Chapter 4 - Winter at the frontdoor

'I'll find that jerk... I'll find Spectrum Brush, even if I have to go to the end of the Equestria!' Twilight mumbles in anger.

She throws the door of the library open in anger, unable to act normal thanks to Brush' "betrayal". Requiring the stallion's information to discover her assistant's whereabouts, she is prepared to bring the fight to him if neccesary.

'Maybe I can deduce from what Brush has told me, of where he might be heading now?' Twilight ponders. 'He spoke to all possible ponies in Equestria, and then sent them off to Canterlot. But... why?' Twilight thinks up as she walks through her room. 'Well... he told that mare that they aren't done in Ponyville yet... So he should still be here! I can still catch up to him again!'

Even though it sounds good, she sighs dissapointed. 'But that won't change anything... Brush will just do the same thing. He'll keep his information to himself! What in pony's name has gotten into him to become like this?!'

'He used to be so nice... I barely got to truly know him, but I DO know that he wouldn't hurt a fly... Or would he?' she questions herself.

'Wait...,'

'Wouldn't you doubt to believe when I would say something like that the Great Blizzard is returning?' she repeats a sentence of Brush.

'Was that just an example or...' she figures. 'No... it can't be! The Great Blizzard was centuries ago!'

Unable to drop the possibility, Twilight starts to search through multiple books, all that has a chance to contain information about the history of the founding of Equestria. Her first glance lands on the history book itself, grabbing it and throwing it open on the first pages.

'The Great Blizzard: A happening before Equestria was founded. The Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies lived separated from each other, despised to each other -blablabla-.  Their hatred for each other fed the phenomenons called Windigos, who caused an unending winter that scarred the food supplies of all three pony races -blablabla-. After the three parties abandoned their homeland and moved away from the cold, the all created their respective kingdoms: Unicornia, Pegasopolis, and Earth,' Twilight reads up.

She takes  a pause  when she is distracted by a rumbling noise from afar, which is possibly thunder. When the rumbling has stopped she continues to read.

'But their hatred for each other remained, drawing the Windigos towards them again. When the three leaders begun a cooperation; it proved that to be the solution. The three kingdoms managed to make a bond with each other: A bond of friendship. This drew a new order, one based on kindness rather than hatred. Their bond was symbolized by the Fire of Friendship, which banished the Windigos away from the corporeal plane and ended their cruel threat upon ponykind,' she concludes.

'Oh, This doesn't make any sense... Could it REALLY be a Great Blizzard, or did I just mistake about Brush's sentence...'

Twilight looks at the pile of books that are left, all probably containing useless information on this matter. She sighs and closes the book, feeling exhausted from today's happenings.

'I'll look further tomorrow, unless the cold hasn't frozen us into popcicles...," she grunts as she moves upstairs to her bed.

Tightly wrapping herself in her warm blanket, right before she decides to close her eyes, she looks outside at the winter in the summertime.

'Could it be true?" she questions, unable to ignore the near-impossible possibility. 'And what does Brush know about this. And WHERE has he been all this time anyway...;'

She drops her head on her pillow, facing the empty bed that belongs to Spike. She should be unable to sleep from worry for him, but her intense efforts the past days have taken a toll on her. All she can do now is dream for a better tomorrow.

***

'Are you ready?' Dusty Gust asks his fellow pegasus filly.

Scootaloo nods. 'Ready as ever!'

The two little pegasi are still outside in the snow, in the midst of the night, secretly plotting a way to reunite Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Bell back together. With two warm scarfs from Scootaloo's home, they move unhindered by the winter. Heading to Sweet Apple Acres first, they scout the area from behind the sleeping trees of the orchard.

When they take the guess that nopony is outside, they hurry to the side of the house of the apple family.

'Alright, Applebloom's room is right over there,' Scootaloo informs Dusty, pointing at a window above them.

The colt looks around, searching for anything that may be of use to them. 'No nearby tree..., no ladder..., no rope...,' he grunts while he looks through the area.

Scootaloo keeps an eye on the doors and windows. 'Pipe it down, Dusty. Applejack or Big Macintosh may hear you.'

'Applejack? Big Macintosh?' Dusty ponders, slowly conjuring an idea from merely hearing those names.

And then it hits him: an idea!

'I got it!' he tells Scootaloo. 'We don't have to GET to Applebloom. We want Applebloom out of there anyway!'

Scootaloo shrugs. 'Eh, duh? Of course we want her to get out! That's the plan! But how else will we get her, if we won't get her ourselves?'

The colt snickers. 'Because she's gonna bust out herself.'

The filly has no idea what Dusty is blabbing about. She just decides to follow Dusty, who rushes off to the barn.

'Gimme a hoof with the door, Scootaloo,' he asks her, trying to open the large barn doors that block their way into the building.

Pulling with all their might through their young front legs, the door of the barn slowly opens to them.

'No, don't stop yet. Push the door open ALL the way,' Dusty tells Scootaloo, noticing that she stops when the door is open far enough for them to enter. She quickly grabs back onto the door and pulls again.

When the door is open all the way, Scootaloo follows Dusty inside, still unable to figure what Dusty has come up with. 'Just what are you planning, Dusty?' she asks.

'Ah! Here it is!' he speaks out, ignoring Scootaloo's question.

The filly sees nothing out of the odd. The barn is full of supplies, apples, hay, and barrels. There are no ladders or ropes to be found.

She is startled when Dusty suddenly pushes an empty apple barrel her way. When he stops, he peeks over the rim at his comrade. 'Help me to put some hay in this barrels!' the colt commands her.

Following his instructions without question, the filly and the colt are filling one apple barrel to the rim with hay.

'Now, will you finaly explain what we are doing?' Scootaloo sighs when they're finished.

Dusty quickly starts to push the barrel outside with all his strength, explaining on the way.

'-Urk- Applebloom can't use the front door -cough-  considering she would have to pass any family to reach it,' he grunts. 'But her bedroom window -pant- is another story!'

Scootaloo starts to understand his idea, jumping to his side and aid him in pushing the barrel.

'I -cough- get it now! She jumps out of her window. And we will break her fall with the hay!' she pants, grasping the plan of the colt.

Dusty nods at her and smiles. 'I remembered these things when I was sleeping in the barn last night. Good thing I chose to sleep over at Applebloom, right?' he chuckles.

They continue to push the barrel, but try to refrain from breathing too hard when they are nearing the house. If anypony would discover them now, it would mean "game over."

'What in tarnation?' a voice surprises them.

The colt and filly stop moving, freezing to the barrel in shock. Somepony other than them just spoke! Scared to death, they slowly look over the rim of the barrel, afraid that they have run into Applejack. But when they look; there is nopony to be found...

'What the...,' Dusty grunts confused.

'Psst,' they hear again. 'Dusty, Scootaloo, up here.'

They look surprised up to the window of Applebloom, recognizing the voice that whispered to them. Through the window, there is a filly looking down at them, wearing a pink bow in her mane.

'Applebloom!' Dusty and Scootaloo sigh relieved.

The filly nods happy, having realized that her friends are trying to get her out of the house.

'Just a moment,' Dusty warns her, noticing Applebloom is already preparing to jump down. 'Just a few pushes more.'    

Without delay, the pegasi quickly push the barrel all the way under Applebloom's window.

'-pfoe-,' Dusty sighs tired. 'Alright, Applebloom. Jump!'

The filly takes no second longer than neccesary. With a little jump, Applebloom aims herself straight above the barrel. Making no sound, other than a soft drop in the hay, the Earth Pony has busted out in a second time!

'We did it,' Scootaloo whispers with joy. 'That's CMC: 1 and "grown-ups": 0'

Snickering over their accomplishment, less than they would actually want to, they quickly rush away from the building, afraid to be caught in the very end.

***

All alone, Sweetie Bell stares out the with condensation-covered window. She can't sleep. All she can think about is playing with her friends in the snow. The unicorn look away for a second into the room and sighs.

'Why did Rarity have to be so strict because of her own problems? I know my friends would never betray me...,' she talks in herself.

She looks back out of the window, noticing something else is misplaced. Three colors are moving through the landscape. Her heart starts pounding faster when she notices how the colors are heading straight to Carousel Botique! Rubbing with her hoof over the window to make an O-shaped clear view, her expectations are only confirmed: Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Dusty Gust have come to her!

Without hesitation, Sweetie Bell uses all her strength to lift the window up, making her shudder from the cold that flows inside the building.

'Applebloom! Scootaloo! Dusty! You've come!' she cheers happiness.

'Sssh!' Scootaloo hisses up to her. 'If Rarity finds out, we'll never get you out!'

Sweetie Bell gleefully cheers again. 'You're here to get me out? Great!'

'SSSSHHH' the three ponies hiss together. 'Do you WANT to get caught?!'

Sweetie Bell smiles. 'No worries. Rarity hasn't returned tonight. I suspect she's taken cover from the storm someplace else.'

'Ah!' Brush sighs with a grin. 'That makes things easier! Come through the frontdoor then!'

Sweetie Bell's ears drop down in sadness. 'Well... she figured I would try that... So she got the only key with her.'

'Oh...,' the ponies mumble in dissapointment. 'Well... Then we'll just have to go with "Plan: A" anyway.

"Plan: A"?' the unicorn filly wonders.

'Well, I suppose you can call it "Plan Applebloom". We placed a barrel filled with hay under her window and had her jump into it,' Scootaloo explains. 'We'll just do the same here!'

'But there's no apple barrel or even hay around, Scootaloo!' Applebloom tells her. 'And we can't drag one all the way from Sweet Apple Acres!'

'Then we'll just have to improvise,' Dusty Gust grins, clearly having another idea.

Gathering all the snow they can find from around them, the young ponies make a big pile of soft snow for Sweetie Bell to jump in. When the heap is atleast as big as the three ponies together, they stop.

'This should do it,' Scootaloo smiles at their work.

'Alright, Sweetie Bell. Ready when you are!' Dusty yells up to the unicorn, expecting her to make a jump into a pile of snow from the first floor.  

Sweetie Bell trembles on the edge of her window, but not only because of the cold.

'I-I can't!' Sweetie suddenly tells.

Her friend look in surprise. At the final chance for freedom; Sweetie Bell is scared of heights?

'What do you mean "you can't"?' Scootaloo asks. 'C'mon! Applebloom did it as well! We're THIS close!'

Sweetie Bell shakes her head. 'I-I'm sorry... I want to be out there with all of you, but only with my legs not-broken!'

Dusty plants his hoof on his forehead, sighing from the delay. 'Ok, ok. We'll find another way!' he promises impatient.

'Another way, Dusty?' Scootaloo asks him with doubt. 'Plan A is basically all we have! You're not seriously suggesting that we should drag a barrel with hay all the way here, just when we managed to prevent getting caught by Applebloom's family?'

'I know, I know...' Dusty grunts. 'No, we should improvise on the spot... And I may know how.'

He looks back up at the shaking unicorn. 'Sweetie Bell! Didn't you say that your sister is a designer?'

The filly looks down at him, unaware of what that has to do with getting her out.

'Eh, yea. She designes and create dresses. Why?' she asks.

'Ok then. Did you manage to learn a thing of two about it?' he asks.

All three fillies have no idea what Dusty is getting at. It's like he's just making idle conversation, wasting their time while they all have to stand in the freezing snow.

'Well... yea, I did.' Sweetie Bell nods.

The colt smiles, figuring that his plan may work yet. 'Ok then! It's very simple, really. If you can find any soft and feather-light cloths, try to cut it into something like a parachute!'

The girls look surprised at him, thinking that he's either a genious, or crazy.

'A parachute?' Scootaloo confirms. 'THAT'S you're plan?'

Dusty nods without shame at her. 'Yup. She can't possibly hurt herself if she glides down slowly, into this pile of snow.'

As farfetched as it may sound, Dusty makes a good point. Behind all of the colt's ego and go-getter love for action, hides a pony that truly thinks outside the box in their favor.

'I'll try!' Sweetie Bell yells down to them.

She quickly jumps back inside, off to search for something usefull. Her search begins in the most usefull place: Her sister's workshop, where it's filled with different colors and kinds of clothes, and all kinds and sizes off threads.

'This'll do!' Sweetie Bell smiles as she grabs a few strong threads and weightless clothes.

After cutting the cloth roughly to an acceptable square shape, and poke 4 tiny holes at the corners, she takes it upstairs to her room again.

When she has tied the threads through the holes, and around her, she climbs back up the window.

'Ah! There she is!' Scootaloo speaks when she notices the white unicorn again.

With shaking legs, Sweetie Bell prepares herself for the upcoming jump into the snow. But she has to admit that she's afraid that either the parachute will collapse, or she will miss the snowpile.

'I-I'm not sure...' she mumbles insecure.

Dusty shakes his head! 'No, no, Sweetie Bell! You can do it! Trust us!'

'Just use your magic to keep your parachute stretched when you jump! We'll make sure that you'll land softly!' Applebloom yells along to her.

Sweetie Bell looks down at her friends again, considering again that she wants to be with her friends quickly, meaning she has no time to be a chicken.

'O-Ok! Here goes!' she speaks out, giving herself more courage for her "leap of faith".

With a jump and a yelp of anxiety, Sweetie Bell glides down to the ground, aiming for the snow. Hanging like a piece of meat on a balloon, she waits for the impact. But a wind suddenly blows, pushing her in the wrong direction.

'EEK!' Sweetie Bell yelps scared.

Her friends look with sweat on their foreheads at the floating pony. They start running in her direction, hoping to be able to do something.

'We got you! We got you!' they yell up to her, but didn't expect another turn in the wind current.

With a drop, Sweetie Bell lands softly. Her fall was broken by her friends indeed: using themselves as a pillow for Sweetie Bell.

When she notices her friends beneath her, Sweetie Bell quickly jumps off of them. 'Oh, sorry!' she apoligizes.

'Th-That's ok, Sweetie Bell,' Applebloom chuckles with empty lungs.

'Yea. Atleast now you know for sure that you can always "count on your friends",' Scootaloo jokes.

They all stand back up and don't even hesitate to hug. They laugh in happiness, either because of their reunion, or Scootaloo's joke. It doesn't matter.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders are finally reunited.  

***

Walking through the snow, telling each other how they got both Applebloom and Sweetie Bell out of their homes like a jailbreak, the four young ponies are having the time of their life.They have enough energy to last through the night, unable to even think about sleep.

'So, what should we do now?' Scootaloo asks.

Sweetie Bell ponders. 'Well... While we're at it: Maybe we better find a way to prevent getting caught again! It's no fun when were not supposed to see each other!'

'You're right, Sweetie Bell!' Applebloom grunts angry. 'Our sisters have gon' too far with this!'

'If only we knew how to solve it...,' Dusty mumbles to himself, thinking along with them for solutions.

They all stop when they've reached the outer perimiter of Ponyville, taking cover from the snow under the roof of the nearest house, and think very hard.

'Any ideas yet?' Dusty asks the fillies.

They all shake their heads, still trying to think.

'Well...,' Scootaloo suddenly speaks. 'This all started when Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash got in a fight with each other, right?'

Her friends nod at her, hoping that Scootaloo has a plan by bringing that up.

'All that needs to be done: Is getting them all back together!' she puzzles out. 'Simple!'

It's true. The seperation of the Cutie Mark Crusader happened when the six mares got into a fight. If they all see the foolishness of their argue, they'll have no reason to seperate them again.

'Right!' they agree.

'But where can we find anything to make them understand how stupid they were acting? How can we make them see that what they do is wrong?' Dusty asks the three.

'Oh, Ah know,' Applebloom interupts. 'Twilight Sparkle writes a report about friendship everytime, and sends it to her mentor; Princess Celestia! If she still has some of those reports lying in the library, we may be able to show it to remind them of the times they weren't fightin'!'

It sounds like a good plan to Dusty, but he's not completely certain on how to get it.

'Well... I doubt she'll give it to us, just like that. But if I can sneak into the library while she sleeps, search the place for those reports, and get out without being seen; We'll have step #1 complete!' he chuckles, a little uncertain about his own idea.

The fillies feel a little odd about it as well. Breaking into a home is definitly not allowed. Stealing can also get them in alot of trouble. It may be an emergency, but if they get caught; They'll be in trouble like they've never experienced before, possibly making it only more impossible to keep the Cutie Mark Crusaders together!

'You three remain here. I'll sneak into the library and find some answers,' the brave colt proposes.

Sweetie Bell shakes her head. 'Nuh-uh, Dusty! We'll go together!' she dissagrees with him.

'Just because you're new here, doesn't mean you should be the only one getting into trouble for OUR sakes!' Applebloom tells him.

'...You helped me seek for my brother this whole time... You became friends to me like nopony has ever been to me! I have already accepted the fact that my brother isn't here... So I'll probably have to return to Canterlot anyway!' Dusty tells them. 'And I will do it ALONE this time. Risking the chance of you two being discovered by your sisters, and get hauled off back to your rooms? I don't think so!'

'If somepony is gonna do it, for the sake of your friendship, it's ME!'

The fillies remain silent after hearing Dusty's argument. He's truly willing to sacrifise everything in order to bring order to Ponyville, while he's just a young colt himself! They would wish to deny it and still work together, now that they're a team again, but they know Dusty is completely right. If they were to enter Ponyville and be found by Rarity of Applejack, they would never be led out of their rooms ever again.

'Don't worry. I won't take long,' he promises them, and smiles.

'Ok then, Dusty...' Scootaloo sighs, almost unable to accept the answer she gives. 'But you are mistaking about one thing...'

Dusty looks up at her. 'What is that?'

'Maybe you keep seeing yourself as an outsider, who's brave enough to save somepony else's friendship. But as far as we three consider; You're as much a friend in the circle as any of us,' Scootaloo tells him. 'It's OUR friendship.'

Dusty Gust needs a moment to process the feeling of joy that he got from hearing that. For the first time in his life, he feels like he truly belongs someplace.

Without a word in response, he hurries off into the town.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders are left behind, waiting until their colt friend will return with information, alone. Dusty has only known them for barely a couple of days, and still he gave his all to prevent the Cutie Mark Crusaders from falling apart. And now he's off on his own again. He's truly a great and special friend.

'Good luck!' Applebloom yells to him, before Dusty vanishes from their sight.

***

The wind blows faster than first. A few small rays of light through the clouds mark the breaking of dawn. Snow and a freezing cold wind scourge Ponyville. The only ponies that haven't left Ponyville are trying their best to stay warm, having lost their entire "summer feeling" that they had only a few days ago. No pony dares to set a hoof outside, afraid that they may return as popcicles instead of pony.

Even Sweet Apple Acres is in turmoil. The family is forced to take drastic actions. The kind they've never used before.

'Ah already said; Don't worry 'bout me. Somepony's gotta watch the place!' Applejack tells Big Macintosh and Granny Smith. 'The orchard is asleep in this weather, the house is isolated well enough, and there's food to last for a year! Me and Applebloom will be fine.'

The weather keeps worsening, even forcing the strong apple family to move to a warmer place. Leaving Applejack and Applebloom in Ponyville, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, and Winona are heading to Cousin Braeburn, in Appleloosa, until Ponyville is back in order. Both ponies have trouble about leaving Sweet Apple Acres, but it's for their own good. Winona barks alot at the weather, as if she knows from instinct that the weather is going to get worse.

'Tell Cousin Braeburn Ah said "Hi",' Applejack tells her brother, and watches at how her family is quickly hurrying to the trainstation, followed by Winona, before the railways may be possibly shut down by the weather.

The duty of keeping Sweet Apple Acres in order befalls now completely on Applejack's shoulders, making her sigh in worry from the very idea itself. Not inclduing her little sister; she has to do it all on her own now.

***

'Quickly everyone! Come on in! Don't be shy!' Fluttershy tells the critters in front of her home.

The winter has surprised the animals as well, leaving them without shelter or provisions. The mare tries her best to make space for as many critters as possible, for a stayover in her home. All squeezed together, Angel crawls out of the groups of hedgehogs, deers, chickens, and the bear. Unlike Fluttershy, the little bunny believes that there's absolutely no space left for anybody else, while Fluttershy keeps trying to make more space by putting some unnecesary furniture outside.

'Sorry, Angel. I can't just leave them in the cold, can I?' she giggles at the grumpy bunny.

'Excuse me! Coming through!' a voice suddenly speaks out and pushes Fluttershy aside.

'R-Rainbow Dash! Wh-What are you doing here?!' Fluttershy asks flustered at the pegasus.

A sweating, red faced, Rainbow Dash gives her an unamused sneer. 'My home is in the air... I can't move these cursed clouds... I'm FREEZING UP THERE!' she responds angry, followed by a loud cough.

'...A-Are you alright?' Fluttershy asks worried. 'You look a little sick.'

'Well... -sniff- Yeah... 15 degrees below zero tends to do that -ACHOO!-' the mare answers sickly.

Fluttershy cannot possible denie her a warm place now. If the blue mare would stay in the cold any longer, she could pass out. Completely set their past troubles behind for now, Fluttershy quickly grabs a blanket and throws it over Rainbow Dash' back.

'Come. You can stay her as long as you need,' Fluttershy smiles, happy to help the pegasus in need.

Rainbow Dash doesn't respond at all, looking sleepy out of her eyes, and sniffing up a nosedrop.

Just when the weather doesn't seem to be able to get any worse; Lightning starts to strike simultaneously, more than a normal thunderstorm could possibly conjure. The sky is filled with flashes and rumbling, and spews an amount of snow, which makes the layer of snow already present 20 inches thick and still rising.

The ponies left are now trapped in their own homes.

***

'N-no... Flames... Too hot! Stay-Stay away from them!' Twilight mumbles in her sleep.

The mare moves restless around in her bed. Her head is nearly swimming in her sweat, and her heart is beating faster than normal. Twilight is having a terrible nightmare.

Lightning strikes outside her house, nearly striking into the tree house. When the thunder rumbles, Twilight's ears pick it up.

'AH!' she gasps awake, making her jump up in fear.'Wh-What was that?!'

Panting from fear, the mare slowly clams down in her bed, looking through her window at the lighting. Realizing she was having a bad dream, she sighs relieved and drop her head back onto her soaked pillow. Though the night has passed, the sky remains dark by the clouds. It doesn't make her feel any better.

'Ugh... I-I should look further,' Twilight sighs confused as she climbs out of her bed. 'No pony is around to help me... But maybe... maybe I can solve this crisis... I-I HAVE to...'

She gasps scared when she hears another loud noise. It was certainly not thunder, considering it came from downstairs.

'There's somepony here....' she whispers to herself.

Slowly sneaking to the entrance of the library, Twilight carefully peeks around the corners to catch a glimpse of the intruder. She keeps doing that, until she reaches the lowest set of stairs. She looks around the room, where there's nothing to see. All the bookcases are left untouched, and the door and windows are closed. The only strange thing are suspicious books that lay on the ground.

'Hey, what is this...,' Twilight thinks as she moves closer to look at the books. 'I know these books. I saw them yesterday... These tell the story about the Founding of Equestria...'

She tries to lift the book up, surprised to realize that she can't. The books are stuck to the floor, like gum. As a second plan; Twilight tries to use her magic to get it off the ground. But the books won't budge at all. If she uses more force than this; the books will be torn apart!

'Wait a moment...,' she mumles when she realizes something white is beneath the books. When she closes the cover of a book to see what it is, she looks at the reason; the books are frozen to the ground!

'F-Frozen?!' Twilight gasps, followed by a loud snort that sounds from behind her.

Slowly, Twilight turns her head. She can feel that somepony is looking down at her. The first thing her eyes catch is a white mist, followed by a shape as she turns further around. The mist is ghastly-white and slowly fills the entire floor of the library with its bone-chilling cold presence. The center of the fog has a shape of an equine-like beast, looking down at Twilight with its cold blue eyes.

'What in Celestia's name is that?!' Twilight gasps.

The beast then roars through the building, shaking several books from the cases by the mere echo. Twilight closes her eyes and covers her ears, trying to resist the massive power that comes forth from the mere soundwaves. She remains unharmed, but is completely overthrown by the unknown creature. When it stops shouting, Twilight looks at it again.

The beast simply looks back at her again.

'What do you want?' she asks it.

The creature simply keeps staring down at Twilight, breathing with a freezing air. In response; he slowly starts to stretch the wing-shaped clouds that are attached to the back. Twilight doesn't get what he means to say with that, waiting for any further  movement. With a quick flap of the wings, the wind blows Twilight several meters back into a bookcase.

'Ouch!' Twilight yelps in pain. Quickly recovering from the fall, she jumps up with a glowing horn, ready to counter-attack. 'That's far enough! G-Get out now, before I get mad!'

The misty creature remains silent, proceeding with motionless staring at the mare. When it raises a hoof to step forward, Twilight blasts a magical-purple beam from her horn past the creature as a warning shot.

'I said get out!' Twilight repeats.

The beast keeps looking at the mare, at her horn in particular. Without a warning; it starts to become formless, imploding into a cloud-like mist. Twilight starts to think that the creature has accepted her warning shot and decides to flee, ending the glow around her horn.

But before the cloud grows any more smaller, it suddenly explodes in a white flash, blinding Twilight. The white light radiates through the entire floor, coating everything it touches with layer of ice. While Twilight tries to regain her sight, she tries not to slip over the frozen floor of the library.

'Gagh! What is- I can't see!' Twilight gasps afraid. Her eyes need time to readjust to the normal light, making her vulnerable for any attack from the malformed creature.

Panicking that the creature may attack any second now, she feels a shudder go down her spine when she hears the front door of the library slam open.

'That's far enough!' Twilight hears. 'Take my advice and go back to that witch you call your master, as fast as you can!'

She rubs her eyes and starts to see shapes and colors again. The ghastly white beast is still in the room. But now somepony new has come inside: a red blob that stands before her.

'Twilight, are you alright?' the familiar male voice asks her.

When she looks again she starts to recognize the red skin and the dark mane of the stallion that has come to her aid.

'Brush! B-But what are-' she questions confused.

'No time to explain. We have to get rid of this thing first before it freezes your library into a block of ice!' he interrupts her with urgency.

Twilight has no idea what is going on. She should be furious at Brush for leaving earlier today. But at this moment she would really appreciate his help in driving this beast away.

Another roar is sound, surprising both the stallion and the mare. Brush turns his vision towards the threatening mist.

'Hey, are you still here after the warning I gave you?  If you won't leave peacefully, I'll just have to force you out!' he threatens, throwing his brown ragged cloak off.

Brush stand ready to fight, decorated with the cutie mark of a paintpalet and a brush on his flank.

The Windigo is still unimpressed, remaining calm and ready to attack both ponies now.

'Brush, what in Equestria's name are we dealing with here?' Twilight asks him.

'A magical abomination..., An equine beast that threatened Equestria ages ago... A feaster on hatred and bringer of the Great Winter!' he grunts, while keeping his sight locked onto the beast.

Twilight looks in disbelieve at Brush, thinking for a second that he's gone mad. 'You mean... this thing is truly a Windigo?!'

They quickly duck out of the way when the equine beast fires a white beam of ice in their general direction, missing them by an inch.

'Yea!' Brush responds to Twilight's question. 'This is also the creep who freezed my bonfire!'

The two ponies stand ready, prepared to do battle with an entity that was only known as an ancient piece of fiction. As far as Twilight knows; she'll have more of a chance against the Windigo than Brush, considering the magical weakness he shown her months ago.

The beast starts to fire several beams of frost in Brush' direction, ignoring Twilight completely. But the male unicorn simply jumps and ducks to avoid the beams, showing no exhaustion through the course of battle.

'Why is it only going after Brush...,' Twilight grunts, ready to fire an empty bookcase at the creature.

'Take this, freak!' Twilight yells and pushes the bookcase with her magical skill.

The massive piece of wood strikes the target, making the Windigo be stunned for a moment. To Brush' surprise; the creature has stopped to attack him and now looks behind him towards Twilight Sparkle.

'There! I got his attention!' she grins when she notices how the Windigo looks at her with its blue eyes.

Just when Twilight starts to lure the attention from the phantom, she is rudely pushed aside by Brush.

'Out of the way, Twilight! I'll handle this MYSELF!' he yells at her, taking her place in attacking the Windigo.

Twilight lands dazed against a bookcase, falling on the ground alongside her. Recovering from the surprise attack; Twilight can't do anything but watch Brush fight the Windigo alone. 'What in pony's name is that idiot thinking?!'

'So... you like shooting at ponies, don't ya?' he asks the mindless monster. 'Well... I may be an opponent that lives up further than your expectations!'

Without a warning, Brush's horns starts to glow extremely bright, filling the entire library floor with a crimson-red radiance. The glow continues to grow by the seconds, shaping into what looks like fire. In that little chance of possibility; It causes the Windigo to back away, clearly afraid of it.

'Th-That flame... That is Ignis'!' Twilight gasps scared, recognizing the horrible ability Brush is using.

'I learned this little trick when I was not myself, months ago... Finally it can be put to some GOOD use!' he yells in anger, and unleashes the spell.

A large flame, the size of the town square bonfire, engulves the Windigo, absorbing it in a flare of fire. With a loud roar of fury, the windigo seems to be weak against the spell, dropping down to the floor in defeat. With a shrug and a grun; Brush accepts it as the sign for his victory.

When the flame ends to spout out of the stallion's horn, the ice on the bookcases have noticably started to melt. And Windigo; lies in defeat.

'I warned you...,' Brush says with a reluctant sigh.

When he turns around to move to Twilight, she starts to back away out of reflex. The red unicorn halts when he notices it, and starts to realize what kind of terrible show he must've given the mare.

'I...,' Brush pants exhausted. 'I believe I owe you some explaination, Twilight...,' he speaks to her.

Twilight was already struggling to understand who Brush has become. For a moment; he seemed like a good guy, on her side. But now... Now that he used the personal spell of the Harbringer of Hatred; How could she ever believe he's good now?

Their moment is broken by another roar. The Windigo has taken the flames surprisingly well, having already caught a second wind.

'What in the hay!' Brush gasps, clearly not having expected the Windigo to remain standing after his devestating move. 'Blast! I-I should've taken more time!'

Using the last bits of energy left; the Windigo starts to conjure a white sphere at the tip of its horn. It is his final attack; containing all slivers of power it still has inside him. It is willing to give his all for a chance of victory against the mare and stallion.

Brush gets ready, glaring with the bags under his eyes. He is prepared to take on any spell that the Windigo may throw his way. But grows nervous when he realizes that the beast isn't looking at him anymore. He looks around to where the Windigo is staring at, realizing his aim is not set on him at all.

'No! Twilight!' Brush yells in fear for her safety. He quickly jumps between her and monster, blocking Twilight's view on the Windigo completely for a second.

A bright flash is shown from behind the stallion, followed by a block of ice that strike him in the side. Being launched over Twilight, Brush is crushed between the ice and a bookcase.

'AGH!' Brush screams in pain, collapsing on the floor. He has passed out.

Twilight has to look in horror at how her savior has taken the hit from her and now lies lifeless on the floor.

'Brush!' she yelps with a tear in her eye. She can't help herself but feel terrible by the sight of the stallion being harmed.

Too focused on her injured friend, Twilight Sparkle doesn't even hear the following explosion behind her.

'Enough, you beast! Begone this instant!' a mare yells.

Twilight looks away from Brush, turning her head around to the Windigo and his new opponent.

It's the companion of Brush; the mare in the grey cloak!

Whatever she did in the split second; it injured the Windigo pretty bad. Without any more delays, the Windigo turns back into mist and flees through the open door, vanishing in the winter's wind. The battle is truly over.

'Twilight Sparkle, are you well?' the mare runs up to her.

'I-I'm fine. But Brush is...,' she ends her sentence as she looks at the unconscious stallion, still uncertain about his condition.

The mare walks to the stallion and lowers her head near his. She grunts unamused, but doesn't say why. She then places an ear on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Twilight feels a little better when she notices that the mare smiles.

'He shall be alright. Spectrum Brush has taken worse beatings than this,' she chuckles, attempting to comfort Twilight from obvious worries.

Twilight glares at the mare, still suspicious about her. That, and the unfitting joke she makes is unfitting for a moment like this.

'He requires rest, very badly...,' the mare answers serious. 'Is it ok if we put him in your bed, upstairs?'

'How do you know the library lay-out...?' Twilight questions her grumpy.

The mare simply chuckles by her question. 'My, my, Twilight Sparkle. Are you THAT suspicious of me? If I didn't know better; I'd believe you're sounding jealous, the moment you figured I've been with Brush this whole time!'

Twilight blushes, still with an angry face. These jokes are highly unfitting at a time like this, especially from a stranger like HER.

'Whatever!' Twilight responds grumpy. 'I don't even care about what you two have been up to!'

'I believe you do, Twilight Sparkle...,' the mare tells her serious again. 'Don't deny it: You want to hear everything that's been going on through your friend's head all these months. The reason for his "transformation". The reasons for this mysteriousness! The reasons of Spike's dissapearance!'

Twilight looks away, not wanting to give the strange mare a look of her worried face. But she has to admit to herself; She would rather have Brush share his troubles with somepony else, rather than keep it to himself and let it eat him away like this. And Spike... she would do anything for even a little bit of info right now.

'It's ok, Twilight Sparkle. Everything and everypony will be fine,' the mare smiles and walks closer to her.

'You're voice... it sounds so familiar...,' Twilight whispers and looks up at the mare. 'Who are you?'

She snickers. 'Oh, Twilight Sparkle. It's a little disappointing that even to this point;  you STILL don't recognize me.'

The mare grabs her cloak with her mouth and uses a firm pull to tear it off of her, revealing her identity in a flash. Twilight can hardly believe who she's been talking to, and has been with Brush the past months. How could she not realize this before?

'I must be better at acting than I thought,' the dark-purple alicorn chuckles.

'P-PRINCESS LUNA?!' Twilight gasps.

It truly is. The mysterious companion of Spectrum Brush is nopony else but Princess Luna herself. Twilight can't give any different response, but look in surprise at the mare.

'Are you alright, Twilight Sparkle?' Luna asks again a little worried, considering the event that transpired here must've turned the unicorn's world upsidedown.

A forced smile appears on Twilight. Her head is on the brink of collapse, due to the weight of all the questions that she has. What in Celestia's name has Luna to do with Brush?

'Heh... How should I feel alright? ...Brush suddenly returns without warning, did something to Spike, pushes me out of the way all the time, worked with you, Princess Luna, the entire time, AND he now uses the powers of... of a MONSTER!' she tells angry, without considering the fact that Luna is of royalty and is normally not spoken to with this attitude.

'He's changed so much! I know Zecora said that his emotions and memories have suffered greatly. But this... this is madness! We seemed to have so much in common, months ago. But the moment he is freed from Ignis' possession, he runs away. And now that he's back, he's become... become "THIS"! I don't even know if he's still a friend anymore!" Twilight yells, followed by deep breaths from the anger she used to say what's on her mind.

Realizing Twilight's confusion, Luna puts her hoof on Twilight's back, attempting to help her through this.

'Believe me, Twilight Sparkle; he hasn't changed at all. He's still the same stallion that you met when he moved here,' she tells her with a smile. 'On the outside he may look like he doesn't care at all, but deep down he still has all of his emotions burried away.

Twilight looks up at the princess, with sweat dripping from her forehead. 'H-How?' she asks with disbelieve.

'You know how he pushed you aside when you wanted to confront the Windigo just now?' the princess asks.

'Out of anger and vengeance?' Twilight answers.

Luna shakes her head. 'He didn't do that out of anger, and certainly not out of vengeance. He was only concerned that you would get harmed, believing that he would be to blame for it,' Luna explains to her, attempting to prove the stallion's feelings. 'When he realized a Windigo was coming after you, he went here without hesitation, even though he was afraid that you'd never want to see him again. I tried to tell him that you are strong enough to handle it yourself, but he just wouldn't listen to me...'  

Twilight grunts and looks at the ground, noticing the sweat drop spots on the floor, because she can hardly calm down now. 'He...He was right about that...'

Luna doesn't stop. 'On our travels the past months, he was just like that: He was always looking out for others, and forgot about his own safety in the process many times. He took leadership on his shoulders, acting like he always knew everything better than the rest. But all the time he actually tried his best to keep everypony else unharmed, believing that if others were to get hurt; he would be responsible for it.'

'Thanks to his lack of emotions, he was able to carry the burden on his shoulders this whole time... But this time, when he went out to help you, there was more to it than a sense of responsibility... When the block of ice was about to hit you, he pushed you aside to take the blow from you. Do you know why?'

Twilight gives no answer, shaking her head a little and continues listening to Luna's story.

'Because he cares for you,' Luna smiles. 'He spoke about the day he met you multiple times during our travels. And everytime he did; I couldn't help but notice that he showed a sense of happiness on that supposed emotionless face of his. There's nothing he values more than your friendship...'

'Heh...,' Twilight chuckles quietly, thinking about Luna's story. It sounds so farfetched, yet possible somehow. Spectrum Brush, the jerk, could actually have turned into a leader and something like a hero...

'Do you have a minute, Princess? I should help Brush out,' she asks Luna and heads to the unconcious stallion.

'You're willing to help him, Twilight Sparkle?' Luna asks with a smile. 'I must say; You're believe in friendship is admirable.'

'Just a moment,' Twilight grunts as she throws Brush on top of her in order to drag him away. 'Let me just get this IDIOT to a bed...'

A little uncertain of her previous comment, Princess Luna simply follows the unicorn upstairs. When they both have gone upstairs, a couple of books are being pushed off the shelf by a little creature that was hiding behind it. Two curious eyes look around the room, checking if the coast is clear.

Entering Twilight's and Spike's living room, Princess Luna looks curiously around. She has never been in her sister's apprentice's house before.

While the princess looks curiously around, Twilight drops Brush in her bed with a gasp of exhaustion from carrying the stallion's weight. She quickly throws some sheets over him to make sure he remains warm, and looks at him, still a little horrified from Brush's transformation.

'I...will set this right... It's... what a friend would do...,' the red unicorn suddenly whispers, recalling words of the past. Twilight takes a step back, surprised to hear them from him, especially considering the words were definitly meant to her. Did he hear all this? Does he know that she's helping him?

When no other word escapes from Brush' mouth, Twilight sighs with hanging ears and turns her attention back to Princess Luna.

'Does Princess Celestia know about this?' Twilight asks her.

'Eh?' Luna asks confused, being thrown out of her concentration from looking around. 'No, no, she does not. If she knew what I've been doing the past months... I wouldn't even want to think of how worried she'd react. I AM her younger sister, after all.'

'We wanted to remain incognito as well as possible, to make sure our identities wouldn't be discovered in Ponyville. We were being followed... I'm not pointing hooves here; but when you discovered us, a Windigo must've followed you and seen us as well,' she explains why.

'The beast that was sent to assault you was just a way to make Brush come out of hiding...' Luna admits. 'She knows that Brush couldn't let it slide, no matter how uncaring he makes everypony think of him...'

Twilight looks confused. 'She?' she asks.

'I'll explain in a minute...,' Luna grunts to the impatient mare.

Twilight feels silly. It turns out that if she hadn't uncovered Brush, this wouldn't have happened. But atleast she gets some answers now.

'We should've warned you and your friends, instead of staying in the dark... My deepest apologies, Twilight Sparkle,' Luna sighs with disappointment over her actions.

'Th-That's ok, Princess Luna,' Twilight replies with respect.

'In any case-' Luna continues unhampered, possibly not even having heard the mare. 'Now that our cover lies in shambles, I can atleast come clean by telling you what I know, and what Brush and I been through. It's the least I can do.'

Luna looks at Brush, who remains asleep. 'And I'm sure it's what he would want, very badly...'

The princess looks back at the purple mare and takes a deep breath before she continues. 'Allow me to make one thing clear. A little lesson on unicorns and alicorns.'

'Unicorn horns are capable of conjuring magical preformances. Alicorn horns are born with an exceptional strong magic capability, a personal touch you could say. All alicorns grow up with some unique ability, see?'

This is nothing new to Twilight. She knows that Princess Celestia can raise the sun and the moon, Princess Luna can raise the moon atleast, Princess Cadense can bring love, and Lord Ignis can bring hatred.

Princess Luna continues when Twilight nods at her. 'Only a handful of unicorns manage to reach a level of magic that allows them to conjure their own unique ability. ...two examples are you and your brother.'

Twilight doesn't wish to rudely interrupt her 'lesson', but she gets impatient when she understands that the princess is going too deep in details. 'Where does this lead to, Princess Luna?'

'Ahum, my apologies... The great blizzard that was brought by the Windigo's centuries ago. It was the work of an alicorn,' Luna reveals. 'An alicorn going by the name of Lady Fame.'

"Wh-What?" Twilight asks surprised.

'She was a magical miracle, having learned nearly all spells that have been discovered through the ages. The Windigos were her personal guards, and agents in espionage on everypony. Unbeknownst to any pony, in the land that was going to be named 'Equestria', it was SHE who truly ruled over them. Her minions kept the blizzard close, shrinking the ponies' food supplies terribly to make them weak.'

'That's terrible...,' Twilight whispers in disgust.

'Yes, but she couldn't have done it alone though... Her Windigo's feast from the hatred inside the ponies' hearts, making them strong enough to bring the winter, as long as they dispised each other. The citizens didn't choose to hate each other as much as they did... It was DONE for them.'

Twilight can hardly breath from the choking history lesson. She realizes how all the dark puzzle pieces fall together, making chains of connections she would hope never to be truth.

'Hatred brought to them? It can't be...'

'Lord Ignis!' she figures as the only possibility.

Luna nods sadly. Yes... Lord Ignis; The Harbringer of Hatred. The one who was chained away in the Crimson Asteroid, centuries ago. The very dark alicorn who controlled me, and possessed Spectrum Brush...'

Twilight sits down on the ground, requiring a moment to consider the truth. She has finaly discovered the truth about Lord Igni; The ruler of Equestria, before it was even named yet.

'HATE THE FOOLS THAT TURNED AGAINST ME! HATE YOUR FRIENDS FOR HATING YOU! FROM THIS DAY FORWARD; YOU SHALL LIVE IN HATRED FOREVER, COATED UNDER THE BLANKET OF DARKNESS! DAY AND NIGHT, SUN AND MOON, SHALL BECOME BUT A MYTH IN YOUR RAGE-FILLED HEARTS! FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, HATRED SEIZES THE CYCLE!'

The words still haunt Twilight's memory, unable to be forgotten ever since that terrible day when Ignis made all Equestria hate each other. The only way he could've survived centuries of imprisonment, was by being sealed into a gem, which happened to have been discovered by nopony else but Spectrum Brush... Now he remains locked away in Canterlot, safely put away by Princess Celestia herself. But now...Now she may have to go through this horrible experience again!

'Tough truth to swallow, hm? I couldn't believe it too, when Brush told it to me the first time,' Luna tells from Twilight's expression.

Twilight simply can't grasp the story. For centuries ponies believed that the great winter was brought by windigos. But no pony has ever brought this story before. Is this really the truth of Lady Fame and Lord Ignis? Did they rule together before Equestria was even founded?!

'How... How did Brush know this?' she asks the princess.

Luna sighs again before answering. 'When he was possessed by Ignis; he could read his mind, just like Ignis could read his. It taught him the truth of the past and that flame spell that Ignis knew,' she tells and looks back at the resting colt. 'He suffered dearly for this information...'

'The burden of guilt...,' Twilight understands.

Luna nods. 'From this memory; We worked together to find the gem that contained Lady Fame. Considering Night Mare Moon was a part of Ignis' madness; I wanted to aid him in any way I could. So I managed to slip out of Canterlot from time to time, unbeknownst to my sister. Our search ended in the mountains, in the far north from Canterlot. That's where things went wrong...

Twilight remains silent. She kept wondering what Brush was doing all this time, and now she'll get to hear it.

Brush remains asleep. But he still hears every word that Luna tells Twilight, making him dream about a strong memory from his past; The day he found Lady Fame's crystal.

'Don't do it...'