As Gadget Rust and Twilight Sparkle trotted to Ponyville, he began to have second thoughts. It wasn’t about going to Ponyville, it was his appearance. It bothered him and he wanted to at least make a good impression before never going back outside ever again. He stopped and Twilight Sparkle looked at him in question.

“H-Hey Twilight Sparkle… C-Can we stop at a stream? I uh… Want to clean myself up. You know, I want to at least look presentable and not get nasty looks from bystanders. Can you lead you lead the way to one really quick?” Gadget Rust asked, as he was looking at the ground. She smiled at him and looked around, squinting to the side of the road, seeing a stream of water.

Twilight Sparkle looked back at Gadget Rust and said “Okay! Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up for everypony!” She grabbed his hoof and quickly pulled him along, Gadget Rust being totally caught off-guard. She kept on pulling him, almost literally dragging him, but he slipped from her grip and continued to follow along.

Twilight Sparkle and Gadget Rust stopped at the side of the stream, looking at their reflections. “It’s so clear and almost like glass…” Gadget Rust commented, which made Twilight Sparkle give an expression of confusion as to why Gadget Rust would make that comparison. He put his front hooves in it and felt the cold water, quickly pulling out his hooves, unsure about his decision to clean himself.

“I-I’m having second thoughts about this…” he muttered, ready to turn around, but since hooves were wet, he slipped on the grass and fell in the stream. Twilight began to panic and she tried to pull him out, but it didn’t look like he was in any danger. He was just surprised by the sudden jolt of cold water on himself. Twilight Sparkle waited until Gadget Rust was finished getting cleaned and then she pulled him out, to which he quickly got back on his hooves.

Gadget Rust looked at Twilight with anger and yelled “At least try to help somepony out just when they fall into some cold water and are forced to get clean!” Twilight Sparkle looked at Gadget Rust with slight surprise, seeing that his mane and tail were all wet and they were both smooth. His cutie mark almost reflected from the sunlight and she tried to muster up something to say.

“Y-You look… good.” Twilight Sparkle managed to say, smiling wide at him as he looked down at himself, then he looked in the reflection of the stream, seeing his new look. First, he screamed in shock then touched his own face to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

Gadget Rust looked back at Twilight Sparkle and then he said “I-I can’t believe I’ll be going to Ponyville l-like this!” Twilight Sparkle giggled and pushed him forward back to the road, which he exhaled and trotted next to Twilight Sparkle back to the path to Ponyville.

Soon, they entered Ponyville and Gadget Rust was looking at all the ponies going past him. He noticed a green pony with a cutie mark resembling a lyre, which made him wonder what she did. Even more strange was that she was sitting with her flank on the bench.

“Strange pony…” Gadget Rust said to himself, following Twilight Sparkle to Sugarcube Corner and entering a building that looked like it was made out of candy.

“Hey Pinkie Pie, we have a new pony in town!” Twilight Sparkle said, looking around to see if Pinkie Pie was around and Pinkie Pie was busy cooking cupcakes when she heard Twilight Sparkle, quickly coming to the front of the store, almost covered in chocolate icing. Gadget Rust assumed the pink pony was Pinkie Pie because her name and appearance fit perfectly.

“Hello Twilight! I was-“Pinkie Pie stopped herself, seeing Gadget Rust and quickly going close up to him. She smiled wide at him, which made Gadget Rust pretty uncomfortable.

“Who are you? Are you new here? Do you like parties? We should have a party for you! What’s your name?” Pinkie Pie kept asking a barrage of questions, which Gadget Rust backed up slowly and try to say something, but was saved by Twilight Sparkle.

“His name is Gadget Rust. He’s the inventor in that old barn near the Everfree Forest. Remember? The place where fillies think it’s haunted by a ghost?” Twilight explained, but Gadget Rust was kind of offended that ponies would even have the very assumption that it was haunted.

“Oh yeah! I heard it was where a big scary ghost lived and it made all kinds of big noises like it did this morning!” Pinkie Pie said, smiling and hopping around the store, giving Gadget Rust a cupcake to eat.

“Um… Thanks? I’m still pretty confused. Why is this pony so odd?” Gadget Rust asked Twilight Sparkle in a whisper. Twilight giggled and she smiled at him.

“Well, that’s pretty hard to explain. She’s the only pony that acts like this. It’s truly something everypony needs to see. You can say anything bad that isn’t related to her and it won’t really matter in her eyes. That’s not always a bad thing though.” Twilight stated which Gadget Rust nodded understanding and approached Pinkie Pie as she went to continue making cupcakes. As he followed Pinkie Pie, he observed her making cupcakes, humming to herself in a happy tone.

Gadget Rust cleared his throat and began to say “So... Pinkie Pie, is this all you do? You make… sweets?” Pinkie Pie nodded, not making eye contact with him and finishing up a batch of cupcakes. When she was done putting the icing and cherry on the cupcake, she hopped right in front of Gadget Rust’s face, which he backed away slightly.

“Yesiree! I make a lot of cakes, cupcakes, and anything that will make a party fun!” Pinkie Pie said, which made Gadget Rust smile uncomfortably. There was a moment of awkward silence before Gadget Rust began to speak.

“That’s very nice and obviously delicious. Look, I think I should be going with Twilight Sparkle and continue the tour of Ponyville. I’ll leave you to your devices. G-Goodbye.” Gadget Rust said, quickly leaving the room and going back to the front to see Twilight waiting for him. He nodded and smiled, notifying her that he wanted to continue the tour. Twlight opened the door and Gadget Rust stepped outside with her and looking around.

“Come on! I’ll show you the Carousel Boutique and introduce you to Rarity.” Twilight said, trotting to the Carousel Boutique, Gadget Rust following along and wondering what the Carousel Boutique could be.

“Power of negativity… Show me what I desire to see…” Eternal Rain muttered to himself, using his horn and creating a circular black cloud that shot up out of the Everfree Forest and fly towards Gadget Rust and Twilight Sparkle. He closed his eyes and concentrated, seeing the two through his dark cloud, following them. Slowly, a sneer crept across Eternal Rain’s mouth and he said “Excellent… At least I can observe him this way. It will only be a matter of time before his anger and sadness feeds me and unleashes me upon Equestria. Then and only then, will I be able to defeat her and block out both the sun and moon! My rain and clouds will be the ones to hover over this world!” He let out a laugh and continued to watch the two ponies enter the Carousel Boutique, but by some divine intervention, his cloud stopped observing him and disappeared completely.

Eternal Rain opened his eyes in surprise, but his expression converted to frustration. “What stopped it from showing me what I want?!? Power of negativity, show me what I desire to see!” he yelled, creating another dark cloud that leaped out of the Everfree Forest to find what was responsible for destroying his previous cloud. He closed his eyes once more to see.

As the cloud moved across the sky, it stopped over Ponyville and he looked around, wanting to see what was responsible. Suddenly as he turned to the right, he saw a Pegasus fly towards his cloud with a grin, cutting off his vision and, as Eternal Rain assumes, evaporated it as well.

Eternal Rain opened his eyes again and yelled in frustration, trampling the ground before calming down moments later. “A minor setback, but it is of no matter. I am now aware that such a Pegasus would pose as a challenge to my nimbuses… I will need to think of a plan to distract that one. Maybe even distract them all, but how…” he whispered to himself, pacing around the forest with his head down, not coming up with any ideas, which surprised him.

“Blast! I cannot think of anything. I will just have to wait for the perfect moment and absorb the negative energy of everypony in Equestria as I have been doing do far. Seems like the only option I have for now…” he muttered, lying down onto the ground and closing his eyes.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3: Clothing And Apples Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 18 Minutes