Adventures through Equestria a Black Brush and Sunset Spring Tale

Chapter 1: Last Goodbyes

A steel colored unicorn sat alone atop a small grassy hill that overlooked the small town of Colterson, as he often did in the few waning hours of twilight before Celestia’s sun was overtaken by Luna’s night.  Taking in the serenity and beauty that played out before him, he mused on how the province was truly a sight to behold at this hour, however boring it may be during the day, there was no doubting that there was just something magical about seeing it in this light, the ponies that populated the town finally began to wind themselves down and start a well-earned rest after the tiring work of the day.  Stalls and shops started to close as weary owners commenced upon their long trek home for the night, young and rebellious colts quickly, yet stealthily, began to make their way out of equally young and rebellious fillies bedrooms (often through a conveniently placed window or backdoor) as parents came home from work, the children gave happy and joy filled goodbyes to their school friends as they went home from a day filled with play to fill their bellies with dinner and their parent’s heads with stories of the afternoon and it’s adventures.  All of this set to the backdrop of a magnificent orange red sky as the sun slowly descended beyond the hills of what lay beyond.  Yes indeed it was a beautiful and magnificent sight; almost enough to keep those rebellious thoughts of leaving the small town at bay…almost.

“Pretty as a painting,” He said absently to himself, chuckling softly at the slight play on words, considering his name and chosen profession.  He started to wish he had brought his brush and canvas along today, but quickly dismissed the thought.  He had dozens of portraits of this particular scene alone, and he far from needed another.  It wouldn’t be like he could finish it anyway…

“What’s pretty as a painting Black Brush?”  A voice as familiar to him as his own caught his attention as it drew near.

Black Brush cast his emerald eyes upon the familiar orange Pegasus beginning to approach his quiet little spot, he watched with a smile on his face as she came closer, her bright red mane blowing ever so slightly in the breeze, her coat glowing as the setting sun struck her just right, her golden eyes shining beautifully like diamonds,  her large magnificent wings extended and beating lightly, feathery puffs of wind disturbing his shaggy and unkempt black mane as she began her steady descent towards the ground, landing carefully onto the soft grass beneath her, the pegasus sighed softly as she set her sleek and athletic frame down gently beside him.  

There she was pretty as a painting.

“Look for yourself Sunset.”  He spoke softly and with a kind smile.  Afraid that raising his voice any louder than that would destroy the serenity of the scene, he then turned his eyes back to the living art playing out before them.  

Sunset followed his gaze, though less artistic than her companion in more ways than one she could still see why he of all ponies appreciated such a sight as this.

“It’s beautiful.”  She spoke softly, afraid that saying anything else would disturb her closest friend’s inner peace and cause that smile she hadn’t seen him wear in a long time to vanish.

For a while they sat there in silence, absorbing the scene, taking it all in.  Black Brush watched because he knew it would be one of the last times he would see this pure magnificence.   And Sunset…well she watched because Black Brush watched.  For the longest time she had noticed him acting strange around her.  Reclusive, almost like he was avoiding her, and on the very few times they had actually spoken over the last couple of weeks he hadn’t said much.  And Sunset couldn’t help but have that feeling in her gut that told her he was hiding something, and if there was something she had learned over the years it was to trust her gut.  It used to be they could tell each other anything, but after what had happened not too long ago…no she promised herself she wouldn’t think about that.

She looked at him now, eyes soft yet filled with worry as she studied his steel colored coat, his short cut mane and tail were black and his cutie mark a paintbrush poised to strike a canvas.  Both of which were fitting considering his name, it was almost like he was born to be an artist.  

“Something bothering you Sunset?”  Black Brush’s voice dragged her back to reality as she realized she must have been staring at him for a while.

She wanted to scream at him when he said that.  She felt that pent up worry and rage nearly explode. ‘YES you’re bothering me!’ She wanted to shout, ‘what’s wrong with you!?  What happened to the Black Brush I know?  And who replaced him with this mopey sad…THING!  What happened to the Black Brush that used to help me play pranks on my big brother?  The Black Brush that used to have water balloon fights with me in the middle of town!? The Black Brush that used to hold me and tell me everything would be fine when I came to him crying?’ she gave a pitiful sniff, blinking away a tear. ‘What happened to the Black Brush that I…I love?’  But the words died in her throat, replaced by a fake smile and an empty laugh.

“What? Nothings bothering me you dolt!”  She playfully gave him a light shove, like she used to do when they were kids, and deep down she hoped for the same response, for him to mess up her mane like he always did.  But instead, unlike the Black Brush she knew he just kept staring blankly out at the sky, like she wasn’t even there.  “I uh…just wanted to see if you wanted some dinner.  Mrs. Peach gave me some of her crop for helping her clear out some of those storm clouds the other day, I figured I’d make peach cobbler tonight.  You wanna have some?”  She asked hopefully, if he agreed it would be the first time they’d spent any real time together in weeks.

“I don’t know.”  He stated plainly, his voice betraying no emotion.

She couldn’t help but frown a little at this.  “Aw please Blackie; it’s your favorite…”  She pleaded sadly; causing his emerald eyes to shift to her…he looked…was that sad?  That wasn’t one of her Blackie’s normal expressions… at least not when she was around.  She shifted closer to him, pressing up against him as they locked eyes.  “Will you do it for me?”

For a long painful minute Black Brush was deathly silent, his eyes closed and his face taut as if he was thinking.  What was this?  She couldn’t understand.  Normally Black Brush would jump at the chance to eat some of her cobbler, only a few weeks ago she’d have to come up with an excuse to keep him away from the stuff.  

He let out a sigh, as if in defeat.  “Fine, let’s go eat.  I need to talk to you anyway.” The unicorn said while standing up, stretching out his legs and starting down the steep slope of the grassy hill.

Sunset however, still sat.  Stricken dumb by his words, ‘I need to talk to you anyway.’  What could that mean?  Did it have something to do with how he’d been acting?  Was he going to tell her he didn’t want to be her friend anymore?  Suddenly she panicked; she didn’t think she could handle something like that.

“Um are you coming Sunset?”  His voice yanked her back into reality.  Those worries could wait, after all she had peach cobbler to make.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

They walked through the near barren town in silence; the streets now empty as the moon finally took its rightful place in the sky, a few of Luna’s stars beginning to wink in and out of the never ending blackness.  The cool nighttime air blowing through the street with a slight haunting whistle, a small wave of sounds and commotions could be heard emanating from the bar at the center of town as the busy establishment continued to retrieve its last few sets of customers for the night.

 A terribly awkward silence began to form between them.   Neither had much to say, and Black Brush took these last few moments of quiet to plan how he was going to go about telling Sunset Spring of his imminent departure from the town.  He stole a quick glance over to her, her setting sun as a cutie mark warming his heart, he loved the sunset…and now he realized he would be missing two of them after he departed.  The one on the hill and the one in his heart, he had been putting off telling her for the longest time, going so far as to completely avoid her, he suddenly felt a pang of guilt.  That must have been tearing her up, they were such close friends…he was afraid of how she would react when he told her that he didn’t plan on coming back.  There were too many memories here; too much he needed to forget.  He wished she could come…wished that they could always be together.  But that would be asking too much, after all she had a life here.  Her entire family ran the weather around town, being the only Pegasus family in the area meant that if even a single one of them took off that they would be left terribly shorthanded.

But what did he have that kept him tied to this small town?  A handful of bad memories and a failing art shop.  No as soon as she was dealt with he’d have no reason to stay…no desire to.  Yet still despite his eagerness to leave, to put this small town into his rear view forever, he just couldn’t do that to her.  He knew telling her something like that would break her heart.  Though even he failed to understand why that kept him from saying what needed to be said.  After all what was one more bad memory?  

It took them only a short ten to fifteen minutes to reach their destination.  An average sized two story house painted a bright and welcoming yellow with a large banner hanging across the front.   Printed across said banner in bright red lettering were the words.   Colterson Weather Management.  Odd for a family of pegasi to live in something other than a cloud home, he found himself musing, before deciding that in a town filled with earth ponies and unicorns the weather team needed to be easily accessible in order to receive weather plans for the day by the mayor.

Sunset pushed open the door with her front hoof, the hinges creaking loudly at the movement, having not been oiled in quite some time.  As they stepped inside Black Brush was greeted fondly by the familiar sights, sounds, and scents of the home he hadn’t spent much time in as of late.  The inside of the house was actually rather small; to his left was what appeared to be a living room of sorts, complete with a soft velvet couch and a matching chair, the two pieces of furniture resting idly next to a couple bookshelves, the shelves themselves populated mostly by fantasy novels and historical fiction. Though hidden within those two collections was a less than popular set of trashy romance stories.

 He couldn’t keep himself from cringing as he read the title of one such ‘classic’  ‘Spreading Your Wings.’ with an equally cheesy tagline that read.  ‘Some fires can only be put out with passion.’  He could only imagine how many times the term ‘wingboner’ was thrown about inside of the text and he really hoped Sunset wasn’t the one who had purchased the literary garbage.  

Trying to avoid any more self-punishment he decided to focus on something other than the bookshelf.  Looking up Black Brush couldn’t restrain a faint curving of his lips as he noticed that on the far wall one of his more popular portraits had been hung with care.  The art itself was a picture of the sun and moon balanced side by side, with a crude representation of the earth lying beneath them both.  The sun’s golden rays spilling forth into the middle of the frame where it was met by the moon’s pale lunar glow, the two shafts of light then joined together like two strings of twine spun around one another as the sun and the moon’s combined light struck the surface of the planet and began to bathe it in life, splotches of green beginning to form wherever the ethereal glow happened to travel.  He was actually rather proud of that one, for it had been one of the few paintings in his shop that was actually ever sold for a decent amount of bits.

 Like most of his art it did have some kind of hidden meaning, the more clever few might be able to link it to the biggest event to happen in Equestria since the last war some odd four hundred years ago.  The return of Nightmare Moon was quite a popular topic there for a while, and he’d gotten the idea while skimming nonchalantly through an article in the local newspaper, when he’d learned that Celestia had decided to return Luna to her proper place as co ruler of Equestria.  Celestia had said that they were always meant to rule together as equals.  And an hour later the image was born, of course he knew the real reason it sold so well was because it was pretty.  Nopony really cared about the meaning behind art anymore.

“Make yourself at home, I already started on the cobbler let me just finish up and then we’ll eat.”  Sunset Spring spoke as she flew towards the kitchen, busying herself with finishing up the food.  She was excited to be eating dinner with her best friend again after what felt like ages.  

Black Brush did as he was told, taking a seat at the dinner table while the sound of clattering dishes and running water could be heard resonating from the busied kitchen.  He figured it would be a while before dinner was ready, though the food smelled like it was finished Sunset had a tendency to fret over some of the smaller details when dinner was concerned, especially when he was the guest.

He looked around the small house somberly, it was spotless.  Sunset’s mother, Nightlight Winter, must have cleaned it recently.  For he would have bet a week’s worth of bits that there wasn’t a single speck of dust to be found inside of the building.  Pictures of her family were hung along the walls with tender organization; arranged in a neat little line one after the other in a sort of chronological order.  

The first of which showing the family standing outside of the house they were in now, it must have been taken ages ago, considering the house in the picture was painted a charcoal black and looked like it had just survived a dragon attack.  It was clear quite a bit of work had been done to the building since then, as one would hardly be able to believe that the quiet little home that the pegasus family currently resided in had at one time even remotely resembled the household in the picture.  The family itself though still seemed pleased, despite the poor condition of their new home.  As they were all standing outside of the building with wide grins on their faces.  Nightlight Winter held an infant Sunset Spring in her hooves, while her father, a brown stallion with a red mane by the name of Broken Autumn was standing proudly next to their firstborn son, Shining Summer.  The picture was quite obviously showing its age, discolored and wrinkled as it was exposed to the elements over the years, not to mention Sunset’s father’s mane still had color, and was well…there.  And her younger brother couldn’t have been older than seven or eight at the time the photograph was taken.   It was hard to imagine the big powerful and downright intimidating Pegasus he is now once being that calm somewhat shy young colt he appeared to be then, it actually took Black Brush a few moments to recognize who exactly the young colt was before he’d managed to put two and two together, his confusion stemming mainly from the fact that his coat was completely void of color in this picture.  Nigh on completely white like that of his mother, who’s snowy white fur was so disturbingly bleached many had actually thought she suffered some kind of condition.  But when questioned she always responded the same way.

“This was how I was born.”

But as he grew older hints of his father’s genes began to make themselves apparent as his coat began to change into more of a light brown.  The next picture was a good several years later; he couldn’t help but smile somewhat fondly at this one, mainly because he was actually in it.  It seemed as if they had gathered once again outside of the small home in order to celebrate making their weather business official.  He could still remember the day, taking the picture most of all.  It was during the period of years when he and Sunset had become practically inseparable, though many would argue that was still true today; it was even worse back then.  They used to actually sneak into each other’s bedrooms late at night not to do anything naughty of course, but just to talk like only true friends could, though that excuse still didn’t seem to work so well on her father, who had forced Black Brush to go home on more than one occasion.   He had actually been around so much that when they were getting ready for the snapshot Sunset’s mom had actually dragged him into the frame, despite his protests she had insisted that it just wouldn’t be the same without him actually being in the picture.  He chuckled slightly as he spotted himself in the image, sitting next to Sunset of course, the two of them right smack dab in the middle as she had a foreleg wrapped around him affectionately, a huge ear to ear grin plastered on her face and his cheeks so red they resembled strawberries.  While her brother looked less than entertained, he appeared to be rolling his eyes so hard Black Brush wondered if they hadn’t actually popped out of his head at some point afterward.  

“There we are dinner is served!”  Sunset’s cheery voice pulled him away from the past and back into the present.  

He turned to see Sunset flutter into the room with two large plates balanced expertly on each of her hooves.  He offered a weak smile as she placed the bowl on the table in front of him, the pungent aroma wafting up from the orange blob in the middle stirring his appetite.  

I really should just get this over with.  He spoke with himself.  Just tell her I’m leaving and break her heart so she can get over it faster.  He looked up from his bowl gloomily to see her big golden eyes staring back at him expectantly.  

“Is something wrong?  Does it taste bad or something?”  She asked with a hint of apprehension tainting her voice.  Why couldn’t he just eat the damn food and tell her it was great like he always did…what was wrong with him?

Black Brush shifted his gaze back to the plate.  Well…it DOES look good, and I haven’t eaten anything all day.  Not to mention Sunset does make the best cobbler this side of Equestria…maybe just a bite, Yeah just one bite and then you can tell her.

Bending down Black Brush took a large mouthful of the goopy peaches.  Before his taste buds practically exploded in sheer joy at the magnificent flavor of the dish, he lifted his head back up with a huge smile plastered on his face as he chewed noisily on the orange delicacy.

“OH BY LUNA!”  He sputtered out in-between raucous chomps, his previous thoughts suddenly fading towards the back of his mind as he lost himself in pure delicious bliss.  “THAT has got to be the best cobbler I’ve EVER tasted!”  He quickly bent down to scoop up another mouthful of the delightful slop.

Sunset’s troubled expression changed back into a pleased smile.  Now that’s more like it.  She thought happily as Black Brush munched on the cobbler.  Maybe that was all he needed to finally break out of his funk, a slice of his favorite food and a little personal time with his best friend.  

Finally pleased with her Blackie’s change in demeanor she as well dug into the food.  The peaches tasting all the sweater now that everything finally seemed right in the world.

And for a while everything was okay.  They talked and laughed like they had always done over the years, enjoying each other’s company the way only true friends could.  And the thoughts of leaving had fallen to the back of Black Brush’s mind as he and Sunset spent the evening regaling each other with stories and jokes.  And for the first time in weeks Black Brush was happy, but like all good things….it was doomed to come to an end.

“And then, he… he.”  Sunset paused as she let a few more laughs slide past her lips, before taking in another fleeting breath of oxygen and continuing her story.  “Dad looks up and says, ‘Well I guess we won’t be buying chocolate pickles anytime soon.’”  Sunset finished her story with a poor imitation of her father’s deep voice, shaking her head back and forth in an exaggerated manner and squinting her eyes like she always did when doing a less than graceful impression of her serious parent.

Black Brush laughed along with her, it wasn’t the first time he’d heard the story about the Pegasus family’s trip to Cloudsdale.  But that didn’t mean it was any less hilarious, with a smile still present on his lips he levitated a napkin up to his face and began to wipe away some of the peach juices that had spilled out of his mouth and onto his chin.

Sunset wiped away a stray tear with her hoof, taking in another much needed breath after her laughing fit.  Before she started to think of another topic with which to occupy their evening, but despite much brain racking she just couldn’t find one, when she recalled the words Black Brush had spoken back on the hill.  For a moment she considered thinking of something else to talk about, but she WAS curious as to what he had wanted to tell her, maybe he just wanted to ask her to help him out with some chores or something, yeah that was probably it.  And even though it was a risk, she decided to ask him.  “Well Blackie, you said you needed to tell me something right?”

When Black Brush heard those words it was like a light had been turned on inside of his head, and he gave himself a hefty mental slap, Black Brush couldn’t believe he’d nearly forgotten why he’d agreed to come here in the first place.  He instantly felt his mood change.  Part of him was upset that Sunset had brought his thoughts back to where they should have been all night, exactly where he didn’t want them to be.  But for the most part he was angry with himself for having dragged this out any longer than necessary.  For a he toyed with the thought that maybe he should just put it off a little longer, after all…maybe one last happy night together wouldn’t be a big deal, would another day or two of leaving her in the dark really be that bad?  But he quickly pushed the thought away.  No if he didn’t do this now he’d probably end up disappearing without telling her a thing, and somehow he figured that would be twice as painful.

“Actually Sunset…there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”  He began, casting his gaze to the floor.  Black Brush didn’t think he could take seeing the hurt expression he knew was going to come.

‘No no no no no you idiot!  Why did you have to say that!?  Quick think of something, anything to say!’  Sunset Spring quickly probed her mind for something to distract him with.

“H-hey did I ever tell you about the time uh, my uh…my brother and I went fishing!?”  She quickly sputtered out.  Quickly conjuring a story up out of the depths of her imagination and using it as desperate attempt to change the subject and bring the mood back to where it should have stayed.  “Hoo boy quite a funny story that one!  You see my brother and me…”

Black Brush tore his eyes away from the ground, his face sympathetic.  He knew what she was trying to do, and it tore him up to see how badly she just wanted the night to keep going.  But no, he didn’t have time for this, no matter how much it hurt either of them this had to be said, one way or another.

“…Sunset…”  He quietly tried to interrupt her sputtering facade.

“And then uh…yeah my brother is all like ‘well I don’t want a pink fish!’”  She kept on, trying to ignore him.

“Sunset don’t make this harder on both of us…”

“Hey do you want some more cobbler?  I’m sure you do, it’s really good huh?”  She quickly flew over and grabbed his plate up in her hooves awkwardly, starting to propel herself back towards the kitchen.  

Black Brush sighed; he’d had enough of this game.

“Sunset I’m leaving Colterson.”

*CRASH!*

The sound of the plate striking the floorboards with a violent smash rang throughout the small two story building, though neither of them seemed to hear it…no…the only thing they heard was the terrible suffocating silence that followed his words.

After what felt like hours Sunset gently floated back to the ground and sat on her haunches, unable to do much else as Black Brush’s words seemed to finally seep in.  

“You…your what?”  Was all she was capable of choking out; she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.  She felt the tears stinging at her eyes already, he couldn’t…he just couldn’t…he was her closest friend; they’d lived in the town together for as long as she could remember!  He couldn’t just leave her here like this!  She hadn’t even gotten a chance to tell him…

Black Brush heaved a heavy sigh, seeing his closest friend in such a state tugged on his heart strings and he didn’t think he could handle that face for much longer.

“I…I said I’m leaving Sunset, I’m selling my shop and getting out of this town.  And I won’t be coming back.”  There it was it was finally done.  His final tie to the small town was cut and it could never be repaired.  He was finally free to leave and continue on with his life… to bury his memories and press on forward, he should be glad it was finally done.  So why did he feel so awful?  

The question, of course, required no answer.  Looking up from the chestnut colored wooden floor he forced himself to gaze upon the damage he’d wrought.  And…oh Luna…did he feel it, Sunset sat with her head hung low, sniffling and wheezing as tears started to run down her face in thick rivulets of sadness.  Striking the ground with a consistent *drip* *drip*.  He wanted nothing more to rush over and embrace her, to scoop her up and tell her he was sorry, to tell her he would never leave and it was all some kind of cruel joke that he needed to be punished for.  But he felt the words die in his throat…no nothing he could do, nothing he could say could fix this.

Cautiously he stepped out of the chair and approached her, fighting the urge to cry himself as her pained sobs shook him down to his very soul.  He gently sat down next to her, gingerly reaching out with his left hoof to comfort her.  When she didn’t pull away he dragged her into a heavy embrace, cooing softly to her like a parent would their child in a foolhardy attempt to console her.  She buried her head into his chest as fresh tears spilled out upon his steel colored coat.  Again Black Brush had to choke back the tears threatening to boil over.  How could he have done this to her?  

“Pl…please just tell me wh…what I did wrong Blackie.”  Sunset pleaded in between her choking pain filled sobs, it had to be her fault.  Who else could have driven him to do this?

Black Brush gave a couple gentle brushes through her bright red mane.  “Sunset you didn’t do anything wrong.”  He tried to keep his own voice level, though his eyes threatened to let his own sadness spill forth.

He felt rather than saw her shake her head back and forth in a hectic yet negative manner, grabbing onto him with her hooves so tight it nearly stole his breath away, afraid that letting go would mean he’d fade away right before her eyes.  But he didn’t mind, no he deserved the pain.

“No…Then whose fault is it huh!?”  Sunset spat harshly, and even though the sound of her voice was muffled through Black Brush’s fur and her own choking sobs he could still feel the venom and self-hatred behind the words.  “If I wasn’t such a foal none of this would have happened and you’d have no reason to leave!”

“Sunset please don’t say that!”  He bit his lip to help hold back the tears, her harsh words and guilt bringing back memories that cut through him like a red hot blade.  He pulled her closer, trying to lose himself in her soft fur and cherry scented mane, trying to find a sanctuary within her from the sadness and pain.  “Please don’t say that!  Please don’t say that!”  He pleaded with her; there was no fighting the tears now.  They began to spill freely from his eyes and into her mane.

“I’m so sorry Blackie…I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.”  Sunset repeated the words; as if the more she said it the more likely he was to stay.  “Please don’t go!”  She let loose another set of choking sobs.

“Sunse-’’ Black Brush started the sentence, but never got the chance to finish it.  A flash of brown was all he managed to catch a glimpse of before a shock of pain shot through the back of his skull as he was propelled into the wall with a sickening thud.  

Before he could get a good look at his assailant through his now blurry and disoriented vision he felt something strong lift him up and thump him against the wall again, his breath suddenly forced out of his lungs with a single long, drawn out wheeze as his body was pressed against the wall in an excruciating manner.   Forcing open an eye he finally caught the first blurry glimpse of his attacker, it was large, really large.  And in his dazed state the first thing that came to mind was that a dragon had found its way into the house, but after a few shakes of the head and pained blinks the blurry figure’s identity finally began to register.

He wished it was the dragon…

Before Black Brush stood a less than amused Shining Summer, his muscles bulging and nostrils flaring as he pressed his hooves into Black Brush’s stomach, pinning him to the wall.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER!?”  The deep voice of the burly Pegasus rang about inside of Black Brush’s jostled brain, though he found no oxygen in his lungs to answer with.  His reply instead nothing more than a few pitiful wheezing sounds.

“Shiny quit it!”  Sunset pleaded with her overprotective brother, the tears still streaming down her face.  “You’re hurting him!”

“Oh am I?”  Shining Summer’s blue eyes dug into Black Brush like drills, filled to the brim with hatred.  “Well he’s about to get hurt a lot more if he doesn’t tell me what he did to you!”

“He didn’t do anything I swear, just put him down please!”  Sunset continued to beg fruitlessly against her enraged brother on Black Brush’s behalf.

“MANURE!  I always knew this unicorn was a no good piece of trash!”  Shining Summer emphasized his point by digging his hooves into Black Brush’s stomach, causing another pained wheeze to slide past his lips.  “Now I’m not a big fan of violence ‘Blackie’.”  Shining Summer spat out the pet name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.  “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to enjoy this.”  The words dripped with anger as Black Brush saw him raise a hoof in the air, poising it to strike.

Black Brush clamped his eyes shut, tensing up his body as he prepared for the impact.  

This is going to hurt.

“SHINING SUMMER!”  A familiar feminine voice caught the flustered Pegasus’ attention, stopping the hoof strike midair.  “You put Black Brush down this instant mister, or you’ll be in big trouble!”

Braving a glance Black Brush cracked open one of his bloodshot eyes, he suddenly felt relief wash over him as he saw a displeased Nightlight Winter standing in front of them both. Her head held high and a look on her face that could only be pulled off by an angry mother, her very poise demanding immediate attention and obedience.   Her black mane tied neatly in a bun behind her head as her sparkling golden eyes dug into Shining Summer like knives.

“B…but he,” Shining Summer tried to speak, but found his voice faltering under his mother’s penetrating stare.

“I said right this instant young man!”  Her command left no room for interpretation as she stamped her hoof against the ground intimidatingly.

Black Brush suddenly felt the crushing pressure on his abdomen removed as Shining Summer stepped away, ears laid back and head hung low like a dog being scolded by its master.  Black Brush collapsed onto the ground with a thud, sucking in a breath so deep it nearly hurt, but that didn’t matter.  He was just glad he could breathe again.

“Summer to your room right now!”  Nightlight shouted above the sound of her daughter’s sobbing and Black Brush’s haggard breathing.

“But mom!”  Summer began to whine.  “I’m not a little kid anymore!”

“I’ll start treating you like a full grown stallion when you start acting like one!”  His mother’s voice was harsh, and cut through Summer’s pride like a knife.  “Now to your room this instant young man!” She jutted a commanding hoof towards the stairway leading to the upper level of the home.

Summer began his long walk of shame towards the stair case, keeping his head hung low and his tail between his legs as he attempted to avoid his mother’s harsh gaze.  The sound of clopping hooves above them and a shutting door signifying his submission to his mother’s whims.

Nightlight sighed deeply.  “I don’t know what I’m going to do with that boy.”  She mumbled quietly to herself before turning a much softer gaze towards Black Brush, who still sat against the wall taking in one deep gasp after another in a difficult attempt to refill his depleted lungs.

She approached and began to help the battered unicorn to his wobbly legs.  

“Are you okay Black Brush?”  She asked sincerely, gently nudging at his bruised ribs to check for any serious damage.  Luckily she didn’t seem to find anything that severe.

“Yeah I’m fine…”  His voice came out hoarse and wheezy, it was clear he was having trouble breathing.  “Is sunset okay?” He asked quietly.  

“She’ll be okay I think.”  A gruff voice trickled with age resonated from where Sunset sat.

Looking over in unison they both spotted Broken Autumn sitting next to his daughter, a hoof wrapped around her affectionately as he stroked her mane.  Black Brush couldn’t recall the aged stallion ever entering the house, then again he’d just spent the last five minutes or so pinned against the wall so it might have slipped past his attention.

Sunset seemed to have calmed down a bit thanks to her father’s kind words and comforting presence.  Her once racking sobs and cries now reduced to simple sniffs and whimpers as she buried her face into her father’s thick brown coat.  Again he felt that same sensation of guilt settle into his gut, how could he be so cruel?  He wanted to say something, anything to make her feel better.  But he just couldn’t find the words.

“Listen Black Brush, I don’t know what happened between you two but I know you wouldn’t do something like this on purpose.  So for now why don’t you go home and rest a little.”  He heard Nightlight Winter offer gently.

He looked at her worried face then back at Sunset.  “…But…”  

“Ah ah no buts mister, you got banged up pretty bad.”  She gave him a gentle prod to the ribs to emphasize her point, which elicited a pained hiss and grimace from Black Brush as the bruised body part screamed at the undesired attention.  “Now go home and one of us will be over to talk to you in a bit.”  She started to make her way over to where her husband and daughter sat hunched together in a tight comforting ball.  Before sitting down next to them both and wrapping one of her wings affectionately around Sunset.  She clearly wasn’t going to pay attention to any of his protests.

Sighing dejectedly he started for the door, his hooves clopping loudly against the polished wood as he made his way out of the now caved in front door, Shining Summer must have broken it down rather than open it when he charged into the building.  Before he made his exit he stole one last glance over towards where Sunset sat in her parent’s embrace.  Their eyes locked for just a moment as they held each other trapped within emerald and gold as an unknown mixture of emotions passed between them both, her eyes begging him to stay and his eyes begging her to let him go.

I’m sorry… he mouthed the words before turning and trotting out into the deserted streets of Colterson, fighting the urge to look back as he wiped the tears from his eyes and set off at a dead sprint for his home, his sanctuary.

Sunset began to cry again.

....................................................................................................................................

Black Brush slammed the door behind him, eager to shut out the rest of the world and hide from his problems.  Sighing heavily he cast a somber look around the small art shop he called home.  It was just now he realized how barren it really was, there was no furniture, he’d given it away a few weeks ago in preparation for his departure, aside from a single couch he’d been sleeping on and an ice box he’d kept around for food.  None of his paintings were displayed proudly on the walls anymore; he’d sold a few for whatever bits he could get and taken down the rest that nopony wanted.  

That’s when it hit him…this was it; this was the last night he’d spend in this home.  It was over, it was done, and there wasn’t any reason to stay now.   He looked around again, it was empty, he was empty.  He had no paintings to offer him comfort, no furniture to curl up on, no books to read, and now…no Sunset to talk with.  He’d been expecting to feel a little upset at cutting off their relationship.  After all they’d been close since they were young.   But this feeling…it wasn’t just a little upset.  It was like someone had just torn out a part of his heart, no a part of his soul, his very being was missing something.  Then he realized it…he was alone.  He’d taken the one pony in all of Equestria that still cared about him and severed their ties completely, and why?  Because he was a selfish bastard that’s why, he didn’t want to live in this town anymore so he figured that was a just enough cause to hurt his best friend.

“You don’t deserve someone like her as a friend anyway.”  He berated himself quietly, and it was true, he didn’t deserve somepony as kind, gentle, and magnificent as Sunset to be his friend.  He’d proven that tonight.

His head hung low as he began a slow and pained trot over to the ice box, the heavy clops of his hooves against the marble floor of his home seemed all the louder now, as if echoing the emptiness he now felt inside.  He used his magic to lift open the lid of the container, he didn’t feel up to using his hooves, didn’t really feel up to anything except curling up on his couch and receding into the sanctuary that was his own mind.  But the stinging pain in his sides demanded some kind of attention.  Levitating the ice pack from where it rested inside of the small blue box he pressed it against his aching ribs.  The chilly pack sending shivers throughout his body as it connected with his bruised flesh, but at the same time quelling the agonizing throbbing that had been bothering him since he’d ran out of Sunset’s home.

Keeping the pack pressed to his side with magic he trotted over to the couch, pulling himself up on shaky hooves and curling up into a tight ball, wrapping his short tail around himself like a makeshift blanket.  And after a few more woeful sighs, allowed himself to drift off into sleep’s comforting embrace.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Hi honey.”  Nightlight spoke softly as she gently pushed open the door to her daughter’s bedroom, the light from the moon now high in the sky filtering in through the window, illuminating a portion of the otherwise dark room.  

Nightlight’s only reply was a slight grunting sound from Sunset that acknowledged her mother’s presence.  She lay sprawled out on her bed, head buried into her pillow as she stared at a picture of her and Black Brush on the night stand next to the bed.  The picture brought her a smile for a few fleeting moments, she and Black Brush had taken it during one of their many outings together a few years back.  It was a funny picture, Black Brush was sticking out his tongue and rolling his eyes into an awkward position while she floated above him and started to munch on his head with a playful look in her eyes.  But the happiness didn’t last long before reality came crashing down upon her.  She and Black Brush would never have another moment like that again.

She wiped her eyes as she felt a displacement of weight on the bed, her mother lying down next to her.

“You want to tell me what happened between you two honey?”  Nightlight asked quietly, her eyes reassuring and filled with sympathy.

Really she didn’t, she didn’t want to talk about what had happened earlier ever again, didn’t want to acknowledge that it even occurred.  Black Brush who was he?  Never heard of him, yep everything in her life was kittens and rainbows.  What was that?  The love of her life just flat out told her he was never going to see her again?  No you must be talking about some other Sunset Spring.  But that was no real way to handle the problem was it?  Nope, no matter how hard she wanted to pretend like it had never happened there was no denying it.  

“Well…”  Sunset started to speak, but found her voice falter somewhat as she was forced to recall the painful memory that still sat fresh in her mind.  

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”  Her mother offered in understanding.  “If you want to talk about it later that’s fine.”

For a moment Sunset thought about it.  But quickly dismissed that course of action, maybe talking about it with somepony would make her feel better.  Though she doubted that anything short of her Blackie telling her he was going to stay would fill the void she now felt in her heart.

“No it’s alright; I actually do kinda want to talk about it.”

“Okay honey, I’m listening.”

So Sunset began the emotionally trying task of recounting the night’s previous events, from when she went to fetch Blackie from the hill, to when her brother burst in the house shouting wild accusations and started to pound poor Blackie against the wall.

“I see…”  Her mother said softly, wrapping her wing comfortingly around her daughter.  Who was hastily trying to wipe a few more tears out of her eyes after recounting the whole ordeal.

“Oh mom, I don’t know what I’m going to do.  It’s my fault he’s leaving, if I wasn’t such an idiot…”  Sunset began, once again blaming herself for Black Brush’s decision.  “Just looking at me probably makes him sick.”

“Hey now don’t say that.  You know Black Brush better than anypony, and you know he’d never be upset with you.”  Nightlight used the back of her hoof to wipe away a few more stray tears from Sunset’s cheeks.  “I know you keep blaming yourself for what happened a few weeks ago but it really isn’t your fault.  None of us could have seen it coming, least of all you three.  And, what Black Brush had to do…I wouldn’t wish it on anypony.  And I can’t even begin to fathom what he’s been through since that whole ordeal.”  She leaned closer, meeting her daughter’s gaze.  “But I do know one thing.  He cares about you too much to hurt you like this on purpose.  Now I’m not sure of his reasons, and I’m sure none of us can ever really understand why he wants to leave like this.  But trust me when I say it has nothing to do with you.”

Sunset sniffed a little, before a light grin began to play at the edges of her mouth.  Her mother always did know just what to say to cheer her up, even if it was just a little.  She looked down, drawing circles with her hoof on the soft velvet blanket beneath them, a cute little grin on her face as her cheeks started to develop a slightly redder hue, and her eyes drifting off to look at nothing in particular.  A nervous tick she’d developed over the years when she was thinking about something in particular, or somepony to be more precise.  Nightlight did always think it was the cutest thing, and it wasn’t very hard to guess who exactly was on her mind when she had one of these little moments, but she never said anything about it.  Figuring it was better to let her daughter’s not so subtle affections stay subtle.

“You really do love him don’t you?”

Sunset’s blank face suddenly snapped into attention, as she quickly turned her head away from her mother’s prying eyes in order to hide the blush that decided to play at her cheeks.  Was it really that obvious?  Or did her mother have some special kind of mind power that let her read a pony’s thoughts?  Really Sunset didn’t know which one she was more worried about.

“Well I…”  Sunset began but ended up trailing off.  There really was no reason to deny it was there?  After all it wasn’t like her mother was going to prance around telling all the other ponies in town…or she hoped her mother wouldn’t do something like that anyway.  After all, continuous protests hadn’t stopped her from busting out the baby pictures whenever she had a guest in the house…regardless of their current affiliation with the family.  Maybe this was something she should just keep to herself.  

Looking over she met her mother’s knowing gaze and realized that no matter what she said Nightlight would always know the truth.  Finally with a heavy sigh she decided to speak.

“…Yeah…I really like my     Blackie.     “Sunset suddenly slapped her mouth shut with a hoof, realizing that her voice had taken an airy tone and she’d resorted to calling her best friend by his pet name.  Oh Celestia, there was definitely no hiding her feelings now, especially now that she’d said it like…wow she couldn’t even come up with an analogy that could even do that justice.  And to top it all off…her wings were now standing at full attention.

Her mother at least had the audacity to attempt to suppress the giggle rising in her throat, though it wasn’t met with much success.

Sunset lay her head down and covered it with her hoofs, feeling like she could fall right through the floor.  She wanted to tell the truth about her feelings but she hadn’t planned on making them…that clear.

Her mother finished her laughing fit and looked down at her daughter with an amused yet slightly apologetic grin, the embarrassment evident on the orange Pegasus’ face, or what little of it wasn’t hidden behind her hooves anyway.

“Oh honey, have you considered telling him how you feel?”  She offered gently, though a hint of that amused tone still tickled at her voice.

Sunset reared her head up, staring at her mother with an expression that looked like she had suggested they eat a puppy for breakfast.

“It might get him to stay you know.”  Nightlight continued to coax.

“Mom are you nuts!?”  Sunset’s voice came out harsh and surprised, like the mere idea of admitting how she felt was insane.  “I can’t tell him…”  She looked away again, staring up at the moon in the sky.  “…It’s so soon after what happened and…after everything earlier tonight.”  Sunset let out a heavy sigh.  “I just don’t think it would be a good idea mom.”   She finished remorsefully, moving her eyes away from the sparkling night sky to set her head back down onto the soft pillow beneath her, letting her head sink into the soft material as thoughts of Black Brush and his imminent departure ran through her mind.  “I just don’t know what I’m going to do when he’s gone…I’ve never felt like this about anypony before.  And if he were to go out there and get hurt…”  She added quietly, her voice trembling somewhat as if she was too afraid to finish the thought.

Nightlight Winter sighed softly as she embraced her daughter affectionately…she had hoped this day wouldn’t come.  Like she imagined all mothers did, but she’d be lying if she were to say she hadn’t been expecting it.  An old saying popped into her head as she thought of what she was about to do.

If you love something…you must set it free.  

        “Sunset honey, did I ever tell you how your father and I got together?”  Nightlight asked softly to her daughter as she embraced the melancholy mare affectionately.

        Sunset sniffed lightly before replying.  “Wasn’t it during your stay in Canterlot or something?”  She cracked open a bloodshot eye to stare at her mother.  

Nightlight smiled gently as the memory began to wash over her.  “Well honey that’s not exactly true.”

Sunset sat up to give her mother a surprised stare.  “It isn’t?”  She asked incredulously.  She had heard the story of her parent’s passionate meeting multiple times from both the mare and the stallion.  So it struck her as odd that they’d have been bending the truth the whole time.

“Well not exactly anyway.”  Her mother continued the soft smile as her eyes drifted off to look at nothing in particular, a look of contentment and happiness washing over her features as she let herself be dragged back to the fond memory.  “You see your father and I really did live in Canterlot for some time, that part is true.  And we did decide to leave after a little while to look for a simpler place to raise a family.  But what you don’t know is the reasons for our hasty departure.  You see your father at the time was nothing more than a low paid weather colt, while I on the other hoof came from a wealthy family of nobles.  As far as my parents were concerned he was worth nothing more than a passing glance, one of the ponies we were meant to step on in order to reach the top of the societal food chain.”  Sunset noticed a taste of disgust touch on her mother’s voice as she said those words.  “But I never saw him like that.  No I saw him like he was an actual living being, something with feelings and a heart, something I wasn’t meant to use once and then toss aside like a damaged tool…no I saw him for what he truly was…I saw him as a stallion.”

Sunset listened intently; she knew her parents had originally hailed from Canterlot.  That much hadn’t been a mystery.  But it had never been brought to her attention that Nightlight was of noble descent.  For now she let the thoughts of Black Brush fall to the back of her mind as she shifted her attention to her mother’s story, after all it was far less depressing.

“We first met back when my family had returned from a business trip in Eastern Clopton, as it turns out the weather team had scheduled a storm while we were gone and, due to some mishap with the schedule it had combined with another smaller storm and turned out twice as powerful as originally intended.  Many homes located in the town itself had been damaged heavily, though not beyond repair.  But the same couldn’t be said for the cloud homes located in the skyline of the glorious city, for most if not all had been nigh on demolished;  the fragile clouds ripped apart by the sudden onslaught of hail, rain, and wind.  Unfortunately for my family, we lived in a cloud home.  As you can imagine my parents weren’t exactly happy to come home from a long business trip to find out that our expensive cloud manor had been practically torn in half like a flimsy piece of parchment, while the houses located within the city could have been quickly and simply repaired by the combined efforts of unicorns and earth ponies alike.  Homes like ours were much, much more complicated.”

“First of all maybe I should do a little explaining, considering you’ve never actually lived in a cloud home yourself, you see clouds are unlike the durable wood and stone most buildings in Equestria are made from, as you can practically slap those two things together all you want and make something that can withstand the elements.  Clouds on the other hand require a bit more of a delicate touch.  Each piece of the airy material needs special care and placement in order to be constructed into a proper, not to mention safe, living space.  The creation of which only a Pegasus could hope to do properly, this is where your father comes in, though we’ll get to that in a moment.”

Sunset continued to listen intently as her mother moved on with the story.  She really had no idea what this had to do with anything that had happened earlier tonight, maybe it was just her mother’s desperate attempt to bring Sunset out of her depression.  Or maybe Nightlight was trying to teach her some kind of life lesson.  Who knew?  Her mom’s actions were more often than not difficult to predict.  No matter what the whole point to this long winded spiel was she was grateful for the distraction.

“Now when we arrived back in Canterlot my family was very upset to find that all the good pegasi construction contractors had already been hired by everypony else.  Even some of the lesser skilled teams had been hired out, I remember seeing one pegasus with eyes that didn’t line up carrying a stack of cloud beams in one hoof and a bag of muffins in another, I don’t imagine that the job ended well.  Our late return had meant we were left with practically zero chance of finding somepony skilled, or willing, enough to do the work a luxurious home such as ours required.  Left with nowhere to go thanks to my parent’s refusal to stay in one of the many inns dotted throughout the city we were forced to beseech Princess Celestia herself for aid.  I personally didn’t expect the Princess’ surprisingly swift response; she had sent her best architect to oversee the reconstruction of our manor.  Along with a group of volunteers who had been willing to take time out of their lives to help us, a bunch of stuck up nobleponies.”  

“I imagine my parent’s first idea was to complain, but for once in their lives they’d managed to keep their mouths shut.   It must have been because they really didn’t have much say in the matter if they wanted someplace to live.”  Sunset couldn’t help but notice how Nightlight had failed to say anything remotely positive about her parents.  The topic of grandparents had always been rather hush hush around the home, any attempt to bring up either Nightlight’s or Breaking Autumn’s heritage was usually quickly and simply avoided.  Though she was aware that her father had been raised by an elderly uncle rather than either a mom or a dad, their lives having been claimed by a chariot crash when he was still a young colt.  Since the topic was always swiftly swept under the rug when it came up she had never really put much thought into it.  But hearing all this now was starting to make it clear, Nightlight obviously had issues with her noble bloodline.

“A group of about seven or eight pegasi had arrived within the hour, but I wasn’t paying much attention to them.  Now I never believed in the whole love at first sight thing, not really sure I do still…but let me tell you.”  Nightlight looked down at her daughter, smiling fondly at the memory as she looked upon her captivated gaze.  “When I saw your father, it was like something inside me broke.  A myriad of swirling emotions and unspoken desires were spinning around in my head.”  Sunset watched as her mother’s eyes drifted off to look at nothing as she lost herself within the memory.  “I can still picture him like it was yesterday.  He was so handsome, his chestnut colored coat had been well groomed, his red mane blowing slightly in the breeze as he flew carelessly through the air on a pair of the most magnificent wings I’d ever seen, and as we locked eyes…oh Celestia I didn’t think my heart would ever stop beating.”

“Naturally, my parents being the fretful sort they were, made it their business to stick their nose in the lives of each of the ponies who’d come to fix our manor.  More or less everypony seemed to live pretty average lives; a good portion of them had at least a smaller background in cloud construction, your father included.  And we already knew who the architect was, considering he had his hooves dug into practically every construction project around the city.  But when they learned that your dad was a weather pony they had immediately demanded that he be kicked off of the job, I’d wanted to say something in protest, but I’d learned over the years that it was never a good idea to oppose my parents.  Thankfully though the architect was a kind old pony, and had explained that Breaking Autumn was one of the reserve weather ponies that had actually been brave enough to venture out into the storm in order to minimalize damages.  This seemed to satisfy my parents to some degree, who begrudgingly allowed him to do his work.”

“I watched from the sidelines as the volunteer group began the trying task that had been laid out before them; my parents had said I should stay to watch in order to learn how to oversee projects and gain leadership skills, due to the fact that I would one day be inheriting the family business.  Really they were just making sure I didn’t run off to spend time with my friends, but they shouldn’t have been worried.  For I couldn’t have left if I wanted to, I was too busy watching your father.  I made sure to keep my distance, trying to build up my courage in order to speak to him, strange I know, for a noble to have trouble speaking with a commoner.  But when I saw him fly by it’s like he took my breath with him.  I think at one point he may have noticed my stare, because I can recall him stopping in the middle of stacking a cloud to turn and look at me.  When our eyes locked I could practically feel the heat rising in my cheeks, then he offered me the slightest little smile and a brief wave, before turning back to his work with a grin.  I could barely believe it; he had actually acknowledged my existence, I’d almost managed to stammer out a greeting.  Though by the time the words finally managed to register within my mind I’d realized he’d already moved too far away for me to possibly catch his attention.”

“I think my parents eventually managed to catch on to my little crush, because I can remember feeling my dad’s disapproving glare digging into the back of my skull.  They of course didn’t take long to come up with something pointless to steal away my attention, if I remember right it was something about asking one of the construction ponies on break about how rainbows were made, considering our family owned a chunk of the rainbow factory over in Cloudsdale.  So with a sigh I soared over to where the Pegasus was resting, when I managed to mumble out a greeting he smiled and offered me a seat on the cloud next to him.  Apparently he had noticed who my attentions were focused on as well, and I started to wonder if it was really that obvious, he asked if I wanted to know a little more about your father, considering I looked like I didn’t plan on asking him directly any time soon.  All I could do was nod enthusiastically.”

“That was the first time I’d ever heard your father’s name.  And I couldn’t stop saying it under my breath as the Pegasus continued to tell me more about him.  Apparently this Pegasus had worked with Breaking Autumn back when the two did cloud construction a few years back, they’d gone out for drinks a couple of times and considered each other friends.  He told me that Breaking Autumn lived in the lower part of town, which was something I figured, reserve weather ponies aren’t exactly paid well.  But I wasn’t really concerned, though if my parents were to be believed I would have thought that the lower part of Canterlot was the slummiest most dangerous place in all of Equestria.  Filled with thieves, cutthroats, mercenaries, and the like, but a rebellious trip there myself one late weekend night had proved it to be quite the opposite.”

“He’d been going on about something else for at least a good ten or fifteen minutes but I once again had allowed my imagination drift off in order to fawn over Breaking Autumn a little more.  When suddenly a loud shout yanked me back into reality and all too late had I realized that the growing shadow surrounding me wasn’t exactly a cloud covering up a few of the sun’s rays, but rather the silhouette of a dangerous cloud beam cascading out of the sky and rushing towards my current position on the soft cloud I had been floating on.  By the time I had realized what was happening it was already too late; it would only be moments before I was crushed fatally underneath the beam’s overpowering weight.  Not that I could have done much anyway, I can still remember the feeling of my wings locking up from fear the moment my foggy and love sick mind finally managed to piece together the life threatening situation I was in.”

“I screwed my eyes shut as tight as possible, and braced myself for what I knew was to come.  That’s when I felt it; two strong hooves wrapped themselves around my waist and launched me into the air.  I could feel the empty space beneath me and my wings still refused to obey my desperate commands, I remember screaming, or at least I think I screamed, I couldn’t really hear due to the sound of wind rushing past my ears, but suddenly I stopped.  And then I felt those hooves wrap around me protectively once again.  Slowly I managed to open one of my eyes, and my mind suddenly blanked when I saw who my savior was.  Breaking Autumn held me, pressing my body against his in a safe and comforting embrace, his eyes looking down upon me worriedly as a bead of sweat hung off of his forehead.  He asked me if I was alright, his panicked blue eyes darting across my entire body for signs of injury.  If my head wasn’t spinning I’m sure I would have blushed.  His words finally managed to register inside of my jostled mind and I forced a small shake of my head.  I could feel him exhale in relief as he gave me another one of those amazing smiles.”

Nightlight chuckled softly.  “I can remember what I told him after that.  I asked him how his day was going.  Can you believe how stupid that must have sounded?  No wonder I didn’t have any suitors if that was how I acted around a colt.”  Sunset felt herself smile.  “But at least your dad was nice about it.  He even made a joke; I can’t remember exactly, it was something about a salt shaker if I remember right.  It wasn’t funny I remember that much, but I laughed anyway.  You know how bad your dad’s jokes are but the fact that he was actually talking to me kept me from doing anything other than responding positively.  He told me his name and I told him mine.  I’d heard people say my name dozens of times over the years, but none of them had made my heart flutter like he did.”

“He flew us back down to the ground, and when we finally touched back down on the safety of the earth he gently released me, I was enjoying the feeling of his touch and I was loath to let go.  But the sounds of my parent’s irate voices coming closer and the knowledge of what I knew was about to come forced me to focus my thoughts elsewhere.  When my parents finally got to us they began to fret over me, checking me over and asking if everything was alright.  I knew they didn’t really care, the first thing they made sure was intact was the fancy jewel necklace they’d bought me during our trip to Clopton in order to make me look more ‘presentable’, as my mom had put it.  But after that they immediately began throwing around wild accusations, claiming ridiculous things like how Breaking Autumn had knocked the cloud beam over on purpose then saved the day hoping for some kind of reward, when in reality he’d been at a completely different part of the house, reconstructing the kitchen if I remember correctly.  They’d even threatened to have him thrown into Celestia’s dungeon under the accusations of attempted murder.  This was one of the few times I’d ever actually spoken out against my parents, after a while and after a lot of coaxing from me they eventually settled down.  But no matter how much I pleaded they just simply refused to let him back on the job.”

“With a sigh of defeat he finally agreed to take his leave.  I begged him to stay, nearly fell to the ground and cried like a foal would over spilled milk but I had simply never felt this way about any colt before.  But it wasn’t as if my pleas had fallen on deaf ears, before he left he pulled me close planted a kiss on my cheek, which elicited a sharp addition of crimson to my face, and told me to look out my window at midnight.  And when the time came I did as he had instructed, he was sitting outside my window, a single rose in his mouth as he fluttered over with a grin on his face.  I quickly snuck outside to meet him, and we spent hours telling each other of our lives, gazing up at the stars, and simply enjoying the others company.”

“But our meetings didn’t stop after our single late night rendezvous, they continued on for many years after that, and we really made no attempts to hide our feelings in front of anypony.  Not even my parents vile words and pathetic attempts at punishments could dissuade me from doing what I knew in my heart was right.  We didn’t care that others thought it improper, or wrong that a noble would have such a relationship with a peasant.  I loved him and he loved me and everypony else’s opinions failed to register.  It was driving my parents mad, it had to of been, to see the daughter they had built up and raised to be proper flying about the town all willy nilly with some low life.  They just couldn’t see how happy I was, they thought it was a faze or some kind of final rebellion as the weight of my heritage began to press down upon me.  They thought it was something that could be fixed with stern voices and swift punishments.  But let me tell you something.”  

Nightlight looked down upon her daughter’s captivated gaze.  Smiling lightly and pulling her closer.

“You can’t fix love.  So when my parents said that they had planned a marriage for me and some other noblecolt I’d never met, your father and I made the ultimate decision.  Together we left our old lives behind to face the unknown, to live the way we always wanted.  And that’s how we ended up here.  I often wonder what would have happened if I had refused his offer to leave.  If I did as my parents commanded.  Surely I would have been rich, could have had anything I ever wanted.  Money, power, status, fame, it would have all been handed to me on a silver platter…but I wouldn’t have experienced so many wonderful things.  I wouldn’t have experienced pain, wouldn’t have experienced strife, and I would never have experienced love.  So I followed my heart, and I don’t regret it.”

Nightlight hugged her daughter tight, wrapping her hooves around her lovingly.  

“And now you have to make that same decision.”

Nightlight felt her daughter bristle slightly and attempt to pull away at the unexpected words.  But she held firm, savoring the intimate touch with her daughter.  

“M…mom are you saying I should leave with Black Brush?”  Nightlight finally eased the grip on her daughter, allowing them to look into each other’s eyes.  Sunset could see the tears threatening to boil over as her mother smiled affectionately.

“Honey I’m not saying you should leave, stay, or fly to the moon.  I’m saying you should follow your heart.”

Sunset’s mouth hung open, wanting to say something, but in the end managed only a single small nod.  Nightlight pulled her closer, letting a few of those teetering tears fall free.  Before letting Sunset go and wiping them away hastily.  Without another word Nightlight jumped off the bed, and then walked over to the closet.

“Well don’t just sit there you silly little filly.  We need to get your saddlebags packed.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…I’m giving you a choice Black Brush….

…You’ll thank me one day for this…

Black Brush awoke from his troubled sleep with a start, a consistent and obnoxious thumping drawing him from his nightmare.  Casting a weary and bloodshot gaze about the nigh on empty room he pinpointed the sound as coming from his door.  Gradually he shifted off the battered cushions of his couch.  Tossing the now melted icepack to the ground with a loud splatting sound, he found that the sting within his sides had diminished somewhat thanks to the cool ice but he was far from in a good enough mood to put it back in his ice box.

*thump* *thump*

“If it’s a sales pony I’m going to-“He stopped short as he swung open the door.  “Sun…Sunset?”  He felt his heart leap up into his throat and immediately get smashed back down as the Pegasus wrapped her hooves around him in a crushing embrace.  Stunned by the sudden show of affection he failed to do anything except hesitantly return the loving hug.  After a few moments his voice seemed to return.  “Sunset, what are you doing here?”  He tried to gently pull her away, but this only encouraged her to hold him tighter, keeping him in place.  

“Oh Blackie!”  Her voice cracked with emotion as she practically shouted his name, burying her head into his shaggy mane, savoring the touch.  “I’m not going to lose you ever again.”  

Black Brush pulled away once more, this time she relented, allowing him to take a step back.  His eyes settled onto the pair of brown burlap saddlebags hanging at her sides.  

“Sunset, what’s with the saddlebags?”  His emerald eyes shined with curiosity.

She frowned slightly, an expression of disappointment crossing her face.  She had expected him to be glad to see her.  “I’m…I’m coming with you.”  She offered a hopeful smile.  “Aren’t you happy?”

Suddenly the realization hit him.  And he felt foolish for not having already put the pieces together.  “Sunset you can’t.  You have a life here, a job, a family; you can’t go traipsing across Equestria with me.  Your parents wouldn’t approve we both know that.”

Sunset’s upset expression morphed into a coy smile as she giggled lightly.  “Blackie you are really thick sometimes you know.  Who do you think told me to come here?”  

Black Brush blinked once, then twice, a look of bewilderment present on his face.  “Wait…your parents want you to come with me?”

She kept on with the smile, before nodding enthusiastically then giving him a playful punch in the shoulder.  “You didn’t think you’d be able to get rid of me that easily did you?”

Black Brush returned the smile after another brief moment of silence.  Then raised his hooves into the air and messed up her mane.  Little did he know that no other show of affection could have meant anything more.  He dropped back down to the tile floor, admiring his handiwork with a coy smirk playing at the edges of his mouth.  Sunset’s once neatly combed cherry red mane was now tussled and thrown about like she had just woken up with a serious case of bed head.  

She giggled again, though she wasn’t showing it, she was practically beaming on the inside.  Now that was more like the Black Brush she knew! “You know…we have some of that cobbler left.  And my parents would love to have one last dinner with us both.  Interested?”

“Of course,”

“Well come on then, let’s get over there before it’s all eaten up.”  She swung around, heading for the door.  

“Wait!”  Black Brush quickly grabbed her shoulder with a hoof, stopping her where she stood.  “If…if you want to come with me…I have to show you something.”

Sunset was about to make some kind of remark, though when she laid her eyes upon the grave expression on his face she knew it was something important.  “Yeah, lead the way.”  

Without another word he turned around and started for the staircase that led to the upper floors of the building.  Sunset let out a somewhat disappointed sigh; she had just managed to pull him out of his seemingly endless depression.  And now it looked like he had just dived right back in to it.  But at least she knew his old self was there, somewhere, she’d managed to catch the briefest glimpse of the Black Brush she knew…and she was going to get him back, one way or another.

When they finally reached the top of the stairs, Black Brush stopped at a single oak door that resided at the end of the hallway, Sunset knew what it led to, for she had been inside many times before.  It was the room where Black Brush did his paintings, that much wasn’t a mystery.  But what was surprising was the expression he wore as he stared at the door.  He almost looked…frightened, like he was scared of what may lay in wait on the other side.  Slowly he lifted a hoof towards the door, about to push it open when suddenly…he paused…his outstretched hoof floating in the air like it was suspended in time, it appeared to be as if he was grinding his teeth, attempting to build up enough confidence to reveal what was inside.

Hesitantly Sunset approached him from the side, lightly draping a comforting hoof over his shoulder.  “Blackie…if you don’t want to do this, I understand.”  She spoke softly, though she was curious as to what he was so adamant about showing her.  She could live without seeing it if it caused him so much discomfort.

He looked back at her, as if contemplating that, before shaking the thought away.  “No, you’ve got to know why I really want to leave.”

And with that he pushed open the door.  They slowly stepped inside; upon entering the pair were immediately assaulted by the ever present scent of fresh paint and new canvas.  The room itself, for lack of a better term, was a total wreck.  Canvas was thrown all over the place, some pinned to the wall, and a large amount was strewn about carelessly across the floor, as if thrown there in a fit of rage.  Paint bottles and brushes were organized in practically the same way.  Tossed about all over the place without what seemed like a single thought of organization.  Now this surprised Sunset, the room was never really ordered per say, Black Brush, being the pony he was, was always much more concerned about getting the next piece of art done and pretty before worrying himself over the workspace with which he made it.  But never had it fallen to such a disgraceful state.  She watched him with concern as he sat down sadly, his ears drooping and his head hanging low as he stared at the room with pained eyes.

“Blackie…what is all this?”  Sunset asked with apprehension, her eyes scanning over the mess.

“Sunset, I want you to look at a couple of the paintings in here.”  He told her flatly, no emotion to his voice.  She felt her spine chill when he said that, he just sounded so…dead inside.

“Okay…”  She answered him quietly, craning her neck in order to get a better look at a couple of the portraits that weren’t completely tattered or unrecognizable.  “Which ones?”

Black Brush was silent for a moment, before he answered her with that same hollow and empty voice as before.  “…Any of them…”

Something about the way he said that…it sent chills through her spine.  Cautiously she picked out a couple of paintings in the room, brushing aside some of the strewn about canvas to provide a clear space to examine them.  She lined them up side by side on the floor then began to look over them with a scrutinizing gaze, checking for any abnormality.

After a few moments of silence she heard Black Brush speak.  “So…notice anything?”

She looked up at him, seeing he was in the same position as before, still staring out at nothing in particular.  His gaze unwavering, never changing, she was fairly confident he hadn’t even blinked throughout the whole time they’d been in the room.

“Well I don’t see anything all that weir-“She began before stopping short.  “Wait a minute…”  She quickly looked each of the paintings over once again in turn.  “None of them are finished.”  She fixed him with a confused stare.  “Black Brush you-“

“Never leave a painting unfinished.”  He completed the sentence, and then fixed those sad unfamiliar eyes upon her.  “…I know.”  He turned away, unable to look at her any longer.  “You know I’m not like most artists, I don’t just look at something and paint it.  I reach into my mind and allow my magic to put what I feel on the canvas…to bring life to my imagination.  But no matter what I do…no matter what I try to think about…I just can’t get it out of my damn HEAD!”  He shouted the word, before slamming his hoof into the floor with a thud, as if striking it would fix whatever problem he seemed to have.

Sunset looked at him, eyes filled with pity and remorse as she took a few hesitant steps forward.  “Blackie…”

“Every time I close my eyes…I see.”  He grimaced as if in pain as he clenched his eyes shut.   “I’m a monster.”

Suddenly it was all so obvious, Sunset finally understood why her closest friend needed to leave this town, the town they’d both grown to know and love.  What had happened only a few short weeks ago…what he had been forced to do…it was eating him up inside.  “Black Brush look at me.”

        He obeyed; turning his head towards her and cracking his eyes open slightly, the tears glistening in his emerald eyes, threatening to fall.  She quickly pulled him into a loving and tender embrace, much to his surprise.

        “You are not a monster.  What you had to go through…what you had to do…nopony deserves that.”  They pulled each other a little closer, both of them relishing the intimate contact.  “And I can’t even begin to understand what you’ve been through since it happened but…”  Sunset discretely chewed on her lower lip, considering her next words carefully.  “I want you to know that I will always be there for you.”  

Black Brush sighed contentedly into Sunset’s cherry red mane as he held her close, allowing her soothing words to sink in.  He felt all the guilt and depression that had been eating away at his mind and body for weeks now slowly begin to recede into the darkest regions of his mind, he didn’t quite understand it at first, why he felt so happy.  But after a time it became clear, he was no longer alone…so long as he had Sunset, he would never be alone.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

        A gust of chilly morning air filtered in through the window adjacent to where Sunset rested calmly underneath the silk sheets of her bed.  She cracked open an eyelid, batting away the filtering sunlight as if it was an annoying insect.  When it failed to dissipate however she rolled over, keeping her eyes shut as she moved to wrap her hooves around the body she had been curling up to the night before.  However when she found nothing to return her embrace but thin air her expression morphed into that of a frown.  Quickly she shot up, wiping away the sleep from her left eye with a hoof as she looked around the room frantically.  Black Brush was no longer there.  

‘Okay Sunset don’t freak out.  He wouldn’t slip off without telling you, after all it’s not like he would have trouble finding you, you two slept in the same bed last night for Celestia’s sake.  He’s probably just…in the bathroom!  Yeah that’s it!

        She looked down, Black Brush’s saddlebags were gone…that wasn’t a good sign.  Sunset felt the worry begin to gnaw on her as she shot out of the bed and tore across the room with a speed born of worry and concern as she swiftly pulled open her bedroom door.  She scanned up and down the hall of the second story in her home.  She felt her false hopes immediately get squashed down as she noticed the bathroom’s door was swung ajar, unoccupied.  

        Oh I swear when I track that no good stallion down I’m going to shove that paint brush so far up his- wait, what was that?”  Sunset stopped her inner tirade just long enough to focus her hearing towards a few voices resonating from the kitchen.  

        “I’m just saying, he better have kept his hooves to himself last night.”  An older voice sounded over the consistent noise of running water from the kitchen, Sunset immediately placed it as her father’s.

        She heard a slight screeching noise as the sound of running water came to a halt and a familiar voice gave an exasperated sigh.

        “Would you just quit complaining?  You’ve known Black Brush since he was a little colt; he’d never take advantage of Sunset like that.”  Sunset placed the voice as her mother’s.  Feeling heat rise to her face as…unclean thoughts about her and Black Brush quickly flashed through her head, before swiftly being pushed away, she really tried her best to not fantasize about him doing…that.  But she couldn’t help but wonder what else he could do with that horn of his…  

        Sunset started down the stairs, the smells of freshly cooked breakfast became more prominent as she descended causing her stomach to stir as her appetite began to act up.  Once she reached the bottom her eyes were drawn to the entrance of the home.  A new door had been quickly erected, no doubt by her father at some point during the night, or perhaps earlier in the morning, as she couldn’t recall it being there when she and Black Brush had returned from his home the night before.  It was a pale white, in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint, as the pale color didn’t seem to match well with the dark brown of the frame.  She imagined her father would probably be taking care of that after he finished up his weather duties around town this evening.

        “Regardless of the time span in which he and I have been acquainted it doesn’t change the fact that he is indeed a colt, and I know for a fact that when certain situations arise colts have a tendency to stop thinking up here.”  Sunset noticed her father sitting at the kitchen table, a steaming cup of coffee in one hoof as he tapped the side of his head with the other.  “And start thinking down here.”  He suddenly pointed towards his lap with the same hoof.  

        “No dear, not all colts do that, just you after a long day of weather work.”  Sunset’s mother walked out from the kitchen, finally coming into view.  She had her cooking apron on and her mane tied into a tight bun behind her head.  She had a playful tint to her eyes as she stared down her husband, who gave a dismissive snort at the jabbing comment.  Sunset noticed those golden eyes settle on her, and then her mother gave a warming smile.  “Hi honey.”

        Her father swiveled around in his chair, taking a sip from his coffee mug as he looked her over with a scrutinizing gaze.  “Well you LOOK like you got a full night’s sleep.”

        Sunset gave her father an irritated scowl, the very idea that her father thought that her Blackie was nothing more than a horny unicorn rubbed her the wrong way, even if she knew he didn’t really mean anything by it.  When Breaking Autumn noticed the scowl he intelligently changed his tone.

        “I mean hello dear, did you sleep well last night?”  He offered her a wide and desperate grin in an attempt to get rid of that terrible face.

        Sunset’s expression morphed from a threatening scowl into a sly grin.  “Oh yeah, I slept like a baby.  I had no idea a skilled tongue could make me so tired.”  

        Breaking Autumn winced slightly at the thought, before quickly turning back to his coffee.  Refusing to let his daughter’s teasing get to him, though the sound of his wife’s giggling only served to chastise him further.

        “Oh dear,” Nightlight took in a breath as her laughing fit came to an end.  “Well I suppose we know what side of the family you’re going to take after.”

        “Celestia help us all.”  Breaking Autumn grumbled just loud enough for them both to hear.

        “Oh shut up you.”  Nightlight quickly flung her now discarded apron at the side of the old stallion’s head, which he managed to duck underneath with a single swift movement, throwing a self-satisfied smile at his wife in return, which she quickly ignored with a hard roll of the eyes.

        “So mom, where has Black Brush gotten off to?”  Sunset asked with a twinge of apprehension to her voice, though it didn’t seem like either of her parents managed to pick up on it.

        Her father shrugged his shoulders and her mother gave a dismissive shake of her head.  

        “He didn’t say where he was going or what he was up to.  You can ask him when he gets back though; he and Shiny said they’d be back in time for breakfast.”   Her mother answered before heading back to the kitchen.  The sound of clanging plates and pans signaling that said breakfast was ready to be served.  

        “He AND Shiny went out…like together?”  Sunset asked, incredulous.

        “Yep,” this time it was her father that answered, bringing the coffee cup up to his lips once more, before eyeing it down and giving a heavy hearted sigh as he realized it was empty.  “Poor boy said he felt awful about what had happened last night and insisted that he tag along.  At least he’s got the gall to try and make up for his mistake; if you ask me he cares a lot more about Black Brush than he lets on.”

        Nightlight flew back into the room, a set of plates and silverware occupying each of her hooves.  “Or he used the opportunity as a chance to get out of the house while being grounded.”  The miffed Pegasus huffed while busily setting the table.  “If he isn’t back soon I’m going to double his punishment.”

        As if on cue the sound of the door swinging open served as the signal for the return of the aforementioned pair of ponies.  Sunset immediately felt her worry for Black Brush’s whereabouts evaporate as she saw him enter the home with her older brother Shining Summer in toe.  Looking him over she noticed the brown leather saddlebags hung at his sides, now slightly more full than they were the night before, he wore something else across his back as well, it was a long curved object, about half the size of Black Brush himself who wasn’t exactly small, and it was wrapped in leather that appeared to be several inches thick.  Whatever it was Black Brush had obviously taken many precautions to make sure it wouldn’t be damaged.

        “So, where have you been mister?”  Sunset asked the unicorn with mock annoyance.

        He gave her a smile that warmed her heart, it was good to see a little happiness return to his face after it had been gloomy for so long.  “Oh I just went out to do some last minute stocking up on supplies, and to pull this baby out of storage before my shop gets sold.”  The faint grey glow surrounded the leather bound object on his back as he levitated it out in front of him with his magic.  Before she could even ask he unsheathed what was inside with a quick flourish.  Floating in the air before her was a long shining sabre; she stared at it wide eyed.  Though she didn’t have an eye for weapons per say she was still wowed at the sight of the brilliant shining blade.  The cold curved steel managing to catch the light in the room just right in a way that caused it to glimmer in a spectacular fashion, the handle of the blade long and accompanied by a golden hoof guard that shone just as brilliantly as the rest of the sword.  It was most certainly a spectacular weapon, and did it not look razor sharp she would have been tempted to run her hoof along the edge to get a feel for it.

        “I almost forgot I had this old thing, considering I haven’t had a good fencing partner in years it’s mostly been left to gather dust in the back of my workshop.”  Black Brush spoke while spinning the blade around and looking it over with a proud gaze.

        “We took it down to Flint’s, the blacksmith at the edge of town, to see if we could get it sharpened.”  Shining Summer spoke up, craning his large neck in order to get a better look at the weapon.  “I’d say the old coot did a pretty good job.”

        “I thought Flint said he didn’t work on weapons anymore.”  Sunset said, finally managing to tear her eyes away from the rotating sabre.  

        “Eh, put enough bits into anypony’s hoofs and they’ll do whatever you tell ‘em to.”  Shining Summer responded with a shrug.

        “I’d have paid him twice as much for what he did if I had the money.  He really put some effort into this!  I haven’t seen this old thing shine so bright since I was little.”  Black Brush breathed with enthusiasm, watching his sabre grow old and rusty had been like watching an old friend get old and pass away, and there wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that the poor thing would have had to been put out with the garbage in a few more weeks.  But now it looked and felt as good as the first day he’d received it.  It was an object close to his heart for many reasons so seeing it returned to its former glory made him practically want to shout with joy.

        “My my Black Brush, I had no idea you were a fencer.”  Breaking Autumn trotted over in order to get a peek at the weapon.  “May I?”  He extended a hoof out to see if Black Brush would be willing to let him examine it a little closer.

        “Of course,” He handed the older stallion the blade, who began to toy with it, testing the weight of the steel with his hoofs.  “My father started teaching me as a young colt, he figured since it was his special talent it might be mine as well.  Obviously it wasn’t.”  He nodded towards his paintbrush and canvas as a cutie mark.  “But I’m still quite good at it.  And he gave me that sabre as a gift before he took off for Ponyville.”  

        “I see.”  Breaking Autumn allowed Black Brush to take the blade back, which he quickly returned to its sheath.

        “Now now everypony, I know Black Brush’s sword is incredibly interesting and whatnot but this breakfast isn’t exactly going to eat itself.”  Nightlight spoke with a slightly agitated voice, having set up the table minutes ago she refused to let the food she slaved over go to waste.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

        “Now do you have everything you need?”  Nightlight Winter asked her daughter for what Sunset swore was the hundredth time today.

        Sunset groaned.  “Yes mom, I checked, double checked, AND triple checked.  I have everything I need.”

        “Well maybe you should have quadruple checked because I found this underneath your bed.”  Nightlight held up Sunset’s favorite book.  ‘Of Wings and Horn’ ‘A Story of Two Friends’ was emblazoned upon the book’s brown cover in fancy gold lettering.  Written by Ink Well, a Pegasus author, it was a real shame he hadn’t written anything afterwards, it was a good book and he certainly had some talent.  Rumor was however that he had taken up a job with the National Equirer, who knew how that would turn out considering the magazine companies somewhat unscrupulous reputation.

        Sunset’s ears laid back against her head in a show of embarrassment, it looked like her mother had definitely won this argument.  “I uh, guess I did forget something heh.”  She chuckled nervously, looking away bashfully.

        “That’s right, you did.  Now let me just put that here.”  Nightlight walked around and placed the book snuggly into the saddlebag hanging at Sunset’s side.  “Now come over here and give me a hug.”  

        Black Brush watched from farther away with a smile on his face as the mares wrapped each other in a tight embrace.  The rest of Sunset’s family resided nearby, each waiting for their own hug from the soon to be gone family member.  He really had no family to say goodbye to, after all his parents were many hundreds of miles away in Ponyville, maybe he’d make a stop there one of these days.  From the letters it seemed as if Ponyville was a quaint little town, and he hadn’t really spent any time with his parents in years.  Yeah, that sounded like a pretty good idea, after all he wasn’t even really sure where to start looking if he wanted to find-

        “Hey!”  Nightlight’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.  Looking over he noticed her and the rest of Sunset’s family approaching him.  “Don’t you think for a moment that you’re getting out of here without a hug mister.”

        Suddenly Nightlight brought him into a vice grip like hug, wrapping her soft, snow white hooves around his neck.  He heard a few brief sniffles come from the mare as he slowly returned the crushing embrace.  “Now you take care of my daughter you hear!”  Her voice cracked heavily with emotion.   “And take care of yourself to…If I hear that you both got swallowed up by a Mantacore or something I’ll head straight for the afterlife and kick your ghost butt you hear me!?”  

        “I’ll hold you to it Nightlight.  I promise I won’t let anything happen to your daughter.”  He reassured her.  Prompting her to let him go, she stepped back a few feet as she hastily wiped the tears out of her eyes with the back of a hoof.  

        Breaking Autumn stepped forward, putting a hoof on Black Brush’s shoulder before shrugging and giving him a bear hug.  The fresh scent of coffee and cigar smoke filled Black Brush’s nostrils as his face was forced into the old stallion’s chest.  “You just remember you’ve got a family here Black Brush, and that no matter what happens to you both out there you’ll always be welcomed here.”

        Black Brush took Autumn’s words to heart, smiling despite himself at the words.  They actually meant quite a bit more than he imagined the Stallion thought it did.  “I appreciate it sir.”  Black Brush said once he was freed from the hug.

        Next up was Shining Summer, who looked like he was choking back tears.  Black Brush gave the burly stallion a soft and heartfelt smile, he always knew that the stallion loved him like a brother, even if sometimes he had a weird way of showing it, his sides ached slightly at the thought.  “Come on now big guy; don’t go crying over little old me.”

        Shining Summer scoffed a little and attempted to hide his sadness by looking in the other direction.  “Crying?  Pft, nice try dude, I just have uh…something in my eye yeah that’s it.”  Shining Summer looked back down at Black Brush, the little unicorn was holding out his hooves for a hug with an ear to ear grin on his face.  “Oh buck it!”  Shining Summer scooped him up with little to no effort, crushing Black Brush to his chest in a crushing embrace, letting the dam of tears break and flow free, the thick, salty, drops splashing onto Black Brush’s head and soaking into his mane.  “Don’t either of you go out there and die on me now.  I don’t want to lose the two ponies I care about most.”  

        Black Brush patted against the burly stallion’s arms, struggling to get out a few words.  “Yeah big guy…I kind of need to breathe.”

        Shining Summer let him go, mumbling out a quick sorry as he stepped back with a sad look on his face.

“All right you two, goodbyes are over you can take off now.”  Breaking Autumn stepped forward as Sunset came to stand at Black Brush’s side.  “Now you to take care, goodbye Sunset be safe out there.”  He cast an appreciative glance to Black Brush.  “Though I’m sure you couldn’t be in better hooves.”

Black Brush smiled at the comment.  “Thanks everypony, I appreciate the kind words, and I promise no matter where we go or what we do, I’ll stick right by her side the entire time.”

“Bye mom, dad, Shiny, I’ll wright to you soon!”  Sunset shouted back towards the group of waving ponies, exchanging one last round of goodbyes before she and Black Brush set off down the road leading out of town.  “So, where to first Blackie?”  She asked while giving him a curious look.

“Well,” He began, pursing his lips and looking up at the bright blue sky, deep in thought.  “There’s a village a few weeks down the road, I figure it’d be a good enough place to visit first.  I heard it’s got this awesome theatre that puts on plays every week or so and word is they’re putting on a live action version of Doctor Whooves so I figured…”

Sunset smiled softly as she let Black Brush’s continuous ramblings fall to the back of her mind, she swore, bring up Doctor Whooves and he’d go on for hours.  But that wasn’t really why she stopped listening, it was about now, as they got farther and farther away from the little hamlet she had spent her whole life in, that everything she’d be leaving behind finally caught up with her.  She stopped for just a moment, casting an apprehensive gaze back towards the village…back towards home, that she began to think about how everything she’d ever known, everything she had ever loved, was back there…and she was leaving it all.

“Sunset…”  Black Brush’s calm voice brought her out of her own gloomy thoughts and back into the present.

She looked back at him with a blush, suddenly realizing she’d been staring in the opposite direction for much longer than she had originally intended.  “Oh sorry, Doctor Whooves right?”  She shot out the words attempting to keep the conversation running to hide her thoughts.

“No…I stopped talking about that five minutes ago.  We’ve been sitting here in silence since then.”  She felt her face slip further into a darker shade of crimson as he said that, she quickly looked away, unable to stare into his emerald eyes without shame.  After another moment or two of silence he sighed in a somewhat depressed manner.  “Listen Sunset…if you want to go back, I understand.”

She shot her gaze back up, searching his face for signs of hurt.  But instead, all she saw was pure acceptance, like he’d been expecting her to be unable to go through with this for quite some time.  For some reason she couldn’t quite comprehend…that hurt a lot worse.  

“No Black Brush I want to do this!  I really do!  It’s just…”  Her voice trailed off as she studied his deep emerald eyes…was he closer than before?  “Everything I’ve ever known is in that town…leaving it all behind…”

He grabbed her hoof in his own, causing her heart to leap up into her throat and her stomach to start doing belly flops.  “I’m here for you.”  He told her quietly.  “And I made a promise that I’d stick by your side no matter where you go.  Now whether that’s down that road, or back the way we came, I will go with you.”  They continued to stare into each other’s eyes, both of the estranged ponies losing themselves in a sea of Emerald and Gold.

“But…you want to leave.”  She stated, incapable of understanding why he had seemed so adamant about wanting to leave the town regardless of how she might feel about it, but now insisting he’d stay if she so desired.

He nodded at this.  “I really do want to leave…nothing would make me happier, but…”  He looked away slightly, and fidgeted slightly as he thought of what he wanted to say next.  “Last night…when you came to my house and we went to my painting room…I realized so long as I had you I’d never be alone.  So leaving without you would mean I’d be forced to deal with that loneliness…and Sunset, I don’t think I can.  So if you go back…I go back, that’s the way it’s going to be whether I like it or not.”

For a moment she contemplated the choices, if he was being honest with her about this, and she saw no reason for him not to be, she could go home, be with her family, and have Blackie all to herself as well…but…what would that mean for him.  The decision was hers to make whether she liked it or not, which also meant she was in control of his happiness as well, leaving the town was something he really wanted…maybe even NEEDED in order to get on with his life.  She couldn’t blame him for that, what had happened to him in that town was awful, and if that was the only way he could forget about it than that’s all there was to say about it.  But he also needed her…and if they were to go back that would leave him split…forced to deal with the pain and the memories about the town that were held harbored within his own mind.  She loved him…more than he could possibly imagine…but could he ever truly love her back if she forced him to go through something like that day to day?

Another bout of uncomfortable silence passed between them as Black Brush waited for her choice.  When she looked up at him with those big sad eyes he knew the choice she had made…and begrudgingly he accepted it.

“I’m sorry Black Brush…”  Those words only served to solidify the choice he knew she had made.  “…for having kept us waiting for so long, come on Blackie, we’ve got to make up for lost time!”  She said cheerfully as she pulled him to his hooves with a tug on the one she still held firmly within her grasp.

“Whoa what!?”  He asked, struggling to keep up as she continued to tug on his hoof and pull him further down the road.

“Come on dummy!  We’re burning up daylight here!”  She continued to chastise him playfully, giggling with glee as she tugged him along.

And so began the adventure of a lifetime.  It was going to be a long hard road, filled with many obstacles and danger a plenty.  They both knew that, but neither were bothered, because they knew deep down…that together they could overcome any obstacle.

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Disclaimer- My Little Pony is copyright Lauren Faust, Hasbro, and whoever else happens to own it.  I’m just a simple fan of the show who felt like writing a fan fiction.  So don’t get your knickers in a bunch if you read this.  I mean seriously you probably don’t want to sue me anyway, I have like two pennies and an old sock for a retirement fund.

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