the mare probably doesn't even know how annoying she is right now. 'Please don’t take it the wrong way,' he adds.

But Pinkie Pie doesn’t seem to understand that he means to say that he wants to be left alone. 'What wrong way?'she asks.

The red pony facehoofs, surrendering his patience to the pink Earth Pony.

'Have you done this often' she asks him, keeping a conversation going between them. 'I know colors -Ofcourse I do,Duh- but I never tried a lot of painting,' she tells.

The stallion still cannot fathom what in Equestria's name is going on in that head of her, staring at her with a look of confusion, growing an urge to get out while he still can. 'Ehm... Yes, but -eh- I really got to go now. I have to do... something,' He stutters impatient as he quickly packs his tools again and starts to walk away.

However, the pink pony doesn’t get the hint and bounces after him. 'Oh, alright then. I went to my friends today, but they all were preeetty busy today! Do you like games? I do.'

The painter starts to feel unwell by listening to the endless rabble of her. So he starts to speed up his pace, attempting to lose the mare "accidently." But Pinkie Pie doesn’t seem to notice that he tries to escape from her, and start to hurry at an equal speed.

'There was this funny thing though,' she continues. 'Turns out that one of my friends, Rainbow Dash, had an argument with some grumpy pony today! Soaked him up with a raincloud till he was even wetter than… water!' she giggles, with the only regret of not being able to have seen it herself.

The red pony’s eyes widen from the realization that this annoying mare is friends with the pegasus that soaked him up today, and makes a nervous twitch above his right eye. He starts to gallop faster and faster, leaving the pony far behind him at last. He quickly moves into and through the many alleys of Ponyville, having no idea where it will lead them. But when he looks behind him, to see if he outran her, he smiles to see that nopony is behind him.

But the stallion can’t see notice that he’s heading straight towards another pony, who has her vision blocked by a lot of tools and supplies. He turns his head back, and turns his grin to grim when he realizes that he is too late to slow down. 'Oh hay…,' he gasps, a second before crashing into the other pony.

The many supplies and tools fly through the air, dropping scattered on the ground. In the center lie the two ponies, half dazed on the ground.

“Ughh…,” the painter groans. His head is shaken, making him feel dizzy and unable to think clear. The energy he used to outrun Pinkie Pie is long gone now, making him feel weak on his legs temporarily. With a bit of effort, the red stallion manages to stand back up and see what happened. Feeling stupid for what his haste caused, he sees at how his paint, brushes, and other supplies lie everywhere around him. But next to his things, there are also vials, parchments, and other things lieing among his stuff. He realizes his his painting still lies on top of the purple mare he collided with, who still lies confused beneath it. Afraid that he might’ve cause injuries to her, he quickly rushes to her side and lifts the painting off of her.

'I’m so sorry! Are you alright?' he asks worried.

She slowly opens her eyes, winks a bit to see into the clear daylight again, and also stands up without much trouble. 'I’m fine, nothing broken,' she sighs relieved.

The stallion is still a little staggered, knowing that this is another of the bad introductions he can add to his list. 'I didn’t mean to cause trouble! I.. just had a bad day, and… there was this fight..and I-I disturbed the peace to birds… and-and-and…and I’m just a clumsy moron...,' he breathes deeply.

The purple unicorn mare looks confused at his over reactive stuttering. 'I should be asking if you are alright.

Aren’t you the new pony that moved here, the painter?'

She knows about him. It makes the stallion only more nervous. If his coming was already news around Ponyville, the rumor will only spread that he's a troublemaker! 'Eh, yes I am. But if you heard any stories about some hothead causing trouble, I didn’t mean to!' he tries to defend himself with the bit of dignity he feels that he has left.

'Wow, calm down. I’m not hating you for running into me by accident,' the girl responds, noticing that he is deeply troubled.

The stallion can hardly believe that she isn't angry. He looks at her with a surprised look. 'Really?' he asks.

She nods at him, showing a friendly smile on her face. 'I’m just curious. I heard you’ve been around a lot of places before coming here, right?'

He feels relieved, but surprised too. This is probably the first time that somepony asks about him, instead of his art straight away. 'That’s right; I’ve been around,' he admits. He shows a smile on his face as well, revealing his calm and gentle personality. 'I've been mostly around the southern parts of Equestria though. The last time I was in Ponyville, was when I was a colt.'

'but, -Eh- allow me to help you with your equipment,' he changes the subject to the mess that he feels responsible of.

She snickers, knowing that the stallion is still a little confused, considering the fact that he forgot that she can use magic like him. 'Oh, are you kidding me? Look,' she tells him as she lifts all her things up, using her unicorn horn.

'Hehe, Two can play that game,' he jokes and picks his own things up with his magic. 'Say, would you like to take a walk through the streets of Ponyville? It'll prevent me from crashing into other ponies when I know the layout,' he jokes.

Though she had plans for today, it doesn't happen everyday that you meet somepony like this. The purple mare and the red stallion have stuffed their supplies back in the bags and proceed to walk through the streets of Ponyville, together.

Brush never felt this kindness from somepony before, or even expected to start a friendly conversation like this right after what he thinks is the “disaster” HE caused. He rushes through the streets, crashes into this mare, and follows into a friendly conversation and walk together! 'Is this what friendship is like?' red unicorn thinks in himself.

Before they have an extensive conversation together, the mare stops for a moment. 'Oh sorry, I haven’t even introduced myself yet,' the girl brings up.

'My name is Twilight Sparkle. But my friends just call me Twilight.'

'Nice to meet you, Twilight. My name is Spectrum Brush. But my…friends can call me Brush for short.'

Chapter 2 - A Light in the Dark

Chapter 2 - A Light in the Dark

Instead of doing the things they both planned today, the two unicorns walk together through the streets of Ponyville for multiple hours on the day, showing the newcomer around the town, while having a friendly talk with each other. Several different things are brought up; like how they both experienced their coming to the town, their hobbies, dislikes, likes, and all kinds of general stuff. Other than learning about each other, they just have a good time together, forgetting time completely. Several ponies notice them, surprised to see the probable newcomer of Ponyville walking with Twilight Sparkle, the pupil of Princess Celestia. The two unicorns have been walking for a couple of hours now and the sun now shines at the top of the day.

'My two favorite creations… I think that would be the Tower of Pizzan and the Hoofer Dam.' Brush recalls, answering Twilight’s question of what his best work is so far.

Twilight is intrigued, considering that the stallion must have learned alot from his travels. 'You REALLY have been about everywhere, haven’t you?' she tells him, though she knows that "everywhere" is a pretty big area.

'-Hehe- Well, like I said, not EVERYWHERE. But yea; I have travelled a lot, for my doing. It’s what keeps the gallery from getting dull,' he boasts.

'What made you think that painting would be part of your life?' the mare asks him, looking at the painter's Cutie Mark on his flank.

'Well, I really like tranquility that comes with the job. Painting makes a near-eternal sight of beauty, able to look at it every day,' he answers extensively. 'But since I'm not so good at making contact with others, I like to use it to keep my mind into something wonderful.'

Twilight feels an understanding, due to that she also likes time on her own sometimes. 'I know how that is, actually. I used to do the same thing as well, but I studied instead of painting. It really feels satisfying, doesn't it?'

He nods at her, glad to hear that somepony understands how he feels.'What about you, Twilight? How did you find out that studying magic so much would be your future?' Brush asks in return.

The purple unicorn thinks back at when she was just a filly, the moment that she saw Princess Celestia. 'It all began when I witnessed Princess Celestia raising the sun, making it seem so beautiful and with grace... It was so amazing, that it made me decide to practice and study magic every second of the days. you can only imagine how I felt when I realized that I got to become the personal student under the Princess’ wing!” she explains while she dreams off in her thoughts.

Brush is intrigued, hearing how she found a destiny as honorable and early like that.

It makes him think back about his time as a young red colt, eager to examine every tiny thing that he could find, no matter what it was. He could watch for hours at how paint dries back then, figuratively speaking.

'I remember now... I also thought of practicing magic at the same school, to be honest. But I couldn't focus on one specific thing back then,' he chuckles. 'So when that didnt work out, I figured that art was my call; where I wouldn't be restricted to rules, lines, and could simply follow my own path. I admit; I like a good novel from time to time, but I’m not so fond of studying from a book.'

Twilight is surprised to hear what he's telling her. In order to access that school, he should've atleast lived close to Canterlot then! But considering he has definitly not lived in Ponyville before, there's only one place he could've lived then. 'Y-You lived in Canterlot?!' she asks baffled.

Brush starts to laugh at her surprised reaction, finidng it hilarious at how Twilight Sparkle has found out that they lived in the same place when they were younger.

'Hehe yup. It is entirely possible that we may have met before, as foals. But hearing how you avoided others to keep up with your extended study, I can assume that that’s why we have never crossed paths. I lived in Canterlot with my parents for a while, but I left when I…I thought needed to move to different places to advance further in my skills.'

Twilight listens quietly, but starts to laugh when he's finished. The irony of how their paths never crossed years ago, while they meet each other now, is hilarious. 'Priceless! To think that we never met when the chances were so big, but we meet now when the chances are so slim!'

He chuckles along with her, understanding the funny irony. When they're both done laughing, Twilight takes a satisfied breath. 'Ah yes, that is pretty funny,' she comments. 'But why did you have to leave Canterlot so quickly? I won't believe you if you tell me that you managed to learn every detail on the "artpart" of Canterlot so quickly.'

The smile of the stallion starts to pass, thinking back about why he left so quickly, 'I think... I needed some time alone then. The life in Canterlot was not peaceful enough to me,' he admits.

'I see,' Twilight sighs, a little dissapointed. 'I thought the same thing when I started studying magic. I still like to spend every moment learning more and more about many things on my own, but I’ve learned that it sometimes feels even better to share experiences with friends.'

Brush shrugs. 'Yea, I always thought that too, actually.'

'But, what did your family say when you left and travelled for so long?' she asks him. 'Weren't they worried when you left, on your own?'

Brush thinks about it and answers from what he recalls. 'Well, my family was always proud of me, to be honest. Whether I would advance in the use of magic, become a painter, or anything else; they stood behind me no matter what,' he says with a smile. 'They always were truly proud of me.'

'Come to think of it… I haven’t spoken them for a while now,' he realizes.

Twilight understands that Brush probably feels a little guilty for being away for so long. But she decides not to press further on the subject, considering it may be too personal.

'I’ve heard a lot about you and your friends’ adventures here, to be honest,' Brush brings up. 'Your life must be incredible, saving Equestria from time to time!'

Twilight giggles over how her adventures sound so great when Brush talks about it, as if it weren’t moments that could’ve changed the view on the future drastically.

'It is incredible… But I’m not sure if that’s necessarily a good thing,' she jokes. Twilight starts to think about it. 'Actually, if it wasn’t for the coming of Night Mare Moon, I might not have met the friends I know today. Call me selfish, but if I had to choose between keeping my friends and no disasters in Equestria; I would choose to keep my friends.'

Brush thinks it’s humorous. It sounds like bad things come with good things; like how they met each other because of a painful crash he caused and how she met her friends in Ponyville because of the Mare of the Moon. 'The reason you came here to Ponyville, right? To make friends?' he confirms from what Twilight just said.

Twilight nods. 'That’s right. First it was part of Princess Celestia’s plan to stop Night Mare Moon from bringing eternal night, having me discover the power of friendship. But even when Night Mare Moon was stopped, I was allowed to remain here and learn more about friendship,' she gleefully responds. 'Now I live in the library as librarian, along with my assistant; Spike.'

The red unicorn simply nods, listening quietly at Twilight's intriguing tale. Of all the real stories that he has heared in his life, hers must be the most interesting one. It's funny, considering to hear about it in a quiet town like Ponyville.

'What about you? Why did you chose Ponyville to settle, while you’re used to traveling all around? If somepony’s life must be incredible; it must be yours,' Twilight asks curious for his lifestory.

Brush takes a deep breath to answer, but keeps his mouth shut tight when he realizes what kind of question she just asked. He looks at the mare, who’s waiting for a reaction from him.

'Well… I heard a lot of the things that happen here in Ponyville. So I thought that it would be an interesting place to stay, rather than come here and leave in a few days like I did everywhere else,' he puzzles out from his head. 'Apart from that; I’m thinking of maybe starting an art gallery, to make paintings for others on demand. The old unused gallery here looked perfect for it!'

His story sounds honest. But still, Twilight can’t help but feel that he’s trying his best not to tell anything more than that.

Brush can basically read the same thought from her face, growing a need to change the subject before she tried to ask further.

They remain quiet for a moment, looking away from each other for a moment, thanks to the awkward moment. Walking through the streets, some of the passing ponies notice Brush, leading to speculations that it's the owned of the old gallery. The stallion feels a little pressured by the looks, so he takes a deep breath and looks back at his purple companion.

'Well. Let’s just hope that I’ll get to witness you and your friends in your next adventure,' he jokes. 'I’m just surprised that you didn’t mind to befriend a newcomer, rather than heading to straight to that meteor crash site, Twilight. From what you told me about last night, it sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime oppertunity to get up close to a rock that comes from a once-in-a-300-years passing asteroid.'

'Ah that’s ok,' she reassures him 'That meteor isn't going anywhere this morning. There's still time to go this afternoon.'

Brush gives a nod, agreeing that nopony will probably be able to drag it away or something. 'But... aren't your friends waiting for you? I didn't think you'd go alone.'

'Well... Spike doesn’t feel like searching for a “smoking rock," and my other friends are too busy today. There's one pony that isn't busy now, but... I don't think she'd be able to study a meteor very carefully...,' Twilight coughs.

Brush sighs. 'Ah yes... Friends tend to be busy many times, right? I can understand that a sample from an asteroid that passes for only once in 300 years must be scientifically more valuable than the biggest gems on Equestria.'

'Well... If you're interested, would you like to come along?' Twilight asks him, realizing too late that it may sound a little too awkward to ask somepony to come along, who'm she only just befriended. She simply thought that he's a nice person, who seems atleast a little interested in the scientific things that Twilight adore A little worried that Brush will get the wrong impression, she stops talking and waits for his response.

'Sounds great!' Brush replies happy. To get an invite like this from somepony gives a warm feeling, a feeling of trust. He only met this mare a few hours ago, and already they talk to each other like they've been friends for years! If the past would've been more in their favor, they actually would've been that too.

Both ponies believe that aside their different specializations and interests, they have alot in common. Hailing both from Canterlot since they were born, understanding the value of solitude, the wish to advance their skills to the fullest; It's all there. The way they understand each other, creates a friendly aura. The idea that he’s new to town, doesn’t make him any less a chance to be a good friend to her. And the idea that she has very good friends already, doesn't mean that they can't be friends as well.

'That's great,' the purple mare smiles.

'So, when was your plan to head there now?' Brush asks.

Before Twilight can answer that she only needs one hour to collect everything she needs, they hear a voice that calls out to the unicorns. 'Twilight! There you are!'

It’s Spike, Twilight Sparkle's draconic friends, assistant, and roommate, worked up about something he deems urgent. 'You got to come with me quickly! It’s really bad news!' he urges to her.

'Calm down, Spike. What’s so urgent that it’s something to panic about?' Twilight tries to calm him.

But Spike doesn’t calm down even a little bit. 'You got to see it now! You must-' Spike stops and looks up to the red stallion, who silently looks at his outburst.

'Hey,' Brush greets friendly.

'Hey,' Spike greets just as calm.

Returning back to business, Spike's focus moves back to Twilight. 'It’s not just at Rainbow Dash, but it’s happening all over town. Come on!'

Twilight rolls her eyes, unable to decline a pushy request from him.

'Brush, you can go on ahead if you like. I will be there as soon as this is done,' she tells Brush, while following Spike.

'Oh… Ok. I’ll just see you then,' he nods, a little dissapointed about their rude interuption.

Twilight walks off into a different street, while Brush remains alone Brush, watching at how the mare moves out of his sight.

'That sounds familiar…,”'Brush says to himself disappointed, as he moves towards the East. 'No... She's NOT like them... I was simply too childish too notice back then...'

He gives one more glance over his shoulder before he walks away. 'Twilight, we can be real friends, right?'

***

'So, Spike, what is it that you wanted to show so badly?' Twilight asks him as they proceed to walk from street to street.

Spike looks at her over his shoulder, but doesn't slow down. 'It’s really weird. The sun doesn’t come through on some places-'

Twilight sighs and rolls with her eyes again. 'That’s called overcast, Spike...'

He shakes his head in denial. 'No-no. I know what overcast is, and this definitely isn’t,' he assures her. 'Look,' he says as he points towards the sky. At first, it truly does look like a simple overcast.

But when looking very closely, Twilight notices that it’s more like some sort of smoke or fog. As different as it may be, it doesn't seem like a big disaster at first sight.

'Ehm, maybe it’s just a fire?' she attempts to make a logical explanation out of it.

Spike raises an eyebrow, feeling like Twilight is not taking him seriously. 'There isn’t even a trail leading to where it’s coming from, Twilight...'

'So..., what do you expect ME to do?' Twilight asks him, unsure what Spike's intentions are.

Spike scratches his head for a second, thinking of a way to put his words to her. 'Well, actually Rainbow asked me to get you. We thought that you could get any wiser from it. After all; you’re pretty much the smartest around here,' he praises her.

Unable to completely disregard the fact, Twilight gives a smile and a self indulged chuckle from hearing how someponies look up to her like some "oracle."

'Well, I must admit that it’s strange. No fog or smoke works like this. It’s almost like it’s unnatural,,, Ok-ok, Spike. I'll check what it is, whatever it is for,' she tells him. 'We should first have to get a sample. The only way to get that; is by asking a pegasus, who can reach it,' she thinks up.

Spike scratches the back of his head again. 'Eheh..., well that’s where Rainbow comes in…,' he mumbles.

'Hm? Rainbow Dash?' Twilight asks, unknowing of what Spike is talking about.

'Well, the reason I had to get you; is because she tried to get a hold of the fog… It turned out less successful than expected,' he admits.

Twilight raises an eyebrow, still having no clue what Spike is getting at. 'So... what happened, Spike?'

The only response he gives to that question; is point above them with his index finger. When Twilight looks, she notices the familiar rainbow colored pegasus who’s “wrestling” with the smoke, clearly in trouble.

'Hey, Rainbow Dash!' Twilight yells to her in the sky.

Rainbow Dash only grunts a lot. 'Twilight, just a moment, -urgh-! I’m almost out on my own!'

Managing to pull herself loose from the thick fog, which nearly works like a spider web, the pegasus mare has freed herself before Twilight was needed. She hurries down to the unicorn and dragon, wet from sweat. 'Hey, Twilight, Spike,' she coughs tired. 'What’s new?'

They both look a little dazzled over the fact that Rainbow Dash was having trouble with this fog in a VERY unnatural way. the blue pegasus never had trouble with any weather type before, yet this fog clung to her like sticky pudding.

'What was going on, Rainbow?' Spike asks her. 'I already found Twilight.'

Rainbow grunts over the disgraceful display she must’ve shown, feeling humiliated over a little mist. 'It’s this darn fog! I can’t move it at all!' she answers irritated. 'Even when I dash straight into it, it bounces me off like some catapult!'

Nopony needs to learn science to understand that this fog CAN’T be normal. Twilight understands that very well. Although her friend looks a little run down, to say the least, she still asks her to get a sample from it. 'Rainbow..., would you might try to take a piece of it? Maybe I can find out what it is.'

'After what just happened? No way, Jose,' she grunts grumpy, turning her back to them. 'I got stuck once. I won't do that twice!'

Twilight understands that she might feel like a fool; being in weather control, who can’t control all weathers. But she's still the strongest pegasus for the job.

'C’mon Rainbow Dash. We both can guess that this isn’t normal weather. If you get a piece for me, we can find a way how we CAN get rid of it!' she tries to convince her, bringing it over like it's a way to restore her pride.

Rainbow Dash only grunts, pondering over the offer. She despises that mist with all her guts, but Twilight did make a point about that she may be able to get rid of it after all.

'You’re the only pony who can get it,' Twilight adds.

Against all her wishes to stay on the ground, Rainbow Dash sighs defeated. 'Meh..., fine. I ‘ll try,' she agrees, partially against her will. She stretches her wings and takes off, dashing off towards the black substance. when she's closing in on it, she starts to fly slower, afraid to get stuck into it again. When the mare hoovers right below the mist, she reaches out with both her front hooves and grabs onto it. Knowing that the junk has clung onto her again, she begins the push herself down with her wings, stretching the fog away from it's position.

'-KGH!-' she grunts, breaking a sweat again as she starts to slow down, feeling at how the stuff is reaching it's stretching limit. If she's giving up before she tears herself free, she knows that she will be flung into the mess again; something she CAN'T afford. Inch by inch, the cloud starts to tear incredible slowly. '-Ngh-, alright! Full-Power!' she yells, speeding up her wings as fast as she can. Once she manages to move a few feet further, she succeeds; A piece tears loose. But because Rainbow Dash used so much effort to get loose from the cloud, she is launched off towards the ground, crashing down with an incredible speed. Before she could do anything to stop, she drills straight into the ground, collecting five meters worth of dirt on her face.

'Oh, no! Rainbow Dash, are you ok?' Twilight asks worried, rushing to Dash’s “crash site”.

With her head still buried half under the ground, a muffled voice is heard, 'Couldn’t be better…'

She holds up her hoof, holding a little bit of black dust, which is supposed to be the substance that blocks the sun. Twilight takes it without hesitation, catching it into a bottle. Curiously looking at the stuff, Twilight is amazed to realize that the substance is something she has never seen before. 'Incredible!' she cheers with a smile.

Dash pops her head out for the earth and shakes it clean from dirt. A little angry about Twilight's fascination for the substance she hates so much, she just wants to go home and take a shower.

'I’ll be going now, Twilight... I’ve seen enough of this junk in the air for the rest of my life,' Rainbow Dash grunts and flies off, without waiting for a response from Spike or Twilight.

On their way to the library, Twilight can't keep her eyes from the bottle. The mist truly moves around like it's a mere cloud. But when Twilight holds it between her face and the sun, it blocks even better than a pair of shades.

Spike catches her offguard when he suddenly asks about something completely else. 'Say, that guy you walked with... is he that painter that just moved here?' Spike asks out of curiousity.

The mare looks at her friends and puts the bottle into one of her bags. 'Eh, yea. We "bumped" into each other, around this morning,' she tells him, while she can't get her mind off of the bottle with the spongy cloud.

'You had a nice talk?' Spike asks with a sudden grin on his face. 'I too heard rumors going around Ponyville about you being seen with somepony who is believed to be the new painter.

Twilight doesn’t suspect much from his words and simply answers his question. 'Yea. It turns out that we have a lot in common. And he even lived in Canterlot about the same time we did!' she snickers, still finding the irony laughable. 'Too bad we never got to see each other back then already.'

Spike notices her absence of attention and finds it irresistable to joke a bit now. 'So, he’s a good friend now? A possible coltfriend?' he chuckles with a kissy face.

Twilight’s ears jump up, and glows with a red hue on her cheeks. 'S-Spike!' she stutters surprised, not having expected a joke like this to be said now.

Spike sees her reaction, making it impossible for him not to laugh. 'That look on your face! Priceless!' he laughs on, nearly dropping on the floor from laughter. He knows very well that he made a very rare joke on his best friend.

Twilight shakes her head, with a faint smile on her face, understanding that he was simply trying to provoke her for fun. Though, Spike doesn’t feel like stopping his joke just yet. 'What’s his name again? I can’t make a “sitting in a tree” song if I don’t know it. Was it Blush? Spectral Blush or something?'

'Ok, ok. Enough jokes, Spike,' she says, not amused. 'He’s just a new pony to Ponyville, who I can be friends with! Is it that bad that I talked to him? He seems like a nice guy.'

'I’m just kidding with you, Twilight,' Spike snickers a little from his silliness, rubbing a tear from his eye.

They both remain quiet during their walk through the next street, having no need to start a new conversation, considering Spike's craziness.

'...And his name is Spectrum Brush, by the way...,' Twilight mumbles.

Spike lets a little chuckle escape from his mouth, which quickly ends when he sees how the mare glares at him. '-ehe- Sorry...,' he coughs.

'So, you didn't go to the meteor today? I was a little surprised when I found you in the town square today,' he asks her, recalling that she was going on her own because nopony else could.

Twilight swallows, reminded that she promised to see Spectrum Brush later at the crash site of the meteor! 'Oh, I almost forgot about Brush! He should be still waiting for me!' Twilight recalls.

'Eh, Brush? You asked him, that fast...?' he asks, a little surprised about the unicorn's hospitality to somepony she's never seen before in her life.

She feels a dilemma; to either leave this fog, or the comet for later. She did promise Brush that she would show up soon, but this fog could prove to be really troublesome to Ponyville! If she leaves Brush now, he may be dissapointed, but still possible to make up for it. And if this fog is as bothersome as she suspects, it could possibly turn into a disaster for pegasi! In the end, the right answer is pretty simple. She has to forget her interest in the meteor, for the sake of Ponyville. And if her stallion friend will return from the site and notice the mess in the sky, he will probably understand why she didn't show up.

'Hm, well… I suppose Brush will understand when he returns and sees this gloomy stuff in the sky. I’ll apologize for my absence when he comes back. It's getting late anyway. This whole thing with Rainbow Dash has taken longer than I expected. By the time I reach the mountains, he is probably already on his way back...,' she sighs, proceeding to the tall tree standing in Ponyville, serving as both the library and Twilight's and Spike's home.

They enter, ready to check out that cloud. But first, before they will be conducting careful experiments; Spike has to try a little come-back. After al;, this is a rare opportunity to make these jokes about his friend.

'So… you were planning on going to the meteor together? Just you two? If I didn't know better, I'd say that that sounds almost like a da-' his joke is cut off by a hoof pushed in his mouth, from an impatient Twilight Sparkle.

'Shut up, Spike!'

***

Meanwhile, during Twilight’s research in Ponyville, Brush has arrived at the mountains that is supposed to have a meteor crashsite somewhere. A dusty mountainous area, where the grass doesn’t grow higher than a couple of millimeters, the heat slowly gets to the stallion, making him break a sweat from merely being here. Still, the sunlight also makes it worth his while; giving a beautiful radiance over the silent wasteland.

As the red unicorn moves quietly through the dust on the ground, he looks out his eyes to every tiny detail that passes through his sight as he’s trots through the area, still searching for his eventual location: the meteor crashsite.

'How tranquil... In its own way, that is,' he ponders in his mind, rather enjoying his trip to here. He may have been to distant places before for a long time, but every place, like this, is always different than other places.

'This is great and all... but I didn't think that finding a giant piece of red rock would be this much harder than expected!' he sighs.

As he takes his turn into a crack that splits a mountain in two halves, he starts to take notice of a red glow that comes from beyond the passage. Curious enough, he moves on to take a look.

'Dear sweet Celestia…,' he gasps, having discovered what caused the red glow.

The stallion has ended up in a small dry meadow, with the giant comet standing in the middle, still smoking from his burst through the atmosphere. As promised; this is something he never has seen before in his life, or even something that looks like it. Brush is surprised to see that the comet still hasn’t cooled down from its trip into Equistria, still glowing as if it's burning inside. But it doesn’t prevent him from climbing down into the crater for a closer look.

The comet is not much bigger than a regular appletree, and has an ash-grey color that closely resembles the rock around the area. Even though the giant boulder is smoking from the heat, Brush dares to poke it a little with his hoof, making an incredible discovery as he sees how the dust falls on the Equestrian soil.

'Incredible! This rock seems like it’s made from the same earth as from Equestria!' Brush gasps, amazed from the near-impossible possibility. 'What could it mean?' he asks himself.

He quickly turns to move out of the crater, searching for a good stable spot to set his equipment up. But as he pokes in the ground several times, to check the stability, his sight is taken by a blinding glimmer of light a few meters away from him. The unicorn turns his head and waits until his eyes adjust to the light. As he starts to move closer, curious of its origin, he starts to take notice of a piece of crystal, not much bigger than his hoof.

'Ooh, what is this little beauty?' he chuckles at his discovery.

The crystal is crimson-red, and contains a beautiful flame-like moving pattern when it's touched by the sunlight. It is almost as if there is a real flame inside, something that a gem in Equestria has never shown before.

'Search no further, Brush. Because you just found a winning subject for today!' he tells to himself, as he stares into the flaming flow of the gem.

***

The night has passed, making way for the dawn of the new day. Twilight Sparkle slowly opens her eyes, waking up from the good night’s rest she missed yesterday. Groaning from stiffness as she pulls herself up to get out of her bed, she rubs in her eyes to wake up for the day to follow. 'Ok..., let’s see if I get any wiser now that I’m rested,' she yawns.

The research on the cloud had no results, other than it's obviously magical. But it's something that she has never seen before in her life, and doesn't even seem like anything she read about in the books she checked.

'Maybe it was just an odd natural phenomenon, and has already passed now,' she thinks optimistic, as she opens her window for fresh air.

The moment she pokes her head out of the window to take a deep breath of morning air, she is surprised by the noise that comes from the town square. And she can already suspect why. The dark substance that covered the sky yesterday hasn't passed. Instead, it has only gotten thicker, blocking the sunrays dramatically more than before, making many citizens worry. Twilight takes no moment longer, jumps out of her bed and hurries to the stairs.

'Spike, wake up! Something big is up!' she yells at her assistant, who is still far into dreamland.

The purple dragon still lies in his bed, groaning as he doesn't want to be waken. '…meh…Just a few more minutes, mommy…,' he mutters.

Twilight doesn’t take the time to shake him awake, knowing how much he helped her yesterday. So simply as a little thanks, she lets him sleep for now. She, on the other hoof, rushes down the stairs and leaves the library to meet the other ponies that are already at the town square.

***

Having arrived at the square, filled with several ponies from Ponyville, she notices how this "eclipse" is THE talk of the day. Pegasi, Earth Ponies, Unicorns, stallions, mares; they all talk to each other regarding the drama, or try to listen to the major, who attempts to keep the situation under control. It's chaos in Ponyville.

'Twilight, Ah see ya came here too,' she suddenly hears next to her.

It’s Applejack, who was also curious about what’s going on. The orange Earth Pony got worried herself, considering that the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres need the sun badly.

'Applejack! Glad to see you here,' Twilight greets her friend. 'Do you know what in Celestia's name is going on?'

The mare shakes her cowboyhat wearing head. 'Nope. But it sure is a pain! Sweet Apple Acres need tha sunlight fer a reason, after all!' she tells her, clearly upset. 'And it aint just tha sun that ain't shinin'! Other lights won’t go on as well!'

Twilight is surprised, hearing that ANY form of light fails to burn. The situation sounds odd, but especially grim. A fog that is able to block sun, can’t be moved in any natural way, and prevents any lights to go on is a serious problem. the purple mare looks around, noticing how many ponies attempt to turn on something as simple as a candle, but already fail when they can't even create a spark!

She feels completely hopeless, realizing how this starts to turn into an impossible problem. 'I-I tried to figure a solution yesterday, but I’ve never seen anything like this before! Maybe it’s best if I ask Princess Celestia. After all; she’s been the princess for more than a thousand years. She must’ve seen something like this before!' Twilight thinks up, believing this to be an urgent matter.

Applejack nods. 'Well, I just got here to see what in tarnation was going on. So Ah might as well get goin' before that painter returns to the Acres and drips more paint on the trees…,” she complains out loud.

Twilight notices that Applejack knows him and doesn't walk away just yet. 'Ah, you’ve met Brush too?' she asks her friend.

Applejack looks over her shoulder at her. 'Eh, yea. He asked if he could use the Acres as part of his background or somethin',' she recalls. 'Ah can only assume that he's gonna be back later, considering Ah ain't harvesting anything today. He seemed like an odd new fella’, but a good guy at heart, Ah suppose,' she adds.

Twilight recognizes the description. It couldn’t be anypony but Brush.

Applejack ends her sentence by saying. 'Fer a stranger, Ah wouldn’t expect any less: noisy and outlandish.'

Twilight is stuck with two subjects in her head now, making her a little confused. She thinks about both the fog AND Applejack's opinion. But, strangely, some points make a sudden connection... Simply from thinking about the words Applejack used: Outlandish and Noisy, she can make a connection with this new smoke that fills the air above Ponyville.

'The fog is not from this world...' Twilight realizes. 'It's from someplace else!'

The same description fits the meteor, which crashed only two nights ago. Though the mist didn't appear until yesterday afternoon, the timing still fits like a horseshoe! 'It all makes sense now: the meteor HAS to be the cause of this mist!' she clarifies.

'This calls for a whole new sight on research. I’ll need to collect more information!' she plans.

Applejack looks confused at what she’s coming up with, making absolutely no sense to her. 'Eh...' she questions to her friend.

'Thanks, Applejack! I may have found out how to get rid of this fog thanks to you!' she gladly thanks her Earth Pony friend.

though not entirely sure what the purple unicorn is tlaking about, Applejack smiles; Both glad that she helped Twilight, and glad that the fog may be gone soon thanks to her. 'Yer welcome, Sugercube.'

Twilight quickly comes up with an idea to get more information about the comet, faster than going there herself. 'Maybe Brush has seen something while he was up there,' she recalls, knowing that Brush headed in the same direction and possibly seen the meteor.

'Eh..., Twilight?' Applejack catches her friend's attention, having bad news for her. 'I haven’t seen that fella’ since the first day he came here... And neither did the other ponies who'm Ah spoke to.'

Twilight loses her joy in a second flat, feeling like her stomache is turning from hearing this disturbing news. 'Brush hasn’t returned? B-But, didn't you say that he was going to return to Sweet Apple Acres?” she asks with fright.

'He said that on day one, Twilight! He didn't come back just to tell me that at the end of the day.' Applejack shakes her head. 'I dunno where ya' wanna find him, but he sure as hay ain't in Ponyville today.'

Twilight turns her gaze towards the east. 'He was...'

'Ya alright, suger cube?' Applejack asks her, seeing how Twilight is suddenly lost in thought. 'Ya look like you just saw a ghost.'

Twilight comes back to her senses and turns her attention back to Applejack. 'Eh, yea, I’m ok... I got to go…send that letter to Princess Celestia now. I’ll see you later, Applejack,' she tells and dashes off in eastern direction.

'Alright. Good luck, Twilight,' applejack bids her success, and heads out of the noisy town square as well.

***

Instead of sending that letter, Twilight decides to hurry to the meteor instead. Maybe she can fix this problem herself, and find out if Brush is alright. From what Applejack told her; Brush hasn't returned from the mountains, making Twilight worry that she may have brougth the stallion in danger. Courageous she moves forth, even while she knows that her friends are not around to help her if something goes wrong. The sun hangs high in the sky, bringing heat to the desolate landscape where Twilight walks. Even with the mist hanging over the sky, the heat doesn’t get any lower by it. Instead; the warmth from the sun only seems to increase by it! But even while she is sweating to the point it looks like she stood in the rain, she merely ignores it by focusing on more important business; the safety of one of her friends.

'Ok..., it must’ve landed here somewhere,' Twilight sighs, looking around for clue on the comet's whereabouts. 'Think Twilight, think... If you were a burning piece of stone, where would you crash…,' she asks herself. She moves around her position a bit, still wondering how she can quicken her progress. But with a few hoofsteps further, she suddenly realizes something. The heat has suddenly increased! The more steps she takes towards the shadowy canyon in front of her, the more it starts to feel like a sauna. 'I... think I found the way,' she mumbles concerned.

Before she decides to rush into the canyon, she takes a moment to look at the shadowy area she will have to enter. Even though the sun should put the entire area under sunshine, the mist becomes thicker and thicker ther further she looks into the pass. 'That can’t be good...,' Twilight mumbles.

But considering that she’s near the comet crash site, and the possible location of her friend, Spectrum Brush, she has no intention of stopping her, understanding that the comet really is the cause of this unnatural events.

Taking slow steps into the pass, she grows thristy as the temperature rises. Soon unable to see further than a few feet, she hopes that it will get lighter anytime soon, and continues to walk on. When she has reached the point where the darkness is so thick that she doesn't see a difference betweeen having her eyes closed or not, a little light starts to glow in the distance. Without question, Twilight heads straight to the crimson glimmer, hoping to be able to see again when she will reach it.

Twilight is amazed at how the light has grown now that she reached it, proving to be a massive piece of rock! she has been led into the meadow, where a crimson-glowing comet lies in the center, intact. The radiance of the comet is enough to allow Twilight to look around her. She feels a little horrified, considering that it's still incredibly dark, no wind is blowing, and the silence is at the point that you could hear a rock fall on the ground. But still, she is determined to shut the comet down, one way or another. She moves to the large boulder and leans against it with her hoofs, generating a unicorn spell that should give her further insight about the meteor.

'No way...,' she gasps in a whisper. 'The comet isn't the cause...'

'Well, well... Another visitor to greet me to Equestria?” A voice surprises her from the shadows, scaring her eyes wide open.

Before she could give any answer. A breeze starts to blow softly, spinning the fog through the valley. At first it felt cooling. But as seconds tick away, the current starts to turn into a raging whirlwind, with Twilight in the center of it. In a few seconds time, Twilight has to force her hoofs into the ground to keep a grip.

'Ouch! Ouch!' she yelps painfully. The wind blows the sand from the ground, hurting her eyes and skin. Twilight is forced to lay low on the ground with her eyes closed, wating until it may be over. A tear falls from her eye, still having to endure the searing sand that flows over her skin, feeling like a sandstorm.

'What is this? Where does it come from?' she asks in her head, worried over the fact that she's completely defenseless.

As if her prayers are heard, the wind starts to halt.

'Pfoe...,' Twilight gives a sigh of relieve.

The wind has reduced a lot of the fog, making her sight much more clear than first. She can see the comet again, along with the entire meadow! Though still feeling like she is looking through a pair of shadows, the mare is happy enough to be able to see this much.

She stands back up and lets her eyes readjust to the clearing, and shrugs off the dust from her skin. For a second; she looks at her flank, checking if she's injured by the razorsharp sand. When she is glad to see that she is unharmed, something large and heavy lands before her with a loud entrance, scaring her stiff. Twilight is frozen to the ground.

Shivering, she slowly looks over her shoulder, gazing up to a large shadow that gazes down at her with its yellow eyes.

'I do like welcome committees…,' the shadow answers.

Twilight looks up at the individual, unable to see it clearly. But from the sounds of his noisy entrance, the tall spike on his head, and the tall shape; she can easily deduce that this being is a tall Alicorn, wearing plate armor. The sinister darkness that shrouds the being and the intimidating glowing eyes feel awfully familiar to Twilight Sparkle.

'N-NIGHT MARE MOON?!' Twilight yelps.

Chapter 3 - The Shadow of Hate

Chapter 3 - The Shadow of Hate

Twilight looks with surprise and despair up to the shadow; having the resemblance of the once hatred-filled Princess Luna. Though she certainly looks bulkier now than Twilight can remember.

'Night Mare Moon? I’m afraid you’re confusing me with somepony else, Twilight Sparkle.' The Alicorn says calmly with a thundering heavy voice.

Twilight takes another close look at the intimidating shape, and notices it isn’t the Mare of the Night indeed, but a stallion. The Alicorn is indeed as dark as a shadow, just like Night Mare Moon, but has an ash-grey mane that waves like a flame in the wind. His skin is protected by a crimson-colored plate armor, which covers him completely from head to flank.

The helmet on his head is decorated with two silver spikes and two bullhorn-shaped metals horns, next to his black alicorn horn. And on his flank; he wears a piece of cloth, decorated with an unknown symbol of a black flame. His grey chestplate is decorated with a red crystal, which glows continuesly.

Gathering the courage, Twilight starts to speak. 'Who... are you?'

The Alicorn continues to glare with his yellow eyes at her. When a moment has passed, Twilight starts to wonder if he's still alive or maybe deaf. But that's when she suddenly gets a reaction.

'That is of no importance, little mare. A being of my stature has no responsibility to answer to the call of little ponies such as yourself, unless proven otherwise.'

Twilight is a little confused. 'Who does this guy think he is? How can he appear out of nowhere and claim he’s so powerful?'

'I meant your name,' she corrects calmly.

The alicorn ignores her question, and turns to the crater where the meteor lies. With every hoofstep he takes, his heavy armor scrapes over itself, metal on metal. The sound itself makes a shiver go down the mare's spine. 'I was a prisoner in this chunk of rock, waiting to fall down on Equestria,' he explains. '...And now I finally have returned to my home…'

Twilight has lost her patience with the mysterious stallion and asks again with more volume. 'Your name!'

The stallion ends his smirk and looks over his shoulder into Twilight’s eyes, which drain her completely from her any signs of bravery in her heart. The power that radiates from his stare is already enough to intimidate somepony, making Twilight worry about the powers he may possess.

'…My name is Lord Ignis, Harbringer of Hatred!' he roars angry at Twilight.

The wind starts to blow at the very moment he yells, moving the dust from the ground between them. Most certainly; The mere sound of his voice can already harm the balance of nature.

Twilight still shakes after, requiring a moment to catch her breath. She considers that if she's not too careful, this being could be a really pain!

Twilight simply wants answers rather than questions, and dares to ask. 'What do you mean by that? And how do you know my name?' she asks calmy again, not wanting to provoke him.

Ignis turns back around, sniffs the air for a moment, and then focuses back on the purple mare. 'Who doesn’t know you; the student of Princess Celestia. I could sense your magical capabilities, the very moment you set hoof into the place. You’re more powerful than a regular unicorn,' he explains. 'Some might say… a threat.'

Twilight tries to to breath too deeply, while she looks at the alicorn that seems deep in his own thoughts. What could he possibly mean with that. The alicorn seems to know Princess Celestia, and even that she's her personal student. A common pony knowing that wouldn't be much of a surprise. But this creep, who claims to have been in solitude for centuries, shouldn't know that!

He shrugs. 'It’s a good thing you’ve come here, little pony. With leverage like you, you’ll make my steps SO much easier to fulfill,' he tells her with a wide grin on his face, turning back around to the mare.

'Huh?' she questions, too late to react in any way. The alicorn, Ignis, spreads his wings, and makes his horn glow flaming-red. The moment he does, the winds move disturbing again, raging into the current that Twilight had to endure just before.

Twilight quickly holds a grip on the ground before she could fall over by the storm. 'Not…again!' she yelps and closes her eyes.

The mare gets a merciless sandstorm to endure once again, giving her the uneasy feeling of desperation. She can hardly see, she's facing some alicorn who clearly overpowers her, she has no way of defending herself like this, AND she has no friends to rely on!

While Twilight struggles with the magical wind, Ignis seems to look entertained; watching at how the unicorn struggles against the dark wind that he creates with the magic from his horn.

'Not so strong on your hooves now, little pony?!' he laughs loud. 'Can you feel the hope sinking away? Do you understand how futile it is to resist? Nopony can help you now!'

Twilight hears his evil laughter through the raging storm, growing angry over the torment he's putting her through. She doesn't deserve this! Whatever this Ignis creep was doing in the Crimson Asteroid, he deserved it! He hasn't told anything about his plans now that he's back to Equestria, but everypony would understand that he's no good! Twilight refuses to be held down by a monster like him, even if she's in a disadvantage right now. She slowly rises up from the ground, barely managing to stay with four hooves ont he ground, and starts to conjure a spell of her own. Twilight is going to attempt to counter the clouds with her own magic.

Twilight’s horn starts to glow purple, preparing a spell that can put the currents in the air to a stop, with the possiblity to free her. She learned this spell when she was studying a book that was about a connection between the Pegasi weather control and unicorn magic.

But when she fires a blast of purple energy, the winds don’t seem to calm at all though. Figuring that the winds are completely unnatural, her magic brings a disturbing anomaly in to occur: The wind starts to blow faster, uncontrollable by either her or Ignis.

'W-Wait!' Twilight gasps, and proceeds to attempt a new spell to cancel everything out. Ignis has taken notice of the chaos from the mare's foolish attempt, and grunts unamused. His horn stops glowing, resulting to the end his spell, and therefor; ends the storm.

The silence returns in a flash, with only the moving dust scraping over the ground. Covered in dust, and breathing exhausted, Twilight is growing desperate now that she figures that this alicorn is truly more monster than pony. He has shown a fraction of his might, and he already manages to hold her down with it! 'Who in Celestia's name is the creep? Why haven't I read anything about him?' Twilight thinks.

She feels ill, believing that her entire stomache has turned over. At the point where she had to use everything she had in her power; she couldn't keep up. The struggle of magic with this demon has drained her from her confidence, courage, and hopes. The confrontation is far from over, and she knows that she has to deal with him all by herself. 'Who...WHAT is this guy...,' she whispers to herself.

The alicorn does nothing but stare at Twilight’s tired state, waiting until she’s recovered. A magic collapse like this was not even enough to make him shake. The mare can only hope that he will leave her alone as long as she isn't able to speak from exhaustion, praying in her head that something good will happen soon. Something that could help her to get out of her and get help!

Like an answer to her prayers; the silence before the next storm is broken by something big that falls out of the sky, crashing into the dust a few feet away from them. They both get surprised by crashing tools, which Ignis’ storm must have dragged off the ground. While Ignis looks without much reaction at the trash, Twilight becomes speechless.

'Wh-what?' she speaks out surprised. She has seen the tools before: Painting equipment, with a dusty beret on top of it.

Twilight returns her focus on Ignis. Courage has returned to her senses, along with an unbridled rage, keeping her from hesitating to yell out against the armored alicorn. 'What did you do to Spectrum Brush?!' Twilight shouts at Ignis, while he simply continues to look unmoved at the paint equipment, giving no signs of emotions on his face. A few seconds after Twilight's outburst, he looks back at her.

'That little painter, you mean?' he replies calmly. 'I did what I had to do: Imprisoning for snooping around in somepony else’s business. He had to be stopped from leaking my existence out to Canterlot, before I would be fully recovered from my imprisonment...'

He smiles sadistically to the mare again, attempting to scare her by staring into her eyes again. 'You have him to thank for our little meeting. After all; He was the fool who freed me from that comet! So as reward: I gave him a “tour” through my home,' he chuckles. 'If I grant such rewards to the ones that help me..., can you imagine what I would do to my enemies?,' he rethorically asks with a dreadful tone.

Twilight looks with disgust at him, listening to how Ignis has sealed a friend of her away, while he has no speck of regret for it. She can only imagine in what kind of situation Brush is in; imprisoned in a hunk of boiling hot rock, scared from the lonelyness! 'Let him go!' she demands from him.

But the alicorn is clearly unimpressed, ignoring her disrespecting tone. 'Hold your reins, little pony. You will see him soon enough… You will thank me. Atleast you two will have each other inside this prison, while I was in it for many centuries alone! It tends to make you a little.... crazy, perhaps?', he rhethorically asks, hinting that he is indeed not at all amused by his centuries long trip through space.

Without warning, he starts to move towards Twilight. When she looks him in the eyes again, she is shrouded by the same fear again. The heartless demonic glare from his eyes could turn the bravest pony into a whimpering pile of despair. She slowly walks back, afraid of what he might do if he gets to close to her.

'Just like that boy, you’ve seen my arrival already as well. THAT could be a thorn in my side... Believe me when I tell you that I do you a favor by sealing you away. You wouldn’t want to witness what I will do when I make my entrance here in Equestria,' he grunts at her, crushing through the rocky ground with his metal hooves, without any effort, every step he makes towards the young mare.

Twilights backs away, but quickly gets closed in by the rocks. Fearful, she is staring how the large Alicorn is closing in on her. 'W-what do you want?' she yelps.

'I have waited centuries for this moment; The day that I will regain control over this land, and exact my vengeance on the princesses!' he yells to her.

'P-Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?' she whispers. Twilight closes her eyes and makes her horn glow again, preparing a new spell.

'You’re precious Princess Celestia was the reason I was trapped... She did it without warning. And just like she surprised me ages ago; she won’t know what hit her until it’s too late… They WILL surrender to the might of Lord Ignis!' he finishes as he is a few steps away from the purple unicorn.

'But you know… instead of becoming another prisoner, there's a different, glorious path you could take,' he tells her. 'You can become MY student. There is nothing more powerful than the emotion of hatred, able to push the weakest pony into dominance over the strongest!'

Twilight can't believe her ears. Does this monster actually believe that intimidation would make her turn against everypony she cares for? Ignis must be mad, to believe that she would accept that offer out of fear.

'What do you say; Remain loyal to your princess and suffer imprisonment, or join me and become disciple of the incarnation of the most powerful emotion in existence?', he demands an answer from her. 'Equestria will return to become my toy, I shall be avenged from what Celestia did, and you will become my loyal pupil, both retaking control over this land named Equestria!'

Twilight takes a deep breath, having finished her spell. 'Not even in your dreams, maniac!' she yells at him.

That answer was not the kind Ignis tolerates, showing by the nervous twitch on his face. 'Wrong answer, Twilight Sparkle...,' he hisses at her.

As Ignis places his hoof right before Twilight, he is blinded by the large flash that shoots out of Twilight’s horn. Covering his eyes from the light, the stallion waits surprised until the light will end. When the light fades, Twilight has disappeared into thin air before his very eyes.

Ignis looks surprised to the spot where Twilight stood, figuring that the mare has used a spell of teleportation.

'Hm...Touché, little protégée,' he grunts, slightly amused from Twilight's struggle.

Even though his plot of keeping his plans unbeknownst to Equestria has clearly failed, due to letting Twilight Sparkle escape Sparkle, he can't help but grin from amusement. 'Looks like I’m forced to move my schedule further up,' he chuckles as he spreads his wings.

With a mighty blow from his dark wings, he takes off into the darkened sky. Even though he wears armor that perhaps weighs a ton, he flies forth with a tremendous speed, unhampered by the plate he carries. The alicorn is ready to bring his terror to Equestria. As he flies, he can’t help but laugh from insanity.

'Feel the hatred, little ponies! I will burn the days of old back into your fragile hearts! Lord Ignis has returned!'

***

The sun is sinking down, having reached the top of the day a few hours ago. The streets of Ponyville are starting to fill with an orange glow, while it's also emptying from ponies, who head home from a day's work. To everypony's confusion; the mist from today has suddenly vanished, believing to have dissapeared for good. The major has managed to ease the disturbance at the town square, especially now that the subject of chaos is no longer here. With a relieved heart, the citizens think that this is the end of it. Little do they know that the real chaos is heading for them right now.

A little spark appears in the town square of Ponyville, like a very local burst of lightning. The spark grows and grows, until suddenly disappears in a flash, leaving a purple mare behind, scared stiff from the horror she just witnessed. Twilight had only seen the monster for barely a few minutes, yet that was already enough to scare her beyond the known concept "fear". To experience the tranquil peaceful atmosphere of Ponyville feels very strange, when she thinks about where she just warped away from.

Two ponies notice the sudden appearance of the unicorn. It’s Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who are still present at the square. Glad to see their fellow friends, they move to her to say hi. 'Hi, Twilight!' Pinkie Pie says as happy as ever, while Fluttershy humbly greets her with a calm 'Hello, Twilight...'

But Twilight seems to be frozen in shock. The only things that move are her legs shaking from fear.

Pinkie Pie notices that something is wrong, waving her hoof in front of Twilight face. 'Twilight, are you having a staring competition with the air?' Pinkie Pie asks when she sees how Twilight doesn't respond.

Twilight’s tiny pupils slowly direct to her two friends. The only thing that comes out of her mouth is: 'Hey Pinkie…, hey Fluttershy…'

'Are you alright, Twilight? What is wrong?' Fluttershy asks worried.

'Catastrophe…' Twilight whispers.

'Wha? A cat-as-trophy? Now that’s an odd reward! I didn’t know that could be a prize for a staring contest!' Pinkie snickers, finding the joke irresistable to keep to herself.

'I think a cat as friend would be a great prize…' Fluttershy admits to Pinkie Pie, not realizing that the mare was simply joking.

Suddenly, Twilight grabs Fluttershy with her hooves and shakes her, yelling: 'CATASTROPHE!'

'Twilight, you’re scaring me!' Fluttershy yelps.

The unicorn let’s go of pegasus and moves her own face near that of Pinkie Pie. 'Disaster, trouble, mayhem, havoc, chaos!'

'Oh! Let me guess! This is a new game of puns?' the pink mare gleefully reacts, not understanding that Twilight has seen a horror beyond words.

Twilight starts talking to herself, clearly having lost her marbles. 'This is disastrous! Is this Ignis seriously more dangerous than Night Mare Moon? Or isn’t he? In any case, I should inform Princess Celestia right away! But what if this turns out to be some terrible joke? No-no-no, I should tell the Princess anyway, to be sure! I got to send a letter! Or must I personally go to the Princess to show the urgency? Where’s Spike? SPIKE!'

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie silently watch from the side at how their friend is ranting on and on, having no idea what’s going through her mind. They look at each other, hoping that the other may know what in Celestia's name Twilight is mumbling about, but no answer lies on their minds. Because they don't even know where Twilight has been all day, they won't know until Twilight calms down.

'Wow, did Ah miss something? What gibberish is Twilight sayin'?' the incoming orange mare asks to the other sane ponies. Applejack has entered the town square as well, attracted to the racket that Twilight makes. It isn’t hard for her to notice them.

'I don’t think Twilight likes her new cat.' Pinkie Pie responds, scratching her head with her hoof.

Applejack raises an eyebrow of doubt at Pinkie Pie and moves to Twilight, understanding that something really messed up is going on in her unicorn friend's mind. 'Calm down now, Suger cube. What’s the hassle?' she asks and holds Twilight still with her hooves.

Applejack grows a little worried when she notices the nervous twitch with of Twilight's ear and deep breaths before responding to her. 'Well, Applejack. Bluntly said: some maniac alicorn has come to Equestria, after centuries of being in a chunk of rock, and plans to cause a lot of trouble not just to Princess Celestia, but to ALL of Equestria...,' she grunts out of character. Applejack doesn’t know whether she should take her serious or laugh at it like she just said a joke.

'We have to do something, quick!' Twilight pressures them. But Applejack presses her hoof on Twilight’s head, forcing her to back down from her outburst. 'Wowow, hold your horns, Nelly. We can’t help ya if ya can’t even speak clear words.'

Twilight bites on her own lip out of stress, slowly clearing the haze that keeps her mind in turmoil. She really does understand that she is panicking and that it will do no good to anypony. Applejack's words strike her right where they were need, making the mare calm down. The alicorn, Ignis, is still miles away, and his clouds of darkness have passed. That means that there's still enough time to do something before he tries something. 'Alright...,' she sighs relieved, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. But before she could explain her panic attack, she is interrupted again by somepony else.

'Heya, everypony,' a voice greets them all.

'Twilight, are you also horrified by these AWFULL winds?' a gentle female voice asks her.

Twilight looks over her shoulder, noticing that Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Spike have also come to the town square. 'What winds?' Twilght asks.

Rainbow Dash interupts just as Rarity is about to answer. 'The winds that carry those frozen pitch-black clouds around! We tried everything, but they won’t move an inch! And nopony can figure out where the wind comes from, other than "somewhere" in the east!'

Rarity finds a gap in Dash’s line and proceeds. 'She’s right, dear. Nopony seems to be able to do anything about them, while it continues to circle around Ponyville! If that isn't bad enough; it completely ruins our days and manes!'

Rainbow Dash seizes the moment again and continues. 'First those clouds appear, vanish into nothingness, and now it's about to head back! They’re stronger than solid rock!'

Twilight looks at her as if she saw a ghost, from hearing these facts from her friends. 'It can't be... I was there only a moment ago.. Are that alicorn's clouds this fast?…,' she mumbles.

'Twilight, do you know what it is?' Spike asks her, noticing how Twilight seems to know more about it.

Twilight won't let herself panic again and tries to explain the whole story at an understandable speed to her friends. 'Look; some terrible alicorn came out of the meteor that crashed here two days ago. He's the one responsible for the clouds, the fog and the winds that block the sun! He turns out to have been sealed away in the Crimson Asteroid centuries ago, now planning to take control over everything we hold dear! He plans to attack Canterlot, along with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!' she tells them, with a tone of concern and urgency.

The mares and Spike look at their purple friend, a little worried over her heatlh. Because nopony else dares to say what they all think, Rainbow Dash does. 'Wow, hold on, Twilight... An alicorn? Coming out of a meteor?' Rainbow Dash asks for confirmation. 'Nightmare Moon locked on the moon for 1000 years, ok... But isn’t this a step too far? Are you really sure that-'

Twilight looks very serious at her, understanding all their doubts. 'I know it’s weird. And I’ve never known or read something about the Crimson Asteroid that involves a wicked alicorn. But I’ve seen it! I saw with my own two eyes how he shadowed an entire meadow and created a sandstorm with only a fraction of his magic!'

She looks to all her friends and urges to believe her, but still they have trouble with it, even though they want to believe her 100%. 'He...He has already taken a pony captive already! And he also tried to imprison me! We gotta do something, before he comes to Ponyville!'

As she pants from exhaustion, Twilight cannot think of any way to prove it. Other than what she saw, there's no proof. But then, she suddenly feels a comforting hoof on her back. When the purple unicorn looks over her shoulder, she notices that it's Fluttershy. 'I believe you, Twilight,' the pegasus nods with a smile.

'Hay, we all do,' Applejack tells her. 'Sorry if we seemed so doubtful, Twilight.'

'But we'll always believe you!' Pinkie Pie nods. 'That's what friends do, right?'

Twilight's happiness knows no bounds. It feels so nice to know that her friends are willing to believe and trust her in any situation, cheering her up from their company. She wouldn't know what to do without her friends.

'Thanks, everypony,' she nods. 'Alright; this is the idea! I'll quickly write a letter to Princess Celestia, explaining the situation that is going on. Spike will send it away. And if we're lucky; we will have a head start before Ignis makes his move!'

The mares agree, believing that it's the quickest way to contact Canterlot. But one thing remains unclear to them. 'Ignis?' Spike asks.

Twilight nods at him. 'The alicorn. He calls himself "Lord" Ignis. He's probably on his way right now!”

'It is time…,' a deep voice echoes through the town.

All the ponies’ eyes jump open of surprisingly loud echo, originating from the mountains closest to Ponyville. All six mares turn their faces towards the peak, where a dark aura is gathering like a flame of shadows.

'No.... he can't be this fast...,' Twilight gasps.

Normally; Twilight is one of the last ponies that would cower in fear in whatever situation. Yet now, Twilight is shaking like there's an earthquaking, fearfully from the terrifying meeting she had with this diabolical warmonger. She stares towards a red alicorn, who looks straight back at her from a cliff near the peak of the mountain. She can still hear the echo of that evil voice in her ears.

Lord Ignis has arrived in Ponyville.

Chapter 4 - The Ultimatum

Chapter 4 - The Ultimatum

The sky behind the mountains tops are shrouded by pitch-black clouds, as if they're waiting for an order to move over Ponyville. And on the highest mountain, there stands an armored alicorn, who is the source of the lingering darkness. His entire body is concealed in the shadows, making it a little hard to see him from afar. But the thing that the six mares from down below notice mostly: Are the yellow eyes and the crimson-red crystal, glowing sinisterly on his chestplate. The Harbringer of Hatred as come to Ponyville.

The mares feel the same chill crawling over their spines, just like the one Twilight Sparkle felt before. But Twilight is more afraid than her friends, shaking on her hooves from fear.

'Say, Twilight, is that loudmouth the troublemaker you talked about?' Rainbow Dash asks her.

'Yes...,' Twilight responds, breathing deeply from the tension she feels crawling over her skin.

Applejack turns her attention to her. 'So why is he here? Ah thought you said he was going to get "even" with the princesses in Canterlot?'

'He is...,' she tells her. But I think… -gulp- he’s after me too...,' she whispers nervously.

Pinkie Pie jumps to her side. 'Oh! A new friend, Twilight? Could you introduce us too?' she gleefully asks, not making the connection that the alicorn's intentions and dark aura mean that he's pure evil.

'Of course he’s not a friend, Pinkie Pie.' Rarity explains her, slightly intimidated by the alicorn's appearance as well. 'He is clearly some other black-hearted monster that wishes to bring nothing but terror and disaster to our precious lives!'

Pinkie’s smile changes to disappointment. 'Aw, that’s not friendly at all...'

Nervous, Fluttershy tries to say her word to the group as well. 'Eh, can’t we just talk about this before making rash conclusions? M-Maybe he’s just misunderstood?'

'All you pathetic subjects of Ponyville, heed to my call! After having served my undeserved imprisonment, I have returned to claim my birthright of leadership over this land, now known as Equestria! I am Lord Ignis! And as of today I will be your superior!'

The six mares and Spike look at Fluttershy with faces that say 'You were saying?...'

'Oh… Never mind…' Fluttershy corrects herself, with hanging ears.

The voice continues from afar, echoing over the entire area. 'Centuries ago, it was I that had control over every one of your pathetic ancestors’ lives! But I was lifted from my throne, only to be forgotten in time! …But now... NOW I have treturned to claim my rightfull position! As of today; You will accept my position, without question!'

Not only in Ponyville, but Ignis' voice can be heard everywhere. Pegasi in Cloudsdale, unicorns in Canterlot, Earth Ponies in Appleloosa, and any other kind of pony in any kind place; all they can hear that trembling voice of spelling doom in the air. It demands obedience. All the ponies look into the sky, where the voice echoes from. Some cower in fear from the mere power it uses to pass the message, while others don’t seem to be eager to agree so fast.

***

In Canterlot, Princess Luna is looking surprised out through the window. She was just about to prepare herself to raise the moon, until she heard the shoutings of Ignis move through the air. She could not believe her ears at first, but now she knows that it's true.

'The Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice! But…, how can that be? Only my sister and I are able to use it!'

***

'Though, I doubt... my presence shows much impression to your miserable ears. But I can sense and read your minds... There are some that doubt my power... For this; I have a solution. If an ultimatum is as you wish…; Then I shall provide,' he forcefully proposes, followed by a sinister chuckle. 'When the sun sinks behind the horizon, I will listen to the final answer of ponykind! If the voices of disobedience can still be heard in large numbers…, the consequences will be yours to bear, for the rest of your miserable lives.'

The voice ends, with the echo of his last spoken sentence still remaining for a few more seconds. The only things that can be heard by the seven friends now are the panicking noises coming from the town. All of Ponyville's citizens are disturbed, fearing for their peaceful lives. Afraid for the change that is to come. But the mane six don't panic. They all keep staring at the shadow that remains unmoved on the mountain, knowing that he will wait until sunset.

Their silence gets broken by Pinkie Pie. 'See, Twilight? He’s wasn’t after you at all, silly. No reason to worry,' she smiles.

'What shall we do?' Rarity tells what they all think, disturbed by the sudden change of situation. They believed Twilight about the power of this alicorn, but they never could've imagined that Ignis is this mad and dangerous. He has proven to be completely serious about this.

Applejack looks up at her friends. 'As much as I’d love to teach that fella’ a lesson about manners to fellow ponies, I think we’re better off securing Ponyville with the others.'

They all tend to agree. Safety is more important than punishment or revenge. If the duty to stop them falls on their shoulders, they will do it when they know everypony is safe.

However, Rainbow Dash looks pretty pumped for action. 'Ah, c’mon! Don’t turn into chickens now! I’ll show that bigwig how we handle chumps like him!'

Fluttershy shakes her head at her. 'We can’t do that, Rainbow Dash. We can’t pick a fight with somepony else,' she explains to her, attempting to prevent further provocation. 'If we can solve this trouble without any violence, it's the best solution.'

Rainbow looks at the others, who also stand with Fluttershy's idea.

Yet, she listens to her guts; which tell her to go and stop him personally. She looks at her friends, hoping to see any support for her plan of action. But when she sees how they all remain there, instead of siding with her, she becomes a little angry.

'Fine, you stay here while I send "mr. nice-guy" his just deserts!' she boasts and quickly takes off to the mountains, heading to the shadow.

'Rainbow, wait!' Twilight yells at her, afraid that the pegasus mare will get hurt. But Rainbow Dash is already too far.

They look at each other, and feel urged to help her. They all know that Rainbow Dash is simply throwing herself in danger. 'Hay, wait for us!' Applejack yells to the mare, about to gallop after her to the lingering danger.

'Wait! We can't just take Ignis on like this! He's a maniac!' Twilight tells them with fear in her voice, afraid for anypony to come in contact with the monster she faced today.

'Even if a bad idea, we can’t just leave Rainbow Dash on her own,' Applejack tells her. 'Sorry, Twi. But sometimes there's a time to stick to the plan, and sometimes there's a time for action.'

The other four other mares agree and quickly follow Applejack to the mountains. They have no intention of leaving a friend on her own, especially when she's about to be in danger by herself. They do understand that they may be about to throw themselves in a futile fight, but they also understand how shocked Twilight is.

'Go write that letter to Princess Celestia, Twilight! We'll make sure this creep won't get a step further to Ponyville!' Rarity yells to her, while running after Applejack.

Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie have left the nervous purple unicorn behind. Twilight wants to help them as badly as they do, but she’s the only one who actually witnessed a glimpse of Ignis’ power, which scares her to the bone. Not to mention his eyes and voice, which contains a darkness that alone already makes her shiver. but is she really supposed to just turn around and write a letter to Canterlot, while her friends are fighting with this traumatizing foe?'

Spike stands next to her, trying to ease her from the fear she experienced when she was all alone against Ignis, putting a hand on her back. 'Twilight…'

She looks into Spike’s worried eyes. Twilight understands that acting panicky won’t do any good for anypony and will only make her friends worry. She cannot let fear stop her from helping those who would help her no matter what.

'It’s ok, Spike…,' she sighs. 'Applejack is right. This is no time to stick to my plan. I have to help them, because they're my friends, who would do the same thing for me!'

When Twilight makes a few steps towards the direction where her friends have walked to, she notices that Spike is following right behind her, intending to stick with her all the way. 'No Spike, this is too dangerous for you,' she tells him.

The little dragon is a bit dissapointed to hear that from his friend. 'Ah, c’mon Twilight! I can’t let you all go without my help,' he tries to convince her. 'I'm a valuable asset to the team as well!'

Twilight shakes her head. 'you are, Spike. But we need somebody to stay here and help the others in Ponyville. We can only trust that to you!'

Spike shrugs, feeling like he can’t be of any help by staying here. for a moment he believes that Twilight is just saying that to make him feel "less useless." But when he looks into Twilight eyes, it convinces him that she's right and that he should follow her plan.

'Ok… I will stay,' he sighs. 'Just be careful!'

Twilight nods with a smile. 'I will.'

Without any further delay, the purple mare hurries after her other friends, who have a long head start already. Spike looks at her, how she follows the path into the mountains, until she’s nothing but a little dot in the distance. He silently gazes, fearful for the possible negative outcomes. When he turns around to head to the town hall and he is suddenly called upon from the shadows of the nearest buildings.

'Spike, over here,' a familiar voice whispers.

He looks surprised into the shadows next to him, where a silhouette has been waiting for him. 'Huh? Who-What are you doing here?' he asks surprised, hardly able to believe who stands next to him.

***

Gazing down from the mountainous area, the metal-covered stallion waits in absolute silence. His fiery-yellow eyes continue to stare at the sinking sun, without any need to blink. Though the wind blows gently along his ash-grey mane, the tranquility still makes him look sinister because of his crimson-red armor and spikes.

'They won’t change their minds… I already know…,' he mumbles to himself, frowing when he thinks about it.

Without any form of reaction on his face or body; Ignis notices how a young blue pegasus mare flies up to him, flying stationary when she's right in front of his face.

'Hey, who do you think you are?! you think you’re so tough that you can boss around?” Rainbow Dash rhetorically asks him.

Other than glaring in her direction, the stallion presents other form of reaction to the provoked mare. Knowing that she's being ignored, Rainbow Dash starts to slowly fly circles around.

'You’re better off crawling away with that ten-ton armor of yours, before I give you a piece of what pegasi like me can do!' she taunts, attempting to provoke a reaction from him.

The yellow eyes lose interest, looking back at the sinking sun, just like Rainbow Dash starts to lose her temper.

Hitting him with a hoof on his helmet, Rainbow Dash doesn't hesitate to be careful around the alicorn. 'Hey don’t you dare ignoring me, buddy!' she commands angry. The mare suddenly changes her attitude, realising that SHE'S the one who's being provoked now. All she gives him now is a cocky smirk on her face, acting like she's much better than him. 'You know; Nopony, including me, is afraid of you. We can all take you on. So why don’t you just fly off before you embarrass yourself?'

It still doesn't seem to work. Ignis still stares in front of him. But then he suddenly responds. 'And who will stop me? YOU?' he asks without the laugh he would normally add on his insulting questions.

'Not just stop you.... I would plow your face through TEN different clouds, just to make a statement,' she chuckles. Rainbow Dash slowly grins when she notices how she managed to catch his attention now, by the way he slowly turns his head towards her.

'You wish to play games, pegasus? Alright then... Have it your way, you ignorant birdbrain,' he grunts as he spreads his wings. 'You should’ve brought your friends, if you want to give me more than a simple warm-up. Because I know you pegasi and all the “tricks” that you got behind your… back.'

When he's done talking, he launches himself in the air with a mighty flap of his black wings. A little surprised by the speed of the alicorn, Rainbow Dash quickly starts to fly after him when he starts to move away from her, taunting the mare to try and catch up with him.

Ignis moves directly to the black clouds that hang behind the mountains, planning to outmaneuver the pegasus mare in a storm from his magic. Rainbow Dash knows the clouds that float everywhere; having seen them before Ignis arrived. It's the clouds that are just as hard as rock, but as light as a feather. It means that she will hurt herself if she even touches the clouds with the speed she makes to keep up.

But Ignis has underestimated Rainbow Dash' skills. Just like him, she can perfectly move around the solid black clouds that hang in their way, effortlessly. Her body is smaller than his, making it much easier to slip through narrow passages than the alicorn she chases. Although the blue mare has the time of her life, she doesn't get any closer to the fleeing monster! Is he simply keeping her busy?

'Hey, are you a flying chicken, or are you just wasting our time? Come on over here and fight like a pony, chump!' she yells at him. The alicorn seems to ignore her completely, not even looking back at her. When they're entering a part in the sky, riddled with the black clouds, Rainbow Dash has to pay attention to the them again. But when she's about to lose sight of the alicorn, due to a large cloud that floats in her way, she tries to hurry around it.

'-Ugh- C’mon, cloud, don’t get in my way…,' she mumbles. After she avoids the black cloud well, she is surprised to see how the alicorn, which was fleeing from her by a large distance, is now charging towards her! 'Ah, hay!' she gasps, just before collision. Without any time to react, the alicorn rams her mercilessly with his armor, knocking her down to the ground.

'Kgh!' she grunts as she tries to remain conscious, still plummeting to the earth. But as battle-hardened as Rainbow Dash is, she recovers in mid-air and is back in the game! But something has changed in the mare's head now. Suddenly; she's not as convinced as she was a moment ago. The alicorn proves to be just as skilled in flying like she is, flies just as fast as she can, and is well protected too! When Rainbow Dash look above her, attempting to see what Ignis is doing, she is again surprised by the speed he uses to rush towards her.

'Aah!' she gasps and closes her eyes, waiting for the next strike to hit her. Any moment now, she will be hit by that tough armor again. Considering she's no match for him, Rainbow Dash can only cover her eyes and wait until it's over.

Ignis is only a few meters away, about to ram into the respectless mare again, but gets his view blocked when something suddenly hits his face. '-Gragh!- What is the meaning of this?! Ignis grunts, avoiding Rainbow Dash by the length of a manehair. It was an apple that hit him, having covered his sight with the little applejuice that was in it.

Rainbow opens her eyes, surprised that she is still unharmed, unlike her attacker. She smiles relieved when she notices how Ignis angrily shakes apple remains from his helmet. Rainbow Dash has an idea, which she can use now that the alicorn is unable to defend himself. Instead of trying to get a good hit behind his armor, she should find an unprotected weakspot instead. 'Yahhh!' Rainbow yells as she storms towards Ignis, making speed while she looks where she should hit him.

But by the sounds of her noisy war cry, Ignis flaps desperately with his wings to blow her away. He will not tolerate to be bested by such a weak move. Dash manages to stay in the air, but fails to hit him while he was still blinded. Breathing deeply from rage, Ignis spits out the final piece of apple that got in his face.

'Who did that…?' he asks, clearly unamused.

'Right over here, greenhorn!' a voice yells to him from down below. It’s Applejack, possibly the only pony who could make a shot like that to save a friend. Still having a bag with apples on her side, it proves to be great ammo to the earth pony.

'Applejack! Just in time!' Rainbow Dash admits gratefully, glad to see that they haven't left her after all.

The blond Earth Pony gives a smile and a wink at her flying friend, ready to help her against this fiend.

'Stay out of this, “side-kick”! Return when you’ve grown a horn or a pair of wings!' the furious alicorn yells at her, insulting her for being a “mere” Earth Pony.

Applejack doesn’t feel insulted, considering it comes from this weirdo. Earth Ponies have proven themselves to be just as important and strong as pegasi and unicorns. 'Pardner, ya really need to watch yer mouth,' she grunts at him, not feeling intimidated by him at all.

'-Hmpf-,' Ignis grunts in response. I'll deal with you later... This is between me and this blue insect,'

But before Ignis could ready himself to assault Rainbow Dash again, he is surprised from another hit by an apple, hitting him on his armor this time. Applejack shows the guts to keep taunting him, even if she won’t be able to match his powers in magic or flight.

'Forget it,' Applejack tells him and spits on the ground. 'If you have business with Rainbow Dash, you also have business with ME!'

'You made a big mistake…,' he whispers, as apple remains leak over the metal of his armor. Without hesitation, he rushes down to where Applejack is standing. The mare is ready to stand her ground, expecting any sort of impact from the large stallion. Burrying her hooves into the rocky floor, she looks up at the stallion, who dashes towards her with an incredible speed.

But once he swoops over the pony, missing her by a inch, even her physical strength fails to keep her standing. After the wind from his wings touch her, Applejack is blown a couple of meters away, dropping on the ground. Ignis has flown back into the air, believing that she’s down for the count already. But he is slightly surprised when he sees how Applejack is easily standing back up, showing no sign of exhaustion.

'-Heh- Think that can hurt me? I might not have wings or a horn, but that doesn’t mean your wind alone can stop me from helpin’ mah friends!” she comments bravely, making a mockery out of Ignis' strength.

Ignis grunts, growing more and more enraged as the blond pony continues to provoke him. 'Let’s see if your actions are made of steel, rather than just your words!' he challenges, right before he swoops over her again. This time, the blow seems to have hit harder; because Applejack needs a moment to recover in order to stand up again. As the fight between Applejack and Ignis progresses for the worst, Rainbow Dash can't help but fly idly and watch her friend get harmed.

'-Ugh-, what to do, what to do…' Rainbow Dash ponders as she feels powerless to stop him like this. She can't just charge him, because Ignis realizes her attempt faster than she could reach him. The part that isn't covered under thick metal is his chin, which is basically impossible to reach with her limited flightspeed! But then; she has a solution!

'Keep him off, Applejack! I‘ll be right back!' she yells to the struggling earth pony, just before she flies off into the distance.

Ignis has taken notice of her and wants to stop her from fleeing. 'Oh, no, you won’t!' he yells as he is about to rush after her. He lets his guard down, which allows Applejack to kick another apple in his face. He has come to a complete pause, clearly staggered at how the two mares are making a mockery out of him; the upcoming ruler of Equestria!

'…Strike three. You’re out,' Applejack chuckles, taunting him with a smirk on her face.

The alicorn doesn’t even make effort to shake the apple off. The apple slowly drips from his helmet, while he is panting from unbridled rage. His anger for the Applejack has reached a point where he is paralyzed with fury. 'This… Means… War…,' he hisses angry. Behind the dropping apple pieces, his rage-filled yellow eyes glow like uncontrolled fire, aimed at the blond pony.

***

Applejack lies exhausted on the ground, tired from all the blows she has to endure from the “fly-by’s” of Ignis. 'I… really took too much on the hayfork than I could handle, this time…,' she sighs, watching as how Ignis prepares to fly over her again.

'Learned your lesson yet, groundcrawler?' he grunts in anger. 'Let this be a lesson to anypony who dares to stand up against me!'

Right as he flies towards her, Applejack closes her eyes, awaiting the wind that will blow her a couple meters further. But before Ignis can reach her, he is stopped from surprise, by a pink-maned pegasus that flies in his way. 'Hey...You!' Fluttershy tells him softly, though she meant to yell. The alicorn looks surprised at how this little shy pony flies before him, trying to command HIM. 'C-Can’t you… do something else than bullying?' she asks him. 'There is no need to be so mean!'

At first Ignis is astonished by her courageous words, even though he was furious a moment ago. It seemed for a moment that Fluttershy has alot of guts. But the stallion now realizes that Fluttershy is even more scared than any other pony he scared before. He can't help but smile over the futile efforts of Fluttershy, entertaining him enough to actually make him laugh. '-Haha- Having so much courage to come over here and tell ME what to do! Of all ponies, to hear YOU demand me to stop: it’s hilarious! I like your style, little one,' he gloats.

He shadows over her, intimidating her to the point she softly yelps in fear. 'And if I don’t listen to you… What will you do about it?' he asks sadisticly, meaning to intimidate Fluttershy as far as she can.

Fluttershy doesn’t say a word, hoping that her words would’ve been enough to make some sense appear in the wicked alicorn’s mind. But now that she sees how Applejack is wrestling with herself to stand back up, and her words had no effect at all, Fluttershy has no clue of what to do now.

From her silence, Ignis starts to laugh again. 'Hehe. Big words, but no heart. You’re quite entertaining for a docile little-' His words are cut off, as he got struck by a rock that hits his helmet. Surprised, Ignis looks behind him.

'Sir, you need a lesson... A lesson in manners! Is this the way you treat a lady?' the white mare angrily speaks to the confused Ignis, even though that rock had no effect at all. It was Rarity, who launched a rock at the back of the stallion's head with her unicorn magic, defending Fluttershy. 'I doubt you even heard of Etiquette, you creep.'

No friend of Fluttershy will ever tolerate somepony bullying her, even if it’s a dangerous monster like Ignis. Even Applejack feels ready to face him again after witnessing how respectless he treats a harmless pony like Fluttershy. Rarity levitates another rock, and throws it at him. But Ignis simply head-butts the stone with the spikes on his crimson helmet, cracking it without getting even a slight dent on the plate.

Some apple remains drop from his helmet when hit the rock, falling towards the pretty pony. Desperately trying to avoid it, Rarity jumps back in disgust. 'Ew! Ew! Don't throw that at me!'

Ignis raises an eyebrow, unimpressed by Rarity's attempt to sound as tough as rock. The way Rarity shows to avoid filth in panic proves to him that she is actually way too gentle to cause him any trouble, making her another perfect example to torture. He lands on the ground before her, but keeps his wings raised in the air.

'A real lady doesn’t throw rocks as well, missy,' he grunts, followed by a strong flap of his wings. The blow takes alot of dust and sand from the ground, all towards the white unicorn.

'-cough cough- No! Dust! My hair! So gross! -cough-,' she panics, unable to see anything through the cloud of dust that remains around her. Ignis can’t help but laugh at her overreaction for a little dust, making her possibly the most easiest target for suffering he ever found. Applejack and Fluttershy can't help but look at this tragic display, almost feeling sorry for having Rarity come along to a fight like this.

when Ignis is done laughing, he turns his attention back to Fluttershy, who he feels like not having intimidated enough yet. He moves his head near hers to force her to look him in his despair-bringing eyes. 'So, could you repeat your previous question? If you dare, that is,' he chuckles at her, baring his teeth to give her a creepy grin.

Fluttershy cowers in fear to the ground. Yet still, she makes another attempt to come up for her friends. 'P-please, stop this. C-can’t we just be f-friends?' she stutters.

'FRIENDS?!' he shouts at her, seemingly insulted by Fluttershy's question. 'Foolish little Pegasus! Do you have any idea who I am?! If you would, you wouldn’t count on me becoming friends with anypony! If there's something I learned; it's that you're best off when you count on yourself, rather than on a bunch of useless friends!'

Suddenly, to Ignis’ surprise, something pink bounces onto and off his helmet to stand at Fluttershy's side. 'What in the blazes?' the alicorn grunts as he looks back up.

It was Pinkie Pie, who jumps into the picture to comfort Fluttershy. Having arrived a little later than her other friends, she too managed to surprise the alicorn stallion. 'Don’t worry, Fluttershy. There’s no need to be scared of this “hothead”,' she tells the whimpering mare, who has a few tears of fear in her eyes.

Pinkie takes one look at the surprised face of Ignis and his long flame-like waving mane, making her laugh by what she thinks looks funny. Though other ponies would freeze from intimidation by Ignis' eyes, Pinkie Pie is not like most ponies.

'Grrr…,' Ignis growls. He has been surprised by these ponies for atleast three times now. Even if they were futile, it still starts to get him really irritated, because of the way it makes a fool out of him. The crimson stallion rises up again, trying to intimidate them again with his bulky size and armor. 'You pesky pink blob… Do you think you can make fun of me; The Harbringer of Hatred? That mistake will cost you...'

Pinkie Pie sticks rudely her tongue out at him, not backing away from his threats. 'You can’t expect to scare Fluttershy and get away like that!' she tells him, as if they're a mother who scolds her son. 'Just because you’re an oversized, spiked-armor wearing, intimidating, big-wig, doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want!'

It doesn’t matter to her how much more stronger Ignis is compared to her, since she already laughs at his mane again, while thinking of the term “big-wig.” It was enough to make Ignis lost the remnants of patience he had left for these pesky mares. The stallion takes off with a powerful leap, halting in mid-way, only a few meters away from the group of mares. Looking down at the four ponies, he finds their meeting more of a burden than entertaining now.

'That’s it! You we're slightly amusing at first, but now you've actually gone and angered me! I declare that this party is over!' he roars.

Pinkie Pie jumps up. 'Party? Over? Never! It’s never time to end the party!' she yells unconvincing. Ignis ignores her completely, growing only more tired of their insolence.

'I‘ll get rid of all of you, by ONE blow! I will give you a wind so strong, that it will send all of you fools to the moon!' he yells, slowly showing a smile of demonic delight, finding it amusing in his head. 'I have greater physical strength than the strongest Earth Pony. I have magical knowledge that advances that of the wisest Unicorn. And I have the flight speed that surpasses any Pegasus in Equestria!'

Applejack spits on the ground out of disagreement. 'Oh really?' she says with disbelief. In one quick kick, she sends a fourth apple towards Ignis. This time, however, Ignis slaps the apple away with his wing.

'THAT'S…IT!' he screams furiously, preparing his wings to blow them all off the mountain. He starts to laugh sadistically as the ponies group together, who look in horror towards him.

'I wonder if you’ll experience the moon like Luna did! Although you probably won't live long to return in a thousand years!' he laughs. 'Regret the moment you crossed me, and hate yourself for it! Say "bye-bye, ponies!" he cackles madly as his wings are stretched behind him, ready to blow them away.

Suddenly, they are all surprised by a big flash that enlightens the entire chain of mountain tops, distances behind Ignis. The following explosive soundwave distracts Ignis from gathering energy for his wings, forcing him to fly normally again. 'What in the blazes...,' he grunts as he looks over his shoulder, where the display of light came from.

A beam of light is shot like an arrow towards him, moving at the speed of sound. Inside the colorful beam of light is a little dot, the source; Rainbow Dash, having preformed the Sonic Rainboom on command.

She has achieved the element of surprise, along with speed enough to reach Ignis while he's unguarded. the stallion gazes in shock at the unexpected speed that Rainbow Dash has, aimed for him.

Halfway there, Rainbow Dash starts to purposely shake herself, making her spin in a drill pattern, instead of a straight line. In perfect timing; Dash spins like a whirlpool with the speed of 600 mph. Ignis is still frozen by the surprise, giving Rainbow more than enough time to execute her planned action, hoping that it will work as she thought it up in her head. She flies back up, aims for the unarmored chin of Ignis, and headbutts, resulting in an upper-cut at superspeed. The impact echoes for miles, able to be heard in Canterlot as well. Rainbow Dash has succeeded. She has struck the near-invincible stallion with a devestating attack.

'YYYYYES! AWSOME!' Rainbow Dash gloriously cheers as she continues to fly into the air, slowly slowing down from the complete new use of her unique skill. Her friends are just as amazed as the mare, having reached a effect that Rainbow hoped for: Ignis plummets down to the ground, as lifeless as a puppet.

The stallion crashes into the dust, giving no sound from the impact. When the dust blows away by the wind, a complete silence is followed. At first; Ignis was all talk and wore an impenetrable armor that fends of any of the ponies' attempts to stop him. And now; Ignis is as quiet as a rock. But even as the beast lies defeated, his ash-grey mane continues to wave like a flame. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie slowly move towards the unconscious body of Ignis, checking how he is.

'Is he… dead?' Rarity asks with fear.

Applejack looks closely at his face and pokes him, though a little more than needed. 'Nah, he’s just unconscious. Seems our "new leader" is having a “beauty sleep,” she jokes. 'He sure as hay can use one.'

Fluttershy looks away from him. 'My… How could anypony be so… mean?' she whispers.

'Hah, the only thing “mean” he’ll be having now is a mean headache!' Rainbow Dash boasts, still feeling like she’s the big heroine of the day.

Pinkie Pie giggles as she moves a piece of Ignis’ mane on top of hers like a wig. 'Look at me, girls! This guy is giving me one “hairy” problem!'

Even after the terrible confrontation they just passed, the beatings they received, they can easily laugh over Pinkie Pie’s pun, making them feel much better. Their victory has relieved them from fear, allowing them to lower their guard again.

'Too easy…,' they suddenly hear.

With one swift move to stand up, Ignis uses his wings to blow all the ponies away from him. The stallion was simply acting like he was unconcious, allowing him to fully surprise the ponies that stand around him. The force that blows from his wings is strong enough, causing all four ponies to crash on the ground, hard enough to make them pass out instantly.

'No!' Rainbow Dash gasps, horrified by the immediate turnabout. She looks at her friends; having bitten the dust, just after it looked like they won just a moment ago. Meanwhile, the stallion simply shakes the dust off of his unscatched red armor, acting like there was never any doubt for his victory.

'I must admit; I felt that,' Ignis shrugs, speaking to the stupified flying mare. 'The Sonic Rainboom; a skill I haven’t seen for a long time... I must admit that I’m slightly impressed, weakling.'

Rainbow Dash’ Sonic Rainboom in upper-cut form equals a soft poke to this alicorn. It makes Rainbow go crazy to think that nothing against this monster works. If striking him with the speed of sound against his bare chin doesn't work, what in Equestria's name does?

'Spitefull, isn’t it?' Ignis taunts to her.

'Raaaaah!' Rainbow Dash screams with sorrow, dashing straight towards Ignis with a loud battle cry.

'You still dare to underestimate me?' he chuckles at her.

The armored alicorn simply turns his shoulder plate towards her, having her charge into it, hurting only herself. Ignis looks at how Rainbow Dash is able to take a few dizzy steps away from him before falling unconscious on the ground, next to her friends. When he realizes that all his opponents are completely K.O., he walks back to the spot where he stood before, proceeding to look at the sun, as if nothing has happened. 'So much for a warm-up,' he chuckles for a last time.

***

In the distance, moving up the mountain path, a little dust cloud can be seen approaching the former site of combat. It’s Twilight Sparkle, hurrying to aid her friends. But when she arrives and sees how the alicorn stallion stands with five colorful bodies next to him, she realizes to her horror that her friends have already lost to him.

'Applejack…, Rarity…, Fluttershy…, Pinkie…, Rainbow...,' she whispers with anxiety. the purple mare feels sick over how her friends are all knocked out cold, blaming it on herself, because she wasn’t there to help them in time.

She turns her sadness towards the alicorn that doesn’t even pay attention to her arrival. 'Ignis! How dare you harm my friends! Have you got no heart at all?!' she bellows at him. But he doesn't listen to her cries. He only stands on a rock, looking towards the horizon. 'Say something! How could you do this?!' she demands to hear a response from him.

Ignis still completely ignores Twilight. But a few moments after Twilight's outburst, he starts to breath in. 'The time has passed,' he whispers.

Twilight doesn’t understand him. 'Wha-?' she asks confused.

The stallion turns his head towards her, slowly. 'Behold: the sun has sunk behind the horizon. The time of my ultimatum has reached its conclusion.'

Twilight has nothing to say in return. She can only assume it means a bad thing. Ignis grins at the confused face she gives him, realizing that Twilight is too confused to think straight.

'The time is up-' he chuckles '-And the ponies remain loyal to the princess... Not a big surprise. Now, they shall feel the consequences for defiance!'

Twilight rushes towards him, wanting to stop him in any way she can. She doesn't care how much stronger he is than her. All she cares for is avenging her friends and stop this monster for bringing any more harm to Equestria. But before she can reach him, Ignis spreads his wings and leaps into the air, flying down towards Ponyville. He leaves the Mane 6 behind on the mountain, unable to defend the town from him.

When Ignis is out of sight, Twilight turns her attention back to her friends, who still lie on the ground. 'Pinkie Pie, wake up!' she pokes the unconscious pink pony.

Pinkie Pie groans a bit, but seems alright. 'Nawh... Just a few more minutes…,' she mumbles, as if she’s asleep.

'Rainbow! Applejack! Rarity!' she yells to them, trying to get them out of their slumber.

They all respond to Twilight’s call, groaning like they had a bad night of sleep on a stone bed.

'-Urk!-' Rainbow Dash grunts as she stretches her back. 'What happened last night?'

'Fluttershy, are you ok?' Twilight whispers to her, while she helps her to stand back up.

The flustered mare comes by, slowly. 'Is… he gone?' she quietly asks.

Sighing, Twilight is relieved to see that, aside from a small concussion, her friends are alright.

'Glad to see you, Twilight' Rarity sighs with a smile. 'But weren't you going to send that letter to Princess Celestia to warn her?'

Twilight shakes her head. 'Rarity, you wouldn't really think that I would leave you all on your own here?' she tells her.

Applejack rubs over the bump on her head with her hoof, feeling like she's been sleeping in a mangler all night. '-Ugh-... So, wha' happened to Ignis?' she asks Twilight.

When she turns her head in the direction of their hometown, they fear the worst. They all walk to the edge, looking at the town, which is still enlightened by a few sunrays that come from the sun, which is practically down.

Fearful about what Ignis could mean with "punishment", the mares wait and listen to the bellowing voice of Ignis, sounding over Equestria once more, originating from the town square.

'Little ponies, I gave you a chance, which you failed to accept! You have failed to acknowledge my power and birthright! The defiance you show; burns my patience more than that despicable sun!' he shouts, clearly furious. 'Therefore, the dusk you just witnessed shall be your final glimpse of the sky! Cherish your memories, because it shall be the only place where you can see the heavens again!'

Ignis spreads his wings and channels a spell, which makes his horn glow like a torch, spewing out a flame. In the first minute, nothing happens. But suddenly, an enormous amount of darkness spews from Ignis’ body into the air, like a high-pressure burst of smoke. To all ponies’ horror; the black clouds from behind the mountains, and the clouds that appear from the horizon, start to come together at the point where Ignis' magic radiates. It pressures together, and spews more smoke from it, rapidly spreading over the entire sky of Equestria, in a whirlpool motion.

'Hate the fools that turned against me. Hate your friends for hating you! From this day forward: you shall live in hatred forever, coated under the burning blanket of darkness!' he cackles madly, failing to show any signs of sanity. 'Day and night, sun and moon, shall become but a myth in your rage-filled hearts! From this day forward, hatred seizes the cycle!'

'Do you see this, Celestia?!' he laughs uncontrollably. 'Your kingdom falls under the weight of my hoof! Nopony in Equestria can stop me now! Not even you!'

Ignis continues to laugh like this without end, while the horizon continues to fall under the dark, vast clouds that spread like wildfire. Every inch of Equestria loses its natural light, unabling any sight for the sun or moon. The only thing the Mane Six can do is watch in horror as hatred takes the light away from their world. They're too late.

Twilight gulps in worry. 'Dear sweet Celestia… What can we do now?'

Hope itself has lost its radiance.

Chapter 5 - The Reunion

Chapter 5 - The Reunion

The screams of fear are filling the air over Ponyville, coming from the scared citizens that stand witness to the darkness that breaks the sight on the sky. The light of the sun and the moon are no meant to be a memory, forever to be blocked from the eyes of the ponies that live down on the ground. The magic essences of the dark cloud claims any source of light, bringing a darkness that shrouds all of Equestria. The power of Ignis proves to be absolute. Once his magical wind has ceased to flow from the ground to the sky, so do the screams. The six mares stand helpless and hurt on the mountains, watching with pounding hearts in their chests.

'Hurry! We might still be able to stop him!' Twilight urges as she starts to rush down the mountain path, being followed by her friends. Though not thinking about what they could possibly do when they catch up with the almighty alicorn, they don't think about sitting idly and watch their world be devoured in shadows.

Since they’ve been held up on the mountain, having been kept busy by the stallion, Ignis had an opening to invade Ponyville. The mares feel like real fools, having fallen victim to Ignis' trick. Though Spike was meant to stay down in the village and help the citizens to protect themselves against the dangerous beast, they have little hope of succes. But what they truly feel worried about are their homes, families, friends, and basically all of Ponyville.

'Where is everypony?' Rarity whispers, having arrived with the others at the first streets of Ponyville. It feels like a bad omen to see that the once-busy streets is now more quiet than a general library.

'Heeello-!' Pinkie Pie yells with her hooves at her mouth, mimicking a loudspeaker.

Twilight quickly presses a hoof against Pinkie’s mouth. '-Ssshh!- Don’t forget that Ignis is still around here!' she whispers to her. If he finds them again, chances are that they won't get away with only a few bruises and headaches. The mare pulls her hoof back again when she knows that Pinkie understands the reason of silence, nodding in response.

But as they move through the silent street, close to the place where the dark winds were flared into the sky, they understand that Ignis is probably far gone, terrorizing other villages and cities.

'He must’ve fled when he still had the chance…' Rainbow Dash grunts, with her pride still shattered like glass. Her friends don't pay her attention, being more focused on the creepy quiet enviroment.

'We should check on everypony quickly,' Applejack eventually proposes, feeling more worried about her family than Ignis. 'We better split up,'

They all nod, understanding that it's quicker that way. 'Alright. Let’s meet back here when we learn something. And if Ignis turns out to be still in Ponyville... don’t show yourself,' Twilight points out, still feeling like she can't be too cautious.

Quickly they separate from each other, off into different directions of Ponyville's many alleys and streets. They all have places to see in their own hometown.

***

'Brrr, even the air feels uncomfortable,' Rarity shudders in anxiety.

She walks on her own through the empty streets in Ponyville, on her way to the Carousel Boutique, worried about her younger sister, Sweetie Bell. The pretty mare is becoming a little scared, feeling all alone. Maybe splitting up wasn't the best plan to follow for her, she now believes. Suddenly she is surprised by a clattering noise near her, coming from someplace in the street.

'Eeks!' she yelps, looking into every direction to see a glimpse of possible danger. There are no tiny alleys that could possible shelter a tall alicorn, meaning that Ignis can only be around if he could be invisible. But because he never shown to have that ability, Rarity believes that the noise was nothing dangerous.

'Pfff…,' she sighs relieved, rubbing a hoof over her forehead. 'Keep yourself together, Rarity. There’s nothing here…' she tells herself, only reminding her that she’s currently all alone.

A different noise starts to reach Rarity's sensitive ears, recognizing it as talking. She keeps on walking down the empty street, moving closer and closer to the loud conversation. It sounds like it's a heated argument about something, coming from the closest alley connected to the street.

'It is!' a young voice yells.

'It’s not!' a different young voice dissagrees.

'Liar!' a third, very recognizable, young voice shouts.

'Girl’s, stop!' the fourth voice sounds, definitly belonging to Applejack

Rarity hurries through the street and takes a peek around the corner, recognizing the four familiar faces.

'Oh my gosh, Applejack!' Rarity gasps, astonished at the sight of how Applejack is trying to keep an angry Sweetie Bell, Applebloom, and Scootaloo separated from each other. With her front-right hoof: holding Scootaloo. With her hind-left hoof: holding Sweetie Bell. And with her head: pushing Applebloom.

'Rarity! Ah could sure use a hoof here!' the earth pony grunts exhausted. Even her great earth pony stamina is not able to stand up against the energic fillies, quickly growing tired of continuing to stand on one hoof. Rarity quickly grabs Sweetie Bell and has to hold her to prevent her from rushing back.

She looks down at her little sister, never having witnessed her sibling going berserk like this against her friends. 'Sweetie Bell, what are you thinking?! You and your friends never fight… much,' she talks down to her, trying to make the filly focus on her.

Sweetie Bell looks up to her sister, glaring with a hatred she never shown before. It scares the mare a little. 'They said that their Cutie Mark will look better than mine! We all know that mine will be the best!'

Scootaloo frees herself from Applejack's pushing strength and jumps on top of Applejack’s head. 'Is not! Mine will be the best!' she yells to the filles.

'No! Mine!' Applebloom shouts just as loud and angry, also jumping on top of Applejack, causing the mare to collapse under their weight. Sweetie Bell pulls herself loose from her sister's hold on her and jumps back to the other two fillies, bickering with each other in no a noisy rabble that no sensible pony could understand. Applejack grows more and more tired of their argue on her back. Using her energy to jump up, the three little ponies fall surprised in different directions from Applejack.

'Alright…, that’s enough!' Applejack gasps angry and tired, having reached her limit of patience.

Applebloom jumps from the ground, pressing her face a few inches away from her sister's. 'Out of my way, sis! Before Ah MAKE you! This is none of your business!'

the blond mare is shocked, almost unable to believe the words she clearly heard from the little filly. Applebloom has never been so aggressive, especially not to her like this.

'Applebloom, what in tarnation has gotten in to you?!' she asks, almost afraid of this mad transformation.

The filly with the bow in her mane doesn’t seem to regret her outburst towards her sister even a little, keeping the glare of anger on her face, aimed at Applejack's. When Applejack has no other words to tell her, Applebloom moves around the mare, just to continue bickering with her two so-called friends. Rarity and Applejack can only look in horror at how their two sisters and Scootaloo bicker over nothing, acting like three completely different ponies.

'They don’t simply argue… It’s like they truly hate each other,' Rarity whispers to Applejack, both completely confused. They are powerless to seperate them, knowing that the fillies will most certainly not calm down even if they would try. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are caught in an unending cycle of hatred.

***

Meanwhile, Fluttershy has her own friends to look after: the critters that live around Ponyville. Desperate to know if they're all alright, the mare searches through the woods outside the village, hoping to catch a glimpse of any animal that she would recognizes. She looks around everywhere: Inside hollow trees, in the waters, high in the treetops and even under several rocks. But to her dissapointment: she's unable to find any of the creatures, making the sweet pegasus worry for their safety.

'Hello? Little friends? Come out, come out,' she asks friendly around her, hoping to get a reaction.

Most of her hope is set on one particular spot: A clearing in the woods where alot of different animals usually go to drink. As luck may have it: The clearing has more critters than usual. Every possible critter has gathered together here, possibly due to the omen that darkens the sky.

'Oh, I’m so glad that you’re all alright,' she sighs with relief and joy, happy to see that they're unharmed. Relieved to see how the creatures have grouped together to seek comfort, the mare moves closer to them. But then she notices that, instead of standing together for comfort, they all struggle with each other. Bunnies, birds, bugs, and all kinds of critters from A to Z fight with each other, making taunting movements to each other while making their own kind of threatening sounds.

Fluttershy is astonished, but quickly acts before it gets a chance to grow out of hand, wishing to prevent them all from getting hurt. 'Oh, no, please don’t fight!' Fluttershy yelps, rushing to the center of the clearing, attempting to stop this foolishness quickly with her talents of tranquility.

But the critters don’t even pay attention to her. All the do is making loud noises and taunting gestures to each other, aching for a fight.

'Please…friends…just…,' she stutters, unable to get in between the battlecries that fill the air. The hate for each other starts to take the toll on the mare's patience, slowly growing angry herself. She wants to stop them, but can't even speak to them. It's taking a toll of Fluttershy, causing her to show her worst side.

'JUST-BE-QUIEEEEEEEEET!' she suddenly yells out loud, which echoes through the entire clearing. As she demands it, so it happens. Silence fills the air. All the critters have ended their quarrel and look surprised at the panting pegasus, all a tad surprised by her call. When Fluttershy has caught her breath again, she looks around to see the result, noticing that every single critter is now gazing in confusion at her. It causes her to blush of shame, feeling silly for her unusual outburst.

'I-I’m sorry…,' she whispers. 'But now we can make peace, right?'

Her words of peace give a different reaction than it was intended. the critters were supposed to calm down and listen to her words of wisdom. But instead: her plan backfires. The creatures have stopped targetting each other. But now they glare and growl together at the mare, who has taken all the attention around her. Before Fluttershy knows it; all the creatures have turned together against her, moving in on her.

'P-Please! Wh-What are you doing?' she gasps, breaking a sweat as the animals start to stand like a wall in front of her, growling like mad beasts. But her true surprise comes from the little white critter that jumps out of the bushes, in front of the animals, almost like he's in charge.

'Not you too, Angel...,' the mare sighs, shacking from fear for her confused friends.

The little rabbit simply raises a paw, causing the other animals to halt their movement. For a moment, Fluttershy believes that her little pet is still on her side. But when Angel drops his paw down, the animals around them start to growl, roar, squawk, and screech in fury, ready to charge without mercy.

'Eek!' Fluttershy yelps, as she hurries away from her once-called friends, who now chase her like angry wild animals out of the forest. The harmless pegasus can’t help but cry tears like rivers over her cheeks, scared and confused by the terrible way things have turned into.

'Why would you suddenly hate each other…,' she cries. 'This isn't you...'

***

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie walk in Ponyville, hoping to find out if something changed to the citizens, entering the town square where many ponies have gathered. Pinkie Pie is glad to see everypony and greets them on several moments as she walks by, asking how they all are. Rainbow Dash simply lets her, being more focused in front of her to where she is flying to.

'Hi!” the pink earth pony giggles, expecting a cheerful "hello" back. But to her disappointment, nopony does the same like her. The ponies do notice her, but pay her no further attention.

'How are you doing?' she wonders to some other ponies, who react in no other way but glaring at her. Pinkie Pie is a little confused about the responses she gets, unsure about what she may be doing wrong. The mare simply guesses that mere greetings don’t seem to get any good reactions from the ponies, considering some ponies prefer action over words. So instead of words: she’ll use action.

Pinkie Pie stops following Rainbow Dash, who is completely oblivious of Pinkie Pie's intentions. The happy mare pulls up to two ponies who are speaking to each other. 'How are you doing?' she asks friendly, trying to become part of their conversation. 'Nice... weather, don't you think?'

The ponies only glare at her before they walk away, leaving Pinkie Pie on her own again. But the party pony is far from done, rushing towards a stallion that stands a few meters away from her. As she is about to reach him, Pinkie Pie takes a daring leap, jumping on top of the surprised stallion.

'C’mon Everypony! Smile!' Pinkie Pie giggles as she pulls a smile on the earth pony's face with her hoofs.

He didn’t seem to appreciate it, throwing the pink mare off of him. Pinkie Pie looks surprised up, having managed to get the attention of the stallion.

'What do you think you’re doing, “giggles”?!' the pony insults her.

Pinkie looks at his angry face, surprised that he overreacts like this. She needs a moment to think of a way to apologize to him. 'I -eh- just wanted to make you smile again,' she explains her good intentions, hoping that he'll understand it.

The pony does not respond in any way positive; baring his teeth and frown to the max. 'Mind your own business, got it?! Geez! You ponies are the worst; all cheerful and so extremely annoying!' he yells down to the mare, who continues to sit and look confused on the ground.

Rainbow Dash hears the noise behind her, realizing that Pinkie Pie has gotten herself into trouble. Easily noticing that the pink earth pony is trying to apologize, Rainbow Dash becomes a little anger by the attitude of the stallion. Taking no second longer, the blue pegasus hurries to land at Pinkie's side.

'Hey, chump! Nobody insults my friends and gets away with it,' she tells him, standing up for her friend.

The pony doesn’t seem impressed by Rainbow's threats. All he does is glare at her too. 'And what if I do? YOU’re going to stop me?' he grunts, insulting the pegasus mare as well.

Pinkie looks at how Rainbow is taking the fall for her, while she simply watches at how their bickering starts to take notice by the others around them. 'Eh, Rainbow?' Pinkie Pie whispers to her friend, trying to get her attention off of the stallion. But Rainbow Dash keeps on arguing with the grumpy pony, having no realization of the gathering ponies. 'You wanna test me, buddy?'

'Rainbow…,' Pinkie pokes her a bit with her hoof, while she looks over her shoulder at how other angry ponies start to gather around them in a circle. A lot of familiar faces surround them, though all of them look very angry out of their eyes.

Rainbow Dash only still continues to look at the earth pony stallion that provoked her. “

'Nothing but a troublemaker, are you? A lot of words, but no action,' she says confident and spits on the ground. 'If you're going to take me on, you'll need more than an army!'

“Rainbow!” Pinkie yells, finaly catching the mare's attention.

'Wha?' Rainbow Dash looks behind her and notices how everypony looks at the two mares who were making a scene.

'Are you looking for trouble?' one of them asks her.

Rainbow Dash looks a little confused at them, having no idea why they all suddenly turn against her. 'Eh..., no? I was just telling him not to get so angry to my friend…'

'Fly off, birdbrain!' another pony snaps at Rainbow.

'You pegasi are only good at causing trouble!' a unicorn mare tells her.

'Hey! You Unicorns are all talk! Why don’t you stick your horns in your own business?!' a pegasus in the crowd tells the mare, causing the confrontation to spread over the public.

Before Pinkie and Rainbow can comprehend what is going on, all the ponies in the square are bickering and fighting with each other. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, stallions, mares, fillies, colts, all are throwing threats and insults, regardless whoever they get in their sights. Chaos has filled the entire town square, with "hatred" written all over it. The only two sane mares don’t think that it’s a good time to start bickering along.

'Eh, Pinkie? I think it’s better if we get out of here right now...,' Rainbow Dash suggests, astonished by the dramatic turn of events.

'Got’ya...,' Pinkie replies, with a same nervous tone.

Taking no moment longer, they both hurry out of the town square, lucky that they’re not being followed by the angry crowd, who only has their attention on each other.

'So much for a friendly meeting! They didn’t even seem to bother the shadowy sky!' Pinkie Pie says, running after a flying Rainbow Dash.

'Yea... Yea, you're right, Pinkie,' the blue pegasus agrees, starting to find the ponies' behaviour weirder and weirder by the second. 'Something funny is going on in Ponyville, that’s for sure…

By the time they've escaped into a nearby alley, they can still hear the noise of shouts coming from the town square.

***

'Spike? Spike!' Twilight yells through the library, hoping for an answer of her draconic assistant.

She searches every room, corner, and space that the library could possible have, without any luck of finding him.

'Where could he have gone to…,' the purple mare mumbles to herself in the bedroom.

She’s suddenly called for from outside the library. Two friendly voices shouting for her attention from in front of the building, coming from the white and orange mares. 'Twilight! Are ya there?!' Applejack shouts.

Rushing downstairs and outside the library, Twilight has noticed the urgency that lies in Applejack's worried voice. She leaves Spike's dissapearance as a matter for later.

'Hey, what’s going on?' she asks the mares surprised, not expecting them to come back so soon. 'Back already?'

Rarity and Applejack sigh together, completely lost in confusion. They tell the purple unicorn about how the Cutie Mark Crusaders were in a rather "unique" fight with each other, about the way they weren't themselves at all. Twilight is astonished by their story, surprised to hear how the three little filles could suddenly grow such a strong sense of hatred and revenge.

'Oh, my… That doesn’t sound good,' Twilight replies calmly, just before she's interupted by two other mares that come running in her direction.

'Hey!' Rainbow Dash yells to catch the three mares' attention and lands next to them, with Pinkie Pie following behind her. 'Did you see what’s going on at the square?'

They look at them, making the same wild guess. 'A spiteful fight?'

Rainbow wishes to correct them from their obvious wrong guess, only to realize that they are completely right. 'Eh… yea! Everypony has gone mad!' she tells, followed by giving an explaination about how all the ponies first turned against Pinkie Pie and her, followed by turning against each other.

'This can only be Ignis’ doing…,' Twilight mumbles in herself, blaming the magic mists that cover the entire sky.

The other's still heard Twilight's mumbling thoughts. 'I should’a known... If it’s his fault that my lil’ sister is more angry than a tied-up bull, he’ll pay for this more than anypony could for a year worth of apple harvest!' she promises them, and bucks in air with anger.

Rarity simply nods at the earth pony's opinion, though she's still very confused about Sweetie Bell's change for the worst.

Twilight looks back up at her friends. 'Girls, we need to go to Canterlot right away! Maybe Princess Celestia knows what we can do!'

'Can't we just write her? That should be alot faster!' Rainbow Dash proposes, unaware of Spike's dissapearance.

The purple unicorn shakes her head slowly, a little concerned about what could've happened to Spike, regarding the strange tranformations that everypony has been going through. 'I know that would be faster... But Spike isn't anywhere! If we want to solve this fast and turn everypony back to normal, we got to find Princess Celestia A.S.A.P!'

'Wait! What about Fluttershy?' Pinkie shouts alarmed, unable to leave without the complete friends group intact.

Before any of them can make an assumption, or suggest to go look for her, they’re suddenly greeted by a sad voice.

'I-I’m here…,' Fluttershy whimpers.

When they look at her, they can’t believe their eyes. Fluttershy’s hair is completely messed up, roughed up like she's been standing in a tornado for 10 minutes. Her skin is covered in dirt, and her eyes are wet of tears, which continue to drip over her face.

'Oh, my gosh! Fluttershy!' Rarity gasps, running to her side to comfort her from whatever terrible has happened to her. 'What happened to you, darling?'

Fluttershy still whimpers sadly, attempting to gather enough breath to tell her friends. 'M-My friends… they all chased me down. They were so angry…Even little Angel... And-And I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHY!' she burst out in tears and presses her hooves her under eyes.

Her friends have no words to be said. They can only look at how the most innocent mare, who has always put everypony else before her, cries out for the critters that chased her down.

'Ok, that’s it!' Rainbow Dash shouts in anger. 'We gotta teach that freak a lesson!'

As admirable as Rainbow Dash means it, Twilight declines by shaking her head. 'Calm down, Rainbow. If there is something that isn’t going to work, it’s getting angry,' she tells her, attempting to talk the brave mare out of her crazy plan. 'It’s obvious that Ignis would attempt to get us angry as well! He’s been provoking everypony this whole time,' she shares her thoughts, believing this Ponyville drama to be nothing but the beginning.

'We all know what happens if we try to fight him through force and hate…,' Twilight recalls from Rainbow’s hasty action to fight Ignis, proving her in her right. Rainbow Dash understands it, knowing now that her hasty action from before has only made things more difficult. She drops her flank on the ground and listens quietly to hear other suggestions.

'So what IS the plan, suger cube?' Applejack asks. 'All fine and all that we're gonna speak to the princess. But what would SHE know about this creep?'

Twilight looks at their friends and starts to explain. 'Well, like I meant to say, Princess Celestia has been princess for many years now. There's a possiblitiy that she knows what to do about Ignis, or maybe not. Either way: It doesn't hurt to try, right? Maybe if we find a way to stop him, this sudden hatred will disappear too.'

The other mares look at each other, think a few moments about Twilight's suggestion, and admit that it’s a reasonable idea by giving a nod.

'Well, let’s hurry! We don’t want everypony to stay this aggressive a second longer than needed!' Rarity backs her fellow unicorn up.

'Alright, let’s go to Canterlot! It will take a little time to get there first!' Twilight tells her friends, all ready to follow the road that connects Ponyville and Canterlot.

'Which hopefully won't be too late...,' she whispers to herself at a tone that her friends can't hear.

***

The road was to Canterlot was tougher to follow that normally, considering their way had no sun to enlighten it. The darkness kept the path unclear, with angered life scattered along the way of the mares. Twilight didn't feel any better, even though they were definitly getting closer to the large mountain-city, where the Princesses; Luna and Celestia, can be found. Rarity and Applejack couldn't help but worry about their little sisters, urging them to look behind them from time to time, wishing that they could do something there. The feeling of being useless is eating them away. Pinkie Pie isn't acting much different, considering her strong cheerful personality. Still alright, she continues the stay next to Fluttershy, in order to comfort the sad mare, who continues to unleash tears when she thinks back about what happened. Their worries couldn't be getting worse, knowing that Lord Ignis is lurking in the shadows, somewhere in Equestria. As long as the crimson stallion continues to hold an iron grip over the land, nopony is safe.

After a long gallop, the mares finaly arrive at the large castle that houses the royal princesses, standing tall and glorious as ever. But even when behind the vast walls of the city, the friends are disappointed to notice that the dark clouds also managed to block the sky here. As far as they can guess, it should be nighttime right now.

When they are granted access to enter the palace, being recognized by the armorerd guards, they realize that it’s full of panic here too. Guards are running around, unicorns are making overtime, and other ponies simply try to stay out of the way, all to work on protecting Canterlot against this new disaster.

'-Ouch!- Oh, I’m sorry!' a unicorn stallion apologizes after he bumps into Fluttershy, who was too upset to look in front of her. The unicorn quickly moves on, though the other five friends notice that he didn’t throw an insult at Fluttershy, or even became slightly angry, like the ponies in Ponyville would normally do. This leads to speculation that Princess Celestia has managed to find a way to prevent Lord Ignis’ hate from spreading into Canterlot, before she even got into contact with the monster! Holding their hopes up, it could means that the princess of the sun may have an idea to help Ponyville too.

As they walk through a hallway to where the princess should be, they can’t help but notice how a row of ten guards are standing still, guarding the only passage into the next room. Five unicorns are on the left, while five pegasi are on the right, all wearing the same golden armor that marks them as the royal guards.

'Looks like Princess Celestia wanted some safety percussions…,' Rainbow Dash whispers in Twilight’s ear, who only shrugs and understands due to the events of late.

After passing and being recognized by several guards, they are allowed to enter the room that is sealed by two large doors, which require all the strength that two guards have in the hooves. Yet again, they need to go through an entire hallway, which leads to a smaller, lighter door than the last two. When the mares quietly proceed, they start to hear a conversation, originating from behind the doors. As they move closer, they can hear it more clear.

'How long, did you say, Sir Armor?' a female voice asks.

'I won't be able to speak in details, your highness. But if it's up to me: The shield will remain up until I draw my last breath,' a stallion's voice speaks, giving the impression that the conversation is bitter serious.

Twilight's heartrate raises, recognizing the two voices that are in discussion. The mare goes first of the group, opening the small doors, and enters a large chamber, known as the throne room. the chamber is completele white, with tall pillars standing in the corners. Two different types of banners hang from the ceiling: One with a sun and the other with a lunar crescent. And the way to the throne is covered by a long red rug. But the attention of the friends is focused on two tall ponies, standing at the far end of the chamber, in serious conversation with each other.

'That won't be neccesary,' the dark-purple alicorn assures the stallion and shakes her head. 'All we need is time. time to find the source as soon as possible!'

The mares do no rush. They may be in a hurry about Lord Ignis' arrival in Equestria, and Twilight may have recognized the two ponies as they move closer, but that doesn't mean they will just crash an important discussion regarding the safety of Canterlot. Once they're halfway, the stallion and mare take notice of their presence.

'Twilight Sparkle! It is fortunate to bear witness on you and your friends once again,' Princess Luna remarks with joy.

'Twilight!' the armored unicorn greets with a smile. 'I KNEW that you and your friends would be alright!'

'Brother!' Twilight cheers, recognizing the stallion as her brother, Shining Armor, captain of the royal guards. As happy to see as she is, she would wish give him a heartwarming hug. But because the times are urgent, and they're in the presence of Princess Luna, Twilight keeps a hold on herself and simply moves with her friends to stand next to them. Twilight smiles as she notices that Luna is still the same, even in this time of crisis. 'Princess Luna, it is good to see that you are well,' Twilight humbly greets.

Luna nods. 'Likewise, Twilight Sparkle. I was expecting you and your friends, ofcourse.'

The mares are a little surprised. 'You... You were expecting us?'

'Why... yes, ofcourse!' Luna remarks, as if it's completely obvious. She looks at the six mares, followed by tilting her head to look behind them. 'Say, are you not accompanied by my sister?'

They're not certain about what the princess is talking about. Princess Celestia is supposed to be with them?

'W-what do you mean? We came here to see her about this crisis,' Rarity speaks of surprise.

Luna can't believe her royal ears. 'What? But then... where could she have gone to?' she ponders out loud.

This news does not bode well, having nopony knowing about the princess' whereabouts. They feel like they’re far from out of the frying pan, though expecting that she's probably alright. The mares hope to get some answers from Luna instead, expecting her to be as informed as her sister.

'This rush in Canterlot, is it all for the dark clouds?' Twilight asks her.

Luna stops wondering about her sibling and nods positively. 'By Princess Celestia’s suspicions, we do what we can to prevent access for the emotion magic that is shrouded in the winds. Now that I have seen what it does to ponies outside Canterlot… I can see why,' she explains with content in her voice. 'We have yet to find out what is causing it. That’s why my sister told me that she was to leave for a small period of time. I was suspecting that she would head to her pupil, asking to help in shedding light on the matter… But it seems she did not.'

The friends are relieved to hear that Canterlot is truly safe, but wonder where Princess Celestia could be if not intending to go to Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight then realizes something from Luna’s words. 'Wait, what do you mean by “emotion magic in the winds”?'

'I meant that there is a magical property hidden inside the clouds, one that affects the victim's feelings. It seems to cause aggravation to emotions,' Luna explains.

Applejack raises an eyebrow. 'Eh... and in normal language?' she asks bluntly.

'The clouds are the reason that makes everypony get angry!' Twilight translates. 'Those clouds were not just to block out the sun and moon, but also to make everypony feel an unnatural hatred to everything!'

Their worst suspicions are proven; Ignis is once again the cause of trouble. His punishment to the ponies, for not delivering Celestia to him, was turning them against each other!

'Princess Luna, would you may have any idea where Princess Celestia MIGHT be?' Twilight asks.

Luna shakes her head, having no idea where her sister might be in this time of crisis. 'If you wish to speak my sister, I assume that you have information regarding this crisis?' Luna guesses, having no clue of the crimson alicorn's presence in Equestria.

'Uh-huh,' Twilight replies. 'It’s done by an individual. We tried to stop him ourselves…, But he proved to be more than a match against us,' she sighs, along with her friends, who are also disappointed in themselves for letting the beast get away and cause this disaster.

'Wait... You took on a being with these capabilities by yourselves?' Shining Armor interrupts them. 'Are you alright?'

'Yes, Shining,' Twilight nods and smiles, happy to hear her brother's concern.

He looks at Twilight, hoping for more clarifications on what they're dealing with. 'What is he? Some sort of dragon?'

Twilight scratches her hoof over the floor, having no right way to put the words in a good sentence. 'Not really… It’s an alicorn.'

The astonishment on Luna's face doesn't come as a surprise to them, hardly able to believe it themselves if they didn't see him personally. 'I see… Actually, I’m not as surprised as I should be...,' the princess tells them. 'I should’ve known that it must be an alicorn…'

Twilight doesn’t understand why she might say that, not having recognized Ignis' shout as the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Shining Armor turns his attention to the ground before him. 'It is safe here in Canterlot, but we can’t let him do this to Equestria any longer than possible,' he admits. 'Where is he now? Where is this Alicorn?'

Before they could answer, they hear a lot of noise coming from outside the room. Shouts and clashing metal from the guards are heard behind the doors of the halls. With confused faces; Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Princess Luna, Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle look quietly at the doors at the other end of the chamber, listening as the sounds grow louder and louder over time. A heavy slam is heard, shaking the ground like a little earthquake for a second. The two heavy doors of the first hallway have been opened with alot of strength.

The shouts have stopped, giving the hallways a deathly silence. The ponies in the throne room shudder a little as they listen to how heavy hoofs stomp through the second hallway, approaching the final doors of the chamber they're in right now. Just as the hoofsteps end, a royal guard crashes through the door, into the throne room. He lands in a corner, grunting in pain just before he passes out.

They are greeted by a large red stallion, who slowly walks in with an intimidating flaming mane and a large grin on his face. 'Hello, girls. Did you think I forgot about you?'

'Ignis!' they all gasp in fear.

The crimson-red alicorn has infiltrated Canterlot, obviously having followed the mares. The stallion has left a trail of destruction behind him: A hallway with nine unconcious guards laying on the floor. He continues to walk further into the room while speaking to them. 'It was a good idea to let you six off the hook… You led me straight to the Princesses’ doorstep,' he praises them and chuckles.

Ignis stomps with heavy hoofsteps towards the end of the throne room, making his bone-chilling metal sound everytime he press a hoof on the white floor, regardless of the soft rug that is supposed to mute the sound.

'So THIS is Canterlot: the safe haven under the watchful eye of the princesses?' he rhethorically asks the ponies, while looking around through the chamber. 'Looks like Celestia managed to have a nice stay while I was… "absent" from my duties.'

The stallion moves through the group of mares, splitting them in groups of three, standing on both of his sides. when Ignis stands before Princess Luna, he brings a halt to his movement. The mares that stand close to him, are feeling a cold chill pass through their bones from fear. But Princess Luna and Shining Armor look him in the eye, fearlessly.

'Isn’t that right, Princess Luna?' he asks her as he lowers his head to a few inches from Luna’s face.

Shining Armor quickly moves between the two alicorns, ready to protect the princess against any threat.

'I demand that you explain yourself for this intrusion!' Luna commands him, without any signs of fear.

Ignis rises his head back up, away from Shining Armor's, while switching his gaze between the mare and stallion before him. 'You don’t remember me? Well.., you were only a little foal when you saw me last time, I suppose. And, of course, your sister would never dare to drop my name,' he admits, followed by a soft chuckle. 'Talking about your sister… where is she? I have unfinished business left to be discussed with her...'

Luna looks confused by his words. 'What is this nonsense you speak?' the princess asks.

'I want to have a little talk about your… early retirement, he jokes.

Luna snaps back, knowing now that there will most definitly be no way to discuss with this alicorn. 'I have the right to refrain from answering to you in any way! You have nothing but illusions, believing in things that don't excist! Now, you tell ME What you meant by that you knew me when I was little!'

Ignis chuckles while stares deep into her eyes.

'You should know, Luna. After all: I was a part of you, more or less... But if you don't believe me by sight...,' he speaks. 'Listen-VERY-closely to my voice… Are you certain you cannot recall hearing it?' he whispers in her ear, followed by another sadistic chuckle.'

Luna ponders for a moment, listening to the voice that echoes through her mind. After the thought becomes processed through her memories, her eyes widen in surprise when she realizes the origin. 'Wha… How… Who are you?!' she asks him, suddenly sounding nervous and scared, while backing away further into the chamber.

'-Haha!- Yes! I remember that tone! Full of irritation and hatred, right?' he laughs. 'You remember, don't you? Your glorious days when you were known as Night Mare Moon?'

Luna looks uncertain and ill, feeling like everything she thought truth is a lie now. All the purple alicorn can do is looking at the ground, dieing to know what it means. Seeing how what torture the princess is being put through, Twilight Sparkle jumps between Luna and Ignis, right next to her brother, who grows tired of the alicorn's presence as well.

'That’s enough of your lies, Ignis!' Twilight shouts.

But Ignis is simply amused by the mare's attempt to help the princess. 'I don’t think it’s up to you to decide whether I’m lying or not, Twilight Sparkle…' he grunts. 'Much to my disappointment: Night Mare Moon was a failure... But as Celestia’s little sister, she might come in handy for… "future negotiations",' he hints how he still plans to use hostages that are important to Princess Celestia. He smiles about the way the ponies look at him with disgust for his demonic schemes, feeling proud at how he manages to provoke everypony the way he does. 'And who could forget about little Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s precious student?' he notes as he turns all his attention to her.

But before he could even make a step forth, the other mares jump in front of her.

'If you want Twilight, you’ll have to go through us first!' Rainbow Dash taunts, having forgotten about the way Ignis defeated her before.

'Yes! You stay away from her, you… meanie!' Fluttershy stutters to him, just as dedicated as the others.

'I got a better idea,' Ignis tells her with a very calm tone. 'How about I just capture all of you? Celestia will have no choice but to surrender when I have the "full Mane Six set" and her sister in custody!'

The ponies all look terrified as how Ignis starts to close in on them, shaking when they hear the clattering sound of his armor, everytime he takes a step towards them.

'I have heard enough!' Shining Armor suddenly shouts at the stallion, having run out of patience.

The royal guards are stomped unconcious and the seven mares are in danger of becoming hostages. It is the captain's duty to prevent this stallion from going any further. The brave unicorn takes no second longer, having enough of the alicorn's threats and actions. With his horn glowing as bright as a star, Shining Armor charges Ignis fearlessly.

'Shining! Don't!' Twilight gasps, watching with fear as her brother closes the gap between him and the crimson beast.

'FOOL!' Ignis bellows.

The sound of his shout echoes through the entire chamber. Lord Ignis is ready to take on the mighty captain, Shining Armor, by simply waiting for the stallion to reach him. Before the unicorn could reach his target for a critical attack, Ignis uses his armor to bash him out of the way with his full strength, slamming the stallion against a white wall.

'-URK!-' Shining gasps, completely surprised by the vast strength of his opponent. 'You're going to have to do better than that!'

Standing up, even though having a slight concussion from the blow, Shining Armor prepares to charge again.

'Just roll over and pass out, ignorant little boy..,' Ignis grunts, unamused by the stallion perseverance.

'Never!' Shining Armor shouts, beginning to charge the crimson stallion again.

Just before she reaches the alicorn again, he vanishes in a flash, having used a teleport spell. Shining Armor believes to have caught the advantage of the element of surprise, charging the alicorn from the other side now. Unable to miss the beast now, Shining Armor leaps for the stallion's side. But as he closes in, having only a few inches to go to make a tremendous impact on the alicorn's crimson armor, he misses.

'Little brats who don't listen to their elders, need to FEEL the consequences!' Ignis shouts, having surprised the captain with it's abnormal speed in his heavy armor. Before Shining even gets the chance to land on the ground, Ignis headbutts the mighty unicorn into the ground before him.

'SHINING!' Twilight cries, heartbroken by her brother's almost certain defeat.

The unicorn lies still on the floor, having reached his limit already. The part of floor where he crashed has been cracked by the impact of the stallion's golden armor. The royal captain of guard has been knocked out cold by one alicorn, in two hits, making Ignis look more invincible than first.

'W-what will you do with us?' Rarity yelps.

Ignis turns his attention off the beaten unicorn, without giving a sigh of effort, 'I’m just going to keep you hostage as leverage to strike a deal with Celestia... Since those foolish ponies down in Equestria don’t seem to deliver her to me willingly, I‘ll just make her surrender by myself.'

Applejack pokes her head from behind her friends as she tries to move in front of them. 'Surrender? Forget it! Ya' can’t call yourself a leader by force! Ya' turned all ponies against each other, something a real leader would never do!'

At first Ignis is quiet by her snappy comment. The stallion continues to look at Applejack, even though she has already stopped talking. The mares grow a little anxious, afraid that Applejack may have provoked Lord Ignis. But he suddenly starts to chuckle, which quickly turns into a loud and intimidating laughter that sounds through the entire throne room.

'D-Do you ACTUALLY think that I care to become in charge of Equestria again? -Hahaha!-'

The mares look astonished at the laughing stallion, as if Applejack just told him the most funniest joke of Equestria. Things can’t get any weirder with an answer like this. Preforming all these evil acts for domination sounds logical for a cunning monster like Lord Ignis, yet he doesn't?

'Then... what are you truly after then?' Twilight asks him confused, though she's unable to keep her eyes of her beloved brother.

The alicorn heard her, requiring a moment to calm down from his extensive laugh. When he is finished snickering, he takes a deep breath. I don’t care about leadership anymore. All I want now is revenge,' he growls. 'Let me ask you something, little ponies....: What have I been doing lately?' he asks to them all.

Pinkie Pie believes to know the correct answer. 'Well, you ruined a door, hit some guards, hit US, laughed alot-'

'That’s NOT what I meant!' Ignis interrupts her as he stomps with his right hoof on the floor, missing the unconcious stallion by mere inches. 'What do you expect the ponies of Equestria will think about with the darkness filling the sky?!'

Before Twilight could think of a right answer, Ignis is 1 step ahead of her. 'They will look for a target to BLAME!' he assures with a loud voice. 'Has any of you known about me before my arrival? No, you haven’t. This means a couple of ideas will haunt through the heads of other ponies… resulting into the chaos I’m after,' he tells them with pride for his diabolical plan.

He starts to explain in details that the mares can understand. 'Eternal darkness filling the skies? Sounds awfully familiar. Doesn’t it?' he asks Princess Luna.

The female alicorn looks confused and feels fear for him Ignis, unable to grasp why the stallion knows this much information. The princess has no clue of what in Equestria’s name is going on.

'Or is this something that that freak-show, Discord, could do?' he asks to the Mane Six. 'Some ponies would blame this on me, Princess Luna, or Discord. Or… YOU, for failing to keep the harmony intact!' he shouts with a blaming tone, as if he's trying to bring a sense of guilt in the young mares' minds.

'In turn, some will blame Celestia, while others remain loyal to her,' the stallion concludes. 'Do you see where I’m getting at, Twilight Sparkle? Do you see what all this confusion and hatred will most certainly lead to?' he laughs mockingly at her.

Twilight has a sneaking suspicion, speaking her theory out loud to make sure. 'They would have several opinions… with a chance of colliding against each other,' the mare tells him and waits to see if she's right.

The red alicorn laughs, making clear that Twilight is absolutely right. 'And with the clouds that hang over Equestria, which can fire up the rage inside them, they WILL collide.' he confirms on her suspicions.

'So it really was your doing that put everypony against each other!” Applejack assumes.

Ignis nods, smiling like he’s proud of it. 'If you hadn't figured that out yet, you must be really dense, you flightless pea-brain...,' he insults her, knowing that Applejack won't make the mistake of attacking him again.

He starts to speak at a lower, sinister tone, like he's saying the words as they pop in his head. 'Opinions will collide..., anger will be forged..., friends turn into enemies... It will all result into the true aim I have in mind: total chaos, covered in eternal darkness! It's a world that Celestia can’t bear to see!'

Every pony looks in horror at Ignis’ intentions. Different terrors have tried to severe the peace in Equestria, but Ignis takes the cake. He doesn't attempt to take over Equestria to rule over it, doesn't mess up the laws of nature for plain fun, or does it for the sake of another kind! He brings violence and madness to Equestria for the sake of revenge on ONE mare.

'You’re even worse than Discord…,' Rarity whispers softly. Yet not soft enough to escape from Ignis’ ears.

'DON’T YOU DARE…,' Ignis suddenly shouts, stopping halfway his sentence when he realizes he lost his temper for a moment. 'Please..., don’t compare me to that flying manipulative rat,' Ignis demands from the shivering pretty mare, who has become frozen by fear after Ignis’ sudden outburst to her.

'To be honest, I was hoping that you six would turn against each other as well... It would’ve been entertaining,' he sighs dissapointed. “No matter... I will be rid of you six soon anyway.'

Luna has taken a deep breath and moves forward, shortening her distance with the stallion to merely a rough three meters. 'What could drive you to this? What do you gain from it?' she asks him.

'Like I said: It's pure vengeance that drives me... As Celestia was the one to build this kingdom, so shall I be the one to lead it to its destruction...,' he grunts. 'She thought sealing me away would save her, keeping you and this world safe... But she will find out soon enough that she can’t erase her past, which will always catch up with the present... She has to deal with it sooner or later,'

'What he says is: He still hasn’t learned anything in all these years,' a voice echoes through the room, originating from the door opening.

The seven mares look past the red stallion, who looks over his shoulder to look as well. A white alicorn walks inside, with a colorful waving mane coming from her crowned head. The Cutie Mark on her flank gives away her identity, being the only pony with that unique symbol of the sun.

'Haven’t you, Ignis?' she asks calmly.

'Princess Celestia!' the friends cheer, glad to see their beloved princess back in Canterlot.

'Sister!' Luna cheers just as happy, relieved to see her older sibling back in their presence.

Ignis looks surprised over his shoulder, with wide eyes of astonishment. He cannot believe that the princess has come forth to confront him, while he was looking all over for her. He looks for a moment into her warm eyes, which stare directly into his own. He recognizes her and suddenly grins his teeth bare, feeling an indescribably feeling of joy by seeing the other alicorn. 'Princess Celestia… at last,' he whispers while he breathes deeply from excitement as he turns towards her. 'How fares… the royal sun-tan?' Ignis sarcastically jokes, while throwing a glimpse at the dark clouds outside.

Princess Celestia remains quiet, having no intention of ending her stare into the red alicorn's yellow eyes.

'It’s been too long, my friend... The last time I saw you, you were as big as these little girls,' Ignis tells her, bringing up something that sounds like old memories. 'I haven’t gotten the chance to thank you yet for sealing me inside that rock!' he growls as his mood turns aggressive.

Celestia remains quiet, barely blinking as she calmly continues to look the stallion in the eyes. 'You were stopped because you harmed innocent lives in Equestria. Seeing as how you haven’t changed, you are not supposed to be here,' she suddenly tells him, showing no sign of intimidation by the powerful alicorn.

Ignis easily becomes provoked by her words. 'Silence!' he shouts. 'The only thing I was amazed about was how in Equestria’s name I was stupid enough to let you in the same order as an alicorn of my rank! I should've never saved you and your sister from the gutter!'

Clearly not impressed by him, Celestia continues to speak with her soothing calm voice. 'The only “order” it had, was DISorder, Ignis.'

Ignis realizes how much Celestia has managed to provoke him and quickly calms back down to a sadistic tone. 'You were a tricky girl, I give you that... Without Discord’s betrayal, you could’ve never pulled it off.'

Luna, Twilight, and the rest of the ponies remain silently astonished, listening to this never-been-told conversation between the alicorn of light and shadow. It makes absolutely no sense to them. How does the princess know Ignis, while Luna clearly does not. What did Ignis mean with his "order." And what does Discord have to do with any of it? Celestia notices how others can overhear the conversation, having no intention of revealing it to them like this. Without giving Ignis the idea to do so, the tall white mare tries to end their conversation smoothly by changing the subject.

'I knew you were behind all of this…,' she brings up.

Ignis gives her a grin, glad to hear that Celestia did not forget about him. “I bet you knew of my coming the day that Night Mare Moon returned, didn’t you?' he laughs as he chuckles.

Princess Luna looks at the ground, feeling a sense of guilt resurface, hearing of her dark history as the bringer of eternal night. Lucky for her: The others don't look at her now. They're all completely absorbed into this conversation.

'I knew for certain that you returned when the Crimson Asteroid passed and was followed by your fog,' she corrects him.

As much as Ignis enjoys their little talk, he wants to end the delay of what he deems "the inevitable," and get to the point. Without further sweet talk, the stallion takes a deep breath and stop smiling.

'…Surrender your crown, Celestia… You know I’m the strongest Alicorn,' he commands her with bitter seriousness.

The princess simply shakes her head, refusing to give in to Ignis' demands. 'You have been gone for a long time now. I will do anything to protect Equestria and its citizens,' she assures him.

Ignis squeezes his eyes to a glare. 'Then I will take it by force, my friend...,' he grunts, having reached a limit of his patience. He bends through his legs, giving the idea that he's about to charge the crowned mare.

'I never considered you a friend, Ignis… Neither did I truly recognize you as my superior,' Celestia whispers and bend through her legs as well, pointing her horn into the stallion's direction.

The two alicorns both look ready to charge, waiting for the other to make the first move. The other ponies in the chamber remain silent, showing no courage to even make a sound during this intensive moment. Everypony stands still like statues, marking the calm before the storm. The only thing that moves are their magical manes, waving like a flame and the wind.

'what do you say, Celestia? Should I fight the other pests first? Isn't that how your system works: Others take the fall before her majesty does?' he asks the princess, while his glare moves in the direction of the seven shivering mares. 'So... who will I fight first? Your pathetic captain of the guards, the six mares, or perhaps little Luna?' he asks her, without showing a smile this time. He is seriously asking the question this time.

'…You will fight me,' Celestia commands him, to everypony's surprise.

'W-what?!' Twilight gasps. She knows that her mentor is extremely talented and powerful. But she to admit to herself that she's not sure if it's enough to defeat Lord Ignis.

Ignis is just as surprised as the mares by the princess' brave words, yet he follows his surprise with another smile. 'Really now… I didn’t expect that of you, Celestia. I would’ve thought that you would first send all possible ponies at me, before surrendering yourself,' he chuckles, amused about this turnout.

Celestia frowns at him. 'I do not condone violence in any way,' she claims. 'But considering that I am facing you, I’m afraid I have no choice…'

'Why the confidence? Afraid I might harm your little sister again?' he asks with a provoking tone.

Celestia sneers at him, having been touched on a very sensitive nerve on her mind. 'You have no right to talk about my sister…,' she hisses at the stallion, almost sounding like she's threatening him.

'Hmpf,' the crimson alicorn grunts, showing no intention to provoke her further on this particular subject. 'Alright then. I was hoping to settle this against you, and you alone, anyway!' he growls as he bends further through his knees ready to begin the charge that will innitiate their combat.

'Wait,' Celestia interrupts him as she raises her hoof. 'We shall not fight here.'

Ignis hears her demand and ponders for a moment. It isn't certain whether he will accept Celestia's command, or charge her after all. He first looks around him and notices that the seven mares are still on the same spot, not having shown the courage to interrupt his conversation with Celestia. It is when he looks back into Celestia eyes that he stands tall again, accepting her offer.

'Very well then... I wouldn’t want my future home to get any damage,' he grunts, having admitted that he intents on claiming Canterlot for himself. 'On one condition: These six ponies must come along! I don’t want them to try anything funny while we’re away… and I would like to gloat over the looks on their faces when I defeat you...'

Celestia looks next to her at the mares that seem to have reached their limits. The mares are clearly tired, confused, and at the brink of mental collapse. When the mare makes contact with the eyes of her beloved pupil, who remains sad over the beating that her brother took, Celestia looks back at the Harbringer of Hatred. '…Accepted,' she answers.

Before any pony has a clue what is happening, both Ignis and Celestia move closer to each other, making contact with their horns. The red and yellow magical glows of the alicorns' horns cause a reaction, resulting in a flash that fills the entire chamber. It's a spell of mass teleportation. When the light fades again, Luna, the guards and Shining Armor are all that are left. The sudden silence is horrifying. The young princess looks confused over the damage and harmed soldiers, while she's unable to think clearly. Ignis has messed her head up pretty good.

Reinforcements finaly arrive, surprised to see the chaos as well. Without hesitation or Princess Luna's orders, they hurry to the wounded soldiers and carry them off to the sick bay. Luna falls deep in thought to the point that she doesn't even hear Princess Cadance enter, who rushes over to her injured husband. Even when the sounds of Cadance's sorrow echo through the throne room, Princess Luna can only think of one thing.

'Sister… What is it that you don’t tell me?' she ponders with a rapidly pounding heart in her chest. 'Please..., return home, safely.'

***

The enviroment is harsh, a deadcolt's land. The only plants that dare to grow here are weeds, which cover the entire plains as far as the eye can see. The wind blows unstoppable, waving the grass up and down every day and night. In the middle of this abandoned place, a little spark appears out of thing air. The glowing red and yellow light continues to grow, until it explodes in a flash of light. When the light fades, Princess Celestia, Lord Ignis, and the six friends reappear, miles away from any form of life.

'This is a good place. No harm can be done to others here,' Celestia confirms as she looks in every direction around her.

Ignis walks back from her, while still glaring at her. 'Except for you, Celestia,' he whispers. 'Before we begin our inevitable fight, I'd like to know whatever happened to that worthless little lackey...,” Ignis brings up suddenly.

Celestia looks at his face, a little surprised to hear Ignis' curiosity. It feels uncomfortable that he brings up the past again, in front of the other ponies. 'Discord is turned into stone after bringing chaos to Equestria,' she sums up in a short answer.

'Hm… Sounds like I wasn’t the only one that underestimated him,' the stallion grunts. 'Sadly for you: I won’t be defeated by sheer force, princess,' he assures as he bends through his legs again, assuming a battle stance. 'You will find out that you must not underestimate me, just because I was locked in that cursed rock for so long!'

Before Celestia assumes her own battle stance, she looks in the air. the sky is filled with darkness, even here. But interest lies in the two ponies that fly circles, high above the two alicorns. Ignis notices that Celestia isn't looking at him, and looks up as well. It's two royal guards of Celestia, having found her this quickly. Clearly, they're awaiting orders. Celestia simply looks up to them and gives them a small nod that tell them to move away, considering that being this close isn't safe for them. They see it, and follow her order without question.

'They're really persistant, Celestia,' the red armored alicorn grunts. 'Why couldn't you have been as loyal as they are to you?'

'Because I EARNED their respect, Ignis...,' Celestia sighs and turns around to the clueless mares.

She takes a deep breath before she speaks to them. Twilight quickly moves passes her friends, in order to move close to her mentor. they're all worried for the princess' safety.

'Do not despair, little ones,' she tells with a smile. 'Ignis may be an incarnation of hatred. But that is not enough to overcome friendship. No matter how hard he will try to cloud your hearts with hate, remember that there is always hope for those who ask for help from each other.'

'Are you finaly done with your speech?' Ignis sighs bored, growing impatient of Celestia's delays. Celestia looks over her shoulder back to Ignis. 'Friendship this, friendship that. I would expect those little ponies would get tired of hearing such nonsense all the time,' he complains with rolling his eyes.

Celestia doesn’t give him the satisfaction of provocation and turns back around to him. 'They know better than you, Ignis. They know that even the most impossible obstacles can be moved together.'

Ignis sneers at her for her hurtful comment, simply waiting for the moment that Celestia goes too far.

'You know just as well as I do; hatred can’t win-' she tries to tell him.

'-Because friendship defeated hatred before?' he interrupts her, having said the exact thing that Celestia tried to tell. He grins at her when he sees how that Celestia's eyes widen by the surprise. 'You’re putting your hopes on your precious Elements of Harmony, aren’t you?'

Celestia is suddenly silent, having no words to say in return. How could Ignis come up with the Elements of Harmony?

The evil alicorn begins to laugh. 'It was the only thing that managed to stop me! Of course you would devise a plan to halt me with it. How dense do you think I am?!' he asks the disturbed mare. Celestia's mouth has lost any sensible words to say. The princess is completely baffled by the stallion's wisdom. Now that he knows of her plan, can he still be stopped now?

Ignis suddenly takes off without warning, rushing in the direction of the Mane Six. The mares gasp as the large shadow speeds off towards them. Rarity can't help but scream in fear and covers her eyes, waiting for the stallion to strike them down with his strength. But instead of rushing into the group of ponies, he ignores them and flies towards a boulder that lies a yard away from them. He knows: It's where the two royal guards are hiding behind.

'-Graaaagh!-' Ignis roars as he uses his brute forces to smashes through the rock, stunning the guards by the impact. Stone and rocks fly through the air, along with the two armored pegasi. Ignis has seen it: They carried a lockbox with them, which jumps open by the hit it receives from the fall on the ground. Five necklaces and one crown drop out of it, looking awfully familiar to Twilight and the rest.

'The Elements of Harmony!' they all gasp together.

The mares don't take a second longer and try to gallop to them, but stop as soon as Ignis quickly lands in front of the sacred jewelry.

'These cursed things… The reason of my fate as prisoner in a crystal!' he whispers with contempt. 'NO MORE! FRIENDSHIP IS HISTORY!' he screams, lifts his front hooves, and stomps the elements under his hooves.

That one second where the hooves strike the Elements into splinters: It felt like an eternity. Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy look in horror at how their elements are shattered into mere shards, completely useless. The only one that doesn’t succumb to the fear of certain defeat is Ignis, who starts to cackle madly over his definite victory.

'Your only hope… Crushed under the pressure of my very powers! No mere friendship will save you now, little ponies!' he manages to shout, before falling in uncontrollable laughter again.

Even Princess Celestia looks horrified. It feels like all hope has vanished by one destructive move of Ignis. The laughter loses its volume soon after, ending in a soft chuckle. Ignis looks away from the powerless pieces and looks back into Celestia’s eyes, which are now expressing the horror of the princess' worries.

'Now that your trinkets and hopes are crushed to smithereens…, shall we begin, my “friend”?'

Chapter 7 - The Lonely

Chapter 7 - The Lonely

Twilight can’t grasp the fact that the Ignis they’ve been fighting this whole time, the Ignis that tried to bring Equetria into chaos, was the calm and gentle Spectrum Brush this whole time! Ignis -if she could call him that- has been in control of her new stallion friend this whole time, who was said to be sealed away inside the meteor from the Crimson Asteroid. The only thing that the Elements of Harmony managed was purging the dark alicorn from the host body. But, with the loss of Ignis’ control, the stallion remains in a state of confusion and madness. A sight that horrifies the purple mare.

'Your friendships are a curse! I will be the liberator!' he roars at them as he drops back on his side from exhaustion.

Twilight stares with wide eyes at the beast while she's frozen to the ground by the horror of the turnout. Yet, the stallion that crawls in fury in front of her has the identical Cutie Mark of him, giving no doubt about his identity. The stallion has suffered a fate as terrible as Princess Luna's.

'Twilight…,' Celestia addresses to her student, causing her to get out of the trance.

Twilight looks up to her mentor, who has recovered from the battle. Though the unicorn is overjoyed to see her mentor alive and well, she's too disturbed to show any form of happiness. Celestia understands and nods at her, knowing about the innocent stallion's fate. She knows that Ignis required a host body to return. The evil takeover has left its marks in the red unicorn's head, unable to recover to his original self all alone.

Twilight starts to walk slowly to the raging stallion, believing that she's the only pony who may be able to help him out.

'Twilight? What are you doing?' Rarity asks her.

Spike gasps. 'Be careful, Twilight!' he shouts at her, afraid that she may get hurt.

Twilight ignores the warnings from her friends, feeling urged to try and help the guy out. She is only a couple meters away from the crimson alicorn, enabling her to even hear the quick breaths that alicorn takes, while he continues to stare at the purple mare.

Twilight takes a deep breath, trying to find any signs of her friends' presence. The unicorn still has pegasus wings and muscles from his puppeteer. Even his eyes are still the spine-chilling yellow glaring ones. She has no choice but to count on the unique Cutie Mark, hoping that it means enough to bring him back to his original self.

'Brush?' she asks, hoping for a reaction. 'Spectrum Brush?'

'What?!' the alicorn shouts at her in confusion.

The other ponies and Spike drop their jaws of surprise, realizing that their purple friend is making a connection between the Harbringer of Hatred and the new bashful painter in Ponyville.

'Ok…, Ah think Twilight is going apples now...,' Applejack says, believing that the unicorn's mind has endured too much stress. 'Twilight, he doesn’t even LOOK like him.'

Twilight looks over her shoulder at her friends. 'It’s true, girls! No pony has seen him ever since Ignis’ coming and he bears the same Cutie Mark!'

'The painter?!' They all say at the same time, surprising each other of that they all seem to know him.

Twilight ignores their rambling and turns her attention back to the red pony. 'How could this happen to you?' Twilight whispers. 'You were so kind... How in Equestria's name could this have happened to you? Of all ponies: why YOU?'

Ignis tries to crawl up again, without any more success than before. 'Don’t you dare to compare me to that color-crazed colt!' he grunts.

Twilight shakes her head, not listening to the nonsense he tells her. 'When I met you, you talked about your art as a part of your life. You’ve shown how much you care for others, wishing to share every experience with a friend,' she continues to speak to him. 'You wanted to make friends... And I thought we just became that.'

'End your nonsense, you little bookworm,' he growls. 'This colt knows no friendship! All he knows is that if you want to live your life to the fullest, you must rise up above all the others by any means necessary! That includes forgetting the heartbreaking emotions that are brought by so-called friendship!'

Twilight notices that talking to him does have effect: Hearing how he now basically admits that he is Brush. But it is saddening to hear that Brush is acting like a completely different pony, saying things that he normally wouldn't do.

'So, it WAS all your doing!' they all suddenly hear.

'Rainbow…,' Twilight grunts as she sees how the colorful-maned mare moves forward.

'I knew that there was some connection between you and this Ignis stuff!' Rainbow grunts. 'You meant trouble from the day you came here!'

'Silence, you Flapperback!' the alicorn roars, infuriated by the mare's accusations.

That insult proves more than enough to Rainbow Dash: That Ignis and Brush are one and the same. Brush is nothing but trouble to her, proving by the fact that it was HIS body that harmed them and everypony else. Whether Ignis was controlling his mind or not is no matter to her. Brush did it: End of story.

She is suddenly pulled back by her tail. 'Hold on to yer hooves, sister.' Applejack mumbles with Rainbow’s colorful tail in her mouth. 'He may have been a hothead and clumsy sometimes, but not a troublemaker. ‘Specially not a disaster.'

Pinkie jumps forth to Applejack's side. 'He was a pretty funny guy when I met him! His surprised looks always looked so funny,' she chuckles, thinking back of his face.

'Ehm… He did make my friends scared-' Fluttershy whispers.

'Ah, see?' Rainbow Dash interrupts the bashful mare, using her words as an excuse to put her in her right.

But Fluttershy keeps talking this time, not stopping mid-sentence this time. 'B-But I know it was an accident! He sounded like a nice person who couldn’t harm a fly…,' she sighs.

Rainbow is out of words. She looks around at her friends, who all look a little ashamed of her. The blue mare is realizing that she may have jumped to conclusions too fast, being too bitter about putting blame on somepony.

'He left while I was in the middle of describing the effort I put in my work. i wanted to show skills from artist to artist... But I suppose that I should’ve considered the idea that he was too kind to tell openly that he had no need to hear every tiny detail,' Rarity admits, feeling sorry for putting the stallion through the effort.

They all look at each other, noticing that aside from some unintentional rudeness, Brush was very kind to them even though he was a complete stranger in Ponyville. Even Rainbow Dash ponders that she might have been wrong to tease him the way she did, unleashing that raincloud on his head that one time. Twilight looks at her friends, hearing how Brush managed to make such a friendly impact in one day time. No matter what happened to him after that, he has proven enough that it couldn't have been his own intentions to harm anypony. Celestia simply stands by and listens,

'ENOUGH!' they suddenly hear. Brush is speaking again, having heard enough of their friendly talk about a pony that he claims not to be.'You only care for yourselves, rather than others. That’s how friendship actually works! You judge others and try to make advantage of it!'

It’s incredible how messed up Brush’ mind must have been made. the lingering fear in the mares' mind is that they may not be able to reverse the stallion to his original self.

'Wake up, Brush!' Twilight yells desperatly at him. 'Admit that this isn’t how you think!'

The stallion plants a hoof in the ground, able to rise up. Twilight makes a jump back by surprise, watching at how the red stallion is standing on his four hooves again.

'How often must I tell you fools?! That painter is sealed in my former prison! He can only be freed by me!' he claims.

Princess Celestia steps forth. 'If that is so… prove it,' she challenges him. 'If you can: release the stallion from your so-called seal…'

The alicorn pants from exhaustion, feeling like laughing at her comment. But her words seem to have effect.

To everypony’s surprise… the alicorn has nothing to say in return.

'…All the capabilities of Ignis are based on bringing pain and destruction. I am the only one that knows how to seal the wicked away…,' Celestia explains to him, proving the stallion wrong. 'The painter could never have been sealed away, magically, by Ignis’ powers. It can only mean that it's you, Spectrum Brush.'

Celestia looks into his yellow eyes, giving the red alicorn a deep stare that asks him to come back to his senses. The weakened male starts to breath faster, growing anxious of the Princess' claims and looks. After he stared back at her for a while, he suddenly turns his head away.

'Friendship… Once you get a taste from the love of friendship, it will lead you to the fear of losing it…,' he mumbles quietly.

'Brush…,' Twilight sighs, hearing of the mental pain that goes through her friend's mind. She can hear from his voice that he feels completely drained from happiness. His mind is suddenly so dark, compared with the cheerful personality he showed when they met each other in Ponyville. He doesn’t stop talking.

'Friendship brings fear...Fear brings sorrow...Sorrow… brings hatred,' he whispers bitterly. 'In the end: it makes no difference…'

Twilight tries to go closer to him, but when he notices her approach and starts to growl intimidating to keep her, she stops walking.

'Brush… This isn’t you. Stop this. Stop this now, please,' Twilight asks him, practically begging him to come back to his senses. She is afraid that he won't resist: he may stay in this negative trance, making it impossible to bring him back to his former self.

The alicorn shakes his head at her attempt, ignoring her words. '-Gragh!- You want me to prove that I can’t be him?!' he shouts, having grown tired of his confrontation with the mares. 'In that case…, I will burn the painter's most precious belongings to the ground!'

'Wh-What?!' they gasp in response as they see how the stallion stretches his wings, ready to take off.

'I will burn all of Ponyville down to the ground! Let's see if you can still look me in the eye then and tell me that I'm that loser!' he shouts one last time and leaps into the air, flying into the direction of their village.

'Quick, girls! After him!' Applejack shouts to her friends, breaking a sweat of fear from the idea that their hometown may truly be lit in flames!

While Twilight’s friends rush off to Ponyville, though slower than the alicorn, Twilight takes her personal shortcut: Teleportation. Her friends will have to run all the way, while she disappears in a flash, directly to Ponyville. Princess Celestia is left behind with her royal guards, who have regained their conciousness from Ignis' boulder-smashing assault. She can only watch how the mares move out of her sight. She stops looking their direction when they're barely the size of dots and starts looking between the leftovers of the once-mighty armor of Ignis. When the white mare flips the broken chest plate around, she sees what she was looking for: the Crimson-red crystal that seemed as a part of the chest plate's decoration.

'After all this time… you still feel nothing but endless hatred, do you?' she whispers at it.

***

Twilight reappears, with the same white/purple flash as always. Knowing how fast Brush was when he was still possessed by Lord Ignis, she expects that he has already arrived in Ponyville too. That's why she sent herself directly to the old gallery, the new home of Spectrum Brush, fearing to bear witness to the worst possible sight.

But, to her surprise, nothing has changed. Even Brush’s home is still standing, instead of burning down in flames. The hateful influence on the citizens have ceised, now all having barricaded themselves inside their homes. Small lanterns flicker with a soft light. It is as if Ignis has vanished with all traces. Twilight also notices that the door of Brush’ home is wide open, meaning that somepony has gone inside. Without hesitation, she hurries inside as well.

She hadn’t seen Brush’ home before, until now. It's still not suitable to be a home: corners are filled with spiderwebs, the walls need new paint, and all the furniture and painting supplies are still packed in boxes. The stallion didn't even have time to make his new home habital. No light is burning, forcing Twilight to use the magic brightness from her horn as a flashlight.

The old walls seem pretty empty, though a few paintings are already hung up, being the only thing that show some of Brush' progress. Twilight’s attention is caught by the diversity and professionalism that’s been put into the works, variating in subjects. Nature, portraits, still-life, and so on. Spectrum Brush has tried several styles in his time of travelling. Quietly, she moves through the hall, noticing a tiny picture on a table that stands lonely in the room. The picture shows a little smiling red colt, together with two other ponies. The mare easily recognizes the background: Architecture in Canterlot. As she takes a closer look, she notices that the red colt in the middle must be Brush.

'Don't look at that picture… it's a lie,' she suddenly hears from a corner in the room.

Out of reflex, Twilight points her horn towards the sound, to see who’s there. As much as she was both afraid, and hoping to see: it’s the crimson stallion. It’s a spooky idea that the destructive alicorn, that could nearly move mountains with his power, is now inside this relative small and fragile space.

'I remember these paintings… I remember it was me who made them,' he whispers. 'I always wanted to make something that would make others happy. Something that would allow me to speak not through words,'

He sighs. 'But I always hated it how I was alone all the time doing it… Never gaining that which I was striving for.'

His gaze stays focused on the wall, forcing Twilight to only see his back. The red stallion's mane continues to wave like a flame.

'You made a wise decision when you didn’t seek out friends in Canterlot, Twilight... If you met the ones I knew: You would have a doubt for friendship for years to come...,' he sighs again, sounding like he's dissapointed in himself. 'The picture over there was of me and two so-called friends in Canterlot. I tried to make friends once, eventually discovering them playing tag around Canterlot. I asked to play along, to which they said was ok. I was always the best at it, never being found by them. Not even ONCE did they find me... But that's because they never sought for me.'

'They wern't nice ponies, unlike they acted to me... I was too young. Gullible enough to believe that they were really my friends. Eventually, I found out that it was a lie, of course. One day they simply told me that they don't like me and never considered me to be a friend...,' he grunts, pouring his heart out to his purple friend behind him. 'First; you consider one as friends... The next moment: You realize that they were merely taking advantage of your foolishness...'

'That's not what truly hurt me… But still: It was the beginning. It made me realize how painful lonelyness can be, knowing that there are ponies that would care less if you excist or not. If I had met you instead, a true friend, I probably wouldn’t have left Canterlot in the first place…'

If Twilight feels pained to hear this story. Even though there’s nothing she could do or could've done, she still feels a sorry for him. She never realized how lucky she was to have bumped into the right friends, never having to doubt whether they are really her friends or not.

'I was always so alone… No pony even cared to be my friend…,' he coughs, almost sounding like the sadness is getting to him. 'I left Canterlot to find my luck someplace else, while practicing in the one thing that I could do with love when I was alone: painting. But even after visiting so many places, and managing to stun many ponies with my born precision in art-,' he pauses mid-sentence to take a deep breath, starting to sound like he is getting a dry throat.

Twilight could do nothing but stand there and listen how he empties his heart out to her. She is perhaps the first one to hear the burden he’s been carrying on his heart for years now.

'-I was always the unlucky lonely guy who gets only a sliver of attention compared to his work!' he says with hatred in his voice, which slightly intimidates Twilight. but then he sighs again, calming down. 'Ever since that day, I've never been able to make friends. It's the only thing that I was truly seeking this whole time, instead of inspiration and challenges.'

'I hoped that Ponyville would be different than the other places,' he admits. 'And you know what? It is! In fact, when I met you, I really thought you would understand the way I feel. I thought I found a place I could truly be somepony. Not just a painter, but a friend.'

“You and I, we share a similar goal... We both seek friendship and the secrets behind it… The only difference between us is that you found it, while-' he pauses to chuckle, though it sounds empty from any happy emotion, '-while I have now become the most hated pony in Equestria!'

He leans with his head against the wall, taking a moment to breath deeply again. 'Even without friendship; you can feel like you can manage. But after a long time, you’ll feel all alone... Believe me on that one.'

The tension is razor-sharp. Twilight doesn’t even dare to breath too loud as her friend is talking away.

He grunts. 'I brought sorrow and hate to every possible pony… Ignis drove me to it, because I was too weak! Too weak to fight his control! “He exploited my weak heart, and forced me to be convinced that hating others is better than caring for them,' he sobs. 'He succeeded in making me give up hope in finding a friend… He made me to witness the tragic experiences in my memory, again and again… And when he reminded me that you must be no different than those ponies of back then, because you never came to the crash site, I slowly gave in and believed him…'

'Forgive me!'

'Please, Twilight… Forgive me!' he begs and turns around to look her in the eye.

Twilight’s gasps for air by the surprise. Instead of looking into the spine-chilling glare of Ignis, she now looks into emerald-green eyes: the kindhearted eyes she saw on Brush, now filled with tears of regret and sorrow. The red unicorn truly regrets what has happened, beginning to cry his heart out in front of her.

Twilight wants to make him see that he puts the fault of Ignis all on himself, while he himself is still innocent: Never having had the intention of harming anypony. 'Brush…, It wasn’t your fault. Ignis used you as his host. There’s no way you could’ve fought somepony as powerful like that. Nopony probably could,' she tells him and takes a step closer to him.

Brush shakes his head. 'Is that really an excuse for shadowing Equestria, make everypony hate each other, nearly kidnapping you, harm ponies, including your brother and trying to force the ponies to turn against the princesses?!' he cries.

Twilight doesn’t know how what to say. She wants to say with all honesty that he has nothing to do with it. But physically, he has.

'Worst of all: I attacked and probably injured Princess Celestia… She’ll push me into a rock, like Ignis, for years as punishment when she finds me!' he yelps, growing scared as well. 'What would my family say when they hear what I’ve done? They always believed in me that I would do what is deemed right…'

He shakes the thoughts out of his head quickly. 'I-I-I can’t be around here now. Tell your friends that I won’t be a burden to them anymore…,' he sighs and turns around to walk to the door.

Twilight refuses to accept his words. 'You’re badmouthing yourself, unnecessary! Everypony who met you has seen how kindhearted you can be! There will be no grudge to you, honestly! Princess Celestia will understand it as well! I promise you!' she shouts, trying to change the stallion's mind from walking away.

He breathes out and stops to think about what Twilight tells him. She didn't say much, but the fact that she listened to him, and wishes to help him, shows that she does care for him. 'Thank you, Twilight… You never lost faith in me, even if I’m just a stranger…,' he whispers to her and looks right into her eyes, as if he can read the honesty from her face. 'Tell me: what is it that drove you to have so much faith in me?'

Twilight looks up to him in his eyes. 'Because we’re friends,' she whispers back.

The alicorn is completely silent. If his mane didn’t move, Twilight could’ve sworn that he turned into stone. Suddenly, a faint smile appears on his face. 'Thank you...,' he says relieved, as another teardrop rolls over his cheek.

But he doesn't stop and walks out through doorway. 'I promise: I will return. Until then… I must bid you farewell,' he promises his friends and gives her one final gaze. 'Tell Princess Celestia that I’m sorry for harming her, and that "her secret" is safe with me. Goodbye..., my friend.'

“Wait, Brush!” Twilight shouts and runs after him, wanting to stop him.

But before she could say or do anything, the painter leaves the building and flies off. Twilight tries to run after him for a little while, but stops as soon as she sees how fast he flies out of Ponyville. As Brush flies out of sight, many red-colored feathers fall from the sky on Twilight.

'...magical wings...' she whispers, recognizing the spell.

***

The end of the night sounds so very peaceful. The moon and thousands of stars can be seen from the ground again, sometimes blocked from view by several natural clouds that float along the wind. Every citizen has gone to sleep, feeling exhausted by the entire chaos that this one night brought. Only crickets can be heard, chirping in the grass around the quiet village. It won't be long till it's time for the rising of sun to begin. But even though every pony is supposed to be asleep, the purple mare, Twilight Sparkle, is still so very awake. Staring into the nightsky, she can only sit on the ground and think about so many things that have happened.

After several minutes have passed, about fifteen minutes after Brush' departure, Twilight’s friends are still galloping all the way from the battlefield to their hometown. 'Twilight!' they shout together, glad to see that she's alright. The question why Ponyville is still completely intact isn't asked. The wellbeing of their friend is most important now.

'Suger cube, are y'alright?' Applejack asks worried, surprised that Twilight simply looks at them but remains seated on the ground.

Twilight turns her head to her friends, glad to see them. 'I’m ok... And so will Spectrum Brush be... eventually,' she mumbles. But I’m afraid that he may not be able to handle this burden on his own…'

Though all relieved that the threat of Ignis is finaly gone, Twilight still feels guilty over that it was her idea to take him to the comet, eventually let him go there all on his own, which resulted into this mess. If she didn’t do that, Brush might not have become the host body for Ignis, the being he opposes so much.

Rarity pats Twilight on her back. 'It’s ok, darling. Nopony could’ve seen this coming. He will just need some soul-searching,' she tells her and sits next to her.

'I hope he'll be alright...,' Fluttershy whispers, feeling sorry for him as well.

Rarity raises a hoof to the others, inviting them to all sit together and relax. Despite the victory and the good outcome for Equestria, it just doesn’t feel like a victory over evil. A stallion was victim to it, possibly traumatized for the rest of his life. The mares agree with Twilight that nopony deserves the way Ignis used ponies like puppets, in order to fulfill his desire for revenge. Especially somepony as mentally weak like the painter.

'Ah, good to see you all unharmed,' they are suddenly greeted by Princess Celestia, who flies down from the sky alongside her two guards. When she lands, Twilight stands up and rushes over to her. 'Twilight Sparkle, are you feeling alright?' Celestia asks her.

Twilight mumbles positively and nods.

'Twilight…, if you have something on your mind that troubles you, please, tell me, rather than have it eat you away,' she motivates her, noticing from her moody reaction and face that her mind is in turmoil. 'I understand that this night must feel like a burden on your shoulders,' the white mare admits.

Twilight shakes her head, feeling like she's been feeling sorry for too long, while there are other matters that she deems more important than her own feelings. 'Princess Celestia, I will be ok. But how are you?' she asks in the same worried tone. 'You had a terrible encounter with Bru- ...Ignis.'

'No harm is done. And Ignis will never get to harm others again as well,' she nods with a smile.

'Princess, please tell me: how could Ignis control Brush like that?' Twilight asks. 'How could Ignis possible survive on a meteor and possess somepony who was complete harmless?'

Celestia nods at one of her guards, who then quickly lands at her side. He shows a lockbox to the unicorn mare. The box contains something powerful, radiating a crimson light through the cracks of the box. It's almost like there's a flame inside.

'The crystal I have in this lockbox is the crystal that holds the essence of Lord Ignis. He was sealed into a crystal form by the Elements of Harmony, by me… long ago,' she explains to her pupil. 'Still, he seems to have enough power to dominate a common pony’s mind, even in a crystallized condition like this... Powerful enough to the point that he could change appearances into his own liking, and create wings through magic.'

It explains why Brush looked so different in size, sprouted wings, and got the armor. But it's still hard to believe that his entire personality was surpressed like that. Twilight is impressed at how a little gem like that was the troublemaker of all this madness.

'Princess Celestia, I must ask: Who was Ignis? And what does he have to do with you, Princess Luna, and Discord? Twilight brings up, not thinking of the possibility that the princess may not want to share that information with her.

Celestia holds her hoof softly on the mouth of her student, meaning that she won't have to ask any further questions. It’s obvious that Celestia does not like the truth behind it to simply explain it.

'In due time, my beloved student, you will find out. You have experienced enough for today,' Celestia tells vaguely, but continues to smile with pride for the young mare.

Twilight doesn’t continue on the subject, believing that it’s for the best to leave the history for now and focuses back on the present. Though she knows that she shouldn't ask further questions about these things, she can’t help but wonder what Ignis’ actions will have for consequences.

'What will happen to Brush?' she asks, worried that he will be punished for Ignis' crimes, considering it was still Brush' body that brought all the harm and destruction. 'He is innocent and a very nice guy, who was just in the wrong place and the wrong time! If I didn’t ask him to come with me to the meteor…, he wouldn’t have been-' she tries to explain his innocense.

Celestia interrupts her by raising a hoof between them. 'It’s ok, Twilight. The moment he touched the crystal, he couldn’t have done anything to prevent it from happening. I am very much aware that Ignis was exploiting the weakness in his heart, in order to mess with his mind. Spectrum Brush is in no way responsible and won’t be punished for this tragedy,' she assures her.

'Thank you, Princess,' Twilight says with a faint smile.

Her friends were able to hear every word, feeling also needed to take a deep breath of relief. Justice has served: the wicked is stopped and the innocent are free.

'So… what will we do now?' Rarity wonders. 'Ignis is defeated, the ponies of Equestria are back to normal, the sky is cleared from any darkness, and Brush is off into nowhere. What else is there left?'

Twilight turns around at her friends and thinks about how they are the only ones that know the full story behind Ignis. It may be best that it remains that way. 'Nopony must ever learn that Spectrum Brush was Ignis. It would victimize him more than he already is,' she proposes.

Twilight looks at the princess standing next to her, who agrees with her by giving her a nod.

'It is better to keep this a secret as much as we can,' Celestia admits. 'The Ignis magical hatred in all the ponies’ hearts will soon be gone entirely. the repercussion will be powerful, giving the possiblity that they will all think that Ignis was part of their imagination.'

She looks down to the box, which is brimming with energy. 'The crystal will be taken to Canterlot, and sealed where Ignis will never be able to harm anypony anymore,' she assures. 'As for Brush… he will need some time along, I think.

Rainbow Dash looks, like the others, rather puzzled. 'So… were supposed to act like nothing happened? Ignis came and left like snow in the sun?' she asks doubtful.

But Twilight nods at her, assuring that that’s EXACTLY what they should do. The blue mare looks around her, believing that the rest of her friends probably think the same. So she simply shrugs and accepts.

Before Celestia takes off to Canterlot, she turns around for a final word to them. 'Please, don’t stay in worry over the painter. Believe in the friendship you forged with him. It will help him through his hardships, even when not with him in person,' she assures them with a smile. 'After all: friendship can overcome any obstacle.' she repeats her past words.

With that said, she stretches her white wings and takes off into the night sky, on her way back to Canterlot. When Princess Celestia has gone out of sight, under the moon’s light, Twilight looks back at her friends. She thinks back of all the hardships they have overcome so far together, grateful to have them. 'He’ll be alright,' she understands now, feeling relieved from the troubles.

'After all: Brush is not alone in his own world anymore. And hopefully he gets to understand that too.'

Epilogue

Epilogue

The day has begun. The sun is progressing with its normal schedual, picking up the time where the moon has left. It's been eleven days since that day, which feel like an eternity to the six mares and dragon that witnessed the true identity of Ignis' used body. Ponies all over have forgotten about the invasion of Lord Ignis, as if he never been around. Even the mares are having doubts whether it was real, or just some crazy realistic dream. But deep down, they will never forget the adventure against the Harbringer of Hatred.

Even though Twilight and the others don’t ponder too much about Brush, knowing that they can't change the past, they still think what must be going through his head sometimes. Sometimes they think he's still angry. Other times they can understand that he should be full of sorrow and regret. And sometimes, on rare moments, they wonder if he may be happy. Happy that it's over. Even Rainbow Dash, the mare who only had a hateful confrontation with him, feels sorry for him. She can have a hot temper, just like him, sometimes. But the one that must be burdened the most, is probably Twilight Sparkle. She is the only one that heard about the stallion's life: A story that tells what mental tragedies Spectrum Brush has been through, just to find a friend.

'I'll be right back, Spike,' she shouts to the floor upstairs of the library. 'I need a little breather.'

'Sure thing, Twilight,' the dragon shouts back, busy with gathering some books from the floor, which the his friend keeps forgetting to pick up and put away nicely.

The purple mare goes out of the library for a moment to get some fresh air, having trouble to catch enough sleep every night. It keeps feeling like something is presing on her mind, preventing her from calming down. But feeling the sun rays on her face make her feel much better, as if it cleanses her from any type of burden, even if just for a moment. Maybe she simply studies too much lately, keeping her thoughts in the endless lines of text.

'Miss Sparkle?' a voice suddenly speaks from behind her. 'Twilight Sparkle?'

When she looks behind her, she sees who was asking for her attention: A mare with several stripes on her skin, along with an interesting Cutie Mark on her flank. She wears alot of rings around her neck and leg, along with a wide brown cloak. Aside from the large square item she carries on her back, the mare is easy to be recognized by her friend.

'Zecora!' Twilight sounds surprised, recognizing the mare even when she wears her hood over her head, even though she hasn't seen her for a while.

The zebra throws her hood behind her head. Her grey and white mohawk is what would take most attention at first, being so rare to see in Ponyville.

'What have you been up to these last days?' Twilight asks curious.

Zecora looks rather serious for just a friendly talk, giving the purple mare no smile. 'I ask you to not judge me and despise... Allow me to apologize,' she suddenly tells her.

'Apologize?' Twilight wonders, having no clue of what her friend may be talking about.

'I was asked to stay quiet, the past days. Until my "guest" was saved from his inner blaze,' she rhymes, telling the unicorn that she seems to have been hiding somepony that Twilight may know.

Twilight raises an eyebrow, still not having the slightest clue about what Zecora may be talking about. ''Who?' she asks.

'He never told his name. But when I found him, he was nearly insane. He begged me to rid him from the darkness that shrouded inside. It was I who chose to be his guide,' she rhymes further. 'His appearance was drastically different than normal and he didn't know his name. He has a red skin, an talent for art, and a long unbrushed dark mane.'

Twilight’s eyes widen of surprise, recognizing the description as if she saw that stallion yesterday. The same one who was supposed to have left Ponyville more than a week ago!

'It can’t be… Brush?' she whispers to herself.

Zecora continues doesn't stop, though she does notice that she got Twilight Sparkle's full attention now. 'It took me three days to find a way to save him from the "dark one." After that, he stayed for eight days more to recover in the light of the sun,' she tells her the final details in a rhyme, sounding like the "Dark One" was the remnants of Lord Ignis' magic, which kept Spectrum Brush transformed even after he wasn't possessed anymore.

Zecora's ears hang. The zebra mare feels bad for having to share the bad news with her friend. 'His emotions have suffered terribly. He is different than he may have been in the past,' she mumbles, loud enough for the unicorn to hear it. 'but he still asked me to keep you uninformed about his location as long as he'd last.'

Twilight doesn't blame him, though she should think that Brush is an idot for not letting her help him. She feels stupid herself, about how Brush was at Zecora for eleven days: Time enough for Twilight to consider to pay a visit to Zecora and see if she was ok too. If she did, she would've found him. but now she has missed her chance.

'So… he’s better now?' Twilight asks with her hopes up.

Her friend nods. 'Aye. I have come to deliver the package he left for you, along with this letter too,' she surprises her with the news and starts to search in her robe for a scroll.

When Zecora hands the letter over, Twilight unwraps the parchment in order to read it. Her curiosity is causing her to rush, accidently tearing the letter on several parts as she hastily shreds the ribbon off of it.

'He also asked me to tell you to not look for him, because he will be gone soon... He has things to do in a faraway place, having left during the previous moon,' she warns the worried mare as she drops the package from her back, gently on the ground. Then she turns around to walk away again, understanding that there is no time for a friendly chat now, guessing that Twilight need some time on her own today.

Twilight doesn't even realize that Zecora has already left, being too busy with opening the scroll to read it. When she finaly rolls it open with her unicorn magic, she begins to read it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Allow me to give you a little explaination through this letter. If you're reading this, it means that I've already left Ponyville by now.

I know I left in a haste and kept quiet about my stay at your friend, Zecora, eleven days ago.

I’m sorry, but I just can’t bear to see any familiar faces right now. I now understand that you and your friends MAY not have a grudge for me. But still: I know that your faces would just be filled with grief and disappointment by the mere sight of me.

Let me assure you: The day I met you, I could hardly believe that you wanted to know me. The actual me. You're honestly the first pony that treated me like a friend.

It gave me the hope that when things look at its grimmest, the tides can still turn completely.

When I have the courage to face you all again, I will be back. This I vow. And I always keep my promises.

But before that happens, I have something important to do by myself.

While I was recovering, I created the thing that you can find in the package. It was the thing that’s been burning in my mind ever since the day I got here in Ponyville. I want you to have it: A little gift from a foolish artist.

Thanks to you and your friends, I was able to make a realization of it.

I won’t return to Ponyville any time soon.

That's why I want to ask you a favor, though I have absolutely no right to ask you this: But could you keep an eye out to my home while I’m gone? It’s all I got left now.

Give my regards to everypony else, and farewell for now.

Your faithful friend,

Spectrum Brush

The purple mare reads the letter several time, taking time to process the letter. It's tough to get a letter from somepony, who has vanished without a trace like this. The reason that he cares so deeply for their friendship makes it only more emotional. Twilight looks at the package on the ground in front of her, which Zecora left for her. She starts to unwrap the strings and tears the safety paper from it. the contents reveal a large painting. A painting of her and all her friends, standing in a group, with Ponyville in the background. She recognizes Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and herself, standing in the sunlight. It shows what Spectrum Brush' sight is on their friendship, making it seem so perfect in every perspective.

The painting couldn’t be perfected any further to picture the meaning of the word “Friendship.” And yet, Twilight can sense a lingering emotion from the creator: Envy.

'…Well, Brush. This is now your best creation ever…,' Twilight sighs as she continues to stare at the artwork. 'Because this is the most honest, kind, smile-bringing, generous, loyal and magical creation somepony could make straight from his heart...'

***

Outside Ponyville, at the hills that provide a view over Ponyville, a cloaked pony is looking down, taking his time before leaving in the sunset. He sighs for a moment and turns around, heading to the north.

His final thoughts, before leaving Ponyville out of his sight: 'I will set this right. It’s what a friend would do…'

Final Words

'Halt, Spectrum Brush!'

'Princess Luna?

I'm surprised to see you here all by yourself.

Have you come to lock me away for 1000 years?'

'...No, I am not.

Forced to say: only your words can shed light on the shadows that shrouds my questions...

I have come for answers.'

'...'

'When you were bound to the crystal, what did you beheld? You witnessed the memories of Ignis, did you not?'

'How did you-

Yes…, I did. Why do you wish to know?

Princess Celestia can fill you in on the details better than me...'

'...My sister has no intentions to do so. But it seems to concern about be, so I wish to find the truth.'

'I see…

But I do not intend to tell anypony about what I saw when I was that...monster. And I already promised Princess Celestia that her secret is safe.'

'…'

'Though… I should make an exception for you, Princess Luna.

You do have the right to know the truth.

But, If I tell you... can I count on your support?'

'Support?'

'You off all ponies should know how it feels to be feared thanks to Ignis and have a wish to undo the damage.'

'...I understand, and accept. Explain yourself.'

'Alright then… Follow me. Allow me to start by asking one important question to you that may sound painful to talk about, princess.

When you were Night Mare Moon, You have sensed that Ignis’ presence was not the only one that had influence over your mind, haven’t you?'

The End?

A War for Friendship

Chapter 6 - The Darkness, Light, and Friendship

Chapter 6 - The Darkness, Light, and Friendship

The destruction of the Elements hits a heavy blow to the ponies’ confidence. It happened before: by the hooves of Night Mare Moon. But could the Elements receive another hit by a more powerful force than hers and still be able to be restored? One thing remains certain: Ignis feels more confident than ever, knowing that he prevented history to repeat itself. He won’t stop at nothing until he has defeated Princess Celestia in a duel, willing to take everything from her.

But with her plan busted, will the princess still have a chance against him?

'Princess Celestia, I just can’t let you continue with this! At least let us help you!' Twilight begs to her mentor. It is a hard thing for Twilight to accept that everypony’s beloved princess is really going in combat with this brute, without a back-up plan.

'No, Twilight Sparkle. You and the others must stay here,' Celestia makes clear to her and the others. 'Stay with your friends.'

She looks over her shoulder to her loyal student, who looks desperatly in her eyes. Twilight has already seen how her friends and her brother have bitten the dust before Lord Ignis. She cannot accept the chance that it could happen to the princess as well.

'As long as you have your friends, and won’t give in to despair, Ignis will never succeed,' Celestia assures her and shows a smile, hoping to have comforted her pupil enough. Twilight shakes her head in denial, still unable to accept that Celestia plans to do battle with this warhorse. Celestia gives Twilight a slight wink before she turns her attention to the impatient Ignis. 'It will all be alright,' she whispers to the purple mare and starts to walk towards the armored alicorn, ready to face him.

Twilight still worries for the sake of her mentor, but also has faith in her promise. If the princess promises that everything will be rigth, it WILL be alright. Taking a deep breath, Twilight calms down as her friends hurry to her side, worried for Twilight's health. 'Ok…, we won’t interfere,' she whispers.

The friends stand close to each other for moral support, while they are forced to stay and watch at how their princess will take on the monster that managed to beat five of them, ten royal guards and Shining Armor without any effort.

'Still eager to take me on? If you would just surrender your rank, I wouldn’t feel forced to harm you… much. he jokes, making him laugh of his own cruel joke. 'Take a final look around you, Celestia. It’s the last time that you will see Equestria at peace! We both know that you can’t rise above me in combat! History will be justified for what you did to me!'

Celestia shakes her head in dissagreement. 'I did what I had to do, for the sake of my sister, the ponies of Equestria and myself,' the white mare claims. 'And I would do it again just as easy! You will never take this land back, Ignis! Now that friendship had the chance to bloom after you were gone, it will never be pushed away by you!” she shouts from her heart, believing every word that she just spoke.

Ignis responds by spitting on the ground. 'Maybe it will, maybe it won’t,' he grunts. But like friendship: hatred will never disappear as well. So I’ll take my chances.'

'Now show me! Show me all the cunning you learned these past centuries! Prove to me if you can truly rise above me, or fail trying!' he shouts at her and begins to charge, pointing his horn in the princess' direction.

Just as the stallion gets close to the mare, they both take off, ready for a duel that will result into one of the two futures of Equestria.

***

The battle of Equestria takes forever. A duel of immeasurable levels, preformed by the Princess of the Sun and the Harbringer of Hatred. An alicorn of darkness against an alicorn of the light: Both desperate to claim victory. Ignis’ impenetrable armor gives him a huge advantage, making him invincible against physical combat. But it gives the advantage of speed to Celestia, no matter how quick the stallion still is. The mare's advanced knowledge of magic also gives helps her to fight from a distance, giving her a fair chance against the brutal alicorn, that fights solely on his own rage.

Their conflict is so enlightened by their power, that the pitch-black cloud start to create a crimson-red hue, affected by the magic powers that clash with each other in the air. As the opponents fly in circles in the sky, Celestia uses magic to keep Ignis distanced from her, creating several flashes of light that fend off her pursuer. At the same time, they must both look out for the solid-hard clouds that hang in their way. Completely focused on their goals, they parry and fight with all they have to offer, while maneuvering around the clouds in speed and elegance.

Celestia starts to realize that simply keeping him at distance will not end the battle in her favor eventually, only making her exhausted from staying one hoofstep ahead of the stallion. An unexpected move: Celestia suddenly changes her direction and charges towards Ignis, clearly leaving herself open to an attack of the speeding crimson stallion.

'Tired of running, Princess?' Ignis asks with a smile, expecting that she made a big mistake by closing their distance like this.

Right before the moment of impact, Celestia avoids him, having missed the painful spikes of Ignis' armor by mere inches. In the split seconds that she passes him, she uses the magic from her horn to scrape over his armor, resulting in a large cut of white energy. She has thrown an attempt in crushing the armor. The light is so intense, that it lights the plains in a bright white radiance, causing the mares below to cover their eyes. When the light fades, Celestia looks behind her, noticing how Ignis is surprised and staggared by her move. The dark alicorn looks at his armor, afraid of the same result as Celestia hopes for. But as they watch at how the white slash vanished, it's clear that Ignis is still unscathed, proving it's power against magic as well.

'What is this, Celestia? You’re not holding back on me, are you? Or have the years of peace taken its toll on your skills?' Ignis laughs at her, making a fool out of her by her failed attempt.

But Celestia remains focused, thinking of making her next move.

'Don’t you hate me enough?' Ignis teases her. 'It’s thanks to me that little Luna sealed you away and destroyed the Elements of Harmony for the 1st time! You should be furious to see me turning your kingdom into my personal playground!'

Celestia is still quiet, while her horn starts to glow faintly again. She focusing on a new spell. Ignis makes one more attempt to provoke her, wanting her to try and get close to him again so he can strike back. 'If that isn’t enough to make your blood boil… Then maybe I should brainwash your little protégée next?'

That last sentence was the last threat that makes Celestia go into action, feeling furious about the alicorn's wish to make everything she cares for bitter. The royal mare vanishes in a flash, similar to the teleportation technique that Twilight knows. It has effect; Ignis is once again surprised by the same technique. He knows that Celestia hasn't left the area, simply from the fact that it would mean she forfeits. When he listens and hears a sound behind him, he turns around to see. It was Celestia, waiting for the moment that Ignis would turn around, making him vulnerable to the blinding radiance that she radiates from her horn.

'-Argh!-” he growls, blinded by the bright light.

Before Ignis even gets a chance to recover from the blinding, Celestia starts flying in rapid circles around him, while shoots magical chains from her horn. The chains don't seem to have an end, continuing to spew forth out of Celestia's magic spell, entangling Ignis completely from neck to hoof. Unable to see or flap his wings, the stallion is back in the merciless grip of gravity, causing him to fall down.

The young mares can't keep their eyes of the heated battle, feeling joy when Celestia has managed to turn the tables so suddenly.

'Wow! D-Did you see that? That move looked so awesome!' Rainbow Dash jumps in the air cheering with her friends, who also look happy at how Celestia is standing her ground flawlessly.

But Celestia knows that it wasn't enough assure her the victory. While Ignis plummets down to the ground, he blinks a few times to get his eyes adjusted from the light that blinded him. When he looks up in the sky, at the way Celestia continues to watch at how helpless he is, Ignis has had enough of these jokes.

'Pitiful…,” Ignis sighs unimpressed, beginning to resist the chains that bind him. the stallion breaks his chains effortlessly and stretches his wings to bring a halt to his fall, right before he hits the ground.

Rainbow Dash stops her cheering, along with her friends, when she sees how Ignis recovers unscatched. The blue pegasus quickly lands back on the ground before anypony notices her, knowing now that this fight is far from over. Ignis hurries back in the air, hoovering just like Celestia at the same height.

'That was ineffective, yet an impressive move, Celestia. It brings back memories: A backstab… something you’re so good at,' Ignis compliments her, being snappy about their past. 'How did it feel? To let out that hatred you harbor for me?'

Celestia gently shakes her head in denial. 'I don’t hate you, Ignis. It’s true that I will never forgive you for what you did to my sister, and what you would do to anypony else just as easily. But every time I picture you, I’m reminded of what hatred leads one to...,' she sighs dissapointed in the stallion's nature. 'You will never learn from your mistakes... You will always remain alone until the end of your days… Theoretically speaking: you are nothing but a parasite now…The only thing I feel for you, Ignis, is pity…'

Ignis looks like he’s struck by lightning: His ears twitch from anger, his muscles flex out of rage, and his eyes glare in immeasurable fury at her. Celestia has managed to enrage the Harbringer of Hatred.

'Pity… Pity? PITY?!' he shouts at her with ear-deafening volume. 'How dare you pity me! I should be the one to pity YOU! I will take you and your kingdom down to rubble, just like I did with those blasted Elements!'

He begin to ascend quickly, flying to a height where the mares on the ground can barely see him, while Celestia doesn't hesitate to give chase. When he has reached the pinnacle of the air, the border of the dark clouds, Ignis halts in mid-air. Breathing deeply by the uncontrollable rage that crawls through his head, the alicorn's horn begins to glow.

'I will turn Equestria back-' he gasps and snarls, as a flame-shaped radiance starts to grow around his horn.

Celestia doesn’t stop speeding towards him, knowing exactly what Ignis is up to.

'-into a raging wasteland!' the stallion shouts, launching an enormous fireball, the size of a house, towards Celestia.

The flame is so bright, that it could rival the sun's rays. The entire area is lit up in a fire-red hue as the fireball speeds down to the ground, with Celestia flying between it. It doesn’t stop the mare from charging onwards though. She keeps flying up, right towards the incoming danger. Before she gets too close, she uses her time to channel a new spell, causing her horn to glow bright-white.

'WATCH OUT!' Twilight shouts, terribly afraid for the princess' fate. Her heart is pounding without control in her chest. Her friends share her fears, all sweating by both the heat from the flame and the stress.

With a mighty swing of her glowing horn, she strikes the fire, causing it to splice into several smaller flares, which rain into all directions. The fireballs move towards the surprised mares, making them gasp in panic. As they are ready to jump around to save their skin, Twilight steps in with her magic. Though panicking for the princess' well-being a moment ago, she manages to douse the flames before it gets the chance to get close to her friends, keeping everypony safe.

Before Celestia has time to turn her attention back to the her opponent, she is struck by Ignis, who bashes his shoulder plate against her side, causing the princess the fall several feet down before recovering.

'-Ah!-' she gasps, reaching the limit of her power.

When Twilight managed to prevent the fields to become a raging hellfire by the few remaining flares, with the help of her friends, she looks back at the princess, growing more and more worried for her sake. While the mares continue to look at the possible endless fight, anxious about how their beloved princess is fighting a losing battle, they don’t notice a small figure approaching them.

'T-Twilight!' a voice yells to the six friends.

They all hear the familiar voice and look over their shoulders, notice the little creature that approaches them.

'Spike!' Twilight gasps, both happy and worried, seeing how the exhausted dragon carries a box all the way to this desolated place.

They all forget about the battle for a moment and hurry to the young dragon, surprised to see him here.

'What are you doing?! It’s dangerous here!' Twilight scolds him.

Spike ignores her for a moment and drops on the ground, catching his breath. 'B- *pant* But I had to! Princess Celestia asked me to hurry to here!' he coughs. 'This-This fight. It was all part of her-' he tries to explain, only to be interrupted by a loud crash that is heard behind the girls.

Twilight is afraid of the possible reason, slowly turning her head around to look. Though everypony else gasps, Twilight is speechless, realizing that the crash was caused by the white mare, who has lost the energy to keep herself in the air. Princess Celestia is nearing the point where she can barely stand, let alone fight anymore. Coughing from the dust that gets in her lungs, the white mare looks at her faithfull subjects.

'Pr-Princess Celestia…,'Twilight whispers softly, as a tear rolls over her cheek.

A shadow of the terrible stallion descends to her, laughing about the tragedy. '-Hahaha!- What’s wrong Celestia? You sounded so confident a moment ago. Has despair finally caught up to you?' Ignis pesters the exhausted princess.

In a second of time, Twilight wants to rush to Celestia. She wants to do SOMETHING. But Spike quickly grabs hold on her tail purple with pink tail, attempting to stop her.

'Let me go, Spike!' she whimpers. 'I have to help her!'

Spike is keeping her away from the tall alicorns, using the last bits of energy he has left. 'And you can! You all can!' he shouts to her. 'Just calm down and hear me out!'

Twilight is at a breaking point where all the nerves in her head feel shattered, preventing her to think straight and struggle any further. She gives in to her assistant's efforts, turning around to him.

'Wh-What do you mean?' she stutters.

Spike takes a deep breath before he begins to explain everything. 'Princess Celestia foresaw that Ignis arrived, when he used the Royal Canterlot Voice across all of Equestria. The moment you went to search for Celestia, you couldn’t find her at Canterlot-'

'Yea, because she went searching for us in Ponyville,' Applejack interrupts him. 'We passed each other unnoticed.'

Spike shakes his head. 'She didn’t miss you. She avoided you on purpose!'

The mares can hardly believe their ears. Why in Equestria's name would the princess avoid them in a time of crisis? Right now she's about to lose a fight that means the end of peace as they all know it. Then what is it that makes her avoid them and keep Canterlot uninformed?

Spike tries to tell them, growing annoyed by the interruptions. 'She came looking for me to hand me this!' the purple dragon tells them as he opens the box he was carrying with him, which seems to contain five necklaces and a crown.

They can't believe their eyes: In the box are the Elements of Harmony, intact!

'Spike, Why- How?' they ask in wonder, baffeled and confused.

Spike takes a few seconds to catch some more air, still tired of the extremely long distances he's been running.

'B-because she knew that Ignis would never keep an eye out to me! The princess entrusted me the Elements and told me to go to this place as quickly as possible,' he gasps. 'Princess Celestia made him think that he destroyed the Elements, the only things that ever defeated him, to lower his guard! She thinks that if Ignis knew, he would be far harder to be stopped with the Elements’ power! But now that she distracted and tired him down, YOU get the chance to stop him!'

Celestia's brilliance and cunning has once again been proven to the mares. The girls are silenced by the positive realization that they still have a chance to stop Ignis. This whole time, Celestia knew what she was doing, and devised this plan to make sure that Ignis would be stopped for certain. Her trust in everypony has led all to this: the point where friendship can defeat its opposite: hatred. Twilight looks behind her at Ignis, who continues to gloat over his victory.

'Let’s do it,' Twilight tells her friends, showing them a grin on her face. Lord Ignis won't know what hit him, until it's too late.

Ignis finishes laughing. 'All these years… I couldn’t think of anything but how I would take you down,' he sighs.

Celestia raises her head in order to look him in the eye. 'You... always were a hothead, Ignis. You were always so full of yourself.... Always believing that you’re invincible…'

He gives a chuckle in satisfaction, believing that the white mare would only speak like this when it means her defeat. 'As of today, Celestia, you will address me as LORD Ignis,' he corrects her. 'You outsmarted me last time. And now you thought that I wasn’t smart enough to devise a scheme to draw you out, destroy those pesky Elements, and succeed in dominating this land once more,'

While Ignis continues to gloat and cheer about his victory over the princess, the Mane Six put on their respective element. The stallion is completely vulnerable: Drunk with power and tired from the fight.

Applejack puts on the Element of Honesty.

'I always was the greater alicorn. The only reason you beat me was by suddenly betraying me with Discord’s help! Without the Elements of Harmony, or even the element of surprise, you are nothing against me!'

Fluttershy puts on the Element of Kindness.

'Night Mare Moon may have failed to take out the Elements. But at least I learned through her eyes how to crush them for good! Your sister proved most useful as my binoculars! -Hahaha!-'

Pinkie Pie puts on the Element of Laughter.

'But no worries, my dear Celestia... You and your sister will be together forever… in a dungeon! Let’s see how you will feel to be sealed up for so long!'

Rarity puts on the Element of Generosity.

'Discord, the rat, will be a useful tool again… as stone doorstopper for my front door!'

Rainbow Dash puts on the Element of Loyalty.

'Face it, Celestia-'

And finaly: Twilight puts on the crown of the Element of Magic.

'-You lose.'

When the princess suddenly begins to smile at him, Ignis is caught off-guard. He notices the six bright lights that appear in the corner of his eyesight, originating from behind him. Before he even gets the chance to look, chains of different colors shoot out to Ignis from all direction, ensnaring him around his legs. Ignis gasps in surprise at the chains, unable to comprehend what is happening.

'Wh-What in the blazes?!' he gasps, unable to break the colorful chains.

He looks away from Celestia, checking over his shoulder what is going on, and notices how the six young mares are channeling the power of the real Elements of Harmony, ready to save Equestria from the Harbringer of Hatred. His yellow eyes widen from horror, unable to accept the truth.

'I destroyed them! I DESTROYED THEM!' Ignis screams in denial, using all his might in an attempt to free himself from the powerful chains. The harder he pulls, the stronger the grip becomes. Eventually he has to give in, causing him to be pulled to the ground.

Celestia slowly stands up again, still a little dizzy from the beating she got. But aside her injuried, the princess can only smile, glad to know that the danger has been stopped.

'You destroyed a fake. You made the same mistake like when you used my sister as your puppet,' she sighs and continues to stare down at the struggling stallion. 'YOU tried to turn my sister into an even greater monster than you. It was YOU who forced her to become Night Mare Moon when she had that one moment of anger. It was YOU who forced me to banish my own sister for a thousand years... I will never forgive you for that, Ignis.'

'-Graagh!-' Ignis screams, unable to do anything but growl in rage, feeling how the chains bind him like snakes.

'You are still the evil stallion from when we last saw each other,' she continues to confront him. 'Magical banishment is the only way Equestria will ever be safe from the likes of you...'

Ignis stops resisting and glares at Celestia as he bares his teeth. He only has a few moments left before the Elements of Harmony will be unleashed. 'I hate you, Celestia! I HATE YOU!-' He shouts as his final word, cut off as the Elements unleash their power as a massive tower of light of a yard wide, exploding from Ignis’ footing. The beam of light cuts through the previously immobile dark clouds, purging the sky clean from their shadow. Friendship enlightens the darkness in a flash, bringing all hope and sanity back to Equestria. As the light of friendship slowly fades, a bright white moon fills the night sky.

Even Ignis’ amazing power has no chance against a force like this.

***

Loud coughs are heard in the dust, blocking the sight of every pony that stands in it. Unable to find each other, the mares and dragon are simply wandering around, trying to get the group back together.

'Is everypony alright?' Twilight shouts into the dust.

'I am.'

'Yes.'

'Yup.'

'I think so.'

'Me too!'

'-cough- yea.'

Six voices confirm.

'Good to hear,' Twilight sighs and smiles, glad to hear everypony is alright, even though she can't see further than a few feet distance. 'Follow my voice, girls. I am over-' she tries to lead, but gets interrupted by the cheerful voice of Pinkie Pie.

'Marco!' she shouts, making a game out of the situation.

'Eh... Polo?' a boy’s voice responds.

'Spike? Spike, Is that you?' Twilight continues to search.

'Yea, I’m right over- Hey! Carefull, Pinkie!' he tells the pink mare, after she accidently stepped on his spiky tail.

After a while of searching, they finaly manage to come to one point, all a still shaky of the previous event.

'Did…Did we win?' Fluttershy anxiously asks.

Applejack nods. 'I’d like to see that hothead come unscathed from this,' she tells her with a grin of satisfaction on her face.

'Then, it’s over! We won!' Twilight sighs relieved, glad to have no need to be so stressful and worried anymore.

'Yay! -cough cough-' Pinkie tries to cheer, but stops when she breathes too much dust in her lungs. Rarity hits her hoof a few times on Pinkie’s back in order to get the dust out of her system. She would like to suggest to get out of this mess as quickly as possible, mostly because she's afraid that it will mess up her mane.

'Let’s go,' Twilight suggest. 'We got to find Princess Celestia and-'

'I hate you…' the mare suddenly hears. The voice came from an unseen distance in the dust. Wherever it came from, it sonds very close by.

'I hate you…' the voice repeats. The other mares hear it too, feeling alarmed right away. they all recognize the voice, which causes a chill to crawl down their spines.

Fluttershy cowers and shivers in fear, knowing that it's not over. 'No…,' she whimpers.

'I-hate- you-all-SO-MUCH!' the voice screams, followed by a storm that razes through the dust.

The dust gets completely blown away by a strong current, having an unnatural timing. It's because it originated from the flaps of two powerful wings, attached to an exhausted, furious crimson-red alicorn.

'It’s Ignis!' Rarity shrieks, right before she faints from terror. Spike hurries to catch her before she hits the ground, feeling sort of glad to be of help to the pretty mare.

The others gasp in fright at Ignis, having endured the power of the Elements of Harmony, the power of friendship. Though it did seem that it did a number on him, because the stallion looks completely broken, lying on the ground between the fragments of his so called unbreakable armor. Coughing from exhaustion and unable to stand up, his yellow eyes glare at every individual that look at him. If they couldn't already read it from his face, they could already hear from his snarls that he is fired up with unbridled rage.

'Your friendships… It’s all a lie! Friendship is nothing but a TOOL to make others feel miserable!' the stallion shouts at them as he, unsuccessfully, tries to pull himself up from the ground.

The ponies breath nervously from the stress over how the evil alicorn could have possibly not been stopped by the Elements completely, a feat no evildoer has ever managed to do before!

The only pony that isn't as surprised as the rest is Twilight Sparkle, who silently looks at the alicorn. She isn’t truly shocked over Ignis’ insanity, his rage, or the intimidating yellow eyes. Neither is she shocked over his threats.

But she is HORRIFIED by the shattering of his armor, revealing his Cutie Mark: A palette with a brush.