//------------------------------//
// Brush Regularly 
// Story: Never Alone 
// by SoloBrony 
//------------------------------//





As we disembarked from the train, I turned to Applejack and gave a grin.

"Y'know, the last time the map called me somewhere, I had to deal with Grogar."

Applejack started. "This ain't your first time?"

I shrugged as we walked, adjusting the position of my saddlebags. "First time since coming back, but I did get a call in the other timeline."

Applejack frowned. "Awful strange for it to call ya just to fight a badguy, though. That ain't normally how it works."

"Well, he was orchestrating tensions between ponies, causing a rift in Ponyville. I guess we skipped solving the symptom in favor of the disease."

Applejack nodded thoughtfully as we started the walk from the station to the Peaks of Peril. "Maybe... there's still a lot we don't know about the map. Still, here's hoping it's not expecting the two of us to take on a big villain. I didn't really pack for that!"

I giggled. "I did! I have all sorts of weapons and potions in here." I ruffled my saddlebag meaningfully with a wing, and Applejack shot me a disturbed look.

"And your mom is okay with that?"

"Huh?" I was taken aback. "She's the one who insisted I take so much. She helped me pack!"

Applejack snorted, shaking her head in bemusement. "Not to criticize, but it seems awful strange to trust a filly with weapons and fightin' like that."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, and you were so prepared for Nightmare Moon when you and your friends took her on, huh?"

Applejack's expression twisted up into an amused grin after a second of consideration. "Well, not exactly..."

"You'd studied combat magic and how to counter dark magic at least, right? Before going up against the most dangerous dark mage in Equestrian history?"

Applejack rolled her eyes and snorted. "Okay, okay, I see what you're gettin' at. Thought the worst was Sombra, though."

I tapped my chin. "Does the Crystal Empire count as Equestria? Well, whatever, you get what I meant. Nightmare Moon was a serious threat, and you all went after the Elements of Harmony without any gear, training, or preparation aside from a day's worth of getting to know each other, from what I've read in that journal of Twilight's. That strikes me as crazy and irresponsible."

Applejack shot me a faux-offended flat look, and I put on a faux innocent-and-sweet expression in turn. "But, y'know, that's just my opinion as an innocent little filly."

Applejack barked out a laugh at that, facehoofing, and I snickered in turn as we passed into a small wooded area dense with undergrowth. Once her laughter started to subside she wiped a tear from her eye and shook her head at me.

"Whoo-ee, never thought I'd see the day we could have a good laugh over your 'good little filly' act from back in the day."

I smiled warmly, ruffling my wings slightly. "Me neither. But it feels good to have gotten past all of that."

She nodded, grin in place as she took the lead. "No kiddin'."

I let out a contented sigh as we lapsed into a pleasant silence.

This is nice. And I got called by the map again! That means there's a problem I'm uniquely suited to solve, even though I don't have my crazy magic anymore!

I'll have to be careful not to cause even more problems while I'm here, though.

I cleared my throat, deciding to end the silence and get away from my thoughts. "You came here and helped Autumn Blaze and the kirin before, right?"

Applejack nodded as I pulled in beside her. "Heh, yup. That was one crazy quest. She writes sometimes, so as far as I know things here are still good, though it sounded like some of the kirin were having more trouble adjustin' than others."

I frowned, thinking that over. "Not sure how I can help with that. I'm probably the last pony they should ask about sparing ponies' feelings." I snickered as a thought occurred to me. "Or maybe Starlight. That mare is blunt."

Applejack suppressed a loud laugh and snickered. "With a comment like that, seems like you're almost competin' with her."

I snorted in amusement. "Still true, though!"

"I ain't denyin' it."

We shared smirks. It seemed like things would get quiet again for a moment, but Applejack glanced back at me after shoving over a large boulder hiding a furrow in the cliff-face. "Y'know, you sell yourself a bit short, there, Cozy. Anypony can see clearly how hard you're tryin' to be nice."

I considered that as we slipped through the shortcut. Once we were on the other side, I gave her a shrug. "Trying, yeah. But still, I'd think the map would just call Fluttershy again if somekirin is just having trouble being nice."

Applejack looked thoughtful as we completed the walk to the village, guided by the sounds of discussion and laughter. "Guess you got a point there. And would you listen t'that? Those kirin have really turned things around, by the sounds of it!"

I nodded vigorously, smiling broadly. "You two had a huge impact, here! It seems like you really made a difference!"

Someday I'll do something, like this.

As we passed into the village, it came clear just how starkly it had changed from what I'd read about in the journal. Kirin smiled and laughed, foals were at play, and laughter could be heard coming from a stage on the side of the village. Applejack headed straight that way, and I followed, keeping alert for signs of trouble.

The map sent us here for a reason. Somewhere in this village, somepony has reason to be upset. I've got to find them.

It's probably nothing too bad, though, right? Things here seem pretty joyous.

Well, bad feelings have a way of spreading from pony to pony, so it's probably something recent...

Still, there was nary a downcast face in sight as we made our way to the audience in front of the stage. The kirin mare on-stage winked to Applejack, and Applejack just gave a short wave back. I almost asked what was going on, but decided not to interrupt the show. The kirin began striding back and forth across the stage, levitating a microphone with her as she went.

"So have any of you ever wondered what the deal is with our eyebrows? Huh? No?"

The audience members looked at each other in confusion, though there was a palpable sense of anticipation of the joke. The mare went on.

"Okay, so, bear with me. We all know what our nirik forms look like right? Our mane catches on fire and stuff, and we turn black and grey, right? But look how disproportionate those eyebrows are!"

She suddenly disappeared in a flash of fire, replaced by a black pony with a flaming mane, tail, and... eyebrows. My jaw dropped.

I thought kirin had to be furious to turn into nirik!

She is right about those eyebrows though, don't be rude and miss out on the joke!

In a flash, she was back to normal. Some kirin started chuckling in the audience, and she nodded to the audience. "Riiiight? How weird is that? Are our eyebrows super magical? I have a theory."

She straightened up and smirked. "I think our hair is secretly where all of our anger goes, and the angriest hair on our bodies is our eyebrows. I mean, you can't look angry with your mane, but you can do this!"

She glared fiercely at the audience, holding the facial expression perfectly. It was so overblown as to be comical. Still holding the face, she spoke out of the side of her mouth into the microphone. "See? It's all in the eyebrows!" She gave them a little waggle. More laughter went out from the crowd, and she released the expression and took a deep breath.

"So yeah, our hair is where all of our anger is stored. I mean, how dangerous would a bald nirik be, huh? Think about it! No mane, no tail, no eyebrows, no fire! I mean, maybe a little from the horn or something, but basically it'd be fine. Huh, maybe we should have all shaved instead of going into the stream of silence." She contemplated that for a moment, comically tapping her chin in an exaggerated fashion. "Nahhh, nobody likes regulation haircuts." That got more snickers and she smirked again.

"So, how does our anger get there? Well, I think it's pretty obvious. It seeps into our hair while we sleep, yeah? You relax, let that tension out, and it all just goes straight into your mane. That's why it's all tangled in the morning! Our manes are trying to get back at us, trying to spite us, but what can they do aside from fight our hairbrushes, huh? And maybe burn a house down, I mean."

That got more laughter from the crowd, some of it uncomfortable, but mostly well-tempered. I tapped my own chin in thought.

This isn't just a comedy routine, is it...?

"I think we need to get our manes to relax a bit more. I mean, all of that pent-up tension, all of that stress, that can't be good for them. No wonder they so tangled up by all of it! So, what I propose is—" she suddenly pulled a bottle of something over in her telekinesis "—we all buy this new mane relaxer! My new sponsor! Not." She hucked the bottle with a snicker, and the crowd was a mix of groans and laughs at that.

She pointed a hoof at one groaning kirin and nodded with a smile. "Right? I hate that whole product-placement thing. But, y'know, gotta pay the bills, I know how it is. But seriously, how can we all let our manes down a little more? What are we gonna do, open a massage parlor just for our manes?"

She tapped her chin and slowly pulled over a notepad and quill, and mumbled to herself (though clearly audible through the microphone), 'new... moneymaking... idea...' and then quickly put the tools away to more snickers. "But, erm, potential capitalist ventures aside, it's a serious question. Our manes have all of this pent-up anger! Well, I think it's important to take good care of them. Anything gets mad when it's ignored too long, right? I know I do! Nothing gets me frustrated like an empty venue. Good thing all of you are here, or we might have to replace the stage! Again!"

That got some more knowing laughs. I didn't know what she was referring to, but I was lost in thought at that point anyway, considering her words. She laughed a little sheepishly.

"Yeah, maybe that wasn't my best idea for a skit. But anyway! Look at what happens if you leave your mane untended for too long, yeah? It gets all gnarly and tangled, and then brushing it out can be really painful. You've gotta make sure to get at it often, keep it smoothed out. Gotta work out those snags as soon as they start, or else they just get a lot worse later, right? And I hear what you're saying; 'but Autumn Blaze, how can I find time to brush my mane while writing for the opera house, doing stand-up comedy, and still make time for my neighbors, write to my pony friends, and also tend to my bonsai collection'?!"

She looked around the snickering audience. "Oh, wait, is that just me? Well, never mind. Still, it can be hard to make the time, right? Everyone's got stuff going on, all the time, and sometimes you just really don't feel like brushing it, even if you've got the time. It's a hassle! If you don't tend the mane, though, all that extra anger is gonna get to your eyebrows. And that's no good, you'll end up looking like this all the time."

She arched her eyebrows in a comically-angry fashion, even using her magic to force them down unnaturally far until there was a flat V pattern on her eyes. It looked incredibly silly, because the rest of her face was still relaxed, and got some snickers on its own. "Can you imagine trying to live like this? You make up in the morning and go out to get the mail, and it's like, 

'Oh, hey, Fern!' 

and then your neighbor is just, 'Whoa, what did I do to you?'. 

'What do you mean?'

But then they storm off and you're all confused, so you go to the market, but everyone starts avoiding you.

I mean, more than usual. Wait, that's a me thing again, isn't it? Never mind.

And as everyone gives you the cold shoulder, you start being rude back to them, until you just give up.

So, pretty soon, you just storm back home, wondering why everyone is being so mean to you, and then you look in the mirror.

Which you hadn't done that morning, because you didn't feel like brushing your mane, right?

And then you're like, 'Oh, jeez, I'm a dummy! I had no idea I looked like this all day today!'

Well, smoothing out your mane at that point might not be too much trouble, but smoothing things over with your neighbors, that's another story!"

There was some laughter from the audience, not the least because she kept rapidly swapping voices and positions to act out her little scene, and several ponies were nodding to her story. Autumn strode back to the center of the stage and released her 'angry eyebrows', taking a deep breath.

"So, even if it's troublesome, you'd better keep your mane tended to. That's the big takeaway here. Did I mention I'm selling brushes now?" She snickered, as did some of the audience. "Just got some from Manehattan a couple of weeks ago. Really made me think, y'know? Brushes from Manehattan. Those ponies, they really know how to keep their manes straight. That's their secret! They say it's friendship, it's actually just really good mane-tenance."

That got laughs and groans in equal measure from everyone present, except me.

"But I guess it's the same thing at the end of the day, right? Who doesn't want to be friends with somepony flaunting a fabulous mane? That must be how that works." She gave a wink. "And they must know it, or else why name a city that way? So yeah. Really made me think. My writing process was something like, 'how can I get more kirin to buy these brushes?' and the earth-shaking revelations just came one after the other from there."

Amidst the snickers, one pony yelled, 'Capitalist shill!', and Autumn laughed in response.

"Yeah, well, the jokes have to come from someplace! But, I'm afraid that's all I've got for you today. You've been a great audience! I'll see you next week!"

Some stomps of applause went up, and after a few moments the crowd began to disperse. Autumn leapt down from the stage and trotted happily up to Applejack, who tipped her hat in greeting and beamed at the kirin.

"Heya, Autumn! Good t'see you again! Your routine was, uh, it was pretty funny, though I don't think I completely get kirin humor."

Autumn opened her mouth to speak, but did a double-take when she saw me, her eyes widening. "Oh, hey, are you alright?"

I recoiled slightly. Huh? "Uh, yeah, I'm fine, I—"

I realized I'd teared up slightly, and wiped my face hurriedly, putting on a reassuring smile as I went on.

"Sorry, sorry, your little routine just got me thinking, is all."

Applejack quirked an eyebrow at me. "Her talkin' about 'angry hair' got you worked up?"

I rolled my eyes, immediately regretting it as I did so, and suppressed the urge to be sarcastic. "I don't think it was really about manes, Applejack."

Autumn laughed, giving me a gentle nudge with her hoof. "Yeah, it really wasn't. But that's sort of the thing; ever since the village got their voices back, they've looked to me for advice on how to manage their anger. It's a big responsibility! I know my routine may have been a little lame, but it's not easy coming up with new metaphors for anger management every week!"

Applejack flopped down on her rump and facehoofed. "You mean that whole routine was just about managin' your feelings? I was frettin' over our friendship quest so bad I half spaced out durin' the whole thing. Sorry, Autumn."

Autumn gave Applejack a playful swat with her tail. "Hey, no hard feelings! When it comes to something like this job, you just get up there and speak, and you hope someone listens, y'know? Everyone's got their own stuff going on, so not everyone is ready for the message. That's show business."

I cleared my throat, trying to politely get her attention. Once she looked back, I raised a hoof as I spoke. "I really liked the ending part about friendship and ponies. I, uh, I know what it's like to not be able to keep friends because your mane's a mess."

Applejack's eyes widened in realization as Autumn just beamed at me. The kirin smiled and gave my mane a ruffle. She spoke softly. "Well, I haven't gotten a good look, but it sure looks fine from here. What's your name?"

I smiled back. "Cozy Glow."

She raised an eyebrow, glancing at Applejack, but her smile never faded. "Oh yeah? I think I've heard about your mane problems, actually! Must have gone through a few brushes working that out."

I laughed, somehow much more at ease with the metaphor than speaking plainly. "Oh, you have no idea. Good thing I had friends to lend me theirs when mine broke."

Autumn snickered. "Hey, watch out, I'm gonna start thinking you want to take over my job." She straightened up. "Hey, what do you two say to lunch? My treat!"

I nodded hurriedly, followed by Applejack. She grinned. "Been too long as it is, Autumn. I reckon our best bet for findin' the friendship problem here is by talkin' to you anyhow, so lead the way."

As we set off for the village center, I took a deep breath and considered all of the tangles I still needed to smooth over.