Chapter 3 - Cold as ice

Today is a dark day in Twilight's life. She has lost her best friends in such a short, near impossible time. And the dragon, with who'm she's been since she was a filly, is nowhere to be found, without a trace. Nervous for his safety, Twilight ponders deep in herself about what she's supposed to do now.

'M-Maybe I'm overreacting...,' Twilight tells herself as she moves stressfully through the room. 'Maybe he's just hanging around somewhere, didn't expect he would stay away this long, and will be back later today.'  

'But..., what if he's in serious trouble? Even Spike would atleast consider possible delays and write a note just to be sure!' she contradicts herself. 'Maybe he ran away! Or maybe he's stuck somewhere and begs for my help at this specific time! Or worse: Maybe he's been dragonapped!' Twilight shivers worried.

Unable to think of any reason, Twilight decides to take "certain" over "uncertain." 'M-Maybe i should check around Ponyville..., just in case,' she decides and walks downstairs again.

When she opens the door to go outside, Twilight closes her eyes when a strong wind blows through the door porch. It's amazing, due the surprisingly low temperature of the wind.

'What in Celestia? -Brrr- Who turned the sun off?' she shudders from the cold wind that flow over her skin.

Something really strange is going on. It was atleast 18 degrees a moment ago. It must have atleast dropped 15 degrees in a matter of minutes! Witnessing the drastic changes to the enviroment, the climate has turned into something like Fall! The temperature has dropped abnormally rapid, causing the birds to leave Ponyville much earlier than normally. And even the leafs have already started to change, coloring the trees auntumn-red. What happened to the warm summer?

'I-I need Spike. I won't be able to do anything about this now,' Twilight tells herself, ignoring the unnatural cold in order to focus on her lost friend.

The mare hurries to the town square, hoping to either find Spike walking around the stores, or find somepony who has seen him today. It feels uneasy to return to the town square, only about 30 minutes after the fight she had that broke her friendship apart, but Spike's safety is above her personal feelings!

***

Entering the square, Twilight sees that several ponies are busy. For some reason, some workcolts have fenced off the center of the square, creating a pile of wood. Multiple ponies have gathered around to see it. Curiously, Twilight takes a moment of her time to walk up to the brown stallion that's in charge.

'Eh, excuse me,' she speaks, trying to catch his attention.

'Eh? Who?' he looks a little surprised behind him, realizing it was Twilight. 'Oh, hello miss. Is there a problem?'

Twilight nods. 'If I'm not wasting your time, I actually just wanted to ask what is going on here. Why are you making a pile of wood here?'

The stallion smiles, understanding her surprise. 'You're not the first one that asks. It's an emergency call from the Major.'

Twilight looks surprised. What emergency is he talking about?

'This strange dropping of temperature is definitly unnatural, she claimed. We were asked a few minutes ago to prepare a bonfire here for extra heat to the citizens during the evening,' he explains to her.  

Twilight looks surprised. She admits that it's something that has probably never happened before, but is it truly worth such hasty decisions?

'A bonfire for a sudden freak of nature? Isn't that a little exaggerated?' she asks out loud.

The stallion shrugs. 'The Major's orders, miss. She believes that the situation may only worsen. I only listen and act to the orders.'

The stallion returns back to his business when he realizes that Twilight has already stopped paying attention. Her little chat is wasting more of hers, and maybe Spike's time as well. But the crowd that got attracted by the bonfire preperations, is an easy way to ask many ponies quickly if they've seen anything suspicious. From the crowd that looks at the project, she recognizes two little colts who may be able to help her; Snips and Snails!

'Snips! Snails!' Twilight calls out to them.

Snails looks up, realizing he was called upon by Twilight. He quickly pokes Snips, who also notices Twilight's presence. But instead of heading towards her, they start to act like they didn't notice her and walk away!

'Snips, Snails!' she yells again to the colts, believing that they may not have heard her. When she attempts to catch up to them, they try to hurry away quicker. But their little legs are not able to outrun Twilight, being caught up quickly by the unicorn mare. Twilight runs in front of them, preventing exit.

'Boys. Have you seen Spike anywhere?' she asks with her hopes up. 'You spend time with him sometimes. Have either of you seen him today?'

Snails smiles oddly, as if he's forcing himself to look "normal". 'Eh, no, Twilight. We didn't see anypony,' he grins.

'N-Nopony at all!' Snips stutter suspicious along with his friend.

Twilight raises an eyebrow, easily noticing their odd behavior. Snips and Snails always were odd colts with the best intentions, but their timing now is TOO suspicious.

'Are you hiding something?' she asks them calmly.

Snails starts to break a sweat and  shakes his head excessively. 'N-No, not at all! Why would we want to hide anything?'

When they believe that their efforts are not fooling her, they start to grow anxious to leave. 'A-Anyway, Twilight, we REALLY gotta go now,' he hastily responds.

"Yes!" Snips agrees. 'We're getting away from the cold quickly! This place ain't getting safer!'

Before Twilight could ask them what they're planning to do, or even ask them about the strange cold that forces them to leave, the two colts rush off in two different directions around Twilight, quickly dissapearing in the closest alley. The mare sighs a visible cloud of breath out, floating along the cold breeze that remains alongside Twilight.

The colts are not the only ones to leave, to Twilight's surprise. When she looks around, she notices how there are more ponies in a hurry like Snips and Snails. They all seem busy with packing stuff, as if they're off for a trip. It's like half of Ponyville is leaving. Even a recognizable couple, who are always eager to work in their shop, have packed their things and prepare to leave the town.

'Mr. and Mrs. Cake? Where are you going?' Twilight asks surprised to the couple that walks past her, pulling a cart with supplies.

'Oh! T-Twilight Sparkle,' the couple notice surprised. 'N-Nothing at all! We're just off to....to....a vacation!'

The mare looks nearly staggered at the couple. 'Mr. and Mrs. Cake? Vacation? Since when?' she wonders in her head. 'This is even more abnormal than this weather!'

Twilight shakes her head in confusion. 'But what about the Sugercube Corner? I thought you were still fixing the place from... Pinkie's rampage?' she asks them.

The couple looks at each other for an answer to Twilight's questions, unable to give a clear answer right away. Mrs. Cake starts to choke on her words.

'Eh..., well..., after giving some thought, we...we admitted that we may have been a little too harsh to Pinkie Pie. We're absolutely sure that she would never cause such a devestation to the store!'

'But... only today you thought that she-' Twilight speaks.

'We have learned that we were dead wrong, ok?' Mrs. Cake whispers. 'We trust that Pinkie Pie can take care of Sugercube Corner while we're gone.'

'But... Where ARE you going?' Twilight asks, only too late.

The Cakes ignore Twilight's furhter questions and hurry off. They are remarkably fast, considering their conditions.

'Uhum...,' somepony coughs from the Sugercube Corner, catching the unicorn's attention.

Twilight looks to the entrance, noticing the pink pony that glares at her from the porch. Even after making eyecontact, Pinkie Pie remains quiet and glares. Obviously, she hasn't forgiven Twilight for her accusations yet.

It actually scares Twilight a little, noticing that the mare isn't even blinking during her stare. Without a word spoken, Twilight turns around and walks away. She wouldn't even know what to say to Pinkie Pie right now. Like Mr. and Mrs. Cake claim that they have judged too hastily, could it have been that she judged Pinkie Pie too quickly as well?

***

'Have you seen Spike, sir?' Twilight asks random ponies in the town square again. 'He's a purple dragon. A head smaller than me, and walks on two legs.'

None of the ponies that Twilight encounters give a promising answer. In fact: Most ponies only shake their heads and proceed to walk away from her. In the worst cases; Some ponies see Twilight and immidiatly turn around!

'What in Pony's name is this all about?!' Twilight thinks in herself. 'Why is everypony avoiding me today?!'

Twilight stomps with a fronthoof on the ground out of anger, irritated that nopony is helping her in the hour of need.

'I bet this is the girls' doing... I bet they're turning everypony against me out of revenge!' Twilight grunts.

She truly wishes to be able to believe that. But deep inside her head; she knows that they wouldn't do that, even if they do have a grudge for each other. Twilight walks on through the quiet alleys of Ponyville, shiver by the cold from hooves to head. And yet, her sadness surpress any form of reaction to it.

'I can't even return to Canterlot as long as Spike is missing...,' she sighs. 'What would Princess Celestia do?'

Just when she is about to walk out of the town square, she makes eyecontact with a familiar mare who was looking at the bonfire preperations: Rarity.

When they both notice each other, they both quickly look away. The last thing they want is another confrontation.

'Rarity...,' Twilight mumbles indifferent. Yet, it makes her thinking, 'Could Rarity possibly help her? Spike always had a crush on Rarity. Maybe he gave her atleast a clue of where he is?'  

She wants to ask Rarity if she saw him somewhere, or has even the slightest track of him. But she would ask something like that as if they are still friends, which Twilight can't picture right now. Should she act like the adult and try to make amends? For Spike's sake?

Twilight looks back up and walks to the pretty mare. Rarity is surprised when Twilight has the courage to walk up to her, wondering what she should do.

Twilight takes a deep breath, preparing to discuss with her new "enemy" as peaceful as she can. 'Rarity, I know there we're not on the best of terms. But I just wanted to-' Twilight speaks to her calmly.

But before she could finish her sentence, Twilight is suddenly struck by something hard on the back of her head.

'OW!' she gasps. Turning around, Twilight quickly noticies the culprit; a blue mare, flying over a barrel with apples, a few meters away from her.

'Oops, sorry Twilight,' Rainbow Dash apoligizes sarcastically. 'It slipped right through my hooves.'

'Rainbow Dash! What do think you're doing!' Twilight asks provoked.

The pegasus shrugs. 'Doing what?' she chuckles and throws another apple at her.

'Ouch!' Twilight grunts after being hit on her head. 'Do that again! I DARE you to try that again!'

Rainbow Dash takes the challenge and simply throws another apple from the barrel below her. Flying through the air, Rainbow Dash eagerly waits for the moment of impact. But just when it is about to strike on Twilight's head, the apple halts in mid-air.

Rainbow Dash looks surprised that her throw ends so suddenly, realizing that Twilight has caught it with her unicorn magic. But before the pegasus could react, it was already too late. Twilight fires the apple back with a burst of magic, aimed for Rainbow Dash' face.

'Ack!' the pegasus cries out in pain as the apple explodes, covering her mane under applejuice.

Rainbow Dash looks furious out of her eyes. Even more when she notices the smirk of satisfaction on Twilight's face.

'You want to fight? You get a fight!' the flying mare yells angry, and dives to the barrel to grab as many apples as she can carry with her hooves. A foodfight has unchained between the pegasus and the unicorn. Twilight manages to catch several apples with her magic and throw them back. But Rainbow Dash is able to avoid all of Twilight's throws with her speed and flight. It's a pointless battle without winners or losers.

'Ugh. Barbarians...,' Rarity sighs disgusted at the fighting mares. She has seen enough and walks away from them, heading back to the Carousel Botique.

Twilight doesn't notice it, being too focused in her fight instead.

Their brawl continues. Though neither of them is getting hit, they keep throwing apples at each other with all their strength. The barrel is half empty when they're suddenly startled by a yell directed to them.

'Hey! Enough of that!' the Earth Pony mare yells angry.

It was Applejack, obvious owner of the apples and the barrel that Rainbow Dash has been using this whole time.

'Rainbow! Twilight! Have you two not caused enough trouble in Ponyville yet?!' she asks angry.

'Why don't you tell me, cowgirl,' Rainbow Dash grunts and throws an apple in Applejack's direction. Applejack ducks, having anticipated Rainbow's response.

'First you try to burn Sweet Apple Acres down, and now you will throw apples at me?!'

'Eye for an eye, Applejack!' Rainbow Dash chuckles and pulls one of her eyelids down with a hoof and sticks her tongue out as insult.

Twilight is also pumped for a fight again, thanks to Rainbow's provocation a moment ago. The blame for Sweet Apple Acres' fire is still a sensitive subject to Twilight, making her feel angry by hearing the accusations again from Applejack.

Without much thought, she throws the last apple she held at Applejack, launching it off with all the magic strength she can possibly use for this. the Earth Pony has no time to react to Twilight's surprise attack, and receives the blow right in her face. Now, like Rainbow Dash, her face is covered in applejuice.

'No one calls me a criminal for something I haven't done!' Twilight yells angry and turns around to walk away.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash both look surprised at Twilight. They knew they had bad blood between them now, but they never would've expected TWILIGHT to pick a fight with Applejack! They are left behind, exhausted and confused. Twilight's outburst has brought questionmarks to the mares' reasons of bullying. Are they all at wrong here?

'Anyway... Rarity-' Twilight wants to proceed where she stopped. But she quickly realizes that Rarity has already left. Twilight didn't see that one coming, feeling a little grumpy at how bad luck keeps chasing her all the time.

'Ugh... Fine. I don't need any of you three to find Spike,' the mare mutters childish.

***

Getting slowly desperate to find Spike as quick as possible, Twilight thinks of the mare she has the least troubles with. She knows how friendly and calm Fluttershy is, hoping to be able to count support from her.

Twilight walks out of Ponyville and heads over to Fluttershy's house, which has already gotten a coat of white frost on the roof. Knowing Fluttershy well enough, Twilight moves to the backyard, discovering the pegasus mare fixing the chickenpen up for a winter.

'Ehum,' Twilight coughs, attempting to catch the attention of Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looks up surprised over her shoulder. When she realizes that it was Twilight, she looks back at the chicken pen.

'...Hey, Twilight,' she mumbles sad, with her back turned to her.

Twilight feels uncomfortable, due to how distant Fluttershy is acting to her. The pegasus has definitly not forgotten their fight already.

'H-How are you doing?' Twilight asks.

'I'm ok...,' Fluttershy mumbles, not looking back.

'I -eh- know that we haven't been on best of terms today...' Twilight tries to sweet-talk Fluttershy out of her resentment, but stops when Fluttershy raises a hoof out to her.

'No, Twilight... Please, I-I really don't feel like talking to any of you right now,' she sighs sad.

The purple unicorn understands how confused Fluttershy must be. She always had trouble making friends, other than the critters. It must've been heartbreaking to her when all her friends are suddenly fighting with each other. But still, Twilight MUST find Spike quickly!

'C'mon, Fluttershy! You of all ponies should know better! Do you really think I would be capable of something as  terrible like that?'

'All I know is that you all blamed each other so easily, even though we've been best friends for so long... I was certain of our friendships, until I saw how crude you could be...,' she sighs as she slams a plank on the roof of the chickenpen. 'I'm sorry, Twilight. I-I just can't forget how you all yelled to each other. How you all yelled to me... I-Could you please just go now, please?'

Twilight wants to respond to her, but has no words to use. She knows that Fluttershy is absolutely right; They all acted like monsters to each other, herself included. They haven't even gone easy on Fluttershy, even though they KNEW how sensitive she is to confrontations.

'Alright... I'll go...,' the unicorn sighs. Twilight turns around to walk away, buts waits a moment for a possible response from Fluttershy. But when she looks over her shoulder at the pegasus, who continues to mind her own business, she walks away.

For a moment, Fluttershy turns around to look at her former friend, longing for the days before their fight today. In all honesty; Fluttershy misses her friends very much.

***

Night starts to fall; decorating the dark sky with many stars, and pushing the sun behind the horizon. Twilight walks back into Ponyville, completely broken by all the events. The chill in the air has lowered even more by the nightfall, but she doesn't care at all. Twilight's sadness shields her from any chill, making her invulnerable from anything that could cheer her up as well. She has lost her friends in a flash, been accused of crimes she didn't commit by her friends, and faced the reality of how cruel she and the others have been to the most innocent mare of them all. But the greatest burden on her head remains to be the wellfare of Spike.

'Oh Spike... Where in Equestria are you...,' Twilight sighs. 'I've sought everywhere in Ponyville, I have asked anypony possible, I've done everything in my power to find even a trace of you...'

The burden of loss starts to take its toll on Twilight. Never in her entire life has she felt this alone. Her eyes turn wet from tears. Her heart aches so much from worry and despair.

'I can't ask the others for help, I can't find any answer in a book, I can't even return a letter to Princess Celestia without your help!' she sniffs. 'What am I supposed to do?'

Twilight knows how much attention she is drawing, even if all the other ponies are in a hurry themselves. Noticing the citizens around her, Twilight has a need for solitude. For some peace and quiet, Twilight hurries into the small alleys of Ponyville, used mostly for stacking supplies rather than serving as a passage for ponies. But for now; it's a good place for Twilight to let the tears flow, liberating her from the pain a little bit.

'Rarity and Fluttershy don't want to see me, Rainbow Dash and Applejack are fighting me, and Pinkie Pie hates me! I-I just don't know it anymore,' she cries desperate. 'Spike... Wherever you are, I hope that you're alright. There's nothing I value more now than your-'

'-YOUR SAFETY!' a voice yells from the alley that Twilight approaches.

Surprised, Twilight looks up, not expecting any other pony to be in these alleys. She quickly dries her tears and moves to the wall before she could be discovered, and hides behind a large box that stands on the ground before her. Curiously, she peeks around the corner into the dead-end, witnessing a secret meeting between a cloaked stranger and two mares from Ponyville.

The dark pony, covered under a brown ragged cloak, speaks to two mares. The stranger's clothing is torn on several rims and is dirty from both mud and water. His face remains concealed by his hood, giving Twilight an intimidated feeling. This pony has definitly been to some dangerous places, considering his condition.

Twilight recognizes the mares as Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon, noticably intimidated by the figure. They cower together, trembling in fear. Clearly, this conversation is not meant to anypony else's ears but theirs.

'What in the hay is this...,' Twilight whispers.

'So, I suggest you leave while you still can. Understood?' the hooded pony commands them.

He is a bit taller than Lyra, Bon-bon, or Twilight, and his voice is deeper. It is definitely a stallion beneath those dark robes.

'We get it, we get it!' they whisper frightened to him.

The stranger nods. 'Good... And don't speak a word of this conversation to anypony else! I will make sure of that myself,' he tells them and directs them towards the exit with his hoof, pointing to where Twilight is hiding. 'Now, get out of my sight...'

The two mares take not a second longer and hurry out of the alley. Twillight ducks behind the large box when the mares pass by, waiting until they are far enough. When Lyra and Bon Bon are out sight, she dares to spy further on the terrible stranger.

'Just a few more...,' he mumbles to himself. 'How are you holding out?'

'He got me!' Twilight gasps quietly.

She ducks away behind the wall, afraid that the stallion has noticed her this whole time. But when a few moment have passed, Twilight peeks around the corner again, noticing that the stranger is looking in a completely different direction than hers.

'Is he talking to himself?' Twilight wonders in her head.

'Just the same,' a mare's voice suddenly sighs out of nowhere. 'Convincing the ponies of ponyville incognito really makes things harder.'

Twilight realizes that the voice came from the shadows,  dark enough for a mare, who is camophlaged by her dark-grey cloak. To Twilight's surprise, It's the same mare that she mistook for Zecora today, right after her fight with the others!

The male grunts in agreement. 'If they want what's best for Ponyville, they better do what we suggest.'

'Mhm. Canterlot is the only safe haven against this winter. With all ponies in all of Equestria covering from the coming storm there, we have the battlefield all to ourselves.' she agrees to him. 'Which brings me to the following question about your plan: What about Twilight Sparkle? The Mane Six' friendship has been broken. No doubt she will suspect something is going on...'

Twilight is surprised to hear her name. These two strangers know her? They know her fight with the other mares? Who in Celestia's name are they?!

The stallion quietly listens, while the mare continues to speak. 'Adding the fact that it's freezing in the middle of summer... Who knows when she'll figure us out?'

'...I know, I know,' he responds moody. 'Their friendship was the first target, and now it's Ponyville itself. But MARK-MY-WORDS: Their friendship may be broken, but it isn't lost...'

The mare nods again. They both have no clue that their entire conversation is heard crystal clear by Twilight, who continues to spy in amazement.

'Every possible pony hiding in Canterlot? The place must be crowded already! What does Princess Celestia have to say to this?' Twilight ponders. 'And why am I involved?'

The stallion continues. 'And about Twilight herself: ...We'll keep her in the dark just a little longer. She can't know about Spike just yet...'

A world of realization opens up to the unicorn mare. Twilight is utterly shocked! No doubt about it: These two are the dragonappers that she feared for!

'Let's head out. All the ponies in Ponyville will soon be gone from here as well. It's high time that we proceed to phase #3,' he orders to his companion, ready to leave together.

'HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!' Twilight yells angry, and jumps into the only way out. She ends her cover and is ready to face the challenge with the two conspirators.

The stallion and the mare are struck by surprise. They turn around to see where the noise came from, only to see a furious Twilight Sparkle in their sight.

'Twilight Sparkle!' they gasp together.

Without taking a second longer, the mare stretches a pair of wings from under her grim-grey robe and takes off into the nightsky, vanishing from sight. Twilight has no choice but to stay on the ground, while one of the culprits is escaping. When she looks down to the ground at the stallion, she gets pushed aside by him against the big box.

'Stay out of this, Sparkle!' he tells her and hurries off into the alleys.

The stallion seems to be no Pegasus, making him a better target to catch. Twilight quickly jumps back up on her hooves.

'H-Hold it!' Twilight coughs and gallops after him.

Though their heated chase goes through the multiple empty alleys in Ponyville, it feels more like a labyrinth to them now. Twilight has to keep up, or she could easily lose the kidnapper in a second.

The chased stallion desperately throws boxes and barrels that stand in several alleys on the ground, trying to slow his pursuer down. But Twilight is pumped of adrenaline by her urgency to rescue Spike, jumping over them, blowing them out of the way with magic, or sometimes even bashes through with her horn. She won't stop at nothing to catch the villain. Twilight has never felt this furious before in her entire life.

'I demand you give Spike back!' she yells at him.

The stallion doesn't pay any attention to her, proceeding to throw trash at her.

When Twilight starts to lift up some crates herself with magic and throw them towards him, the mysterious stallion knows that he can't keep this up against her. In a desperate attempt, the stranger goes into the Town Square. Twilight figures he made a big mistake: The town square is an open place, without any places to hide.

'Oh no...,' Twilight sighs when she ends her chase at the entrance of the square. 'The bonfire!'

Twilight stands defeated, looking at all the citizens that have come here to warm at the flaming pile of wood in the freezing night air. The culprit has mingled in with the enormous crowd before her.

Normally, Twilight would come to the simple scientific conclusion that finding this one pony now is an impossibility. But she has no choice. She HAS to catch that one pony no matter what. So she starts to move through the crowd, looking for the brown ragged cloak.

'If I were a black-hearted kidnapper of dragons... where would I hide?' she thinks to herself, trying to slim down the possible hiding spots.

She arrives at the fire, giving her a warm feeling on her purple skin. The waving yellow flames enlighten the area, showing many faces of ponies that feel ill by the sudden cold, or have fallen asleep by the warmth of a group they're in. Twilight gives another peek through the crowd, looking past the many ponies... A suspicious red color from the corner of her eyesight catches her attention: A robe that is noticable by the glow of the flames, trying to hide behind two random ponies.

'There he is!' Twilight gasps.

As soon as the stranger realizes that Twilight has spotted him, he makes break for it to the exit of the square.

'Got you now!' Twilight gasps with empty lungs, hurrying after him.

Twilight bashes through the crowd, pushing several ponies crudely aside. She can't be careful or slow down, or she will lose this creep again: Something she CAN'T afford. He runs back into the alleys, with Twilight hot on his hooves again. But this time luck is in Twilight's favor. The stranger has ran into a dead end, making it impossible for him to get past Twilight this time. When she turns around the corner to block the exit off, she looks at how the stallion makes a desperate attempt to climb on a roof, by using a pile of boxes that are stacked up here.

'Oh no you don't!' Twilight yells.

Without hesitation, Twilight plunges herself into the boxes, making the pile crash down on top of her. The stallion can't remain stable anymore and falls down, just before he got to get a hold on the roof. With a crash, the stranger falls into the boxes, dazed by the amazing shake that even reaches his head.

'Ugh! D-Darn it...,' he gasps dizzy as he stumbles out of the trash. The sprint and the fall has left him with no energy to make another escape attempt. He feels as weak as a stick right now.

'YAAAAH' Twilight screams as she charges out of the pile, throwing herself against the stallion's back. Before he could regain his balance again, Twilight jumps back up and presses her front hooves on top of him. Panting from the exhausting event, Twilight looks at the shrouded face of the crook.

'Now, SPEAK UP! What did you do with Spike?!' she bellows at him while pushing him to the ground.

He remains quiet, keeping his face cast under the shadows of his cloak. Without any attempt to free himself, he simply stares up at the furious face of Twilight Sparkle.

'I said speak up!' Twilight yells again and pushes her hooves onto his stomache. But aside from a few grunts of pain, the stallion gives no response.

'He is not the one you seek for, Twilight Sparkle,' a voice speaks behind her. 'He is not your enemy.'

The grey-cloaked mare has decended from the sky and dares to approach Twilight now that the stallion has been beaten. Keeping a distance of a few meters from the two ponies, the mare remains calm.

'Oh yea? And why should I trust you?! You work with him!' Twilight yells at her.

The mare shakes her head. 'I may be allied with him, but only because of good reasons. And you will understand too, once you look beneath the shadow. Can't you recognize an old friend?'

Twilight has no idea what the mare is talking about. She looks back at the stallion, unable to recognize him with his hood on. When Twilight shoves it off with a hoof, she gasps in unbelievable surprise. With one of her hooves still pressing onto him, Twilight looks in disbelieve at the red stallion, with a unicorn horn sticking out of his dark unbrushed mane. His emerald-green eyes stare in a same surprised way like Twilight's do right now. Even though he has bags under his eyes of tiredness and has a grimmer skin than she can recall, the stallion is still completely recognizable to her.

'...Hello, Twilight,' he softly whispers to her.

'S-Spectrum Brush?' Twilight whispers.

Spectrum Brush, a painter who travelled all over Equestria, before he moved to the Ponyville Gallery, months ago. After becoming friends with Twilight, getting corrupted by the Harbringer of Hatred, Lord Ignis, and harming Princess Celestia in the process, he left in sorrow over his uncontrolled deeds. In an attempt to redeem himself to himself and everypony, he lost all of his emotions and moved in solitude to recover his pride.

And now, he has returned.

'Brush? Is that really you?' Twilight whispers with disbelieve, and jumps off of him.

Slowly, the red stallion stands back up and nods at her.

'The one and only, Twilight...,' Brush grunts.

Brush seems to be different than how Twilight remembers him. He used to be a gentle and bashful stallion, wanting nothing but to make true friends. But when she looks at him now, she realizes he is different beside his looks.

'Brush, what happened to you? Where have you been all these months? All the ponies in Ponyville were worried about you! I was worried about you!' she tells him.

'Hm,' he shrugs. 'You all wasted your time then. I just needed some time alone; Fixing some damage...'

'What do you mean? You said that you would set your problems straight. Just what have you been doing exactly?' she asks further.

'That's my business, Twilight,' he bluntly tells to his friend. 'You weren't even supposed to find me yet. I have not solved the crisis at hoof yet.'

Twilight shakes her head in disregard. Brush seems to have gotten involved in things that are beyond him! He never truly had to do anything to set things right.

'Crisis? Do you know what is going on here?!' she asks in realization of Brush's involvement.

Brush only sighs. 'I've said too much already. If you don't mind, I will be on my way now,' he tells her as he tries to walk past her.

But Twilight quickly jumps in his way again, having no intensions of letting him off the hook yet. Brush remains in the dead-end, with his companion only watching at how Twilight and Brush are coonfronting each other.

'Twilight? What do you think you're doing?' he asks calmly.

The mare feels far from friendly to Brush at the moment. Now that she lost all her friends, she will not be denied by the final friend she feels like she has left.

'Fine by me if you want to keep your stories to yourself, but you know more about this weather than you're letting out! For instance; What is up with the conversations?'

'You meant like the one I had just now? I simply gave them some... safety guidelines,' he shrugs. 'I was only telling them the best thing to do now.'

Twilight frowns by Brush's crude remark. 'Guidelines? It sounded more like you threatened them!'

'Well, probably because you didn't hear the whole story. Wouldn't you doubt to believe me when I would say something unbelieveable, like that "the Great Blizzard is returning" or something as crazy like that?'

'True...,' Twilight nods. 'But then what DID you tell them?'

'Just that they're better off in a place than Ponyville. I swear that that is all,' he tells her, and stares deep in her eyes.

'Don't you lie to me, Brush!' Twilight sniffs disappointed. 'Why are you sending everypony to Canterlot? You know where Spike is! Just tell me everything! NOW!'

Brush remains silent. Possibly he's staggered by Twilight's desperate attempt to get the information she longs for. He has to swallow before he can answer to her again.

'...Sorry, Twilight... It's not your business...'

Twilight is frozen by astonishment. Brush was a friend once. He was a stallion with a heart of gold and adored their new friendship from day one. What has gotten into him to act so distant from Twilight now?

'...What did you just say? ...Spike is missing... and you say it's not my business? ...Why would you keep a terrible secret like that from me? ...WHAT KIND OF A FRIEND WOULD DO THAT?!' she yells in anger at the stallion, moving her face close to his in an attempt to intimidate him.

But Brush gives no reaction to it, proceeding to look straight to her face.

'...Should I honestly feel guilty, hearing that from one of the six friends that all blamed each other from things that were never proven?' he mocks her.

Twilight can't believe her ears. Brush knows about the fight. But how MUCH does he know?

'How did you know... Are you responsible for all that?!' she yells at him again. Losing control over her own actions, she furiously pushes Brush into the pile of boxes again. With a crash and a grunt, the red stallion falls in the middle of the pile.

Brush grunts again and shakes his head, trying to pull himself out of the boxes. He looks back up at Twilight, who is slowly walking towards him with a rage that can even be read from her face.

'If I must risk our friendship for the greater good..., then so be it,' he sighs.

'I'm warning you, Brush!' she threatens him and points her horn near his face, making it glow by her powerful magic. Brush backs his head away from the threatening magical unicorn horn of her, but gives no sign of surprise to her threats as well.

The cloaked mare that stands by is simply watching at the fight between them, without the consideration to step in and end it.

'Is this how you welcome your old friends back to Ponyville, Twilight?' he asks, without a speck of fear.

'You said it yourself just now, that friendships can be a bargain in a risk... I saw how you talked to Lyra and Bon Bon just now. So I'm not entirely sure if I still WANT to be your friend! If you're not going to tell me willingly what you did with Spike, I will force it out of you!'

'And THEN what, huh?!' he starts to yell back at Twilight, silencing her by the surprising reaction. 'I will not let my plan be in vain! Not after all I went through to get this far! Will you let yourself succumb to hate and anger?! ARE YOU TRULY FOOLISH ENOUGH TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES AS I ONCE DID?!'

They're both at a loss of words now. Twilight is shocked to hear this coming from him, and Brush is breathing deeply from the adrenaline that runs through his veins from the rage. Twilight slowly pulls her horn away from Brush, knowing that she may have been a bit too hasty to act like this to him.

'I'm... sorry, Twilight,' Brush tells her, after calming down again. 'It's true; I know where Spike is. I am aware of my fiendish behavior, and your concerns. But believe me when I tell you; I have my reasons for not telling the truth to you YET.'

There is something strange about Brush' eyes. Twilight still tries to find the promising look in his eyes: The kind that gives you a warm and comfy feeling of that everything is going to work out well. But when she looks in those eyes now... she sees nothing. Not a single emotion can be drawn from his eyes and words. No happiness, sadness, or hatred. It's just like Zecora said: His emotions have suffered terrible under the past events. But she would've never guessed that it was this drastic!

'What has become of you, Brush?' she wonders in her head.

Their quarrel is interrupted by screams of fear, originating from the town square. In complete surprise; Twilight, Brush, and the mysterious mare look towards where the noise comes from, understanding that something bad is going on right now.

'Brush, we have a lead,' The cloaked mare tells to the stallion.

He nods at her and tries to walk past Twilight again, who remains in his way.

'Look, Twilight. We can continue with this argue anytime you like. But let's focus now on the more urgent matters, ok?' he convinces her.

Twilight sighs. She is far from done about talking with Brush, but she can't let that be reason to leave havoc go its way.

'Fine...,' she grunts, and she steps aside for him.

'Alright, Let's go,' Brush tells to both mares.

They run together through the alleys, making their way for the town square. Twilight follows him and forgets about the second fight with a friend she had today, focusing on the urgent matters ahead. She takes a quick look behind them, noticing the unknown mare that managed to escape with her pegasus wings, who is following them.

'Say, who's that actually?' Twilight asks Brush.

The stallion unicorn chuckles 'Heh, you don't know? I admit: it must've been a while since you two saw each other, but still-'

Brush stops talking when he notices a group of ponies ahead; A complete stampede of panicking ponies that run away from the square in great haste, scared off by something. They all run like their lifes depend on it, looking with widened eyes from fear.

'Out of the way!' Brush yells behind him to Twilight and his companion.

They push themselves against the walls of the buildings, allowing the group rush through.

'What in Celestia's name is going?!' Twilight gasps by the sight of half of Ponyville's citizens that leave the perimeter.

'I have a suspicion...,' Brush mumbles.

***

The three ponies arrive at the square, which is covered in a thick layer of snow. The rooftops are completely white, just like the streets. It's like there was a freak winter for a matter of seconds.

The fiery bonfire has been doused by the cold as well. Both the wood as the ashes are frozen in a coat of ice, making it very much clear that this is not an everyday winter. But nopony is here, other than Twilight, Brush, and the mare. The town square is empty.

'We're too late...,' Brush grunts. 'The creep has flown off already.'

Twilight steps forth and looks at the former bonfire. Remembering the talk she had with the stallion this afternoon, she starts to make a connection between Brush' knowledge and the Major's quick reaction.

'Brush,' she speaks to him. 'Was it thanks to you that the Major decided to organize a bonfire, before the cold even acted up?'

'Eh...,' Brush coughs and looks at his cloaked companion. 'Well, in a way, yes...'

'So... It was thanks to you that the remaining ponies in Ponyville would have a place to warm?' she deduces.

The stallion shrugs. 'I have no need for innocent victims,' Brush answers like he doesn't care.

It feels weird to Twilight. Brush seems like he went through a complete tranformation for the worse. But still, she shows that he uses his knowledge for good this one time. 'Who's side is he truly on?' Twilight wonders.

The purple mare looks back at the bonfire, noticing something odd about the display.

'Wait..., maybe there's a lead,' Twilight suspects when she looks closely at the frozen pile of wood.

Twilight moves forward into the abandoned square, pressing her nose right above the frozen lumber. The wood couldn't have been frozen by a sudden load off snow, because it's pure frost that covers it. It's as if the wood froze up, while ignoring the heat from the fire.

'Brush, this isn't ordinary cold. It's done by magic! Somepony is definitly responsible for this! Come over and check it out for yourself!'

'...Brush?' she asks and looks around, trying to face the red stallion. But no matter in which direction she looks into the square, Brush and his companion have vanished. The stallion and mare have left her when they had the chance, escaping from another confrontation with her.

It makes Twilight angry again. First a friend disappears without notice, five so-called friends accuse each other from several things, and now her lost friend turns out to be a jerk that keeps things from her. And in the meantime, SHE is supposed to fix everypony's troubles all the time?

"FINE! Run away! That's what you seem best at!" she yells, echoing throughout the empty town. 'I don't need you! I don't need any of you! I'm FINE on my own!'

Twilight breathes deeply, out of air due to her yelling. Despite her angry reaction, Twilight starts to realize how lonely she actually is. There's nopony at her side who she can trust. and in the meantime; Ponyville is under attack by a powerful phenomenon.

She has no choice but to solve it all by herself, though she would've prefered a friend at her side.

'I...don't need you.'