Redeemed

by BanditofBandwidth

Rating: everyone
Tags: Tragedy, Adventure
Length: 12928

Spectrum Brush and Princess Luna both faced horrors of corruption. Now they seek Redemption.

<The story about the event between my other fanfics: "Three Days in the Dark" and "Friends or Foes">

The stallion, Spectrum Brush, has faced a horrible experience of being used for evil in the past days. Unable to face anypony now out of guilt, he seeks a way to make up for his mistakes. Princess Luna, understanding his feelings better than anypony else can, joins his quest to use the memories of his past "puppeteer" for the good of Equestria: Finding and securing the Crystal of Lady Fame, before the same catastrophe could happen all over again.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-06 10:20:01 UTC

Bitter Beginnings

Chapter 1 - Bitter Beginnings

This is where things end, I've said my goodbyes, and where new things begin. The princess knows it all now: Lady Fame, Lord Ignis, Celestia's adventure with Spite the dragon; Everything. She may not show it by acting this formal, but I know that she's confused and saddened right now. She can try and look me in the eye when telling to move away from Ponyville from now, but eyes never lie. I can only imagine how it must feel like when a sibling, who'm you trust so much, turns out to have kept this kind of information from you. I pray that I'll never have to tell this story anypony again and draw out sorrow like that.

She may be a princess (and a bit full of herself), but that doesn't keep me from seeing what matters. Though Luna can't tell up from down at the moment, she's surprisingly good at keeping it together in front of me. I'm starting to think that she may actually be a good pony to have at your side after all.

Tranquility has made its comeback once again. Fourteen days have passed since the return of Lord Ignis. Ponies all over Equestria have somehow forgotten about what happened. Their memories about the Harbringer of Hatred, the clouds that blocked the sky, and their hate towards each other are completely whiped out. To them: The past two weeks have been just the same as any peaceful day. But the two ponies that leave Ponyville in the sunset are different; they still remember Ignis as clear as day.

'So... Now you know,' the red stallion says, right after having told the entire story.

The red stallion in the brown cloak turns away. A few plucks of his mane are shown from under his hood, covering half of the sight of his emerald-green eyes. A red horn pokes out of his mane, just like his nose. He seems unmoved, as if he doesn't show any pity towards anypony.

Only a dark-purple mare stands behind him, with the same height as the male's. A mane as dark and magical as the night, glittering with several lights that resemble stars in the sky, flows from her crowned head. Her chest bears a seal, shaped like a silver crescent moon, just like one that is tattoed on her rump. Though a tall unicorn horn is shown on her forehead, she has also been blessed with the ability of flight, due her purple pegasus wings on her sides. Her eyes are deep-blue, like an ocean, though full of fear and surprise. The alicorn doesn't say a word at first. Nopony would be able to remain untouched after hearing about such a big concern of her past.

'I... See...,' she simply speaks to keep the silence from making her look overthrown with emotions. The princess tries to keep up with the unicorn, who doesn't stop walking away from the nearby town. 'Ignis and Fame... I can hardly believe my sister would keep such secrets from me for so long!'

'She had her reason, right?' Brush comes up for Celestia, knowing how frightening her past was. 'She probably didn't want to burden you...'

'Burden me?! HAH!' the princess says with a raised voice. 'Considering the fact she never told me about it, I always believed that my behaviour was all because of I! But now it's proven by word that the origin of Night Mare Moon lies with those alicorns!'

She stops shouting the moment she realizes that there were more alicorns than just her and her sister. One can only imagine how it must be like to be one of the last of your kind: An alicorn. It must be lonely sometimes, without a sibling at your side. And now that it turned out that Princess Celestia was keeping information from her for this long, it must make her feel as lonely as she when she was banished to the moon.

But even though Luna's life has been a tragic one for centuries, the princess shows no signs of depression or weakness, standing tall and confident instead. She's a princess of Equestria, who will not let the past make her vulnerable. Though instead of shouting further about it, she rather changes the subject after all. 'Won't you return and answer to your friends?' she asks the uncaring stallion in front of her.

'I won't,' Brush merely grunts. 'There's nothing for me to say now.'

But the princess has her doubts about that and stops following the stallion. 'The ponies still seem worried about you, even though you've been away for a time...,' she tells him.

He slows down his pace, allowing the princess to catch up to look her in the eye. Watching from behind his dark mane that hangs over his face, he looks at her with his soulless emerald-green eyes. With his sight aimed at the mare, she progressively grows anxious from that freezing cold stare. His eyes may be Spectrum Brush's, but it somehow feels like the snake-eyed glare of the Harbringer of Hatred. He's still a beast in the eye, trying to stare deeply in the royal mare's eyes, as if he can read her mind.

'You lie... My friends are trying to forget about me...,' he suddenly grunts and walks ahead of her again.

Her eyes widen, almost not able to believe what she heard. Losing track of what truly matters, Luna's pride makes her feel insulted. This is something she could never have seen coming: She, the Princess of the Night, has been called a liar. 'I-I lie?! You dare say I lie?!' Luna shouts insulted, while Brush doesn't pay any more attention to her whether she's shouting or not. 'Must I remind you of who I am?!'

'Don't take it too hard... I know you just said it to try and cheer me up,' he explains without even a bit of sentimentality in his voice. 'You wouldn't like it if somepony else would suddenly tell you the painful truth... Yet, it's the truth that I actually want to know.'

The princess' outburst cools down as quick as it came, understanding immidiatly that the unicorn didn't mean it to insult her, but rather ask her to not go easy on him. Or maybe it's because she WAS lying, knowing that most of the mares are trying not to worry about him for their own sakes, which may make her unable to stay mad at him for it. Normally she would tell anypony just the truth as it is. But now that she sees this stallion; a broken soul she can relate to, she somehow just couldn't make herself to tell him the cold hard facts that she herself would have trouble to hear from another pony. Understanding, yet still a little puzzled about herself, she continues to follow the stallion on hoof, clean from any signs of anger and insults.

Brush doesn't give her another look, simply looking over the old grassy path ahead that goes in a large circle around the nearby village, named Ponyville. Even the birds in the trees seem absent, either asleep or simply living closer to the town. The only sounds that the two lonesome ponies get to hear are the clops of his hooves, Luna's hooves, and the chilly breeze that blows over the leaves. Though a peaceful enviroment, Brush is certainly not feeling at peace.

When ten minutes have passed and the two ponies are halfway around Ponyville, the unicorn hears how Luna's pace increases until she walks at his side again.

'And what do you intend to do now, Spectrum Brush?' she asks him with the habit of calling ponies by their full name again. 'Shall you simply move away; running from your problems?'

Brush shrugs, not sure himself. 'I'm not going to run. I'm going to reap what I sow,' he answers bitter and looks at her again, able for them to look each other in the eyes and figure what the other is thinking. His eyes are suddenly not as cold as before, but not warm either. There's simply nothing that the princess can see in his green eyes; making her feel like she's looking at a living corpse without a soul.

'You will solve the trauma of Lord Ignis? His presence seems to have been removed from all ponies now,' she asks him, though it's tough to keep up with the impatient stallion. Having enough of aimlessly following him around the outside of Ponyville, the princess jumps in front of him, forcing him to stop. 'What can you do?'

Blinking a few times over the princess' forceful pause, he remains as calm and solid as this entire time. 'Not ALL ponies have forgotten, princess. If everypony would've forgotten about Ignis, neither you or I should still be wise about it,' he contradicts her. 'And we both know that the Mane Six, Shining Armor, your niece, the royal guards, and your sister are also still aware of Ignis' return before...'

Luna's subject about what Brush is going to do has been once again been turned around into a yes-no arguement, never resulting in a clear "winner." 'But only your friends and my sister are aware of your involvement! And none of them blames you for it!' Luna tries to talk him over anyway, believing Brush will only walk lonely over Equestria if he will go away like this.

'Should that satisfy me? Should I say "Ok, that's cool" just because they SAY and tell themselves to forgive me?' he asks with a raised voice, making him sound like he's angry about Luna's attempt to make him feel better. 'Did you come all this way to make me feel better, like you do? ...Or did you seek me out because you cannot forgive yourself, like me, even though everypony around you does...'

The princess' words grow stuck in her throat, like having been forced to drink boiling hot tar, unabling her to say anything more about it that could prove her right. The stallion knows exactly what she's thinking. It's possible: She may have only wanted to bring up something comforting because she may believed that having Brush forgive himself would allow her to forgive herself aswell. She could have fooled herself to forgive herself, though they both know that forgiveness must be earned the hard way.

Defeated, saying no word further, Luna looks away from Brush and sighs softly. Brush doesn't blame the princess for trying to stop him, though he won't give in to her pretty promises as well. He simply moves right around the mare, who shows no will to stop him anymore, to proceed along the lonesome old grassy road in the sunset. When he is about to walk ahead of her, he looks one time over his shoulder at the confused and saddened mare.

'I'm going to find out where Discord threw that crystal towards. This entire time it's been in Equestria, without anypony else knowing,' he says as his last sentence to her and slowly walks off.

'Will that clear your conscience?' she whispers while she continues to stare the ground in front of her, but loud enough for him to hear it. 'Will you be able to feel better about yourself when you find it and prevent a possible future catastrophe?' she asks and then looks behind her at the stallion, who seems to have stopped by choice.

Nothing is heared at first; no voices, no nature, no clops on the ground. They simply look at each other again: A confused princess and a burdened painter.

Luna's ghastly mane continues to wave in the soft breeze, though it doesn't unfocus Luna's ocean-blue eyes when it moves in front of them. They won't stop looking at him until she will hear the right answer from him, even though Brush takes a while before he finally replies to her question.

'Yes. I know I will...,' he eventually says.

'Very well...,' Princess Luna sighs and looks away. 'In that case; you shall need help.'

Brush nods, not having forgotten about the deal they made: Her help for his information. 'That's right; I need to have contact to the real world here. If I'm going into no-colts-land, I would atleast want to kn-' he explains, only to be rudely interrupted.

'That's not what I'm here for,' she corrects him. 'I shall go along.'

The stallion grunts, sounding as surprised as he can be in his current state. At first he doesn't say anything or even look at her. Luna doesn't know what he might say or think now, but she knows with absolute certainty that she will not take her words back.

'That plan is out of the question, princess...,' he suddenly says and continues to walk further.

Like calling her a liar before, this answer does not bode well to the princess. Her calm personality quickly dissapears like snow in the sun, growing angry at the uncaring stallion once more.

'E-Excuse me?!' Luna asks with a temper, having been ordered by this lowly stallion just now. 'You deny me, Princess Luna's, presence?!'

'That's correct...,' he grunts, clearly unimpressed by the mighty words of the princess.

The mare can't believe her ears. Never in her life has she been denied something like this by somepony like this. 'The nerve!' she thinks in her head. 'He can't tell me what to do!'

'The deal was that I would AID you! That does not mean playing spy in my own kingdom!' she shouts in her fit of rage.

'How you would help me is my concern...,' he simply answers, showing no regret about his decision. 'You will help me by keeping me informed, princess. Nothing more...'

But it's not acceptable for the alicorn. This arrogance is what makes her upset mostly: The arrogance of commanding her to do something degrading like this, without any sign of caring for her, while she wants to do the same as him to be freed of her own burdens as well.

'How about I tell my sister about everything?!' she threatens. 'I-I will have you arrested for crimes against Equestria if you do not accept alligiance!'

'Whatever...,' Spectrum Brush grunts and doesn't stop walking away from the angry mare of royalty.

Luna's emotions shift like a freakwinter; going from confused to angry to scared, from one to the other. The last time she was upset like this was when she was accepted by her sister again, freed from Night Mare Moon's rage. Her ears move down, giving the sign of grief or worry, just like her eyes are suddenly looking at him with a sense of regret. '...Are you not afraid of being alone? What if you get hurt and nopony will be able to help you...,' Luna asks, more sentimental all of the sudden.

But Brush only spits on the ground, meaning it out of disrespect. 'Well, doesn't that serve as a perfect sentence for a traitor of Equestria, PRINCESS?' he grunts, with a noticable bitter voice. Brush is cross with her.

This is the sign for the alicorn to stop talking. Normally, no matter how she would say anything, it would persuade ponies to accept her demands. Because of her recognized status as princess, everypony would follow her blindly in any case. But Brush is different: He needs more than to hear a title to accept her. No matter how big the gap is between them, Brush will even treat a princess like her as an equal.

Now she begins to realize how awful her words must've sounded. Just like he's preventing her from journeying for a cleansing, she's doing the exact same thing; Threatening him of stopping his quest before it even begins. Her command alone is not enough to change this stallion's mind. And considering her abominable outburst to him just now, she's afraid she may have ruined it completely to ever get a chance to be accepted by him. It worries her, because he's more important to her than any common stallion in Equestria: He may be the only one that could understand her reasons and help her. And the only way to do that is by treating him as kind as she would like to be treated back. But now it may already be too late.

'Please...,' she sighs and drops on the ground, defeated. 'I apologize...'

The mighty mare of the Night can do nothing but look at the ground and wish for acceptance. She can't stop Brush from what he plans to do, just like she can't tell him to accept, even if she's a princess or not. She's simply beaten by fate. He has probably walked off by now, though not impossible for her to catch up with her wings. But even if she would, she knows it wouldn't change a thing.

But then she suddenly realizes that she can still hear hoofsteps, which are becoming louder, instead of softer. When she looks up in front of her, her eyes look straight at the cloaked red unicorn, standing a few inches away from her. Brush came back.

'What did you say?' he asks, calm as ever.

At first, Luna swallows, feeling a little intimidated by the stallion looking down at her. Then she speaks. 'I can't return to Canterlot... I must go as well,' she whispers. 'I may be a princess of Equestria... But even I cannot truly look into my subjects' eyes when I face them... After having been Night Mare Moon, the guilt has become a constant burden that time itself cannot shake off! Ever since my banishment, I've been so lonely and afraid... You know how that feels too, don't you?'

Brush doesn't look away. Instead he sits down in front of her. It's as if he now deems the princess worth his attention. Her words were spoken with so much noticable emotions that it somehow even managed to send a tingling feeling into the stallion's mind, allowing him to see the princess in a different light. 'Yes... I guess can relate myself to that...,' he sighs and reaches out a hoof from under his brown robe to help the purple mare up. 'Fine, you win.'

Looking both surprised and puzzled at the meaning of his hoof, she gets the idea that he's saying that he agrees with her; in the form of helping her off the ground like this. Without hesitation, she grabs onto it and uses his help to stand back up. 'Then... You cannot deny me what you seek?' she ask for certainty.

'No... No, I guess I can't. I cannot stop you from doing what you have to do, princess,' he admits. ´But... don´t think this is some fun trip or something! Our LIVES could be riding on this!´

A smile appears on Luna's face. She can't believe that actually worked. The stallion indirectly just said that he'll accept her help during the trip, rather than using her as background help. ´I thank you, Spectrum Brush,´ she kindly thanks him, with a little bow of respect.

'There's only one problem...,' he brings up.

Luna's smile dissapears, making place for worry once again. 'What would that be?' she asks, trying not to sound too worried.

The unicorn raises his hoof and points to the west at the sinking sun. 'Don't you have to be back in Canterlot to raise the moon?' he asks, stating the obvious problem.

Quickly, she turns around to look at how far the sun has already sank and lets out a little gasp of surprise when she realizes that the sun is already half behind the horizon. She can't believe that it's already sunset this soon, not having looked at the time for the entire day she was looking for Brush. As princess of the night, she can't affort to be late back in Canterlot to raise the night.

'Oh! I-I must take my leave!' she gasps and hasitly stretches her wings to fly off.

With a graceful flap of her wings, strong enough to blow the grass away from her, the princess flies into the air. The gust blows over the stallion as well, pushing his hood off his head in a split second. He doesn't seem to care though, remaining focused on the purple mare that is taking off with the orange sky coloring her leave.

But before the purple alicorn speeds off to the east, she remains stationary in the air in order to say something down to her new ally. 'Do not DARE dissapear before I return here! That is a direct order from your princess!' she shouts, knowing full well what Brush is capable of.

'Yea yea...,' he mutters, neither sounding honest nor sarcastic.

With that said, Luna can't waste any more time. Quickly speeding off with the speed of a galloping earth pony, Luna rushes back to her home, leaving the stallion on his own once more. When the flaps of Luna's wings are out of the air, the silence returns to Brush's surroundings. It feels peaceful, yet a tad lonely too.

***

'He better have listened to me!' Luna gasps exhausted, speeding with a terrific speed through the air in nighttime again.

Her precious moon is on his way to the other side of the night sky, raining down it's moonlight on its princess. Countless stars flicker randomly, in sync with the lights that sparkle in her waving mane. She left Canterlot in a hurry, afraid she may be late to catch up to the red stallion. Though any regular pony wouldn't be able to see further than a couple of meters in this thick darkness, Princess Luna's eyes are actually at their best in this circumstance. It doesn't take long or she has already found out where the stallion was spotted last time.

Flapping her wings rapidly to slow down, the alicorn gently lands on the grassy road, a few hoofsteps away from where she left. With the moonlight illuminating most of the hills around her, Luna can even see her hoofsteps of when she lept into the air this sunset. But what she can't see is the stallion that promised to wait for her.

'That traitorous-!' she shouts out loud and stomps with a hoof on the ground. Even after her warning, it looks like Brush has taken his leave after all. Once again, Luna becomes mad at him, feeling betrayed. 'He shan't get away with this!'

Her anger blinds her for a moment, delaying her senses of noticing the movement that occurs in the bushes. A set of green eyes peek from out the grass at her. A red head with a dark mane soon pops out of the grass, looking rudely awakened by the noisy princess.

'Erm... Over here...,' he grunts, with a sleepy voice.

Luna's outburst ends abruptly. Surprised and embaressed about what she just shouted out loud, the alicorn quickly turns around to where the recognizable male voice came from. Spectrum Brush has been waiting after all.

'O-Oh! My apoligies. I-I thought-' she mumbles, saying her sorries for her hasty suspicions.

'It's ok... I'm used to ponies not having faith in me...,' he sighs and drops his head back on a bush that he uses for a pillow. 'What are you doing here? I thought you'd be back in the morning.'

The purple mare slowly walks over to him, still a little baffled that the stallion's kept promise. 'I -eh- I thought I was expected as soon as possible...,' she sighs, realizing that she was worried over nothing after all.

'Well... I do need my sleep,' he mumbles and closes his eyes. 'Feel free to go home for the night.'

The magical alicorn has no idea what she could say to that now. She made a mistake of appearing way too early, leaving her standing here in the grass on the path. A little unsure, the princess decides to keep him up anyway.

'What... What do we require for the journey?' she asks. 'What is the estimated time that we'll secure Lady Fame's crystal?'

The stallion opens his eyes slowly and lets out a deep sigh of impatience. He has already figured that sleeping will be hard during nighttime while the princess of the night is around him.

'We need supplies; enough to last for weeks,' he grunts and turns his towards the alicorn.

'I see...,' she sighs, unable to keep the conversation going smoothly. Brush is only trying to give short answers in his attempt to sleep.

But Luna feels pumped, actually. She feels excited to do this: Travelling for her search to forgive herself, while doing it unbeknownst to anypony, including her sister. With night being to her like the day is to a common pony, Luna hasn't thought off sleeping now. Instead, she wants to speak to this stallion some more about his opinion.

'When shall we procure the supplies?' she asks him, which results in another grunt from the stallion. 'The closest location is Ponyville. As far as I know; there are no other towns north of here. And the only times when stores are open is on daytime.'

'Fine, Ponyville it is...,' he answers quickly to keep Luna from asking any more questions. 'I suppose we should BOTH rest then... If you're planning to enter Ponyville by yourself tomorrow like that, I doubt you should go into it with drowzy eyes and yawning.'

That last sentence didn't sound right to Princess Luna's ears. If she didn't know any better, she could've sworn that Brush just said that SHE'S supposed to enter the town without him, right this morning. Frowing at the attempt-sleeping stallion, Luna dissagrees with his suggestion.

'You ask me... To go grocery shopping in Ponyville?' she asks with a bitter tone, feeling like he's demeaning her as a mere assistant. 'Could you not have told that before?! I would have easily found supplies at home!'

The stallion scratches his chin, pondering about it. 'Yea... Yea, you could've,' he mumbles, figuring he made a tiny mistake of which he doesn't seem to care much about after all. 'Well, luckly we have time on our side; You can still return to Canterlot for supplies now.'

His attempt to be rid of Luna for atleast an hour backfires miserably, only angering Luna further.

'Do you believe flying is for free?! How am I supposed to carry supplies out unnoticed, by myself, all this way?!' she shouts, angry about Brush's sloppy behaviour.

Though she needs the stallion for this trip, she can't stand his guts.

'Then Ponyville it is,' he yawns and closes his eyes once more. 'Goodnight, princess.'

'Hold on, Spectrum Brush!' she pressures with her voice. The princess has absolutely no intention of letting Brush fall asleep now. 'If you think I shall be your little helper, you're terribly wrong! If I'm going to have to seek out supplies, using royal funding, you BETTER come along!'

A sugggestion he had never hoped to hear at this point already. Brush's eyes jump open the moment she made the suggestion. His sleep is completely compressed by the adrenaline that begins to flow through his body, just by the mere thought of him entering Ponyville the upcoming morning.

'You... You want me to enter Ponyville?' he asks, without looking up at the princess this time. His gaze is only aimed at the night sky and its blinking lights.

Luna nods as quick and strict as a whip. 'I doubt you have any expenses on you right now... So if you're so reliable on me as I think you are, you better come along and aid me!'

Expecting an answer right away, Luna is left in silence all of the sudden. Brush doesn't answer right away, making the mare wonder if he fell asleep after all. But when she takes one step closer to the stallion to look at him more closely, she hears a deep sigh of frustration.

'...That is an offer I must refuse...,' he grunts.

'The decision is not yours to make, Spectrum Brush! I will not enter the town by myself, without any guidance for what we seek!' she answers with the forceful tone she's been using up till now.

'I'd rather starve than return now...,' he stubbornly sticks to his word. 'The only way you'll see me enter Ponyville these days is when I'm cuffed and chained in a cage and dragged by your entire Royal Guard...'

'Don't force me to arrange that...,' Luna threatens, possibly serious about making it happen.

He draws a deep sigh from his lungs and shakes his head. He promised himself to not return until the job is done. But now he's with his back at the wall, forced to either starve halfway the journey or accept her offer and break his own sacred promise. Luna continues to glare at her companion, forcing him to follow her this morning into Ponyville. The night princess has no intention of giving in to his wishes now and be treated like a slave to him in the end.

'I wish I could... I really do,' he whispers, sounding much less secure than a moment ago. 'But... I just CAN'T!'

His breaths increase rapidly from the stress that spikes in his muscles and nerves. Luna doesn't force him once more as quickly as first, realizing that something is going wrong with her ally.

'I vowed to myself that I will return to Ponyville once my guilt has been washed away! If I return now already, it will destroy the last bit of encouragement I can cling onto! If there's something I won't do; it's breaking a promise!' he shouts at her as he stands up from his natural bed. 'Don't you understand how that is? As a princess you MUST know how important a promise is! ESPECIALLY one to yourself!'

Luna promised herself that she would do anything to prevent herself from becoming something like a mere assistant to him. The only way she thought that was, was if she could force the stallion in following her. But now that she hears the stallion speak like this about his promise, solid and strong on willpower, she understands that she doesn't have to make the stallion follow her to keep herself from being degraded.

That's when the alicorn makes up her mind and decides to stop her forceful behaviour.

'Ok... You will not have to come with me...,' she sighs, feeling neither victorious nor defeated.

Brush still breathes rapidly, though it slowly calms down from the moment Luna calmed down. When he is calm again, he lets out one more deep sigh of relief. He gets to be spared.

Brush doesn't even say "thank you" or even "I figured as much," but rather remains quiet all the way. When Luna looks him in the eye, she can already read enough "thanks" from him as would satisfy her.

Luna sighs, being left with no other choice but to go in alone this morning. But strongwilled as the stallion next to her, it won't mean that she has to go alone completely; she has a plan. 'There is another way we will solve it. It takes a lot more effort than it's worth, but fine...,' she mutters.

The dark-purple horn of the princess begins the glow with a bright magical light, shining like a star in the sky. Without warning or further explaination, she walks towards Spectrum Brush until their faces are only a few inches apart from each other.

'If you can't be there in person, We'll just have to do with your head,' she mumbles.

Before Brush can ask what she means, he is struck by a headbutt from the princess on his.

With only stars flying through his sight, Spectrum Brush can feel the excrutiating pain from the blow on his skull. The strike was strong enough to punch the red stallion back a few steps and make him dizzy. 'OW!' he cries out in pain. 'What in Equestria's name was that for?!'

Luna doesn't say a word further, simply waiting for the stallion to figure it out himself. The light around her horn has changed; glowing in a mix of both purple and orange brightness. It's the first thing that Brush notices when he can see clear again, just before he notices that his horn is suddenly glowing as well. When he looks past his mane, he realizes that his red unicornhorn is glowing with the exact same light as Princess Luna's: orange and purple. Though every unicorn and alicorn has its own color of magic aura when they prepare a spell, they now share the exact same one; mixed by both of their magic abilities.

'It's a long distance spell. For the time we channel this spell, we can communicate, no matter the distance,' Luna explains, still breathing deeply from the exciting blow she just dealt on the jerk's forehead.

'You had to HIT me for that?!' he shouts and rubs with his hoof over the bump that appears under his mane.

'No, our horns just had to make contact...,' she sighs, followed by a grin of satisfaction. 'You got hit on the head for your repulsive attitude.'

Brush sneers at the smiling mare. 'I hope we can use this spell alot more in the future...,' he grunts with a sour face. 'It would mean I wouldn't have to be around you and your aggresive habits anymore...'

Having no reason to keep the spell up any longer now, the two ponies despell the magic bond, causing the darkness of the night shroud over them once more.

'So we'll just wait until the dawn breaks and the stores open,' the stallion suggests and turns away from Luna. 'You can stand there, if you like. But I think even you need rest, princess,' Brush tells her and pokes a pile of leaves next to his, suggesting her to rest on a bush.

She can hardly believe that she already has to go as far as sleeping on a dirty plant, incomparable to her comfortable bed in Canterlot. The royal mare would even have had trouble sleeping in an inn, which is even ten times better than this.

'Goodnight, Luna,' Brush grunts, followed by a little snicker of sadism towards Luna's wish of luxery, and closes his eyes. He has already fallen asleep, noticable from his peaceful breaths.

'That's PRINCESS Luna to you, Spectrum Brush,' she grunts, still aggitated by the way she's being treated by him.

But she has no intention of letting his joke get to her, encouraging herself to sleep on that pile of leaves no matter what. She has been living on the moon for about a  thousand years; so sleeping on some leaves shouldn't even be comparable to that rocky surface.

Trying to find comfort, Luna needs to take atleast five minutes to find out what the best way is to lie on a plant. When she finaly gets to lie down, she realizes how tired she actually is. After having sought Brush all day and stay up most of the night, it is logical that she should feel so exhausted. Without any further trouble, Princess Luna falls asleep.

How many hours have past is unknown. The moon has passed the peak of the night and starts to descent already. But unlike the moon, its mistress has more trouble of staying down.

'This is ridiculous...,' Luna mutters to herself.

She has woken up for about three times already. No matter how easily she keeps falling asleep, the twigs of the plant keep poking her awake. It feels like a spring in his bed keeps jumping out and poke her, though this is even less comfortable.

Her neighbour has less trouble, being still fast asleep, even with all of Luna's noisy struggles to remove the twigs that bother her.

'There... This better be the last time...,' she grunts, followed by a yawn. 'If I cannot fall asleep this time, I will strip an entire tree of its leaves and sleep on the pile...'

Easy as said, Luna drops herself on the bush again. Even though it's nighttime -which is basically her daytime- she can't help but feel tired. Slowly she closes her eyes, feeling sleep mending her thoughts, like every common pony in Equestria. This is what makes Luna feel closer to her subjects than before: Sleeping at nighttime.

But fate has different plans for her. Because she threw all of her weight unto the bush, stress was pushed on the stem that connects the plant with the earth, slowly making it splinter apart due to Luna's continueous pressure on it. But she has no clue, having already fallen asleep. Only when the stem starts to make noise, Luna's ears pick up the sound, waking her up.

'Wh-Whu...?' she mumbles, still numb to realizes that her bed is starting to shake.

And that's when the stem breaks, dropping the entire bush on its side. With a shock she awakes, too late to prevent herself from falling.

'Oh!' she gasps, waking completely up by the feeling of freefall. Unable to stop herself, the princess rolls around until she is stopped by something; something that feels incredibly cold.

A shiver goes down her spine, the kind of which a pony would get if you put an icecube on its back. When she looks around to see what it was, she realizes that it wasn't an object. She bumped into the sleeping Spectrum Brush.

Luna jumps away from him, horrified by the touch.

'Your... Your skin...,' The princess whispers, starting to feel sickly. Spectrum Brush's sleep only makes the picture worse. It was like she touched a corpse: unmoving and cold. 'Nopony is able to be so cold naturally! A-Are you even alive?!'

The stallion grunts and opens his eyes, having heared what the princess just said. 'My heartbeat tells me i'm very much alive...,' he mumbles, acting like nothing is going on. 'But my mind tells me otherwise sometimes, ever since I touched that accursed crystal...'

Brush seems to stay incredibly calm, considering the circumstance. But Luna feels like her stomache is turning upside down, making her feel like her dinner is about to make its comeback. She scuttles a bit further away from him, simply scared by the mere temperature of the unicorn, but is able to keep it together, though she can't get the terrible taste out of her mouth.

'What's wrong with this stallion?' she thinks in her head, having lost track of what she could possibly think about his health right now. 'Has his mind suffered so much that even his body is affected?!'

'Let's just sleep, princess,' he repeats himself, as if it's no big deal. 'We have bigger concerns this morning...'

But she can only stare with astonishment at him. The princess is still shaky about the condition of the stallion, even if he sounds alright. Without any further use to stay so amazed, the princess understands that sleep should be their main concern now and lies on the grass. Without any thoughts of occupying a different bush to sleep on, she still has scary thoughts running through her head concerning the stallion's health.

'Why is he so cold?' the alicorn asks herself, moments before she falls asleep again, having kept a safe distance between the stallion and her.

***

The moon has dissapeared behind the horizon. Princess Celestia has already risen the sun early on the morning. As slow as the warm yellow dot in the sky, Ponyville is also rising and waking up, streets are being filled with the noise of the early ponies that open their stores, fillies and colts are waking up for a day of school, and some simply continue to rest in their comfy beds.

But the two ponies that arrive the outer circles of the town are not slackers when it comes to time. For Brush's sake; they need to get in and out as quickly as possible.

'I can't believe I'm this close to Ponyville...,' Brush sighs, obviously nervous compared to his usual behaviour. 'This is where it all began...'

The princess looks quietly at the stallion, who looks like he is about to wallow in pity and memories. But instead of bringing it up to himself, Brush shakes his head and looks back at Luna with a serious face.

'...I won't go further than this, princess,' he tells her, sounding like he forces it.

'I am not in the position of feeling sorry for you right now, if you don't bother...,' the alicorn snaps at him, not planning to go easy on him all of the sudden.

'Don't say my name out loud...,' he mumbles and pulls his hood further over his face. 'If anypony will hear that name and recognize it, there's no telling how they'll react!'

'But they do not even remember anything about...,' Luna speaks, though stops mid-sentence when she figures that it would make no difference whether she tells him or not.'Let's just cast this spell and get this over with...'

Brush merely nods and turns around towards the princess, standing eye to eye. They take one step closer to each other, leaving only five inches between each other's face, and press their horns against each other. The horns start to glow, illuminating with orange and purple lights, until they start to merge together into a blur of the two colors.

Having their magic syncing with each other, they also exchange glares at each other.

'You know... some ponies would get the wrong impression when you push your face this close...,' Brush mumbles, possibly joking about this awkward moment.

'Keep your twisted ideas to yourself, Spectrum Brush... I am a princess of Equestria, while you are nothing but an ally to me...,' Luna hisses at him. 'The only thing that connects us is our goal.'

'I couldn't agree more...,,' he agrees bitterly.

The moment their horns are in sync, the stallion and mare quickly distance themselves from each other. They're almost looking repulsed by having preform a spell like this, forcing them too close for comfort. They may be working together, but deep down Brush still thinks of Luna as a spoiled princess and Luna thinks of Brush as a rebelous peasant.

With both of their horns glowing with orange and purple lights, Luna turns away from him, about to enter Ponyville on her own.

'I shall return soon,' Luna reminds him.

Brush nods acknowledging. 'Try to avoid large crowds. The moment ponies will see you, the news of you visiting will spread like wildfire,' he warns her.

'Yes, I know that,' Luna mumbles, feeling like he's belittling her. 'Now excuse me... I have to go there myself and get some tools...'

She doesn't wait for an answer, knowing already that Brush isn't planning to give one anyway. With her head high, she enters the first street of Ponyville, leading her into the direction of the town square.

'And Princess...,' she suddenly hears, surprised, coming from her horn. '...Good luck.'

While she proceeds to walk into town, Luna doesn't know what to do now, and doesn't even look behind her. She merely sighs and nods. '...Thank you'

***

The streets are still very empty. Where normally the ponies would be struggling to move through a daily crowd, Luna is now walking on her lonely self towards the heart of the village. She doesn't mind to be alone at all, actually being glad about it so that she wouldn't be discovered too early. If Canterlot would hear about her trip to Ponyville, and about what she bought, she would possibly create suspicion. Her goal is to get in, buy supplies, and get out as soon as possible. And all this while her horn is glowing like a lightbulb all the time, mixed with the magical color of a certain stallion who's name has not been forgotten by some. Visiting Ponyville has never been so risky for Princess Luna.

Cautiously looking around her as she passes all the quiet homes of citizens, Luna walks as quiet as a mouse through the empty streets of Ponyville. Occasionally, some ponies would pass her, which even makes her worry that they'll recognize her before she even gets close to any shops. But the ponies are still drowzy from their sleep, not noticing that a princess of Equestria is passing them. When nopony is around, she looks up at her glowing horn.

'So, what is required for the quest?' Luna asks, still in contact with the stallion outside Ponyville.

'We atleast need supplies to create fire, to sleep on bad landscapes, and a compass with a map to see where we're going,' he quickly sums up. 'And maybe some food and water for the trip, considering it could get rough to find anything. Water would be best.'

'Can't I just carry a few things from Canterlot from time to time?' she whispers at him, just as she passes another sleepy pony. Now she feels much better about taking supplies from the castle, rather than buying it in a place like this with a nervously pounding heart in her royal chest.

'No... If something goes missing for a long time, it's bound to catch attention...,' Brush whispers back, understanding from Luna's whispers that ponies are nearby. 'If we are to keep any form of suspicion off of you, we can't afford to repeatedly take something from a place where it could be missed.'

The alicorn sighs, but doesn't stop even for a moment. Only a few more hoofsteps and she'll be entering the town square. Avoiding ponies then will be the biggest trial.

'Now another question,' her horn suddenly speaks for its turn. 'Have you figured out what you will do to be in Canterlot during the sunset, hunt with me during the rest of the time, and find time to get sleep?' he asks the toughest question.

But Luna sighs again, deeper than the first one. 'I'm still thinking about that...,' she answers him, though she doesn't have a clue how to be able to pull it off.

Though unicorns and alicorns are able to remain full of energy, thanks to their magical abilities -something that Earth Ponies reach through sheer strength and experience- even a princess like her has her limits. She would have to be back in Canterlot around sunset to raise the moon. After doing that, she would need to fly all the way back to where Brush would be waiting for her. Brush is able to rest for atleast a few hours between the time that she leaves and returns. But they also have to search from nighttime to the next sunset. The journey, her duties, the trips are all exhausting. Without a way to fit time in between, she would eventually collapse from exhaustion.

She is so deep in thought about it, that she barely realizes that she just entered the wide open space of the town square, let alone notice the hissing words that come out of her horn.

'Wait.. Why are you in the town square? You're a walking bulls-eye in here!' Brush tells her, having heared by the sounds around her that it's rather crowded already at this time of the day.

Luna loses concentration about her time problem, realizing in a shock that she's almost walking amongst the local ponies. There's only a few meters of distance between her and atleast five other ponies, completely having forgotten that she's supposed to keep a low profile.

'I-I believed that was the plan! The only stores in this town are at the town square!' she stutters at her horn, embarressed and startled by her mistake of distraction.

'If anypony will see you, there's a strong possibility they'll come over here! And when news goes around you're here, what are we supposed to say?!' Brush hisses at her, close to being a shout. Though not around in person, even Brush starts to sound nervous.

'You're acting paranoid...,' she mutters. 'Who in Lunar's name would just walk up to me and ask so many questions to cause any suspicion?'

Like a gift of fate; the answer is giving the moment she asked it. A brown stallion with a spike mane looks up at where the arguement came from, looking straight at the purple alicorn with the magical mane. When Luna realizes that the stallion is staring straight at her with big eyes, she starts to break a sweat.

'Hey, It's Princess Luna!' the stallion shouts over the entire square, catching everypony's attention. Curious face turn towards where the noise came from, discovering that the princess is indeed present in Ponyville. Excited, the ponies approach her. Her presence has been discovered way too early.

'Darn! I knew this would happen!' Brush curses, as if Luna didn't have enough on her head already.

'Silence, stallion,' she hisses at her horn. 'If you speak too loud, others will hear you as well.'

'It doesn't matter! If news goes around that you're in Ponyville, your sister may hear about it sooner or later! If she hears you were here, without guards, or even a warning of your leave, who knows what she might think?!' Brush tells through the magic of her horn, aggitated by the current envelopment of situation. 'Not to mention that your horn is glowing like a horde of fireflies! Just get out of there! Try to avoid being spotted and get away from those crowds!'

Pretending like she didn't notice the ponies that see her, Luna tries to act casually and turns around to walk back out of the town square. Trying to remain calm as possible, she can't help but wonder what the ponies behind her are doing. Are they still following her?

When she peaks over her shoulder, she is surprised to see that the ponies didn't stop, but continue to follow her.

'It is proving to be futile, Spectrum Brush!' she whispers at her horn.

'DON'T say my name!' he tells her with a forceful tone, though it isn't very intimidating now that it's just a voice talking. 'Take drastic measures! Most of the ponies in Ponyville are Earth Ponies! If you fly away, they won't be able to chase you! Possible pegasi would probably give up then too!'

'But I would be FLYING over the town!' she nervously tells him as she feels that time is running short before the ponies will reach her. 'Everypony will be able to see me then!'

'THERE WILL BE NO PROOF IT'S YOU! JUST FLY!' Brush shouts, reaching one moment where he can't stay quiet anymore, even if ponies can hear him.

Without further arguement, Luna quickly stretches her purple wings and leaps into the air. With a few flaps of her powerful wings, Luna leaves the ponies behind. When she looks over her shoulder as she reaches the clouds in the sky, she feels relieved to see that the ponies stopped chasing her and only continue to stare at her from down below.

'That was close...,' she says with a deep breath.

'Don't cheer just yet,' the stallion warns her. 'Now that alot of ponies have left the town square because of their chase, it will be mostly empty now. Use this chance to fly back in and get the stuff before they return.'

Luna nods in agreement, though her companion can obviously not see it.

'Alright, I can't see you in the air anymore. I assume you landed?' he asks the obvious when he doesn't hear her wings anymore. 'Just go over to the general store first. They're bound to have-'

But his sentence suddenly stops.

'Eh, very well. I have located it, "ally." What do we require again?' she asks, using the word ally as a synonim for Spectrum Brush.

But no answer is given. Even though it sounds like Brush has stopped his spell, she can still make out his breathing out of the silence.

'...Are you present, "ally?" she repeats.

'HAY!' a cheerful voice shouts as loud as an explosion through the spell, startling Luna.

Though not as shocked as he normally would be, Brush is surprised by the recognizable noisy sound.

'That voice!' Brush gasps and looks from under his hood over his shoulder, with sweat starting to run down his red face. The next thing he sees is a jumping pink blur that rushes over to him. 'Pinkie Pie!'

The innocent party pony just woke up, doing her favorite morning walk around Ponyville. She may be a nice mare to have around you, yet she can be a great nuisance as well. For Brush to be found by this opposite of himself was a  great coincidence; one of the most unpleasant cases and timing possible.

Curious as the earth pony can be, she jumps next to the stallion and tries to peek under his hood. 'Hay! Who might you be? I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!' she greets him with happiness, believing the stallion to be new here.

'Hey...,' Brush merely grunts with a raspy voice and turns away from her, giving her no chance to see his face.

Luna doesn't set one hoofstep further, just as nervous to hear Pinkie Pie as Brush is. Everything can be heared, though she's lucky enough to have nopony around her right now.

'Have I seen you before? You're voice sounds kinda familiar,' the mare asks and jumps to his other side, trying to peek under his hood again. 'Just a little ho(a)rse.'

'No, you're wrong... And if I were you; I would KEEP it that way,' he grunts irritated, never having been able to make Pinkie Pie leave him alone before. He angrily turns away again, wishing that Pinkie Pie would just forget about him and move on.

'Erm, hello?' she greets confused as she leans all the way over his shoulder to peek into the stallion's cowl again, unable to just let him be.

But that's where Brush has had enough. If he won´t do something now, Pinkie Pie will recognize him. And when she does, it will mean that pretty much all of Ponyville will know within a matter of minutes. He bites his lip, lets out a little snort of irritation, and turns his face towards her.

'LEAVE!' he shouts furiously and glares at her with one of his green eyes.

The pink mare's mane jumps up from the shock, along with her face turning pale from fear. 'B-B-B-B,' she stutters, unable to even start her sentence.

Even princess Luna breaks a sweat and bites her lip. 'Busted!' she gasps in her head, knowing from the conversation that there's no way Pinkie Pie could not have seen it by now that the stallion is one of her lost friends.

Some ponies would easily recognize the stallion now, if they would have heard his voice and saw his eye. But the glare he gives, along with the orange and purple radiance that lights his face, feels almost cursed; sending waves of chills down the happy mare's spine, shocking her so strongly that it's even able to prevent her head making the connection between this male and Spectrum Brush.

'I-I-I-I,' she stutters further, unable to look away from the horrifying gaze that strikes her eyes like a ray. 'I must go...' she finaly manages to say and quickly turns around to rush away, scared to the bone.

Silence returns from beyond the spell, with only Brush breathing in rythm.

Princess Luna is amazed, not to mention relieved, to hear how the never-feared Pinkie Pie has just turned around and ran away, without making the link. But that's also what makes her anxious. BECAUSE Pinkie Pie never lets herself be scared away, Brush must've done something so evil that it would even be able to make her unhappy.

'I'm sorry, Pinkie Pie...,' she suddenly hears from her horn.

The princess lets a breath of relief escape her lungs and wipes the sweat off her forehead with one of her silver hooves. She doesn't dare to ask Brush about what happened, knowing that he probably doesn't want to talk about it. So she continues to enter the town square  by herself, to the door of the general store.

'Ally...,' she whispers, asking the stallion to focus on the case again.

The alicorn hears how the stallion on the other end of the spell takes a deep breath. 'Alright. Let's proceed,' he suggests, calm as ever.

'I have located the first store,' she repeats her previous announcement, a tad more nervous now.

'Very well. See if you can find what we seek. I will remain quiet until you are alone again,' he suggests and stops talking.

Without further ado, the princess enters the shop.

Brush takes a deep breath and drops himself on the grass. This visit to Ponyville was as bad as he expected it to be. Even though Pinkie Pie doesn't know it was him, he feels terribly guilty for scaring her like that with a glare that only Ignis has used. It's like he used a trauma to scare Pinkie Pie away, knowing full well that she knows Ignis in all his evil. That's what bothers him: Even if somepony doesn't know a crime, a crime is a crime.

He can only lie on the ground anxiously and wait for his royal companion to gather the things they need for a long journey. Bottles can be heared ringing against each other, Luna muttering as she can't decide which things to take, and the entheuthiastic shopowner in the background.

'What should I...,' the alicorn mumbles to herself, unable to choose between bottles for carrying water. 'The biggest one, or the medium one... It all depends on how many chances we'll get on finding drinkwater...'

But when she decides to take certain over uncertain, she picks the largest bottle, which is as tall as her own alicorn horn. Trying to make it levitate with the magic on her horn, she realizes too late that she can't use any kind of spell as long as she's channeling a connection between her and the stallion outside.

'Oh my!' she gasps when she drops the bottle from the shelf, causing it roll away over the wooden floor.

'Return to me now!' she commands the bottle, giving chase after it when it obviously doesn't stop. Hurrying after it before it will roll under another cabinet, she quickly plants a hoof of hers in front of it, making it stop,

'There...,' she sighs and smiles, happy about this tiny victory.

'Luna?' a voice suddenly asks with astonishment in front of her. 'Princess Luna?'

Expecting it to be the shopkeeper, she looks up. But when she realizes the real identity of the pony that addressed her, she has to clamp her mouth shut before she would let out a tiny yelp. Brush -on the other side of the spell- hears it all, turning pale by the charming words he suddenly heard from Luna's surroundings.

'N-No.... Of all ponies!' he has rushing through his head.

Even the princess needs a moment to get her act together. Afraid that this mare could find out what's going on: Her sister's personal student, Twilight Sparkle.

'Princess Luna!' Twilight happily greets the princess. 'I never would've expected to see you here!'

'T-Twilight Sparkle!' Luna gasps, not having expected to run into her now, during the worst time possible.

With a pounding heart in her chest, Luna realizes that her horn is still glowing like lantern. If Brush were to even cough, Twilight would be able to hear it.

'Is everything alright, Princess?' Twilight asks the princess, who looks with a sweaty forehead down at the student, like she saw a ghost.

'N-Nothing...,' she sighs, somewhat relieved that Brush is nowhere around personally and that he's able to remain quiet in this circumstance up till now. Twilight isn't as easy to fool as Pinkie Pie; she would recognize Brush merely by his voice alone. 'It's a splendorous coincidence to rendezvous with thou, Twilight Sparkle.'

What is she supposed to do? Luna knows that she should cut the line with Brush, ensuring that no suspicion can be caused. But if she does that, she won't be able to talk to Brush and hear what specific supplies they need. She will have to go through Ponyville by herself and find the remaining items by memory, while this little conversation with this mare could possibly just take one minute. Is it worth the risk?

Twilight Sparkle suddenly lets out a big yawn in front of her, too late to cover it with a hoof. 'Oh, my apoligies, princess! I haven't slept very well last night,' she excuses herself.

Acting like she never came in contact with Brush before, the princess decides to take the act further. Swallowing her anxieties down in to her stomache, Luna decides to get this act of innocence up and going to a new level. 'Oh, you're pardoned, Twilight Sparkle. But may I ask why you slept unrested?' she politely keeps a conversation going.

But the unicorn's sleepy eyes move down to the ground, followed by a sigh. 'I just have alot on my mind lately... I still haven't gotten over the whole Ignis thing, I guess,' she mutters.

Both Luna and Brush are deadly silent, both unable to say anything about this stinging subject that pains them all. All they can do is wait for Twilight to say something next and hope that it will keep any suspicions out of this.

'A-Anyway!' Twilight says with a fake tone of joy. 'What brings you to Ponyville? I always thought you were resting during the daytime, princess.'

'I... -erm-' Luna mumbles, trying to come up with an excuse really quick. 'I... came here... for... supplies!' she says with a fake smile on her face, pulling out any trick she knows to sound believable on such a short notice. 'And the stores aren't open during the night, are they?'

Though normally a believable story, Twilight looks confused at her, not sure she heared that right. 'Supplies? B-But why here? And why YOU? No offense, ofcourse, but don't you have servants to bring you what you need?'

'True...,' the nervous alicorn mumbles, completely falling out of character with this odd behaviour from the anxiety that slowly creeps her out again. 'But... This needs my personal attention! My opinion is required in this certain search!'

'This is it,' Brush thinks in himself. 'Either Twilight will actually buy this cheap lie, or she will know that this is some strange conspiracy that is connected to whatever is bothering her right now! Luna may be a princess, but she's a HORRIBLE liar...'

Silence encroaches. Luna attempt to show no signs of lying, by keeping her face straight until Twilight will atleast answer back. But time ticks for long time; feeling like minutes are passing by in this moment of deadly silence. Does Twilight already know she's not honest? Could the purple mare be that good?

But it turns out better than Brush feared.

'Oh, you've come to shop!' Twilight says when she thinks to have figured it out. 'That's great!'

Luna doesn't breath out deeply, yet is completely relieved that she's managed to get away with it. Brush can hardly believe his ears. Twilight Sparkle has no doubts for the mare of the night, as if she has expunged the very thought of that princesses can lie.

'Yes, that's the correct word: Shopping!' she agrees and nods. 'Well, I should better be going then and go... Shopping. A good day to you, Twilight Sparkle.'

But the unicorn quickly follows her at her side. 'By all means; allow me to accompany you! It's much more fun when you do it together!' she kindly offers the alicorn, ordinarily happy right now.

Luna can't believe this. She  was about to get out without any faults. And now that she finally gets her chance, this mare decides to follow her for even longer. Growing desperate, she would just want to say "NO!" But to keep any suspicions out, for as long as she's been doing so well, she has no other than one option.

'I-I guess?' she says with words reeking from uncertainty.

But Twilight doesn't care. To be able to assist Princess Luna into a shopping spree like actual friends is an offer she wouldn't want to miss.

'You're going to love this, Princess!' she speaks out with happiness, escorting the princess out of the general store. 'I know this great store where they have over twenty kinds of quills and inks! TWENTY KINDS!'

'That's... wonderful?' Luna acts interested. Knowing now that this conversation will take way longer than she hoped for, the princess decides to let the spell waver unnoticed. Like a candle reaching it's limit; Luna's horn stops glowing, cutting the connection between her and Spectrum Brush. She has no choice but to buy the remaining supplies on her own instincts, while not causing any suspicion or involvement from Twilight.

Meanwhile, Brush drops his face on the ground. Though the recognizable voice has stopped speaking, Brush can still hear the mare's words spin through his head. To hear Twilight's voice after so long saddens him somehow, yet also relieves him from worry of health. It makes him feel weak; Not able to speak to Twilight, even though he desperatly would want to. He must force himself to stay out of Ponyville and it's inhabitants, for both theirs and his sake. If he wouldn't be shattered right now, he's sure that he would've burst out in tears from hearing his dear friend, who'm he misses so much.

'I knew I shouldn't have come back soon,' he whispers and wipes the sweat off of his forehead.

***

Luna's search in Ponyville's stores continues, though accompanied by the cheerful mare that she knows as her sister's personal student. Ever since she returned to Equestria and was freed from Night Mare Moon's corruption, the princess has had mixed feelings about this purple mare. At some times; she trusts her like the friend she never had. But at some times, she somehow envies her, as if Celestia was trying to fill her spot with this unicorn.

But right now, jealousy is just a thing of the past. Twilight Sparkle has only the best of intentions and only wants to have fun with her, like two good friends. Her mission to obtain the specific goods falls in oblivion due to the fun she experiences during this shopping activity. Time is of the essence, but Princess Luna actually enjoys herself now, walking amongst all the ponies that adore her presence in Ponyville.

By the time Luna leaves Ponyville, the sun is already halfway down to the horizon. She's feeling happy and definitly had a great time with her sister's student. With a huge blanket filled with odds and ends of any kinds, floating behind her by her magic, Princess Luna proves to be succesful in her first attempt of shopping.

When she passes a large oak outside Ponyville with a big smile on her face, she is surprised when she suddenly hears a noise coming from the bushes. Puzzled, she looks up, noticing the red face that pops out of the flora.

'I see you've finaly decided to come back...,' Spectrum Brush grunts with impatience.

Not growing anxious by even a little, Luna talks to him with the joy in her voice. 'Oh, it was just wonderful!' she says with a giggle, like a happy filly in the candystore. 'I would have done this much earlier if I had known shopping could be this fun with somepony else! It felt great to be alongside my subjects once more!'

'The SUPPLIES, princess... We need SUPPLIES,' Brush corrects her, starting to fear the worst. 'I hope that blanket is filled with canned apples, rather than vintage trash...'

The princess begins to scratch behind her ear with a silver hoof, followed by a giggle of shame. 'Well, I MAY had to get a few things that were irrelevant, in order to not look like I was going on some camping trip on something... So I MAY have bought a FEW things that are not entirely part of the journey...' she rants in farfetched terms and gently places the enormous bag on the ground next to her. 'But it isn't trash!'

Without any permission given, Brush jumps out of the bushes and walks over to the bag to open it. With a swift swipe with his horn he tears the rope from the top, causing the ends of the blanket to fall open in four different directions. Though some of the items are what he hoped for, the stallion's eye begins to twitch nervously from the stress of what other kind of stuff has been filling this entire bag, the size of small shed.

'A candleholder..., plates..., A CLOCK?!' he says out loud what he sees, obviously unable to believe it himself.

'Thing is... I thought it would look well in my room in Canterlot...,' she whispers with red cheeks, a little embaressed about her possibly-overboard shopping spree.

But Brush drops a plate back on the ground without any care for its sensitivity and turns around to the alicorn. 'This is no PICNIC, princess!' he shouts. 'We're about to go on a journey that could last between atleast a week and five years! We can't be slowed down by mere luxery!'

The stallion slams his head against a tree next to him, still unable the princess would come with this useless heap. It makes him feel like a complete idiot to have trusted the princess in carrying out the main objective of today. The stores are already closed by now, forcing the to wait till the next morning if they want to buy in Ponyville again.

'Well, where were you, Spectrum Brush?' she snaps back at him because of his ungrateful tone at her. 'Atleast I dared to show myself after my nightmare ended! I didn't run away, while you did! I had to accept my fate and continue, without any chance to do something that would make up for Night Mare Moon's terror! But YOU: YOU are even too afraid to show yourself to your own shadow, COWARD!'

When somepony is confronted by things they don't like, they have two options: Ignore it or object. The latter grown ponies would not care and just let someone have his outburst. Though this is also one of those times that somepony would be best off ignoring Brush's outburst, Luna has never learned out of herself to accept a scolding that she deems undeserved.

Her words cause pain and grief, like a torch was just pushed into the stallion's soul. Brush feels furious. If Luna would've been a stallion, Brush would've probably charged right at "him" and let his anger go. But instead of being blinded by unbridled rage, he accepts what is truth: He truly IS a coward. The red unicorn feels like shouting at her for insulting him so painfully, but he just can't help but accept that the mare is right. Because that's all what matters to him now: The Truth.

'I think you should go now...,' he grunts and turns his back to her.

Without any more words to spare, Luna is left speechless. For a moment she believed that she crossed the line, having lost her restraint on her words for the hundredth time. The alicorn feels so stupid, having acted more like a childish filly than a princess. What could Brush possible think of her now?

'Spectrum Brush, I...,' she tries to say atleast something, but stops mid-sentence. She knows apologies won't do any good now. All that she can do is listen to him and keep a distance. Even though she has atleast an hour before she would need to head back to Canterlot, the princess decides that she should go early to give Brush some time alone again.

'I shall just take this with me...,' she whispers and walks with a hanging head passed the mute stallion to her bag of antiques. With her magic, Luna begins to gather all the things back in the center of the blanket to carry it with her. She was so happy a moment ago. But now one confrontation has spoiled her mood, even when she looks at all the precious things she has bought from Ponyville.

'I will return soon,' she assures him, both hoping that Brush understands from it that she wants to continue with their journey together and that he will wait for her. 'Please, don't be mad...'

She doesn't look back, not having the courage to look the stallion in his eyes right now. But Brush -on the other hoof- doesn't keep himself from looking in her direction. He somewhat hopes that the princess will turn around as well and say she's sorry, so that he can forget it ever happened. But all he gets to see is her royal rump with a crescent moon Cutie Mark, followed by the purple wings that stretch out and take the princess into the air. A flap of her wings is heared, blowing the grass away from her, and allows her to fly away into the orange sky.

'So be it...,' he whispers to himself.

The red stallion just looks down again then and notices one thing that Luna forgot to pick up: A notebook along with a quill. The ink next to it may be common black ink. But he recognizes the quill; looking almost the same as a quill that Twilight Sparkle bought on the day he met her. Though this brown feather has black dots, instead of white ones, he feels strange by merely looking at how it lies on the ground like that, waking good memories in his traumatized head.

With Luna about to fly out of sight with her giant shoppingbag, he walks up to the writing supplies and picks it up with his orange unicorn magic.

'This may come in handy...,' he whispers and sneaks it into a pocket of his robe. 'We may need a journal, starting when we'll enter Everfree Forest tomorrow...'

His horn begins to blink with a soft red glow, catching his attention again. It happened to him a few times before, ever since he left Zecora's house. Though he never heard or read the reason of the uncontrolled light that glows out of his horn, he already knows what it means: It's a signal.

Prologue

The wind. I know it has several synonyms, some words having a tiny difference from the other: Gale, breeze, draft, storms, and so on. You know which one is which when you feel it, having experienced every kind of wind atleast once. But even when you think you've felt them all, you come to discover later in life that you only know a tiny portion of the whole existence. I am experiencing that right now: A wind which I've never felt before. It's incredible cold and different from any breeze I've ever felt moving over my skin, being the only wind that can frighten me.

Too many things have happened in a short time, turning my whole self into something new and cold as the winds that continue to blow over my paths. It's been a little more than a week since I was possessed and used to chain down everything and everyone I looked up to. I was a beast, a monster like the one that I freed from that accursed meteor. Even if some may call it an "accident," I simply cannot accept this as one of those.

After I was freed from the dark stallion's burning grip on my soul, thanks to the mare that showed so much faith in me, it got only worse: I lost my mind and memory.

That's when I was found by "her." If it weren't for the striped mare, healing me from the shadows inside me, I would probably still be suffering from the remnants of that dictator's soul. But along with losing that darkness, I also lost track of who I am. Now I'm cold, calculated, and with only one goal set in my mind.

I thought I was able to sneak away from anypony from Ponyville. Little did I know that the Mare of the Night would also be looking for me, knowing what I would probably do in the aftermath. She appeared before me, without her guards or anypony else, asking me about the things I've seen when that monster controlled my body.

Keeping the secret of her sister from her was not something I could do. She deserved to know about what happened to her that made her become Night Mare Moon. Preferably, I would've kept her as a contact to the real world. But it has turned out that she wants to do whatever it takes to come along personally, wanting to do the same thing I want: To make up the mistakes of the past.

Even though I'm not really comfortable about joining forces with an undercover princess into some journey that could risk both of our lives any further, I can't deny her the same forgiveness that I seek to be able to face my friends and families again without fear of judgement.

No, I'm wrong about my last sentence. We don't seek forgiveness anymore. We're past that already. Now we seek REDEMPTION.

REDEEMED