A War for Friendship

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.'