//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 - A Tour of Ponyville // Story: Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness // by bigsnusnu //------------------------------// A Tour of Ponyville The sun's rays began to enter through the window of the cell, passing through the bars and striking Rainbow Dash directly in her face. The mare slowly opened her eyes, gave a big yawn and stretched her legs. "Hmm... I slept great! Nothing beats sleeping in a comfy cloud!" Rainbow Dash said cheerfully, then she glanced to her side and saw the bed of her cellmate. "Hey, Dusk! How did you sleep?" "Mmmnngh..." Dusk muttered annoyedly from his bed, immediately got up and glared at Rainbow Dash. Poor Dusk had dark circles under his eyes and they were very red from lack of sleep. "Whoa! What happened? Didn't sleep well?" Rainbow Dash asked innocently, which made Dusk look away even more annoyed. "Something like that..." Dusk replied, avoiding telling the truth. During the first few minutes of last night, Dusk had slept peacefully in his bed, nevertheless in the middle of the night a rumble made him wake up. After opening his eyes, Dusk didn't take more than a few seconds to realize that that rumble came from his cellmate, specifically the strong snores of Rainbow Dash that; once began, did not stop nor allowed the poor unicorn to fall asleep and revisit his dreams in what remained of the night. So Dusk spent the night awake, until finally Rainbow Dash stopped snoring, which happened only seconds before the sun came up, so when Dusk finally managed to start falling asleep was when the pegasus woke up and prevented Dusk from going back to sleep. Dusk immediately thought of reproaching her for snoring, but given the volatility of Rainbow Dash's character, Dusk decided not to talk about the subject to avoid another possible argument. "All right! Time to clean the room." Dusk spoke again, rising from his bed resigned to not being able to sleep. Before Rainbow Dash's watchful eye, Dusk easily used his magic to quickly make his bed with great elegance, then his magic was positioned in the cloud that Rainbow Dash had slept on, then Dusk used his magic to levitate the cloud, making it pass through the bars and climb back up to the sky, were it belonged. "It's better no one knows we used a cloud as a bed without permission." Dusk said looking at Rainbow Dash as his magic did everything without even trying. "You're really handy with magic..." Rainbow Dash said approaching the window and watched as the cloud floated away with Dusk's magic. "Hehe! But not that much," the pegasus added quickly as she continued to look outside. Dusk didn't understand what Rainbow Dash meant, so he went to the window to see what she was talking about. Soon Dusk understood the reason for Rainbow's giggling. As soon as Dusk had stopped levitating the cloud, it had begun to slowly fall to the ground, instead of remaining in the sky as Dusk had expected. "Why didn't it stay in the sky?" Dusk wondered aloud. "Because it's too dense, remember that yesterday I had to make it stay flat on the floor." Rainbow Dash answered flatly. "Don't worry, someone from the weather patrol will notice, think it's a cloud of fog and put it back in circulation." Dusk stared at the cloud, not looking at Rainbow Dash but listening intently to her words. What she had mentioned was so basic, so fundamental, that he had never thought too much about it, but now that he did, it seemed astonishing to him. No matter how powerful his unicorn magic was, the weather and clouds responded to the pegasus, just as the land and crops responded to Earth ponies, or in other words, crops and climate responded to Magic, but not the magic Dusk used. This was taught to all ponies as foals, but the reality was that in Canterlot, a city in which unicorns predominated, he had never given it a second thought and had only focused on studying and learning new spells, but now both things he saw with great clarity, and he had discovered them in only two days after he had left his studies in Canterlot and had reached this little town called Ponyville, where unicorns, pegasus, and Earth ponies lived in harmony. This made Dusk wonder: How much magic do I take for granted, that I don't really know about or could handle? Magic that I can only see through others, that I can only achieve with the help of others, magic that I could never achieve by being alone...? "Hey, Dusk!" Rainbow Dash said, embarrassed, pulling Dusk out of his thoughts. "It's not like I was belittling your magic, I think it's really great all you can do with it!" She finished, Rainbow Dash thought that Dusk had stopped talking because she had criticized him for not getting the cloud to stay up. "What? Oh no, don't worry, I was thinking of something else." Dusk corrected her, so she wouldn't worry. "Moving on... how much longer will we be here?" "Who knows..." Rainbow Dash replied with a shrug and sitting on the bed. "It's bad enough I've seen your face all night, now I have to see it all day." "What do you mean all night? You were asleep." Dusk asked curiously looking at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash blushed and looked away. "Er, I-It's just a saying..." Pegasus said awkwardly, who couldn't help but remember that she'd dreamed about Dusk all night and how he'd said she was cute. "Thank Celestia no one can see dreams." Rainbow Dash said softly to herself as she covered her face with one of her hooves. A long silence ensued between them as the morning progressed, one to which Dusk was accustomed since he normally studied in silence, yet this was something that Rainbow Dash was not accustomed to, so she decided to start talking, about anything. "By the way Dusk, how many days have you been in Ponyville?" Rainbow Dash asked suddenly. "Let's see... Not counting today, I've been here three days, but the first two I spent on the outskirts of town." Dusk answered quietly. "Hmm... still, it's strange that you haven't had a ‘Welcome Party’ yet..." Rainbow Dash said thoughtfully. "What do you mean?" Dusk asked confused. However, Rainbow Dash didn't answer, for the ears of both prisoners were instantly alerted when a door opened and someone approached. The steps sounded until they finally reached the cell, in front of them behind the grate was the Mayor, followed by a pegasus with gray coat and blonde mane, in addition the pegasus had some bubbles as a cutie mark, nevertheless its most distinguishing feature was that her eyes looked in different directions. "Derpy!" Rainbow Dash shouted with joy, approaching the bars. "Hello Rainbow Dash!" Replied the gray pegasus cheerfully. "How come you didn't get lost!?" Rainbow Dash asked, startled, seeing that Pegasus had returned to Ponyville with only a day's delay. "Well..." Derpy replied ashamed, avoiding Rainbow Dash's look (somewhat difficult because of her eyes). "The truth is; instead of arriving in Canterlot, I don’t know how but I arrived in Cloudsdale, then by mistake I came to a town called Appleloosa and finally I flew all night so I could reach Canterlot... but I flew back without getting lost, hehe!" She finished with pride. Both Rainbow Dash and Dusk tried to look annoyed while Derpy told her story, but it was impossible after hearing how despite everything, she had tried her hardest, even flying all night just to help them, this feeling of sympathy was greater for Rainbow Dash, who knew Derpy more and knew that although she was very clueless, Derpy never gave up and was always willing to help. "At Canterlot I spoke with a guard and as soon as I mentioned the name of Dusk Shine, they took me to the Princess." Derpy continued, looking at Dusk with curiosity. "The Princess met me in person! I told her about you being in jail and how I got lost... And then, well, she herself confirmed that Dusk was no criminal." Derpy then handed a note to the mayor, who took it and read aloud: "I confirm that the unicorn known as 'Dusk Shine' is no delinquent and is a respected student of magic in Canterlot. Signed, Princess Celestia." "Well... that confirms your story." The Mayor added, looking at Dusk. "You're free to go, I'll open the gate immediately." The mayor took the keys to the cell she was carrying and began to open the cell. "No need." Dusk said mischievously, who in a blink used his magic to teleport him and Rainbow Dash out of the cell and appeared next to the Mayor, much to the astonishment of her. "You need to improve your security." Dusk smiled the Mayor. "Eh... yes... it will be an issue to be addressed at the next assembly..." The mayor smiled somewhat ashamed. "And how come you didn't get lost again?" Rainbow Dash asked Derpy, as she still didn’t understand how Derpy didn't get lost like she always did. "When I was about to return to Ponyville the Princess told me to fly to Fillydelphia, I don’t know why she asked me to do that but I did, and by mistake I got to Ponyville." Derpy answered naively. Both Dusk and Rainbow Dash smiled nervously as they realized that poor Derpy had not realized that the Princess had told her to fly in the opposite direction so she would fly without realizing it was the right direction. "By the way, the Princess told me to give you this." Derpy added, handing a letter to Dusk. Dusk was surprised to hear that and instantly was glad to know that his teacher was still worried about him. Dusk took the letter with joy and read it: "Dear Dusk. The helpful Derpy has told me that you will spend the night with a mare. As your mentor, I think it's my duty to remind you: Use protection. (Remember our sex education talk.) Signed, Princess Celestia." Dusk couldn’t have been more red with embarrassment after reading that letter. All the joy that had filled him when he saw that his teacher had written to him, had vanished seeing that in spite of the distance, 'Princesa Trollestia' still mocked him. "What's the letter say?" Rainbow Dash asked, approaching to see the letter. "N-NOTHING! NOTHING AT ALL! Haha!" Dusk answered quickly, laughing nervously and tearing the letter into a thousand pieces. The three mares present looked confused without understanding Dusk's reaction, however none had decided to ask, so finally the four headed to the exit. "I apologize again for all the trouble," the Mayor said to Dusk and Rainbow Dash, bowing her head. "I'm sorry I locked you up unjustly." "Don't worry, it's no problem." Dusk said sincerely with a smile. "Thank you. Well, time to go back to work." The Mayor said again, turning and heading for one of the halls of her office. "While you are in town, if you need anything, don't hesitate to contact me." With that, the three ponies said goodbye to the Mayor and left the town hall. "I'm leaving too, there is still a lot of mail to deliver." Derpy said flapping her wings softly to fly. "Bye!" "Bye Derpy! And thank you!" Dusk and Rainbow Dash called out, shaking their hooves as the gray pegasus flew away. After Derpy left, Dusk and Rainbow Dash stared at each other for a long time, not knowing what to say to each other. "Anyway... I think it's time for me to go." Rainbow Dash broke the silence, scratching her head and looking to the sky. "I promised the weather patrol I'd do extra work, so I'll be very busy, best start now." As Rainbow Dash got in a position to fly, a feeling surfaced in Dusk, something that had not come up when he said goodbye to Derpy or the Mayor, but he did recognize that he had felt before, with two other mares in town, a feeling of not wanting to let someone go... "Wait!" Said Dusk quickly. "So... I won’t see you again? I will only be in Ponyville for three more days." Rainbow Dash stared at him for a few seconds. "Hahaha, are you going to miss me?" Rainbow Dash laughed, patting her hoof on Dusk. "Any pegasus would take weeks to do the extra work, it'll take me only two days." "So... we can see each other for the Summer Sun Celebration." Rainbow Dash added, blushing slightly and looking away so Dusk wouldn't see her like that. "All right! Promise." Dusk grinned, stretching out a hoof. "I promise." Rainbow Dash smiled, hitting her hoof with his. “I promise.” A third voice said in Dusk's mind, the voice of a mare who had also said those same words to him a long time ago and had not kept her promise. This memory made Dusk shiver and his face stopped smiling immediately. "See ya!" Rainbow Dash cried, flying away as soon as they had hoof bumped and missed the sudden change in expression on Dusk's face. Dusk watched as the pegasus flew away, leaving a rainbow trail, while the bad memory that haunted his mind disappeared as fast as it had appeared, but the bitter feeling it left in Dusk's heart did not. "Promises... Friendship... I... What am I doing? I promised I wouldn't make the same mistake… "Dusk wondered aloud, looking worried to the ground and holding his head in his hoof. "WATCH OUT!" A voice shouted, interrupting Dusk's monologue. Immediately Dusk looked up only to see a pair of wheels crashing against his face at great speed. "Ouch...! WHAT THE HAY WAS THAT!" Shouted Dusk, rubbing his sore nose. "Oh... I couldn't talk to Rainbow Dash..." said a childish voice, the guilty’s voice of hitting Dusk. The guilty one was a small orange pegasus with magenta mane in a style that, in Dusk’s opinion, gave her an air similar to Rainbow Dash, in addition the filly was standing on what appeared to be a scooter with a cart that, Dusk had concluded, was what had struck him. "Hey you! You've got to be more careful!" Dusk said annoyed, trying to catch the attention of the filly that still looking up at the sky. "What? I said ‘Watch out!’ It's your fault for not moving." Replied the filly, annoying. Dusk's irritation rose quickly at that response, however as quickly as his anger came, it vanished, as Dusk thought it would not be right for a mature colt like himself to stoop to arguing with a small filly, despite having the reason to. In addition, that thoughtless response to him and her arrogant attitude only confirmed Dusk's thought that this filly was like a miniature version of Rainbow Dash, and perhaps just as he had done with Rainbow Dash the day before, had only started on the wrong hoof and maybe this filly was not really as bad as she looked. "Whatever!" Said Dusk annoyed, wanting to change the topic. "Anyway, why were you going so fast?" "Oh! It's just that I was told that Rainbow Dash would be here so I wanted to show her my new scooter." The filly responded, showing off her scooter with pride. "And why did you want to show your scooter to Rainbow Dash? Are you family or something?" Asked Dusk, wanting to clear up his doubts, seeing that the personalities and styles of both ponies were very similar. At this, and to Dusk's surprise, the filly immediately lowered her head sadly and put on a sad smile. "No... it's not that... in fact I don't have a..." said the filly sadly. "It's just that Rainbow Dash is Ponyville's coolest pony, maybe even Equestria, I... I've always admired her." She finished talking the filly, with a little twinkle in her eyes when she mentioned how cool Rainbow Dash was. Dusk swallowed uncomfortably realizing that he had apparently struck a chord with the filly. Without wanting to delve more into what seemed to be the small filly's lack of family, Dusk decided to change the topic to try boosting her spirits. "Umm... Oh look!" Dusk pointed out to the filly, pointing his hoof to the sky. "You can still see the rainbow streak left by Rainbow Dash! If you hurry you can still reach her, just fly and follow her! As soon as Dusk said what was meant to motivate the filly, the filly's head lowered further into depression. "It's just... my wings have problems, and I... I can't fly very well..." The little filly said sadly, looking down. Dusk internally began to curse himself for having depressed the filly even more instead of encouraging her, "How could you screw this up any worse!" Dusk mentally shouted to himself. An uncomfortably long silence followed while the filly was still immobile and depressed and Dusk still didn't know how to handle this situation. The unicorn wanted to break the silence but didn't want to say anything wrong and depress the pegasus even more, he didn't know what to say for certain that wasn't a sensitive topic for the filly, except one... "S-So you like Rainbow Dash, do you?" Dusk said shyly. "You know... I know her, maybe I could talk to her so you can get together sometime and talk." As soon as Dusk said those words, it was like the little pegasus had been injected with pure adrenaline, the filly raised her head and jumped for joy looking at Dusk with huge eyes. "Really!? You can do that!?" The filly asked with bright eyes, bringing herself almost face to face with Dusk. "So, you're a friend of Rainbow Dash!?" An uneasy sensation touched Dusk as soon as the filly asked him that question. He... was he a friend of Rainbow Dash? Dusk thought about it but the only answer that came to mind was: No ... Not yet. "Well... I wouldn't say we're friends," Dusk said uncomfortably. "We're rather..." Before speaking, Dusk didn’t know how to finish that sentence, but it wasn't necessary either, since before he could finish, he was interrupted by a voice coming from afar. "Hey! There you are Dusk!" Spike's familiar voice said as he approached Dusk. "How was sleeping with Rainbow Dash?" Both Dusk and the filly turned to see Spike, the filly with a face of confusion and Dusk with a face of shame given the question Spike shouted. "Did you sleep with Rainbow Dash?" Asked the filly. Dusk watched in awe as the gears were turning in her mind, make her come to an erroneous conclusion. "ARE YOU RAINBOW DASH'S BOYFRIEND?" She shouted with surprise, after which Dusk immediately approached her and covered her mouth, as the shout had gotten the attention of several ponies passing through. "Shhh! What will every pony think if you scream things like that!?" Dusk whispered to the filly as he continued to cover her mouth. "You're wrong, we're not dating, it's just... it's complicated." Dusk finished speaking, not knowing how to explain everything that happened the previous day in simple words. After that Dusk released the filly, who only looked at Dusk with an accomplice smile. "Riiiiight... Chill out, your secret is safe with me," She said, zipping a hoof over her closed lips. "Rainbow Dash is my idol, if she wants to have a secret boyfriend, it fine by me." "What's going on?" Spike asked once he got to where Dusk and the filly were. Dusk couldn't help glaring at Spike for always showing up at the worst times, and now because of him there was a misunderstanding which Dusk didn't know how to deal with, he didn't want the image of her idol Rainbow Dash to fall apart because she found out Rainbow had been in prison, and he couldn't think of any credible lies to explain why they had spent the night together. "Listen, Spike, don't mention anything about what happened yesterday." Dusk said, looking seriously at Spike to avoid talking about his night in prison in front of the filly. "Eh... ok..." Spike said confused after seeing his brother's face, then he looked at the filly who also looking at him. "And who're you?" "Oh! My name's Scootaloo." The filly finally introduced herself, looking at Spike closely. "And you, what are you?" Spike quickly became annoyed at the question, he had already been lowered to 'iguana' when he met Rainbow Dash, he would not be humiliated again. "Well, obviously I'm a dragon!" Spike said annoyed, blowing small flames through his nose. "My name is Spike and my brother and I are proteges of the Princes-" Dusk quickly covered Spike's mouth so he would not say anymore than necessary. "We are visitors from Canterlot, we're in Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration." Dusk quickly said, not wanting other ponies to know their true purpose. "And by the way, my name is Dusk Shine, a pleasure to meet you." completed Dusk, introducing himself appropriately given that Scootaloo had done so as well. "Woooooow! So you have a dragon companion... That's great!" Scootaloo said, putting her confused look aside and looking at Spike with amazement then Dusk. "Now I understand why Rainbow Dash goes out with you. You must be cool, too!" "You really think so?" Dusk and Spike said in unison, with their chests puffed out and looking toward the horizon with dreamy looks trying to look cool; since it was very uncommon for someone to tell them, straight to their face, that they were cool; and if they had anything in common, it was that both brothers were weak in the face of flattery. "Wait a sec," said Spike returning to reality and looking at his brother. "She said you're dating Rainbow Dash?" "Uhh... yeah... I'll explain later." Dusk whispered to Spike. "Then they're both new to town," Scootaloo spoke again. "Hmm... it's weird that they haven't had a ‘Welcome Party’..." This caught Dusk's attention, this was the second time he heard about parties. "Were ponies town that accustomed to welcome parties for strangers like him?" Dusk thought. "Well, that doesn't matter." Scootaloo kept talking before Dusk could ask. "I guess you guys still don't know your way around town, do you?" "Well... no, not exactly," Dusk answered honestly. "All right! Then I'll give you a ride through town!" Scootaloo said cheerfully, climbing onto her scooter. "Come on, get on! Anything for Rainbow Dash's friends!" Dusk and Spike looked at Scootaloo, her scooter, and the little cart she was hitched to. "You want us to get on that?" Spike asked confused, reading Dusk's mind perfectly. "Yep! You'll be my first passengers!" Scootaloo said excitedly. Dusk didn't like this idea, but he liked seeing the little filly smiling, so without further consideration he climbed into the small cart, followed reluctantly by Spike. They both settled down as best they could and gave Scootaloo the ‘go-ahead’. Scootaloo started pulling the cart while holding on to the handlebar and used one of her hind legs to give herself momentum, the cart began to move slowly at a speed that didn't surprise Dusk at all. According to his calculations his weight plus Spike would be too heavy for little Scootaloo to move them easily. Dusk began to devise some way to help Scootaloo with his magic so that they could go faster and not disappoint Scootaloo again, however that wasn't necessary, because while Dusk was thoughtful and without realizing it, the cart had started to pick up speed and now they were really going fast. Dusk stared in amazement at the filly, who to his surprise had begun to beat her little wings at an astonishing speed, which had given it the boost and speed enough to move the cart. While Spike was hanging on for dear life at this speed, Dusk could not help smiling seeing that despite her limitations the little pegasus had found another great way to move at high speeds and feel the wind under her little wings. They slowed as they reached what appeared to be the center of town, going near town hall and it's surroundings, seeing the other side that Dusk hadn't been to yet. "This is the main square and the fountain of Ponyville," said Scootaloo, who began speaking as a tour guide. In the square they passed several ponies, it seemed like a rather cheerful place, in turn the fountain showed the statue of an earthen pony waving its forelegs cheerfully. However, what most shocked Dusk was that in front of the fountain was a flock of balloons holding what appeared to be a mare, this mare seemed to be asleep as she floated ground level around the fountain. Dusk looked to Spike hoping he was seeing the same thing, but when he looked up again he was surprised to see that no other pony in the town paid any attention to the sleeping mare floating on balloons, not even Scootaloo, who already started flapping again to go to the next place. Dusk thought about asking Scootaloo about that spectacle, but he had already ruined too many conversations for unnecessary words, so he simply chose not to pay attention to it, just as the other ponies did. Dusk recalled an old saying: 'When in Equine, do as the Equites do'. After that Scootaloo took them to other town locales, the theater, the town market, a bakery called Sugarcube Corner that Dusk remembered vividly, especially since he had not eaten anything all morning, etc. "And that's the library there." Scootaloo said as they advanced near a large tree with windows. "LIBRARY!?" Dusk shouted excitedly as he heard one of the most beautiful words he knew. "Yeah... But it's currently closed, I think the librarian went to work in Manehattan a couple of weeks ago and no one has reopened it since." Scootaloo said trying to remember to fulfill her role as guide. "The village library is closed!?" Dusk said altered. "That can not be! It's an outrage! It's barbaric! It's un-mnnngh!" Spike covered his mouth to kept Dusk from talking, knowing that otherwise his brother would never shut up. "Let's go Scootaloo, to the next place," Spike said embarrassed at the confused Scootaloo. As they went, Dusk did not take his tear filled eyes off the library, tears from seeing a temple of knowledge totally abandoned. "And this is the clock tower." Scootaloo said after reaching the summit of a small ridge. This place was very beautiful, a very rustic tower but it fit perfectly with the architecture of the town, besides from here you could see most of the town. "It's okay, but in Canterlot there are a lot bigger towers," said Spike, who, like every child, was most impressed by the height, and also perhaps by some personal complex. "Hey, Scootaloo," Dusk asked, looking toward the village. "What building is that?" Dusk had noticed that between the library and the clock tower there was a large red hut with a big yard and a playground for foals, a place apparently Scootaloo had deliberately avoided. "Oh... that! Well... that's...the school." Scootaloo said timidly. This stunned Dusk, who set aside his fear of putting his hoof in his mouth again and decided to ask what, in his opinion, was something very important. "And why aren't you not there? Today's a school day." Dusk asked, eyeing Scootaloo closely. "Well... I just don't like going to school, I prefer the outdoors." Scootaloo said, looking away somewhat annoyed. "Plus, I still have so many places to show you, such as the spa, the bowling alley, Carousel Boutique..." "That's no excuse!" Dusk scolded. "Aren't you interested in learning!? Reading about ponies of the past, Civics, Math, Science, Philosophy... You cannot not want to learn! Knowledge is the greatest force in the world! And school is home to that knowledge!" This was all a great speech, something that if some pony had told him as a foal, Dusk would probably have been moved to tears! But Scootaloo didn't seem to care, for she just yawned and looked away. Dusk was immediately annoyed, this filly was not serious about something as vital as going to school, but a bright idea came to mind, one that made Dusk smile sinisterly. "You know..." Dusk spoke into Scootaloo's ear. "Rainbow Dash doesn't like ponies that don't take their studies seriously." Scootaloo's ears immediately rose and her eyes widened. "A-Are you serious?" Scootaloo asked uncertainly, looking back at Dusk. "Of course, why do you think Rainbow Dash goes out with me? It's because I'm very studious." Dusk said winking at the filly. Scootaloo turned and looked suspiciously at the school for a long time. "Hmm... okay, I guess I could try to go more often..." Scootaloo said slowly. "Well said! You must go to school every day, starting today!" Dusk said excitedly, getting off the cart with a smile. "Yeah, okay!" Scootaloo smiled even more excitedly, feeling happy that someone would smile and care for her. As soon as Spike got out of the cart, Scootaloo waved her wings and said goodbye, heading to school. "Goodbye Dusk, goodbye Spike! And Dusk, remember what you promised!" Yelled Scotaloo as she goes away. "I will!" Shouted back Dusk, who now would have to convince Rainbow Dash to have a play date with the little filly. As soon as Scootaloo left and was out of sight, Spike turned towards Dusk with a mischievous smile. "So... you're dating Rainbow Dash now?" Spike asked smiling. "O-Of course not!" Said Dusk quickly. "But if I say that to convince a little filly to go back to school, I suppose a little white lie is okay." "Hmm... maybe you're right, though I doubt Applejack would have approved," Spike said thoughtfully, causing Dusk to bow his head in embarrassment. "Hehe, I guess you're right..." Dusk said, accepting that Spike had a valid point. "Now what?" Spike asked, knowing that now that both were free from guilt and without Spike's obligation to make friends, they had only to wait until it was the Summer Sun Celebration and meet up with Princess Celestia again. ~Growl!~ Dusk's stomach growled hungrily. "I'm starving, I need breakfast." Dusk said, holding his stomach. "But first, there's something much more urgent to solve." Dusk said, filled with determination. "So you just left town hall. And now you want to go back?" Spike asked as he followed his brother around town. "That's right, this is something that even if Celestia forgave them, I never would." Dusk replied annoyed. Anyone would think that what Dusk was talking about was an extremely delicate subject, yet Dusk had told Spike what he was talking about as they headed towards the square. What Dusk wanted to do was ask the Mayor to hire a librarian as soon as possible to reopen the library. This would have been a banal subject for all other ponies, for all but Dusk, who could find no greater crime than having a library closed. "Dusk really, I don't think it's such a big deal." Spike said, trying to calm Dusk down. "Of course it is!" Said Dusk annoyed. "I can forgive the Mayor for locking me up like a criminal, but I can not forgive her keeping knowledge locked away from those who seek it." As soon as they both turned a corner, they found themselves in front of the town square, which was the only thing that stood between Dusk and the town hall. "It's unforgivable." Dusk said trotting briskly across the square. "At least she must have left an intern librarian or-" As Dusk's speech stopped, so did he, while passing near the village fountain he realized that the floating mare was still there in front of the statue. Dusk was more than annoyed, but slowly it was giving way to rising curiosity, since questions without answers was one thing that really bothered him. Dusk looked at the ponies in the plaza and again verified that no one paid any attention to the strange phenomenon, something that seemed equally peculiar, so he approached one of the locals to find out why. "Excuse me miss." Dusk asked, approaching a lilac mare strolling around. "Yes?" "Can you see that pony floating with the balloons?" Dusk asked, pointing to the floating pony. "Well yes, I'm not blind." The mare replied as if she had been asked an obvious question. "Why doesn't anypony do or say anything about it?" Dusk asked again, wanting to quickly understand if this was some kind of street show or a strange habit of the place. "Oh, that!" Said the mare, smiling. "It's just Pinkie being Pinkie, you'll get used to it." Then the mare continued on her way, leaving Dusk equally, if not more confused than he was initially. Then the unicorn turned and looked directly at the floating pony, thinking that there was only one thing left to do, which was also the most direct way to find out, would be to approach and ask that strange pink pony. Dusk looked carefully at the mare before doing any action, she was a pink mare and fuzzy mane, at her waist she had tied some balloons that made her float, coincidentally her flanks also had cutie mark of balloons. The doubt of this peculiar spectacle was killing Dusk but he was not sure what to do since the mare kept floating without moving and with her eyes closed, and Dusk didn't know if she was meditating, sleeping, fainting or perhaps even worse. But finally Dusk braced himself and touched her cheek. "Hey! Are you okay?" Dusk asked nervously, wishing with all his might that the mare was not a terrifying floating corpse. Slowly the mare's eyes widened to show bright, heavenly sky blue eyes. "Huh...?" The mare replied sleepily, barely opening her eyes, speaking with effort and looking all around. "What's going on?" Both Dusk and the mare stood staring for a few seconds until Dusk spoke again. "Well... I... I wanted to ask you if you're okay," Dusk said uncertainly, relieved that the mare had woken up. "I mean, I saw you floating a while ago and no one seemed to pay attention to you, so..." Dusk stopped talking as he heard some soft snoring and noticed that the mare had fallen asleep again. "Hey, wake up!" Said Dusk somewhat annoyed, stomping his hoof hard so the noise would wake the mare back up. "Hey? What? Oh yeah, I'm sorry." Said the tired pink mare, waking up with the startle and again looking at Dusk with a somewhat shabby face. "It's just that I have to look for a new pony that came to town a few days ago-" Suddenly the mare stopped talking and looked at her tail, which for some reason was shaking. She looked at Dusk again, and for the first time she opened her eyes wide with great enthusiasm. "It's you! The new pony in Ponyville is you!" She said looking at Dusk with a huge smile. "You have no idea what it cost me to find you! Three days ago my Pinkie sense alerted me a new pony that had come to town! But I wasn't really sure, because it was a new signal. Something my Pinkie sense had never done! But my Pinkie sense never fails, so it definitely had to be something new! And that excited me a lot! That's why I've been looking for you for so long!" She continued to speak swiftly as she floated in circles around Dusk and drew her face close to Dusk's face. Meanwhile, Dusk didn't know how to respond, to think this sleeping mare would have been so talkative and outgoing had taken him by surprise, that and Dusk had several questions for her, like why she was floating, or why she was looking for him, or how she knew he had arrived three days ago, but nevertheless the first question he asked was something else, something he needed to know to understand the tangled speech the pink mare had just given him. "Wait... First of all, what's Pinkie sense?" Dusk asked confused, stopping the mare with his arm so she would stop hovering around him. "Oh! It's just a sign my body gives me to warn me that something will happen, like when my left ear itches and my mane bristles, it means it's going to rain, or when my tail shakes three times to the right that means someone new will come to town," explained the mare as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "And obviously it is called Pinkie sense because that's my name, Pinkie Pie! By the way, what's your name?" Dusk again had no immediate answer, since he wasn't accustomed to how fast and scattered the mare's speeches were, and he was not sure whether to make fun of the absurdity of what she had just said. However, first things first, and since the mare had introduced herself, the proper thing was to do the same. "I-It's a pleasure, my name is Dusk Shin-" Dusk again stopped talking since as soon as he had bowed as a greeting and raised his head again, he realized that the mare had fallen asleep again. "AHEM!" Dusk coughed to wake the mare. Pinkie Pie again opened her eyes in surprise. "What…? Oh I'm sorry! It's just that I'm kind of... tired... and when I feel that way sometimes I fall asleep." Pinkie Pie said lethargically, with a small smile. Dusk noticed that Pinkie Pie had wanted to say a different word instead of 'tired', but had a change of heart. Nevertheless, Dusk didn’t want to say anything in order to limit the questions that this singular mare had generated. A short, uncomfortable silence followed after the mare spoke and Dusk was lost in thought, nevertheless Dusk spoke again when he noticed that Pinkie Pie began falling asleep again, something he didn't want to happen till his questions were answered. "So then... you've been looking for me for three days? And did your Pinkie sense warned you that I arrived at Ponyville?" Dusk asked incredulously, speaking loudly so the mare wouldn't fall asleep, again. "That's right! Although like I said, my pinkie sense did something strange to alert me about your arrival, something it had never done before when other ponies arrived in town..." Pinkie Pie said thoughtfully as she continued to float in front of Dusk. Dusk smiled a little at the absurdity of what the mare said, he had heard and read that certain ponies believed in superstitions, amulets of good fortune and other things without scientific or magical merit, but that certain body parts of a pony shook to alert her to certain random events was the most absurd thing he had ever heard. "Well, maybe your Pinkie sense 'shook' differently because I came with a dragon." Dusk said mockingly, pointing to his partner next to him. "A dragon?" Asked Pinkie Pie, who immediately looked down at the little dragon standing next to the unicorn. Spike just gave a shy and awkward greeting because until that moment he was grateful that this mad mare was set on Dusk alone and not him. "Wow, a dragon! I haven't seen one for a long time! Although you're smaller compared to others I've seen." Pinkie Pie said with a big grin. "Anyway Mr.Dragon, I cannot call you Mr.Dragon, so tell me, what's your name?" "My... my name is Spike..." The dragon replied somewhat uneasily, stretching his claw to greet her. "It's a pleasure to meet you little guy!" Pinkie Pie said giving him a big hug. The hug was short enough, but it was enough to make Spike petrified since, like his brother, he was not very accustomed to receiving hugs, especially from a strange pony. In Dusk's opinion, this mare's attitude was too unpredictable for his taste, he liked things orderly, consistent, but she spoke super fast and crazy, then fell asleep for no reason and then she didn't respect the personal space of others and was getting way too close. This was the time for Dusk to leave, that's what he thought persistently, however first he needed to finish clearing up all his questions. "So... why were you looking for me?" Dusk asked, wanting to get an answer quick, then ask why she was floating, answer all his questions and quickly get away from this mare. "Well, for your welcome party, what else?" Said the mare with a big smile. Dusk fell silent staring at the mare, she was again talking incoherently, "Throw him a welcome party? Why? Has she been looking for me for three days just to throw me a party?" Dusk thought, but immediately the memories of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo came to mind, where they both had mentioned something about a welcome party. "Wait a second... In Ponyville are you accustomed to throwing parties for visitors? And you're responsible for that?" Dusk asked in disbelief. "Of course!" Said the mare, who at times seemed to fall asleep at any moment. "Although it's not my responsibility, I just like throwing them." Dusk could not help thinking that the more he spoke to Pinkie Pie, the more questions he had, but he had to ask. "Why would you want to throw parties for ponies? Especially if they're strangers... " Dusk asked confused. As soon as Dusk asked the question, as if it had been some sort of cue from the mare, Pinkie Pie's balloons burst, causing her to finally fall to the ground. Once standing, she ducked her head and inhaled sharply. "Because..." began Pinkie Pie, leaving a small pause, something that did not last long as the pink mare immediately began to sing, to the utter surprise of Dusk and Spike. "Having a party is always fun~ getting to meet new ponies and making lots of friends~ // Whether earth, pegasus or unicorns~ everyone's a winner at a party!~ // Griffins, dragons or a friendly monster~ all the more that come, and the fun never ends!~ // I am Pinkie Pie, the Party mare~ If you wanna smile then just come to me!~" Pinkie Pie continued to sing as she began to jump from side to side, dancing around the town square, all to the perplexed look of Dusk and Spike. For a moment they wanted the earth to swallow them up, standing in front of a crazy mare who danced without shame and sang in front of the whole town for no specific reason was something that no refined pony of Canterlot would do, he would find it embarrassing, just as they did at that moment. While Pinkie Pie was still singing and dancing, Dusk glanced back to see if any other pony in town was as perplexed or embarrassed as he was, yet he saw no one, something that didn't last long, for as soon as he returned his gaze towards Pinkie Pie, he saw that the town ponies instead of being embarrassed or backing away, they were all next to Pinkie Pie singing and dancing right along with the pink mare. "What the hay is going on?" Spike asked in an uncomfortable whisper, who hadn't moved and was just as perplexed as Dusk. "They… they are all singing…" Dusk said uncertainly as his mind made use of its rationality. “I think it's a 'Song from the Heart’…" Dusk had learned that term long ago, a ‘Song from the Heart’ was a type of archaic magic. When a pony had a strong feeling inside them, their heart and magic aura could vibrate and attune the hearts of other Ponies, which made them both sing in unison without even knowing the lyrics and dance in unison without practicing even once. This was something that was not totally unknown to Dusk, in fact the servants of the castle sometimes sang when doing some tasks or celebrating some festivity, nevertheless the ease with which Pinkie Pie had started singing and had that great a number of ponies in town singing and dancing with her, had totally surprised him. This was something he had never seen on the streets of Canterlot, at least not so spontaneously and naturally, every inhabitant of the town sang in perfect harmony to the tune of Pinkie Pie's feelings, feelings that seemed only to come from the fact they were talking about parties, a feeling whose attunement was even taking away the embarrassment that Dusk and Spike had initially and even now warmed their hearts more and more with each new verse. # End of Chapter 8