Cotton stares intently at the bizarre multi sided box, one purple side is open and a pink side glowing. Dusk looks over and sighs to himself and looks over. The rest of the train does not seem to have noticed the two ponies messing with the small crystalline magic box, that they found in a cave.
“Why don’t you try touching it again?” Dusk questions.
“It’s really hurt last time.”
“Please.” Dusk said half-heartedly said.
“Okay! But only because you said please.” Cotton lunged her hoof forwards and a flash of pink light consumed the entire train car. The box flies out of Dusk’s hooves and out of sight.
When the light died down Dusk saw that Cotton was knocked unconscious so he sighed again and reached for a bottle of water. He absently mindedly opened the bottle, after he heard the familiar gust of air Dusk then took a chug from the bottle. Dusk barely downs the water before a horrible taste overcomes his mouth, he barely kept himself from spitting the stuff out there. Spring Water. It was spring water, no matter where Dusk goes, he cannot escape the horrible elixir of pain and suffering. Dusk looked into the little fridge beside their pair of chairs only to find that it was filled with spring water, only Spring water.
“Loyalty.” Cotton moans barely awake.
Dusk wonders if that means he had just found his second Element of Harmony, unconscious and muttering an element name is similar to what happened to him. In in fact the mare beside him is an anomaly in her own right, it is most likely genetic or some proximity factor.
Dusk suddenly remembered the box and in a mad panic the stallion quickly searched the bench for the box. He found it with another side open.
Cotton shifts around in her seat, she opens her eyes and looks up at Dusk she faintly smiles. Dusk exhales, starts to plan out what is going to have to explain to her than Cotton flops over and shuffled over to his side of the bench. Cotton leans completely into him and wraps her hooves around him, Dusk looks back to see that the other ponies on the train car are staring at him.
Duck accepts his fate while the train dutifully ascends to Canterlot.
Once the train Stops Cotton had woken up, but she was quieter than usual, Dusk wonders whether or not she remembered what element she had been assigned. Either way there was much to be done in Canterlot and Dusk had to find a place to get started. He left for Canterlot because the last thing he wanted to do is both burden his mother with more work and endure more of her lectures. As intelligent as she is, she has to be the most boring pony on the earth when it comes to teaching, it is like if a textbook came to life,
The train finally arrived at its destination and Cotton was in the same foggy haze Dusk was on the way back from the Tree. Cotton Candy refused to take her own suitcase so Dusk had to take hers and he almost had to frag her out of the car. Every other pony on the train car, stared at Dusk and quite a few kept their distance, Dusk had long ago gotten used to things like this so he easily kept his mind off them.
Dusk lead Cotton to a familiar area near the Canterlot Castle, it was his old dorm. This dorm building had been his mother's a generation earlier and apparently that is where her adventure started and this is where Dusk has planned to run his operation. He should be able to put Cotton to sleep safely and be able get to his work. Dusk quickly fished his old keys from his bag, this property is technically Princess Celestia’s but his family are the only users. He
Dusk tossed Cotton Candy on his old couch and quickly left the building.
~~~
Cotton found herself waking up again in a new building, she looked around to find a clue as to where she was. The last thing she remembered was agreeing to go somewhere with Dusk but she can’t remember why, of course the only thing she remembered was Dusk. Cotten let out an exasperated breath and got up to look for Dusk.
She looked around the room to see tall bookshelves on either side of her and a giant window with a view overlooking what she assumed was Canterlot. There is a coffee table in the middle of the room that is completely covered in messy placed papers. Out of curiosity Cotton rolled out of the couch and towards the table, once she arrived at the table, she wondered if she could have some more time than last time to snoop around Dusk’s things. She cursed herself for having jumped to that conclusion, she wondered if this house even belonged to Dusk.
She picked up a large untitled book in the middle of the table, she opened the book and looked inside to discover that it is a schedule inside. The first day was seven years ago on September 3rd, she wasn't ready for all the text he has written. Each weekday had an incredibly detailed plan of events for that week, it was planned down to the quarter hour but the weekend was completely blank. Cotton quickly flipped through the pages, but found nothing on any of the weekends and all the weekdays where twelve hours of school work, the book ends on May eleventh of the next year. The book for the next school year was the exact same as the first.
Cotton Candy looking though the books until she found something written in the Third of December on Dusk’s last year of high school. It was a note written “See Shatter Shell about the game if I have the time.”. A game called Rage of War is mentioned the next weekend, then he scheduled a trip to a game store and the week after that he scheduled a game with Shatter Shell the next weekend. Before Cotton could read anymore, she heard a knock on the door so in a blind panic, she stuffed all the agenda’s into her bottomless bag, she could read all of those later.
Cotton trotted over to the and peeked out the peephole to see a group of three refined looking stallions waiting on the other side. They looked harmless enough so she decided to open the door.
~~~
Dusk should have expected this, but it didn't hurt to try, but Strategic Games had run out of the new terrain models. Although Dusk was pretty sad to have to leave his favorite game store so soon although he was already thinking of new excuses to come back. Dusk sighed to himself because he knew he had to get back to work soon enough or the world will get blown up or something dramatic like that. He turns himself around and prepares to go back home and the purple stallion quickly trots back to his home in Canterlot. Dusk had never spent much time at home in Ponyville because his mother had shipped him off to Canterlot at a young age. Canterlot was his home not that hectic little town.
After an uneventful stroll home Dusk opened his home door to be met by a hoof to the face. Dusk tried to launch his secret move, but he felt another pony grab his horn in order to stop him from using his magic. Dusk tried to struggle but all he achieved was falling to the ground and bringing his assailants with him. A quick scan of the room reveals three stallions and a mare.