A War for Friendship

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.