Relief washed through her at the sight of her other friends entering the castle, though Fluttershy couldn't help but let out a slight squeak of terror at the idea of encountering bad guys, as Rainbow had put it. Applejack nudged the yellow Pegasus affectionately, trying to give her comfort.

"I don't know if there are any bad guys..." Twilight admitted after she finished hugging Rarity in return, feeling warm at having her best friends by her side. "But I would like you to investigate something for me." Glancing back over her shoulder, the alicorn gestured for one of the ponies standing apart from the group to approach. "This is Eclipse, he's been helping me in doing research on the strange weather occurrences we've been experiencing."

Eclipse was a solidly built, but rather shy looking, unicorn pony. He was a dark, almost black purple in color, with his mane and tail a deep shade of maroon. His eyes, only a faint hue of maroon lighter than his hair, regarded the newcomers with wary curiosity. The cutie mark on his flank depicted a light blue crescent moon, The points of which nearly touched and cradled a five pointed red star. He came to a stop close to the others, though still keeping his distance somewhat, and Took a quick look at each of their faces before focusing pointedly at his own hooves.

Twilight smiled sympathetically at the unicorn, painfully reminded of Fluttershy when they had first met. She didn't push him to introduce himself. "Eclipse is quite gifted in understanding how spells are structured and has been doing endless research on weather spells performed by unicorns. We're not quite sure if that is what is causing the unusual storms, but it looks like that could be a possibility." Glancing back at her friends, she pointed towards the darkening sky outside. "I would like you four to travel in the direction those storms are coming from to see if you can find the source. There are a few others who would volunteer to accompany you, but I will let you choose who that will be. I would encourage you to pick at least two."